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a-small-batch-of-dragons · 3 years

Text

Begone, Bitch

Prompts: Hi ! I just wanted to say that i love your stories and the way you write the characters ! If you want, could you write about Virgil being comforted by the other sides, or him getting hurt while protecting the others ? - anon

I am beyond grateful for every fic you write, you are so good at pushing all the right emotional buttons to just make my entire day. I don't want to be greedy since you already make so much good content, but in 'Lie to Me' there was that little one off scene in the kitchen where Virgil pushes Janus behind him to 'protect ' him from Roman and I *cannot* stop thinking about it. I would die for a whole fic of Virgil protecting Janus(and the others, but mostly Janus, I like when people are sweet to the snake boy) from danger by physically shielding him with his body. Overprotective Virgil is my favorite. So this is a prompt/request but only if you really really want to <3 And thank you for writing such wonderful fic. - awitchbravestheverge

Ah yes more opportunities to write in Virgil's narration style.

Read on Ao3

Warnings: none, not really. Some creepy shadow shit from the Subconcious and Virgil gets a little hurt but nothing graphic

Pairings: platonic found family babey

Word Count: 4504

The Subconscious is a nasty piece of work. It’s not quite powerful enough to overtake the Mindscape by itself, Roman and Remus do too good of a job holding the barriers in the Imagination, but that doesn’t mean little shits don’t worm their way through every now and then. Guess who gets the fantastic job of being alert to each and every single one of them?

No fucking prizes for guessing who.

For the most part, Virgil’s able to work undetected. Or, well, no, the others will see him doing shit but they don’t know that’s what he’s doing. He just has to stand between them and whatever gross slimy black thing has crawled its way up from the depths of the Subconscious and it’ll get absorbed. Part of Thomas’s background anxiety until he can banish back to the hellhole from whence it came.

That doesn’t always mean it’s…painless.

Some of them are fine. Some of them are like little misty bits that just putter around where they’re not fucking supposed to be and Virgil can just pluck them out of the air and stuff them into the pockets of his hoodie and wait. These ones really like to bother Patton, for some reason.

Patton’s baking today, cinnamon sugar muffins. He’s humming to himself as he bustles about the kitchen with that weird boundless energy of his that makes everyone want to think about nothing but sunshine. Ruins the hell out of Virgil’s gloomy emo image but hey, fresh muffins. Sacrifices must be made somewhere.

“Did you want to help, Virgil, or are you fine with just sitting there?”

Virgil blinks, having zoned out after the third time watching one of the containers almost fall over. “Nah, I’m good.”

Patton shrugs. “If you change your mind…”

“I won’t, Pat, I’m good. You’re doing great.”

“Aw, thanks!”

Virgil opens his mouth to say something else when he sees a little grey thing twisting in the air next to Patton’s head. He suppresses a sigh and reaches out, careful to make sure Patton’s back is turned as he snags the pesky little thing and whips it away. He stuffs his hand in his pocket as soon as Patton turns around.

“What was that?”

“What was what,” Virgil asks, blinking innocently as he squeezes the icy thing in his pocket, “what’re you talking about?”

Ah, it’s the hands-on-the-hips dad pose today. “I saw you reach for something, mister, now what did you do?”

“Don’t worry about it.” The misty little shit shrivels and disappears, leaving an ice-cold sting on his hand out of sight. “It’s fine.”

“Show me your hands.”

“What?”

“Show me your hands, Virgil.”

Virgil sighs and pulls the unstung hand out of his pocket. “See,” he says, waving it for good measure, “nothing to see here.”

Patton just raises an eyebrow. “And what about the other one?”

“C’mon, Pat—“ he sighs when both of Patton’s eyebrows go up— “fine, here.”

Patton’s eyes widen when he sees the mark on Virgil’s palm. He rushes forward instantly, cradling the injured hand and reaching for a towel. Conveniently, he gets one that was quite near where the misty thing had been floating.

“You could’ve told me you were hurt,” he says softly, tending to the sting with such tenderness that Virgil almost believes it’s something to worry about, “I would’ve helped.”

“But it’s fine, Pat,” Virgil sighs, “I could’ve dealt with it.”

“I know, I know.” Patton gives the hand one last dab with the towel before pronouncing it good enough. “But it’s never a crime to let us help you, kiddo.”

The corner of Virgil’s mouth tugs up. “Thanks, Pat.”

“Oh, of course, kiddo. Now you sit tight, the muffins won’t be another ten minutes.”

“Can’t wait.”

Sometimes the Subconscious decides it’s bored of letting just the little misty bastards out and lets out the fucking ooze.

Have you ever seen Venom? Know how the symbioses move and how weird it is to look at?

Yeah, it kinda looks like that, just without the gay domesticity and mutual pining.

Nah, this ooze is mindless, just wants to—well, it doesn’t want anything, it just gets fucking everywhere. Makes it real hard to think sometimes, messes everything up.

Really likes fucking with Logan. Which first off, is not allowed. Don’t fuck with Logan. Don’t fuck with any of them, Virgil can and will kick your ass, but especially don’t fuck with Logan. Remus will tear you apart and no one will stop him. Except for Logan. Maybe. ‘Cause he’s nice like that.

Anyway, Virgil gets a weird tingle between his shoulders when there’s an oozy bitch up and about. He’s sitting on the couch, minding his own damn business, but then there’s that itch between his shoulders and he perks his head up.

Logan sits in a chair, alternating between scrolling on his laptop and making notes in one of his many notebooks. Virgil frowns, looking around, seeing if there’s any goo to keep track of, only to come up with nothing. Huh.

“Virgil?”

“Yeah?”

Logan tilts his head, concerned. “Are you alright? You look worried.”

He shakes his head, still squinting around the room. “Weird feeling, that’s it.”

“Will you let me know if it gets unbearable?” Virgil nods. “Thank you. Well, I’m going to get some more coffee, would you like any?”

“Uh, yeah, sure, L, that’d be great.”

Logan nods and stands, going to the kitchen. Leaving his laptop unattended on the coffee table.

Virgil watches as a truly massive ooze slides out from between the couch cushions and toward the laptop.

Not today you slimy bastard.

Unfortunately, he’s just a second too slow as a tendril from the ooze touches the laptop and yanks, pulling the laptop off the coffee table and sending it hurtling toward the floor. Virgil bites back a curse and lunges. His hand grabs the ooze just as his arm catches the laptop.

“Get back here, you little shit,” he grunts, opening his hand and using his power to suck the frothing fucker into his arm where it can go the fuck back to the Subconscious.

“Virgil, you—“

Shit.

Virgil looks up, a little guilty, as Logan comes back around the corner holding two coffee mugs. He looks down and raises an eyebrow.

“You…saved my laptop?”

“It was falling,” Virgil mutters, setting the precious cargo back on the coffee table, “didn’t want it to.”

“Ah. Well, thank you. I appreciate it.” Logan sets one of the coffee mugs down and reaches out a hand to help him up. “Though I assure you it is not the first time that laptop has been dropped.”

“What do you do with your stuff, Lo, I swear you make more cryptic remarks about it than J.”

“It’s all part of the experiment.”

“See, there you go again!”

And then, then sometimes the Subconscious decides oh, it wants to get inventive and spawn this horrific little ooze-demons. Goat head, four legs, runs about like a creepy little horror game creature, they’re fucking awful. They don’t all look the same but they’re always running and climbing about like some gross as hellcat gremlins. Their nails are so sharp.

These fuckers really like messing with Janus. He’s got too many fun things to pull on, too many heavy clothes for them to pull and make him trip, and they like scurrying up his staff too much. They’re absolute fucking nightmares.

The good news is they’re by far the most obvious of the obnoxious little shits that manage to slip through the barriers of the Subconscious. Virgil hears a weird skittering in his ears and knows that one of the little monsters is loose again. Given how they all flock to Janus like he’s some fucking homing beacon, it’s easy to find them.

Janus is pacing back and forth, yanking angrily at the end of his clothes like they’re about to snag on something, his staff clutched in his hand. His head is down, muttering to himself as Virgil walks up.

“J?”

His head whips around. “Oh. Virgil. Certainly expected to see you here.”

“That’s me, always turning up where I’m not wanted.”

“I didn’t say that,” Janus mumbles, resuming his pacing, “though I didn’t mean to summon you. You can go.”

“You didn’t summon me, J,” Virgil says, leaning against the wall and looking around for wherever the bastards are, “I’m here of my own free will.”

“Free will,” Janus scoffs, turning around, “what the hell even is that?”

Out of the corner of his eye, Virgil spots movement.

“It’s not like there’s some master document of humans where free will is written into it.”

Slowly, Virgil raises his hand toward the spot, not tearing his eyes off it.

“And the belief that animals don’t have it! Ha, some of them exhibit characteristics of choice much more than we do.”

The little fucker snaps at his fingers as he makes a grab for it. He snags it by the scruff of the beck and yanks.

“And what is this about it being provable? Show me one scientific theory that has space in it for free will. Do it, I dare you.”

Virgil bites back a curse as he wrests the pesky shit around the middle, ignoring the way it chomps and snarls at him.

“Just because you have or don’t have free will doesn’t make you exempt from the constraints of society. Even if you aren’t making your own choices that doesn’t mean you’re the exception to the consequences.”

The teeth that sink into the sleeve of his hoodie are the last to vanish as Virgil breathes out, watching the last of it fade as Janus turns around.

“Sorry,” he mumbles, tugging his hat and gloves, “haven’t been…”

“S’okay, J,” Virgil waves with the hoodie sleeve that isn’t ripped, “you’re good. Come on, let’s go eat something.”

“…pasta?”

“Sure thing, danger noodle.”

“Ugh, I take it back.”

“Whatever you say, hazard macaroni.”

“I’m taller than you!”

It makes sense that the Subconscious decides to send the most insidious shit after the twins. They’re the reason the pieces of shit monsters can’t make it up to the rest of them. And for the most part, they know what to look for. They don’t have the same awareness of all the little idiosyncrasies that Virgil does, but they beat back a fair number of them on their own.

Which is why the ones they can’t are tricky.

Remus is Dark Creativity, he lives in the muck with the monsters. Thrives in it. Loves the way the gross and the unwanted and the sickening twist and turn about his realm, thrills in the horrified swoop in his stomach when something truly gruesome rears its ugly fuckin’ head.

What he can’t deal with is the fog.

The first time Virgil saw it, he honestly thought it was smoke. He thought Remus had set something on fire and panicked, reaching through to try and find the blaze, find Remus, find a goddamn fire extinguisher, but it was cold.

Like…really cold.

You know how when the air is really humid it feels like it has a weight to it? Like it hangs over you like a wet rag that you just can’t shake off?

Imagine that but cold.

Virgil shivers and reaches forward, trying to find Remus. He’s still never gotten used to it, even though he’s seen it so many times now. Remus doesn’t make it out of his room when the fog comes. He blames it on creative block but Janus always hisses gently when he says that.

“Remus? Remus,” Virgil calls using his tempest tongue, “where are you, buddy?”

He can’t see Remus yet, but the call did its work. The fog ripples in front of him, almost shying away from the sound waves as he moves. He keeps calling, keeps watching the fog almost flinch as it recedes from him. His voice grows louder, louder. The fog begins to retreat in earnest.

Finally, he sees Remus, curled up on his bed, staring at the wall. Virgil muffles a curse as he strides forward, crooning as softly as he can in tempest tongue while glaring furiously at the fog as it sheepishly retreats. As the last of it fizzles, Remus’s head comes to flop on Virgil’s shoulder.

“Hey, spider-ling,” he mumbles, “when’d you show up?”

“A few minutes ago.” Virgil brushes Remus’s hair off his forehead. “You looked upset, bud, wanted to come check on you.”

“Fucking fine,” comes the slur, signifying that Remus is anything but, “I’m fucking fine, babe.”

“You’re exhausted and cold.” Virgil scoops him up into his arms. “Come on. Let’s go find J. He’ll spoil you.”

Sure enough, as soon as Janus sees Remus lying in Virgil’s arms, he jumps up with a coo and takes the other side from him, lying him down on something warm and promising to get him something warm to drink. No, Remus, not engine fuel. Something safer, at least for right now.

Virgil stands at the door, waiting.

There’s an itch between his shoulders and another chill down his spine.

A cloud of fog emerges from down the hallway. From it, three shadow gremlins canter toward him.

He grits his teeth and braces.

The first one collides with his shoulder and he grabs it, squeezing until the shadow folds in on itself. The second hits his shin and he punts it into a wall, scooping the remnants and absorbing them. The third one vanishes in a quick shout of tempest tongue.

You’re not gonna get them, he thinks as he shouts the fog away, not on my goddamn watch.

The worst part of the Subconscious is the shadows.

Because they all have shadows. They all do. That’s just the nature of being an opaque thing and existing in proximity near light sources. Shadows are a natural by-product of blocking light, that’s it.

Wow, he’s been spending more time with Logan than he thought. Sweet.

But the Subconscious shadows are different. There’s no such thing as dark. Only an absence of light. There is no substance known as ‘dark,’ sure there’s dark energy or dark matter if you go the physics route, but there isn’t a thing ‘dark’ the way there’s a thing ‘light.’

If you looked at the Subconscious shadows, you’d believe otherwise.

They look normal. They look just like normal shadows. Something resting against the wall casts a shadow. Something moving in front of a window casts a shadow. Something sitting on the edge of the desk casts a shadow.

But these shadows move.

You have to pay such close attention to even catch them. You have to know precisely what on your desk is casting what part of the shadow when—hold on, what is that? Is it the water bottle? No, you pick up the water bottle and the cylinder two spaces across move. So you pick up the lamp and no, that’s not it either. You move your hand—your hand’s shadow is easy to track—and you move it to where it should be overlapping with whatever’s casting that shadow. You look closer. But there’s nothing blocking the light where your hand is, nothing between the light and the wall.

You stare at the shadow.

And then it moves.

See? They’re fucking terrifying. Like some Peter Pan gone wrong shit. Creepy, sinister, innocuous-looking, you’ve got to be constantly on guard to catch them. You have to be smart. These ones, out of all the Subconscious monsters, feel the most spiteful. Like they’re doing this on purpose, to terrorize the Mindscape.

That’s probably why they go for Roman.

Roman holds the barriers the most. Remus pushes them to reinforce them, but Roman draws the lines in the sand. Roman is responsible for keeping Thomas safe from the barriers breaking, is largely responsible for Thomas being able to see the Sides at all.

So of course the Subconscious hates him.

Roman is the only one who will summon Virgil when he thinks there’s something wrong. Sure, it’s never been quite as simple as Virgil showing up and Roman telling him he’s scared, he thinks something just moved. They used to just throw barbs at each other until Roman was distracted enough for Virgil to suck up the shadow, or fight until Virgil pointed out where it was and Roman said it was just a test, but they’re better now.

Virgil appears in Roman’s room and immediately looks around. Roman sits on the bed, his hands folded primly over the sword in his lap, polishing the pommel with forced calm.

“There are at least three,” he says, his voice perfectly even, “I can’t keep track of them anymore.”

“It’s okay, Princey,” Virgil says softly, turning and turning to try and catch them, “I’m here now. You did a good thing calling me. Are you alright?”

“I’m here,” Roman says, forcing a little false cheer into it, “not the biggest fan of what’s happening, but I’m here.”

Virgil smiles at him briefly before he sees the flicker.

There.

“Roman,” he says calmly, “I need you to go stand by the window.”

Roman gets up and walks to the window, sitting under the sill and closing his eyes. Virgil grits his teeth and makes his shadow overlap with the one on the wall.

It burns as he starts to absorb it, writhing in protest and screeching silently for the others to come help. Sweat begins to bead on Virgil’s forehead as two move shadows race to enlarge his silhouette. Goddamn, they’re vicious tonight. What the hell would they have done to Roman if he hadn’t called?

Not on my goddamn watch.

He’s panting by the time they’re gone, but he’s alright. He’s good. They’re gone. Roman is safe. He turns and opens his arms, letting Roman come and bury his face in the crook of his neck.

“Thank you,” Roman murmurs quietly, “sorry.”

“Don’t apologize, Princey, this is my job.” He claps Roman on the shoulder. “You did good too.”

Roman huffs. “I sat in the corner. That’s not much.”

“And you did great. Now come on, Pat’s making cookies.”

“Oh, right, is it Remus’s night to help?”

“Yeah.”

“Hmmm…maybe we should swing by and warn Logan first.”

“Good idea.”

+1.

Nothing’s happened in a while and Virgil is getting worried.

Normally the longest they go without an incident is a month, maybe, and then it’s normally back-to-back nonsense for like a week.

But it’s been three months. And nothing. No misty tendrils, no puddles of ooze, no snapping gremlins, no fog, no shadows. Virgil’s just about on the verge of running a round-the-clock patrol of the damn place just to make sure he doesn’t miss anything.

As it turns out, he needn’t have bothered.

Stupid, stupid. Idiot.

He fucking missed it. He fucking missed it.

All the other Sides had monsters that went after them specifically. Why should Virgil get left out?

The Subconscious hadn’t been stopping, or slowing down, no. It had been biding its fucking time.

And now…

Virgil scrambles backward, trying to keep himself between the door to the Imagination and the figure in front of him. They slash at him again and he dodges just in the nick of time. He winces, claps a hand to his chest, and literally feels his heart skip a beat as his hand passes right through.

He’s being absorbed.

The figure raises a dripping, shadowy arm and brings the weapon down again. Virgil can’t stop dodging long enough to get a good look at it. He only knows that it fucking hurts and that it’s draining him. Draining him back into the Subconscious.

If he can just keep it here, if he can just hold off long enough to figure out what to do—

Another slash comes down on his arm and he yells, tempest tongue dying in his throat. That one fucking hurt.

He throws a handful of dirt up just to see if maybe it will blind them or give them a moment’s pause but no. The dirt just sinks into it like some fucking nightmare vacuum. The next strike collides.

“Virgil? Virgil?”

“What the fuck is that thing?”

“It’s draining him, move!”

“Hang on, Virgil, we’re coming!”

“Don’t you fucking dare hit him again!”

The figure turns, only to jump out of the way when Remus’s Morningstar smashes into the ground where they had been standing. Remus growls, ripping it out of the soil and swinging again. The figure parries the blow only to let out an inhuman wail as Roman’s sword slices its arm.

“Get the fuck away from him,” Remus snarls.

“Back!” Roman swings again, driving them away from Virgil. “Back, foul beast!”

“Don’t insult them by comparing the beasts to whatever the fuck this is.”

Logan rushes up before Virgil can open his mouth to ask what the fuck is going on, dropping to his knees and pressing something warm to Virgil’s chest.

“Virge? Virge, stay with me,” he calls softly, “come on, it’s alright, we’re here now.”

“How—“ Virgil gasps as his chest starts to…resolidify? “How did you—what? How?”

“Oh, Virgil,” Logan murmurs, rubbing whatever the miracle thing on his chest is in small circles, “did you really think we never noticed that you were trying to fight them by yourself?”

Oh.

Oh, fuck.

“Shh,” he soothes, helping Virgil up into a seated position, “it’s okay. We’re not mad. Just worried. You’re hurt.”

“Fuck!”

“Just stab them, Ro.”

“I’m trying!”

Despite himself, Virgil huffs a laugh as he leans against Logan. “Are they—we should help.”

“You,” Logan says sternly, “will sit here and let me finish making sure you won’t be drained. The twins can handle themselves.”

Still, Virgil’s heart stays in his throat until he spies something else running up the hill. A shadow beast, a massive one.

“Logan, look out—”

Logan turns and—

Who the fuck gave Logan a gun?

The shadow beast has flopped over onto its side and dissipated, Logan already back to tending to Virgil’s wound but the time Virgil’s dizzy, half-drained brain figures out what just happened.

“You…you shot it.”

Logan quirks an eyebrow. “You sound surprised.”

“Remus!”

“Get back!”

“What the hell is it doing?”

“It’s growing, shit, Ro, we gotta fall back.”

“Guard Logan, check on Virgil, I’m right behind you!”

The twins rush up and form a guard around Logan and Virgil as the shadow figure swells. Virgil’s eyes widen as it growls, growing larger and larger and larger still until the shadows look strapped at the seams, fit to burst. It grows claws. It grows teeth. It grows more limbs than he can count.

It leers down at them and opens a gaping, black maw.

“Now!”

Roman crouches down to shield him as dirt flies up around them. Logan bends in too as something equally massive soars overhead. Virgil manages to peek between Roman and Remus to see a blur of green tackle the monster.

“Is that…is that Patton?”

“I believe it’s ‘Lily Pad-ton,’” Logan corrects wryly as the twins snicker, “but…yes.”

Judging by the roar of the monster, he’s doing something.

“Where’s Janus,” he hears Roman hiss, “he should’ve been here by now.”

“There!”

Remus points and Virgil spots a fucking enormous yellow snake unhinging its jaw. The monster howls as it starts to vanish down the snake’s gullet.

“Holy fuck.”

“I think Janny’s hungry.”

“Pissed off, more like.” Roman lays a hand protectively on Virgil’s shoulder, squeezing encouragingly as Virgil gasps at the contact. “Whatever that thing is hurt Virgil.”

Remus growls in assent.

The thing in Virgil’s chest starts to burn hotter. Logan shushes him gently as he whines in pain.

“It’s alright, Virgil, you’re almost done. We’re right here, just breathe.”

“You’re safe, sweetheart,” Roman murmurs as he starts to list side to side, “we’ve got you.”

“Nothing’s gonna fucking touch you,” he hears Remus snarl as he passes out, “promise.”

He comes to an indeterminate amount of time later, laid out on the couch, his head in Patton’s lap. He blinks.

“Hey, kiddo,” Patton murmurs, stroking his hair, “you feel any better?”

“Um, yeah,” he mumbles, turning a little and wincing at the pull in his chest, “what…what happened?”

“We won.” Roman pats his arm. “All safe now. You did great.”

“All I did was lie there.”

“Yeah, and you did great.” He winks.

Virgil’s gaze rolls around to catch Logan setting down a glass of water and crouching by his head.

“L?”

“You’re all better physically,” Logan says softly, “but it might take some time for you to feel like it. Just take it easy for a while.”

“And that means,” comes Remus’s voice from over the couch, “you gotta let us help defend you too.”

Virgil flushes. “But it’s not your job.”

“Are you insinuating that our job is not to take care of you?” Roman holds his hand to his chest in a mock gasp. “Because that is rude.”

Patton gives his hair a gentle tug. “We’re gonna look after you, kiddo, you deserve it.”

“I—um…” Virgil swallows heavily. “But if I dealt with it properly you wouldn’t have to.”

A soft hiss comes from the chair. Virgil looks and sees Janus sitting there, one leg crossed over the other. He smiles softly.

“You can let us help you, sweetie,” he murmurs, “rest for a little. Don’t try and take on the Subconscious by yourself.”

“…okay.” He squints. “Wait, why are you all the way over there?”

“Digesting,” Janus says, completely dignified.

Virgil snorts. “I’m just sad I missed it.”

“Oh, it was fucking epic.”

“Language, kiddo.”

“Oh, come on, you were great—“

Logan chuckles next to his head as Virgil drifts back off to sleep with a smile on his face.

…he is gonna ask who gave Logan a gun after he wakes up properly.

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heliosthegriffin · 3 years

Text

He’s channeling his energy productively.

Jaune walked down the halls of Beacon backed to his dorm, it had been a long day so far, not a hard day though, just one of those days that kept going and seemed like they wouldn’t end. Making it back to his room would at least let him spend the rest of day how’d like.

The sounds of laughter followed a group of older girls walked pasted him. It was outside of class time so the students could wear whatever they wanted. They wore clothes that were made to go clubbing.

Jaune’s eyes had a life of their own as they stared at the girls walking past, you’d think having seven sisters would make him more respectful wouldn’t you? But, having a lesbian older sister, and a couple others that were bi, all they did was teach him how to peak without getting caught.

That said he’d doubt his friends would call him out for staring, considering some of the girls here had assets that would give Yang pause.

They didn’t notice him pausing and walked by, a fragrant fruity perfume left behind. Jaune couldn’t help but look behind him, watching those girls go, a sway in their step that cause something in Jaune to rise up.

“Dammit,” Jaune cursed as his pants tightened up.

Jaune look around before he adjusted his pants, so that his zipper wouldn’t fly off by accident again, and tucking his erection down his pant leg so that it’d be less noticeable.

Jaune felt frustration well up in him, this had become a reoccurring problem since he started Beacon. The girls here were just too damn hot! It made walking anywhere a damn hassle and a embarrassment, and he had no way to release any of his damn tension in his dorm, Nora had broken the locks to the bathroom and the door; That had probably been the closest he had ever come to killing somebody.

Letting out an other sigh he resigned himself to shuffling back to the dorm as the blood went flowing elsewhere. He should just thank his lucky stars that he’d never popped a boner anywhere near Ruby, Yang would have found out somehow, probably Nora, and then killed him.

Right as he got close to the dorms, Jaune’s blood-flow was back to normal, but he still felt tense and incredibly worked up.

The sound of weights being lifted, treadmills running, and other exercise equipment sounded from nearby.

The gym was only a short walk away from the dorms. Jaune paused for a moment, Nora and Yang always seemed to go to the gym when they go worked up, maybe he should try it, it’s not like he didn’t go often anyway, so what would it hurt to work out so stress?

---------

Jaune stared at the scroll in his hands, ‘10:03′ where did the time go? He went in at ‘4:26′, went to the weight rack, and then everything seemed to go into a blur, and then the next thing he remembered was a upperclassman telling him the gym was closing in soon.

“Guess, I had more stress to work out than I thought I did.” Jaune said to himself walking to the gym showers, suddenly starting to feel exhausted and wanting to jump into bed at the closest opportunity.

-----------

The next morning was agonizing, his arms felt like they were made of pure, while on fire and being pulled apart! Maybe he went too hard last night.

He was also feeling cavernously hungry. No wonder Nora has an appetite like a black-hole.

------

Jaune’s problem came back in full force during lunch when Yang leaned too far back and the top couple buttons of her shirt decided they wanted a life in the air force.

Leaving Jaune with a delicious view of her cleavage.

Yang looked at her shirt, “Shoot, I actually liked this one.” She then resumed eating.

A hand caressing his leg, brought him out of his vision. “Are you alright, Jaune?” Pyrrha’s warm, gentle voice whispered into his ear

A mildly blush went up his face. “Yeah, just, uh, taking in the view.”

“Oh, ok then, but if your not feeling well, I can take you back to the room.”

“I’m good.” Jaune said a little too fast, as his mind started to fill in the blanks of what his monkey brain wanted to do to Pyrrha.

Pyrrha nodded.

Jaune felt thankful that Yang or Nora hadn’t found a chance to tease him about being alone with Pyrrha.

Lunch came and went, and Jaune made sure he was the last to get up, so that his problem wouldn’t be seen. He couldn’t exactly fiddle with himself under the table without drawing attention. So with all the swiftness he had, he tucked himself into his pant-leg while getting up.

In hindsight, maybe walking behind his developed female friends, and especially Blake, was a bad idea. His other head disagreed with him.

The rest of the day went by in a blur, combat class was a mess, but mostly cause he can’t being drawn to his friend outfits, they showed so much leg.

He went back to the gym again after class, he went to the treadmill and leg exercise machine. The upperclassman had to tell him to leave again.

-------

The rest of the week seemed to follow a similar pattern for Jaune, he’d wake up sore, but a little less so each day, go to class, end up aroused, then pent up, then go to the gym when he had the free time, and only when he had free time, going into those workout trances made him lose anytime for studying, hanging out, or training.

Training with Pyrrha was probably the hardest part of his week, literally and metaphorical, because while he loved Pyrrha like a sister, his body constantly reminded him that they were not siblings! It always made him feel disgusted when ever he looked at Pyrrha that way. No way Pyrrha ever looked at him that way.

After training with Pyrrha though, he still had two hours before the gym closed, and he was pent up again.

The upperclassman had told him to get an alarm or something, cause he wouldn’t always be there to tell him to leave.

-------------

Hanging out with team RWBY was always a... Experience, they were fun, don’t get him wrong, but it was like chaos in a bottle. The bottle was also cracked, and there was no cork either.

Today he and the rest of his team came over to hangout, and Ruby insisted they play twister.

Jaune was forming a bridge with his arms bending backwards to stay on there spot, while Ruby was draped across him with one leg over his shoulder and the other over his arm, with her front laying across his stomach, and her arms going in between and around his legs. While Nora lay under him her chest pressing into his back. It was also a really small mat.

Everybody else had dropped out, or refused to play, while Blake controlled the game, and Yang video taped everything.

Then Nora sneezed into his neck. That was the straw that broke the camels back. Sneeze both tickled his neck and scared the life out of Jaune, as he somehow managed to jump a foot into the air from his position, carrying Ruby with him. They landed on Nora with a thud.

Jaune’s position with Nora’s chest on his back and Ruby’s legs on his chest, really wasn’t going to help with his tension, as his lower-body decided to achieve liftoff.

That said he had managed to get a grip on himself lately,. So Jaune calmly got off Nora, and picked up Ruby, putting her next to Nora. All while hiding his full mast, then went to the gym again.

“You think he’s alright?” Ruby asked innocently.

“Probably just rubbing one out.” Nora said full of confidence. “These sweater puppy's of mine are of a quality most women can only dream of, yet here I sit, my majesty a reality, I don’t blame Jaune at all.”

------------

Jaune was watching with wrapt attention as Ms. Goodwitch strode across the arena pointing out several flaws in recorded fights she had on holographic videos. Tapping them with her wand to enhance the smaller images at time.

RIIIP

Her blouse broke, showing off globes of creamy white flesh barely being contained by a purple bra.

Ms. Goodwitch paused, a light blush on her face. “Well, Students this should teach us to be prepared for anything.”

Jaune then got up, walking out the door.

“Mr. Arc, where do you think your going?” His teacher asked severely, as several laughs broke out of the room, many people pointing at him.

“To the gym. I don’t think I’m going to be able to focus much today.” “Very well, any others who wished to join him?”

The gym was very packed that day.

------

Jaune enjoyed hanging out with Pyrrha, she was probably the best friend he ever had. He just wished she would stop having to bend over so often in front of him, or walking in front of him when she did that he couldn’t help but focus on her swaying hips.

Jaune sighed as he felt a rise tower start to erect. “I’m going to the gym be back later.”

Pyrrha merely looked bewildered. She though she had him for sure this time!

----

The transfer students were interesting people, and he couldn’t take his eyes off of them. They came from all walks of life, all paths, all creeds and kingdoms. From the strictly dressed military like Atlas Academy, to the survival of the fittest types and loosely dressed Shade Academy, or the storied and traditional style of Mistral. They were all interesting, diverse, strong and incredible sexy.

Ever since he ran into that black haired girl and her green haired partner, he somehow kept managing to find them in the most compromising or revealing positions possible.

So, Jaune started hitting the gym harder than ever.

--------------

1 Year later....

----

With a slight shaking arms Jaune pushed the loaded bar back up, exhaling. Then he took a slow, deep inhale as he lowered it down to his chest, then exhaled rising it up again. Inhale, exhale, till he finished his rep.

He rose up from the bench with a grate moan, feeling the warm soreness across his body. It hurt, but in a good way. In a way he couldn’t have appreciated a year ago.

Grabbing his towel he wiped the sweat off his face, and then cleaned off the bench. Treat the gym right, and it’ll treat you right back.

Jaune paused as he walked toward the shower, he had gotten into a habit of showering here so he didn’t have to make his teammate's rush to clean up, there was wall of mirror he looked himself over finding nothing of note, beside himself sweaty and his hair kinda sticky looking.

The water was cold, but high pressured, helping unwind any knots on his back and wash off grime better. He had started taking cold showers more frequently as in the field your rarely got to wash off in general, and if you did, it’s not likely you’ll get hot water, so it he thought it was probably best to get into the habit now.

Working out felt good, taking a shower afterword was just perfect. The only thing that would make it better was wearing his onesie, he had a right to comfort! But, it had gone mysteriously missing after he met Coco on his walk back from the gym half a year ago. So, for now he was stuck wearing white tank-top, and a pair of cotton shorts back to the dorm.

He waved by to the upperclassman about to close the gym, and left for his dorm. He may not have started going to the gym for the right reason, but over the course of a year, he felt like he had grown from then. In fact... what was the reason he started going to the gym? Something about women? Eh, must have been nothing. Ever since he started taking his training double seriously during the Vytal festival, it was like he just didn’t feel dating anybody till he around to being a huntsman, like that there was more to life than dating or stuff.

Jaune ran a hand through his hair, he had started growing it out at the beginning of the second year and now Pyrrha and everybody else vetoed him getting a hair cut!

“Hahah, jokes on them though, they have to brush the knots out of my hair!”

Walking back to his dorm a fruity perfume pasted his nose, a vaguely familar laughter along with it. Then a slightly familar group of girls were walking in the opposite direction as him. They looked like they came back from a night on the town. He liked the way they dressed, it complimented themselves very well.

As he walked pasted them they paused and stared at him, Jaune paused too, but shrugged, giving them a broad smile and a wave before walking back to his dorm.

Jaune failed to miss the women eyeing fucking him as he walked away, all of them red face and heavy breathing.

“Hmm, why do I feel like I’m in danger?”

----------

Jaune wasn’t sure when, but he had grown into a morning person. It was fun to get up in the morning now, he liked watching the sun rise, seeing the sky change colors on his morning runs.

Being team leader meant having responsibilities, so being a early riser now meant getting up his team, they were going to be third-years in a not small amount of time. So he made sure that they got up at a reasonable time to prepare for the day. Along with the fact on mission they would have to get up before the sun rise on most days.

Also, he especially liked to watch his teammates get up, it was entertaining in different ways from Nora crashing out of bed, to Ren rising from a blanket cocoon, and Pyrrha’s silly little death threats to any man stealing bitches out there.

He tended to wake them up with a gentle approach putting hand on there shoulders and carefully shaking them awake. He had forgotten how strong he was a couple of months ago when he sent Nora flying into a wall by accident, so had tried to be gentle.

The rest of Team Jnpr had learned a couple months ago that they no longer had a choice in waking up early, the only choice was before the sun was up or after.

Jaune put on his uniform for class, he frowned a little bit, as it was tighter than it was yesterday. Maybe it’s new? Guess it needs to be broken in.

Team RWBY met them at breakfast, Ruby refused to let her other bestie get ahead in the leader game by letting just JNPR get up early! Jaune didn’t notice but he often got murderous glances from Blake.

Eating breakfast Jaune felt a crick in his back so he leaned back.

Pop-pop-pop-pop, RIIIIP!

His buttons on his shirt fired off like a machine gun shattering against the walls of the cafeteria, and then his shirt fell to pieces, revealing his sculpted torso, arms and abs.

“Ahh man, I liked that shirt.” Then continued eating, not aware of the stares his friends, other students, and Ms. Goodwitch were giving his body, eyeing him up as much or more than he used to do to them.

AN: If this Jaune was ever put into a situation where couldn’t exercise for like a week, his libido would come back with vengeance and make him a unstoppable sex monster. That said, what are the odds of that happening?

#Jaune Arc #Not quite crack #Slight Himboification #Team JNPR #Team RWBY #Glynda Goodwitch

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stephkaylor · 3 years

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FAVES & FAILS: #1 (Teen Wolf)

I’ve decided to do this questionnaire when a show/book series/movies where I answer these questions with fun gifs too (its Tumblr, what did you expect?), if you want more info, the original idea post with links to each of my completed lists is here ⚡️. A bunch of my faves have already ended so getting all of these out will take a minute, but I’m aiming to post a new one twice per week. 🤞🏻Anyway, enjoy!! OH!! ALSO, I’ll be discussing plot elements in this list so...SPOILER ALERT!!

TV Show FAVES and FAILS: TEEN WOLF

FAVORITE MALE CHARACTER: STILES STILINSKI

HANDS DOWN, no question about it! He was the soul of the show, and funny, and so incredibly human on a show full of the inhuman, and that was what made him so integral. Anyway, I could go on forever about how much I love Stiles, but here’s a gif:

LEAST FAVORITE MALE CHARACTER: GERARD ARGENT

There isn’t really a male that makes me want to punch something, so good for the writers, I guess?

FAVORITE FEMALE CHARACTER: LYDIA MARTIN

I really want to say Allison but it HAS to be Lydia, hands down! Her character development from a girl pretending to be vapid and shallow and who hid her genius so she could “fit in”, to a strong, powerful, confident woman secure in who she really is and the power inside of her (figuratively AND literally, lol), this girl is the real MVP.

LEAST FAVORITE FEMALE CHARACTER: MONROE

This was hard because there are several female characters that made me want to throw my laptop out of the window. The short list is Kate Argent, Allison’s mom... I could go on... but Monroe’s systematic attempt to wipe all supernaturals out of Beacon Hills and then maybe the rest of the world gave me fucking high blood pressure and a rage issue. I don't care how “scared” you are, killing a kid who hasn't done anything wrong just because they are different than you is some fucked up, borderline genocidal bullshit. And she survived the finale!!? Like I had to deal with her self-righteous smirky attitude and you didn't even have the decency to punch her in the face and let me watch?!? Rude.

THE CHARACTER THAT DESERVED BETTER: Aiden (and kind of Ethan)

I badly want to say Allison again here because I love and miss her tons. But she died protecting her family and friends and I believe that she is happy wherever she went afterward. Watching Aiden die in his twin brother’s arms I don’t know who I felt the worst for. The boy dying, or his brother who now has to live without him... I’m gonna go cry now, brb.

THE DEADWEIGHT CHARACTER WE SHOULD’VE DUMPED IN 2009: Kate Argent

Luckily she was not a regularly appearing character, but when she showed up it was always “for revenge” and I'm like...can we just...not this season? I was having a lovely time and then you showed up with your petty anger for whatever fucking shit that happened in, like season one. Like, honey... if it’s been so long since you’ve been relevant that I have to google what you’re upset about because I have honestly forgotten...maybe it’s time to let that shit go. Kindly fuck off now, please...

OVERHYPED CHARACTER: Derek Hale

Like, don’t get me wrong, he’s great and I loved when he was on the show, but I feel like some people think he carried the show and it wouldn't survive without him. Well, surprise! because he went away after season 4 and I still think some of their best shit came in season 5 and the beginning of season 6.

UNDERHYPED CHARACTER: Deaton

Um, he was basically Scott’s druid emissary and he got no recognition for it. He saved all of the main pack members’ lives at least once. Also he didn't make Stiles pay for the windows, so he’s apparently not an asshole.

OVERHYPED SHIP: Scott and Malia

I feel like they had to adjust the final season A TON because of Dylan’s injury and Kira not coming back and I think the writers panicked when they didn't know who to put Scott with (because our leading man could never not have a girlfriend, *gasp* THE HORROR!) because Lydia needed to be with Stiles and I think they picked Malia because she was basically the only one left...I was never into it. In fact, when my friend texted me after we watched the episode where they get together, my response back to her was literally “meh 🤷🏻‍♀️”.

UNDERHYPED SHIP: Allison and Isaac

It would’ve been so nice to see where that relationship went. Don’t get me wrong, had she lived, I would’ve wanted Allison to end up with Scott. But I loved that the show was willing to say that it is okay to fall in love more than once in your life. Sometimes the shows aimed at a younger audience have a tendency to act like your first love has to be the one you’re with until you die and that’s just not realistic. It was nice that the writers didn't box these characters into that mold because it gave them more depth as characters.

FAVORITE SHIP: Stiles and Lydia

I don’t know how to explain how much I love this pairing. Like, from the beginning he saw her for how amazing she was and he supported her as she came into her powers and then she was always there making sure that someone was taking care of him when he was taking care of, literally, everyone else, and then when he disappeared SHE KNEW something was wrong nearly instantly, and ‘remeMBER I LOVE YOU’ I need to stop before this run-on sentence goes on forever. ALSO they’re canon official, which never fucking happens for my ships so I’m fucking excited, sue me.

FAVORITE VILLAIN: Deucalion

His backstory was well-developed and deep, he was clear with his goals, he actually executed said goals in a logical and timely manner, he was a fucking ALPHA OF ALPHAS, nuf said.

MOST HEARTBREAKING MOMENT: Allison’s Death

Hands down, the most heartbreaking moment on the show, and I will fight anyone who comes at me with a different opinion. Because like--she was smiling when she was stabbed because she had figured out a way to help her friends and then she died in Scott’s arms and told him she loved him even though they weren’t together she still loved him and he still loved her, and I truly believe that she had zero regrets when she died, and how bittersweet is that???! But Scott couldn't take her pain because it didn’t hurt anymore, and Lydia had to feel her best friend die and she screamed Allison’s name and if you are not hurting right now are you a monster???!?!

FAVORITE STORYLINE: Eichen House Escape/Dread Doctors in Season 5

It was hard to pick between the Dark Druid storyline in season 3A, but the Eichen rescue/Lydia learning how to be a BAMF Banshee from Meredith while she was catatonic (ALSO ‘Stiles saved me’ I AM DEAD!!!), and the whole la bête du gévaudan thing was great, and reuniting the pack after Theo had royally fucked it up earlier that season, it was all just superb! *chef’s kiss*

STORYLINE WE COULD’VE DONE WITHOUT: Like, the whole second half of the last season, TBH

It was a petty, counterintuitive, and just garbage. The monster was dumb, Monroe is a royal twat (as I stated above), and it didn't have a conclusion. Like, the fuck? This isn't Game of Fucking Thrones you guys do not need to leave every season finale with so many loose ends it make people want to throw their laptops off of a cliff into a vat of hydrochloric acid. And it was the LAST SEASON so there’s no hope of fixing this bullshit storyline. ugh, kill me now.

BIGGEST PLOTHOLE: Scott’s pretty selective “True Alpha” powers

They, like, kind of tried to pass it off as it taking a ton of energy so he can’t always do it all the time. But he got through a mountain ash barrier to save Deaton and activated his True Alpha but then couldn't get into Eichen to get Lydia out because of the mountain ash...? oh and also where the fuck did Cora and Isaac go? (I, sincerely, hope he’s not still just chinning in fucking France wondering were Argent fucked off to)

OVERALL MARKS OUT OF TEN (10 being that watching this show has probably increased your life’s worth by at least five percent; 1 being the only thing this show has given me is a stomach ulcer and trust issues):

8.75 out of 10. This show was a blessing and I would definitely recommend it to other people. (mostly because I love to get people hooked on my favorite shows and then they're stuck and we can be tortured together).

THE END! Thanks for reading my overly-long and overly-obsessive list. Do come again soon. I’ll probably have another of these up next week. 🤍🤍🤍

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idwithoutthesuperego · 4 years

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Dream Of Me

CHAPTER 01: SETTLING IN

SUMMARY: m!reader (Y/n) is an incubus, who enrolls into an state university, just outside Beacon Hills, a town that has a quite lively supernatural little community, even if the supernaturals themselves aren’t all aware. There, he meets a shy blonde guy who acts like he is half of himself, and a dark haired one who is loud and can’t keep his mouth shut to save his perfect little ass.

Tags: Teen Wolf AU. m!reader x stiles x isaac. Smut. Fetishes. College. Nsfw. Past mentions of abuse. Physical abuse. Drinking. Drugs. Angst. Fluff.

“Well, that couldn’t have gone more wrong”, you thought. Really, after all this time, you should have learned your lesson about befriending mortals. They are just way too fragile, and well, mortals. One drunk night, one fight, one slight mistake on the wheel, and it all goes wrong. Now you couldn’t stay here anymore. The place too much of a “we”, so you couldn’t bare being in it with just yourself to fill all of the empty rooms.

Booze or drugs didn’t really work on you, so getting high and forgetting wasn’t a choice. Getting into a supernatural sex frenzy could take your min out of it for a while, but it only drove grief away for so long. And it didn’t feel right anyhow. You just had to get out, to leave. But easier said than done. Had it been what? Two weeks since the funeral, and you were still in that bed?

In the midst of your wallowing, you heard you doorbell. It was Evony Marquise, and old friend. A bitch to most, but trusted and supportive to few, including you. As soon as you opened it, you saw her standing there, as always, with her wavy brown hair, expensive clothes and perfect appearance.

“Hello darling, still in the blues?”. She said, taking off her sunglasses.

“What do you want Eve?”. Tired face looking at her.

“I see the answer is yes.” Throttling in, even though you didn’t really invite her. “I’ve graciously come to get you out of this hellhole. It’s been almost a month since the accident.”

“You mean three weeks.”. Following her in and sitting in the sofa in front of her.

“I mean long enough.”. She took a pause, before looking you dead in the eyes. “Yeah, he was your friend, and from time to time we get really fond of our pets, I get it. But you know how it ends whenever we get too close to our humans. They just don’t live long enough. No matter the amount of life you get out of or into them, no matter how much I inspire them, they have expiration dates darling.”

“So? You came here just to make me feel worse?”

“No, I came here to tell you that you are being moved from the apartment. I already charmed the landlord and hired a moving company to get your stuff out by the end of the day.”

“You what!?”. You could get angry, but you just too tired for that really.

“You need to get out, go back to having a life. How long has it been since you fed? It shows in your face how weak you are.”. Busted. “I know you tried to keep him alive at the hospital, and now you aren’t feeding. You know how it ends. So, you are getting as little stuff as you need, moving into another place, another faraway city and restarting. Today.”

“I... hmn… I’m not going to… I can’t…” You scoured your mind looking for excuses, but you were tired of just sitting in bed remembering a happy bubbly best friend of years that made your life better and wans’t going to come through the door anymore. So, you just conceited. “Ok. But at least drop that coat and help me pack.”.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A couple of day later, you found yourself at Beacon Hills. A small town really. But it had a college just at the border of the city, which meant parties, which meant lots of young people brimming with sexual energy, which meant a buffet. Also, you could use their library to distract yourself. Not to mention that the town had the fame to attract an unusual amount of supernatural beings for some reason. So one more wouldn’t be noticed, especially at the start of a semester.

As soon as got into town, your first target was the sheriff, a friendly going bald man. You need to know if he or the police knew something about any supernatural activity or any “strange” accidents. You found him on patrol around town early at morning. And all you had to do was shake his hand after asking for directions for the university. Then, his mind started going numb and hazy, and your conversation wouldn’t be remembered later, only that you were a nice guy and could be trusted.

After that went to find an apartment near the university that had looked up online, and the owner so kindly sold it to you at a low price, taking the payment all in cash on the spot. Last stop on the afternoon, while the moving team got your things on your new home, was on the dean’s office, to sort off your spot at Beacon U.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

On campus you certainly felt some wolves wondering about and looking at you, as well as a banshee? “Interesting” you thought. Even if you were using your powers so that most wouldn’t notice your presence until you reached the dean’s office, guess you really needed to feed. After the talk, on your way home, you were stopped by some cute twins.

“Hey man, you are new here right? My name’s Ethan and this is my brother Aiden.”

“Oh, hey. Yeah, I just got to town.” You said giving a sweet smile, waiting for them to continue.

“Anyway,” Ethan said “we have a little wager, that we were hoping you could help us settle”.

“Do you now?” You asked, eyebrow going up.

“Yeah, since we are turning a new leaf and everything here, we have a little competition to see who is the best looking one. And who is the best in bed.” Aiden said, giving a smug smile and throwing an arm over your shoulder. “So, why don’t you help us settle things over at our room?”

You hid the distrust in your smile. I mean, if the wolves wanted to increase their pack, they could at least come up with some better plots and plays. But still, you could turn this in your favor, and it’s not like Ethan was completely against having you in a bed for what you could feel. So you followed them.

You guys were on your way, chatting while you used you powers to distract and charm them, when a body and books collided with you. A boy named Stiles (was that even a name?), who the twins seemed to know, spend some time apologizing after blushing and staring at your eyes for way too long. Maybe he had been caught in your charm, maybe.

It was cute, even if the twins took a piss at him for it. But you were hungry, so you just accepted the “sorry” and left for a double meal. Leaving a Stiles mess looking into your eyes whose color he swore gleamed just the perfect amount when you looked at him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Arriving at the twins room, you spared no time.

They took their shirts of and Ethan kissed you hard and deep. Pressing his body flush against yours, and you could definitely feel how into it he was. But then came Aiden, behind you, pulling your hair, exposing your neck and about to bite you. A pity really, you could have quite some fun with Ethan, wolves always had too much hormones and stamina.

Just as teeth was to meet skin, your eyes glowed an incandescent color, from the spots that your skin met theirs, they could feel as if a rush rocking pleasure was keeping them from moving, and their minds began to turn hazy. Their thoughts muddy, and movements no longer their own. You just willed them to get in front of you, their lips almost touching yours, and then, began sucking their life force until there was barely any left. “to still be alive, you boys must be alphas,… nice”.

A few minutes later, just before leaving, you left them on a very compromising position and took some pictures. Never know when those might come in handy.

#stiles x male reader #isaac x male reader #x male reader #my first fic #isaac x stiles x male reader #fanfic #fanfiction #Dream Of Me #x incubus male reader #past mentions of abuse #angst #fluff #teen wolf #alternative universe #teen wolf x male reader #stiles stilinski #isaac lahey #writing

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calligraphist-artemisia · 4 years

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The Sun Prince (Chapter 5)

Summary: It was an accident. A simple misstep that sent him plunging into the darkness and waking an ancient magic. Now Prompto has to deal with the consequences of making a deal with an Astral and learn how to control the magic blooming inside of him.

Also posted on AO3 and fanfiction.net under the username “kishirokitsune”

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Chapter 5: Into the Fire

After all of the running around they'd done, it felt odd to be left with nothing to do except wait. There was little reason to set out and take up a few hunts when Cid promised that he was less than a day away from completing repairs, and so Ignis insisted that they remain on Cape Caem.

There was a sort of logic to it that Prompto couldn't deny, but it didn't stop the boredom from creeping in.

Ignis and Gladio quickly found ways to keep themselves occupied by helping out around the house, while Noctis snuck away to nap in various places until he was inevitably discovered. Prompto entertained himself by walking around and taking pictures of whatever struck his fancy, and eventually his feet led him to the elevator of the lighthouse.

His heart lurched at the thought of rising up to the top in an old lift, but the chance to catch a photograph from the top was too appealing to pass up. He could stomach it for a minute or two, and then he could get back down to solid ground.

That was until he got to the top and found Noctis's most recent hiding spot. The stray cat who kept turning up was there as well, curled up on the prince's chest.

Prompto quietly sat down with his back against the wall, giving himself a moment to breathe and ignore the fact that he was eighty feet up off the ground. His camera offered him a distraction as he scrolled through the pictures he'd taken and deleted the ones that turned out too blurry or were near-identical duplicates. Being near his best friend also helped calm the anxiety he felt.

They would leave for Altissia soon.

Prompto should feel excited about that. He had always dreamed of getting to explore beyond the Wall and see the beauty of the world beyond through the lens of his own camera, and Altissia was supposed to be the most beautiful of all! He would get to take so many photographs – well, hopefully. They weren't going for a vacation, after all.

But...

The more he thought about sailing across the Cygillian Ocean, the more dread he welt, welling up in his chest and threatening to choke the air from his lungs.

He couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was coming.

Maybe it was just his anxiety talking. Or it could be a side-effect of his powers. Either one would explain the awful nightmares that plagued his sleep, preventing him from getting more than a few hours of rest at a time.

Prompto looked over at Noctis, who was still sleeping soundly.

Their time at the chocobo post was short, and Prompto didn't have nearly as much time as he wanted to cuddle the baby chocobo's before Noctis whisked him out of sight for some extra training, while Ignis and Gladio were busy watching some of the races going on.

His magic came to him more easily each time he used it. Noctis expressed his own surprise at how quickly he was advancing, but Prompto brushed it off, remembering what Rhyos said about his body already being used to magic. With a little extra work, he learned how to craft his magic into a sphere shape, rather than the formless light he produced in the beginning.

Prompto wondered what Rhyos was doing and when he would decide to show up again. He hoped it was before they left for Altissia. There were even more questions he wanted to ask and hopefully the Astral would stick around long enough to answer some of them.

Maybe he was waiting until Prompto improved some more? Either that or he got some sort of glee out of making him wait.

Yeah. That second one sounded about right.

Prompto set his camera to the side and held his hands out, palms up. He guided his magic to swirl around, gathering until two golden orbs floated in front of him. He grinned, pleased by how easy it was becoming. With just a little focus, he could direct them to slowly fly around and move independently of one another.

The stray cat made a “mrrp” sound as she woke and watched the orbs with great interest.

“No, kitty,” Prompto said quietly. He pulled the orbs back to his hands and was about to absorb the remaining energy back into his body, when a voice cut through the air and startled him badly enough that they fizzled away.

“What are those?”

Prompto squeaked and twisted around to find Iris standing at the entrance, hands on her hips, and staring down at him with a determined expression.

“I, uh, what are what?” Prompto winced at his poor attempt at a cover-up.

Iris raised an eyebrow.

“Please don't tell anyone,” Prompto tried again.

“Hard to tell anyone when I don't know what's going on,” Iris responded lightly. She shut the door behind her and joined Prompto against the wall, casting a curious look over at Noctis. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Iris was truly a marvel. At only fifteen, she carried herself with such poise and maturity, even when faced with something unexpected, that it was easy to forget how young she was. Prompto supposed it was because she was from a long line of Kingshields and had also grown up in the citadel. Hard to relax and be a child with that amount of pressure.

“It's kind of complicated,” Prompto said, not sure whether or not he wanted to tell her everything. He still hadn't worked up the strength to tell Gladio or Ignis about it! Gladio would never forgive him if he told his little sister first.

Although, it would be good practice.

“Prompto has magic now.”

Or Noctis would take the choice away from him.

Prompto whined and tilted his head back, letting it thunk against the wall. “Dude, not cool.”

“I promised not to tell Gladio or Ignis, but you never said anything about Iris,” Noctis said as he sat up. He ran a hand through his hair, smoothing it out so it didn't look as disheveled after his nap.

“It was implied,” Prompto said crossly.

Iris looked between them apprehensively. “I can just, y'know, go and pretend I didn't see or hear anything?”

“No,” Prompto bit out. He sighed and sat up straight, forcing a smile on his face as he looked over at her. “I mean, I've got to tell everyone eventually, right? And you already saw it, so I'm not going to make you pretend you didn't.”

Iris relaxed. “Okay, well take your time. Or you can let Noctis explain...?”

“Noct isn't allowed to explain anything anymore, but it's like he said. I have magic now,” Prompto told her, taking charge before Noctis could say anything else. (Not that he looked like he wanted to. He was definitely avoiding looking anywhere near his friend after blurting out his secret.) “I fell into these ruins while we were helping out one of the hunters and found this, um, artifact and it gave me magic. Noctis has been helping me control it.”

Simplicity was best, right?

Iris didn't need to know every last detail, like the deal he made with an unknown Astral, or even that Rhyos liked to pop in unexpectedly to talk. Nor did she need to know about the nightmares that plagued his sleep ever since his illness. Even Noctis didn't know about that last one.

“Can you do anything cool with it, like warping? Do you have your own armiger? Not that the magical balls aren't cool, but...” Iris shrugged, apparently unsure of where she was going with her questions.

“No warping, no armiger, and excuse you but the orbs are super cool,” Prompto responded, hoping he came across as joking in the end. He grinned at her for good measure. “I dunno. I can almost make a shield, but I haven't gotten it to hold up against anything. It might have just been a fluke.”

“It's still impressive when you've only been practicing for a few days,” Noctis pointed out.

Iris looked awestruck by everything she was learning. “Seriously? It took Gladio three days just to figure out how to access the armiger and pull out the correct weapon.” She turned immediately to Noctis. “Do not ever tell him that I told you that. Anyway, I think I'm starting to understand why Gladio won't let me travel with you guys. You're both beacons for trouble. He couldn't handle the three of us running around, even with Ignis's help.”

Noctis chuckled.

“You won't tell anyone about this, will you, Iris?” Prompto asked, seized by sudden worry. “I'll tell them eventually. I just haven't figured out how. I will. Soon. In Altissia?” He winced and shut his mouth.

“I think you're making a bigger deal of this than you need to, but I'll keep it a secret for you,” Iris promised. “And because I'm so awesome, I'll let you practice how you're going to tell them on me! It'll be fun!”

Prompto wasn't sure that it would be fun at all, but it was nice of her to volunteer.

Iris grinned at him, taking his silence as agreement. “I'll even do my best impression of Gladio! I'm pretty good at it, right, Noctis?”

“I dunno. I don't think you've got that patented grumpy stare down yet,” Noctis said thoughtfully.

Iris proceeded to prove that she was very good at impersonating her brother, though the glare looked wildly out of place on her sweet face.

-----

A woman with fiery red hair woven into intricate braids led the way down a well-lit passageway. Water flowed down the tall, white stone walls and pooled along the sides, but never moved closer to where she walked. She was draped in blue silks decorated with golden symbols, and the fabrics flowed as she moved towards a massive door.

Behind her, a crowd of people slowly followed, leaving proper space for those carrying two white caskets, one behind the other. All were silent.

The towering white walls were bathed in the golden light of the sun, though as it began to set, shadows rose from the floor and began to cover the walls. Neither the woman nor the procession behind her faltered in step.

The door, with bands of gold representing the rays of the sun, over which a bird with rainbow feathers was placed, began to shimmer with a red light. It spread across the walls, lighting up hidden symbols, and the door soundlessly opened.

A melodious hymn filled the halls as they began their descent into the depths.

At the end of the procession was a familiar man with long dark hair and red eyes.

“Rhyos?” Prompto gasped in bodiless form.

As though he heard him, Rhyos turned to look around. When his eyes met Prompto's, everything went black.

Lady Lunafreya appeared in the darkness and Prompto opened his mouth to scream a warning, but no sound came out. He was forced to watch, helpless, as a featureless figure stabbed her in the side and red spread across the fabric of her white gown. She fell back and her trident slid form her grasp.

-----

Prompto gasped for air as he woke, tears streaming down his face. He sat up and pulled his legs to his chest, trembling as he tried to silence his sobs.

Nearby, Noctis mumbled in his sleep.

It took him a few minutes to calm down, but even as his heartbeat slowed to a normal pace, he knew he wouldn't get back to sleep that night. He lifted his head from his knees and that was when he saw the figure sitting near the window, moonlight illuminating his form.

“Rhyos,” Prompto whispered, too drained from his most recent nightmare to feel surprise.

“I apologize for visiting at such a late hour, however it came to my attention that things are progressing more quickly than anticipated.” Rhyos gave Prompto no chance to respond. “There has not been a wearer of the crown who experienced visions like yours since the height of Solheim power. Why did you not tell me?”

Prompto glanced worriedly at Noctis, but his friend showed no signs of stirring. “They're just nightmares. It didn't seem important,” he whispered.

Rhyos narrowed his eyes. “You speak of more than the funeral you glimpsed. Tell me about this nightmare of yours, and do not worry about your prince. He is a heavy sleeper.”

That didn't mean Prompto wanted to risk waking him up, but he also couldn't let his chance to talk to Rhyos go to waste. “I keep seeing... someone getting hurt. Someone important,” he said, being purposefully vague.

“You will need to be more detailed than that.”

Prompto closed his eyes. “I keep seeing Lady Lunafreya being stabbed. I can't see who's doing it or where she is. It's like I'm floating in this dark void.”

“It is not unusual for visions of a probable future to look that way. Nothing is set in stone and there is always the chance that the future can change. If you are seeing something, it is either to prepare you for what is coming or it is a hint of something that needs to be changed,” Rhyos explained. “Visions of the past are more clear.”

Visions.

Nausea roiled in Prompto's stomach and he took a moment to try and calm it down. His thoughts wailed profanities.

Lady Lunafreya was in danger and he didn't have the first idea of where or who the threat was. Was he not meant to know? Was it like Rhyos said and the vision was meant to prepare him for what was coming?

No.

Prompto refused to let that be her fate.

There had to be something he could do. His powers had to be good for more than just killing daemons!

“How can I stop it from happening?” he asked.

“The visions themselves will ease up now that you understand their warning, but it is likely you will occasionally glimpse moments of the past. Some are to help you in your life. Others, such as the one you had tonight, are because of me,” Rhyos said.

Prompto frowned. “You sent me that vision?”

Rhyos shook his head. “Not intentionally. It was a moment I was dwelling heavily upon. The crown and I have a connection and it likely picked up on that.” He paused for a moment. “Perhaps the next vision you have will be the creation of the crown. I think you would enjoy that one.”

As long as it let him get a proper night of sleep, Prompto wouldn't complain. He took a deep breath, trying to remember the questions that he forgot to write down. “Um, so... are those all of them? The visions and the magic, I mean. Or should I prepare for anything else because of the crown?”

“Your magic will continue to grow stronger, as will your control over it, but I cannot say for certain what other abilities the crown will grant you. It decides for itself who is worthy and of what,” Rhyos said as he stood up. “Long ago, I granted it to the Kings of Solheim, blessing it with the power so that they may protect their people. Now it is in your hands. The power you now possess will enable you to protect your people; those you care about most. That is its foremost function.

“It is not a tool of war, nor of greed. A lesser mortal could not command the abilities to come forth. What you have been granted is a mark of the purity of your soul. Of your desire to do good.”

Prompto could feel the burn of Rhyos's eyes on him. “But I'm not anyone special.”

Rhyos smiled. “And that, perhaps, is why you are the perfect candidate.”

“And what of the cost?” cut in a new voice.

Even Rhyos looked surprised as Noctis sat up and ran a hand through his hair. Dark eyes met red, and the Astral gave a respectful bow.

“What ever do you mean, Prince Noctis?” Rhyos asked.

“There's always a cost,” Noctis said, wholly serious. “I've spent my whole life watching my father's life be drained away. I know what it feels like to ask an Astral to come to our aid. What is the cost that Prompto pays for all of this?”

For a moment, Rhyos did not speak.

Prompto looked between them, wondering if he should be the one to break the silence, but he was curious too.

Rhyos smiled, his expression more gentle than Prompto had ever seen. “Worry not, young prince, there is no price to pay. That crown will not drain his life away nor make him grow weak. I always preferred lifting my chosen people to new heights rather than limiting what they can do.”

Relief washed over Prompto. It hadn't been one of his worries until Noctis brought it up, but the relief came nevertheless.

“I fear my time with you is coming to an end. I would hate to be the reason you lose anymore sleep than you already have,” Rhyos said. “There is one last thing I need to speak with you about, and that is your voyage across the Cygillian.” He waited until both of them were paying attention before continuing. “Altissia is the domain of Leviathan and her favored Messengers. It is not a place where I am welcomed, and as such, I will be unable to help you as long as you are there. Both of you, be cautious. The Tidemother's memory is long and her mood changes with the ebb and flow of the tide itself. Prove to her your strength and she will aid you. Fail and she will devour you.”

“Bleak,” Prompto commented.

Rhyos grinned. “I look forward to your return.”

The last thing Prompto remembered was Rhyos walking across the room and the feeling of warm fingertips against his forehead. Comfortable darkness rushed to greet him and he sank into the depths of slumber, where only pleasant dreams awaited him.

#final fantasy xv #ffxv #prompts #fanfiction #The Sun Prince #slow burn promptis #solheim magic

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sea-side-scribbles · 4 years

Text

Fanfiction: Sympathy For A Downer

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22737214/chapters/56070106

Chapter 11:

The next morning Nick woke up to the touch of soft hands that gently shook him awake.

„Nick?“, he heard a female voice whisper. Dizzily, he turned around and found a pleasant surprise. „Kitty?“

„Nick, it’s already late in the morning. I’m afraid you can’t stay any longer, he’ll become suspicious….“, the woman said with a worried tone.

Nick looked around, having no idea how he got here. But it hadn’t been a bad idea after all.

„Nick?“, Kitty insisted because he kept daydreaming.

Finally he pulled himself together, let his hand run up and down her arm and whispered: „What a pity…“

Kitty gave him a pining look. „Well, you can come back any time…but I’m afraid not in the shop anymore. Richard keeps the key to the back door now.“

„Don’t worry, I’ll find a way,“ Nick assured her and pulled her into an intimate kiss.

„Bye, my love, until next time.“

Then he left the bed and climbed out of the window, being glad that it led to a backyard. He didn’t want to meet Richard Bates at all. Still, he had to smile at his own cheekiness, at getting caught by Bates the one day and yet coming back the day right after. Poor Richie. But Nick viewed it as revenge for leaving him at the convention.

When he reached solid ground again he went back to the hotel, planning to take a long hot shower. Back in his suite he was glad to find his badge of Blackberry Joy lying on his bed. He hoped he wouldn’t get separated from it again as he popped one of the delicious black pills before he entered the bathroom. While showering he remembered the mysterious melody that Morrie had played. Humming it quietly he noticed there was something wistful and melancholic about it. Nick thought it fit perfectly to a mood he sometimes had himself, even though he would never admit it to anyone. He wasn’t sure how to turn this into a song a decent Wellie would like though. They preferred the happy songs.

Nick hummed „Anytime you smile, baby,“ until he recalled that it was Birdie’s song and fell quiet immediately. It gave him a cold shiver even in hot water. He now hoped that Morrie’s efforts had been successful. Beacon or not, he had defend himself from the wave that was about to run him over. Before he went back to Morrie he wanted to breakfast first. If Morrie had really gathered the whole band he needed all his energy to talk to them.

In the lounge he saw Virgil again, sitting at a table all alone this time. His gaze fell at Nick and he beckoned him over.

„Morning, Virgil“, Nick approached him.

„Morning, Nick, did you get my message?“

Nick shortly thought about it.

„Uh…I don’t think so…But you can tell me now anyway, right?“

„You old band is here,“ Virgil revealed to him. „…and they are waiting for you.“

Nick felt his heart beat faster.

„A..and you? What will you do?“, he stuttered, hoping for some support.

„I’m enjoying the show for now.“, Virgil said calmly. „Do your best.“

„S..sure.“ Nick suddenly felt dizzy. He hung about the buffet to help his courage with some champagne.

„Now seriously, what are we doing here?“, Brad Wilson, the former drummer of The Make Believes was skeptical.

„We’re taking the chance to get a free breakfast in the great Avalon,“ Chris Ward, the lead guitarist, looked at the bright side. „No matter what Nick’s gonna say.“

„If he even remembers. If you ask me, he’s already up and away to another sweet bird,“ Brad guessed.

„No one asked you though,“ Morrie stated, who had been rather serious and silent all the time. The others exchanged glances.

„Morrie…“, Matthew Reid, the bassist, began in an emphatic tone.

At this moment they spotted Nick hanging around at the buffet.

„Oh, there he is,“ Chris said.

„I told you he’s serious,“ Morrie blurted out, having a load taken off his mind.

„Doesn’t look like he’s in a hurry though…“, Brad noticed, causing Morrie to jump up.

„I’ll get him,“ he said and walked up to Nick.

Nick already spotted out of the corner of his eye that someone approached him and prepared himself for running away if necessary. But then he recognized the man.

„Morrie“, he greeted him, „I was just about to look for you…“

Morrie came close enough so they could talk quietly.

„They are here. Chris, Brad and Matthew. They’re waiting for you.“

„I know, but first, I need a drink,“ Nick pointed at the buffet.

„You can’t be serious,“ Morrie hissed and gave him an intense look.

„I can’t do this when I’m sober!“ he almost whined.

„Just tell them what you told me and you’ll be fine,“ Morrie urged Nick and tried to shove him towards their table.

„Wait, they don’t know? What did you tell them?,“ Nick struggled out of Morrie’s grip.

„Not much. I only said that you want to talk to them,“ Morrie said definitely.

„You didn’t tell them anything?“, Nick now sounded even reproachful and that made Morrie’s patience snap.

„You thought I’ll serve them to you on a silver platter, all happy and eager to play again, and you don’t have to do anything yourself? Actually, it would’ve been your job to look for them, but out of sheer kindness I’ve spared you that part.“

Seeing how upset Morrie was, Nick’s defenses broke and he realized his mistake.

„You’re right“, he said and carefully put a hand on Morrie’s shoulder. „I’m sorry.“

He quickly let go of him and they shortly locked gazes. Nick had to fight the urge to kiss the other man. Morrie gave him an understanding look and a little nod, before Nick finally walked over to the table.

Seeing his old band again made Nick feel more than nervous. He hadn’t talked to any of them since he had left them to start his solo career. Perhaps there had been some arguments with some of them afterwards but it was nothing he really remembered. He could only guess what they felt and what they thought of him after all this.

„Hey, guys,“ he said clumsily and hoped they were in a good mood.

„Hey, Nick“, Matthew answered quickly, „I’m surprised you even remember us.“

„Why would I forget you?“, he tried to stay positive, even though he knew it happened.

„Perhaps because you were too busy playing the the great famous star after fucking us over?“, Brad spat the truth at him and Nick instinctively made a few steps backwards.

„And now your burned-out and lonely and you remember how nice it was to have friends,“ Matthew added.

„Or you need our ideas to get back into the charts,“ Chris topped it off and the three now stared daggers at him.

„No, no, no, it’s none of that,“ Nick assured and held up his hands in defense, „it’s not about the charts…I just want us to be a band again…“

„Us?“, Brad blurted out, „we’ve always been a band, Nick, it was you who wanted to be the only star!“

It was just as horrible as Nick had feared it to be, three against one. And Morrie had obviously decided to stay out of this, so he had no help.

„Listen, I regret that I left you behind. I miss you all…“, he began again, trying to remember how he had convinced Morrie.

„Just when your light starts to fade, what a coincidence,“ Brad commented.

„To be fair, it was fading a long time ago,“ Chris corrected him. „You didn’t really make it without us, didn’t you?“

Nick desperately looked from one to the other and even though they sat right before him it seemed like they were miles away.

„Is that all that’s left of The Make Believes?“, he blurted out, „Just nothing but bitterness and hate? We used to be unstoppable power, a force of nature…“

„We were, until you decided it wasn’t enough,“ Matthew countered.

„I was wrong!,“ Nick almost screamed and the hotel guests began to turn their heads in disgust to were the noise came from.

„I was wrong,“ Nick repeated quieter, with his arms crossed. „And I’m sorry.“

He paused for a while and nobody interrupted him this time. When he spoke again, his voice was husky.

„Believe it or not, there was a time I accepted my fate. I would’ve been fine with slowly dying away, all alone and being forgotten. I’d just shut myself away, numb my senses and be happy for no reason until the end. But since I remember you… I can’t let go anymore. I feel like leaving you behind was my biggest mistake.“

It became more and more exhausting to speak but he went on.

„I don’t care if we hit the charts…I just wish I could be with you again…I didn’t even know how much I fucked up. We were so close…and I hoped I could do something to make it up to you. I guess I was wrong about that too…“.

He made another pause and everyone stared at him, stunned.

Finally he said: „I’m sorry I wasted your time,“ and turned around to walk away, with no greater wish than to lock himself up in his suite and drink up whatever he had left in the bar to forget what just happened.

Morrie watched him go, devastated that it would end like this.

„Nick!“, he shouted after him but Nick didn’t react. If only one of them wanted him back, it was pointless.

„Nick, now wait,“ Matthew suddenly shouted and Nick stopped.

„What?“, he shouted back without turning around.

„Come back.“

Nick turned around and looked at him.

„Why?“

The band shortly exchanged glances.

„We want to give this a chance.“

„Really?“, Nick’s eyes widened.

„Yeah, it could be fun after all. I got to admit I missed it too,“ Chris said in a softer tone.

„You’ve been fairly shit years ago, but perhaps you really changed,“ Brad managed to sound somewhat forgiving.

„The sweet-talker just wanted to say he loves you and he almost cried at your speech,“ Chris translated teasingly.

„Shut up,“ Brad hissed and the others giggled.

„Come on, stay,“ Matthew pointed at an empty seat and Nick finally came back and sat down, still wondering if this really happened or if it was just a wonderful dream.

„Have a drink,“ Chris offered and poured him the champagne he had missed all the time.

When Nick took the glass in surprise Brad asked: „I’m curious now. How did you imagine our reunion?“

Then Nick was embarrassed because he had made no plan at all. While he gulped down the champagne to calm down his jittery senses he felt someone stepping into the scene from behind him.

„If you don’t mind, I’d like to clarify the details“, he heard Virgil’s voice, to his relief.

„Look who finally got out of his corner,“ Chris mocked and everyone stared at Nick’s manager who had been theirs before he had turned them down for Nick. Only the two of them knew who’s idea it had been in the first place and they had kept their secret ever since.

Virgil kept his straight face.

„First, your band name. It should be ‚Nick Lightbearer and The Make Believes‘ again, I think you will all agree that this name will sell much better than ‚The Make Believes‘ alone. But that doesn’t mean that you’re the minor point. Everyone of you gets the equal amount of the profit, provided that you’re successful.“

„Hear, hear,“ Matthew commented. „Can we get that on paper too?“

„Sure, but there’s one condition: I want you to play at the open air stage in St. Georges Holm tonight, as a celebration of your reunion. You only need to play your classics - the masses will go wild enough when you make it right - and prove that you still have it in you.“

Everyone stared at him, wondering if they heard him right.

„Tonight already? Virgil, this is insane!“, Nick finally blurted out.

„We haven’t been playing together for years!“, Matthew added.

„I know, but you guys had always been better under pressure,“ Virgil explained with a superior grin, „You too, Nicky“, he pointed at Nick who winced at that.

„I want you to get your shit together.“

The reunited band fell silent again.

„Any other objections?…no?“, Virgil looked around the table. „So, I consider this a deal.“

#whf #we happy few #wehappyfew #nick lightbearer #fanfiction

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the-strikingzebra · 6 years

Text

Effie x Male Corrin support rewrite

This was commissioned by @crispytp who wanted a rewrite of Corrin and Effie’s support chain! The support chain is under the read more.

C Support

BOOM!!!

Corrin: “Huh? What was that loud noise? It sounded almost like an explosion.”

Effie: “HIYA!!! NNGRAAH!”

Corrin: “Effie? Is that you that’s making all the ruckus? What are you even doing?”

Effie: “Huh? Oh hey Corrin. I’m just doing my daily exercises.”

Corrin: “By, destroy boulders? With your bare hands?”

Effie: “Yep. I have to be as strong as possible.”

Corrin: “I’m impressed! Destroying boulders like that is certainly no easy feat. Out of everyone, I think you may be the strongest person in this army. Maybe even stronger than Xander.”

Effie: “Heh thank you Corrin. I’m making it my goal to be as strong as possible to protect Lady Elise. After everything she’s done for me, it’s the best way for me to pay her back.”

Corrin: “Pay her back? Pray tell, what did she do to earn your devotion?”

Effie: “Well I grew up in extreme poverty. My parents were gravely sick, and I had to make a living selling flowers that I used to find on the field. It didn’t do much, but every little bit helped. One day, while looking for flowers, I encountered Lady Elise, who was picking flowers as well, however at the time I had no idea it was her. She struck up a conversation with me and the two of us became close friends. We would often run around the streets, playing tag and having fun as children do. One day however, some Nohrian guards started to harass us. I pushed one of them away, telling them to leave us alone. This only angered them, as they drew their weapons on us. Lady Elise was forced to reveal herself and demanded the guards to leave me alone. After that day, I never saw Lady Elise again. So, I decided that I would join the royal guard, just so I can get to be with her again. And now, I’m her retainer.”

Corrin: “Wow Effie, I had no idea that you lived in poverty, but Elise must have made your childhood much better, right?”

Effie: “She did. She’s the beacon of light in this dark country.”

Corrin: “I agree. Whenever Elise would visit me while I was growing up, I was always so excited to see her, knowing that my day was going to be filled with fun and games! She, as well as the rest of my siblings, helped me forget my dark and lonely day. She was the bright light of my dark childhood. I want to protect her the best I can.”

Effie: “Then let us protect Lady Elise together. We’ll make sure that no harm befalls her.”

Corrin: “Sounds like a plan to me.”

Effie and Corrin have achieved C Support.

B Support

Corrin: “Hey Effie!

Effie: *Munch Munch*

Corrin: “Umm good job on that last battle!”

Effie: “Mmph?” *gulp* “Oh hey Corrin, you’re just in time for my post workout snack!”

Corrin: “T-that’s a snack?! That’s a whole meal for twelve people!”

Effie: “Well I gotta get all my energy back somehow. My muscles can’t grow without an empty stomach.”

Corrin: “Well… I suppose that’s true… Anyways as I was saying, good job on the last battle!”

Effie: “Thanks, you did quite well yourself.”

Corrin: “Yeah, I’m still in shock at how well you took that huge blow meant for me. That strike would have cleaved me in half, yet you shrugged it off like it was nothing but a mere pebble!”

Effie: “Oh that was nothing, I’ve tanked bigger blows.”

Corrin: “Whoa really? That’s impressive in of itself, but the way you sent the enemy flying with one hit, I’m still speechless about that. It was certainly a sight to behold.”

Effie: “Thanks Corrin, but you were pretty good yourself. Your fast-paced movements allowed you to protect Lady Elise from an incoming attack, and then me from a spell caster. It was like I was seeing you in two places at once.”

Corrin: “Haha why thank you Effie. Xander made it his focus for me to be as fast as possible, so that I can one day best him.”

Effie: “That sounds awesome! Being able to learn under the high prince of Nohr must give you great benefits.”

Corrin: “It does, especially when he’s your brother.”

Effie: “Hey I was wondering; do you think you can help me improve in the speed department? I want to be able to move fast enough so that I can protect Lady Elise from everything, no matter how far I am from her in the field of battle.”

Corrin: “Hmmm, I don’t see why not, as long as you promise to help me in my strength training. I want to be strong enough, so I can be able to take down the enemies that threaten my friends and family.”

Effie: “I can definitely help you with that. I can’t wait to get started. Are you ready to learn now actually?”

Corrin: “I’m always ready to learn!”

Effie: “Great, now…”

Corrin: “E-Effie?! W-why are you reaching into your armor?!”

Effie: “To get you something you need for training. Here we are, put these rocks in your armor and run ten laps around the camp. Then continue wearing them for the rest of training.”

Corrin: “R-rocks?! How will these help?”

Effie: “They’ll help you build your strength, now get to it and run!”

Corrin: “Y-yes ma’am!”

Corrin and Effie have achieved B Support.

A-Support.

Effie: Corrin. I need to talk to you.

Corrin: Ah of course Effie! What is it?

Effie: What the hell were you doing in that last battle?!

Corrin: Gah! W-what do you mean? A-and why are you yelling?

Effie: You took a hit that was meant for me. I would have been perfectly fine and continued the fight without a care in the world. I was really worried that you would have gotten seriously hurt or even worse.

Corrin: Oh that…

Effie: You didn’t need to do that Corrin, I’m just… glad that you’re ok.

Corrin: It’s no thanks to your strength training Effie. While it is a tad insane, I actually felt great improvement in my strength and resilience! I barely felt a thing from that attack.

Effie: Huh, well I guess that’s fair.

Corrin: Mhm, though you did leave Elise unprotected to cut off the enemy that was rushing at me.

Effie: Wait, you saw that?! That was in a moment’s notice, not even Lady Elise noticed that I was gone!

Corrin: Well you tend to notice these things if you’re a strategist. But you moved so fast that you completely blindsided the enemy. They never knew what was coming.

Effie: Well it’s thanks to your dexterity training that I was able to move so fast. I was able to take down the foe rushing you and return to Lady Elise’s side in what felt like mere seconds.

Corrin: Pfft ahahaha!

Effie: Eh? What’s so funny?

Corrin: Ahaha, I’m sorry, it’s nothing. It’s just that we both have grown a lot since we started doing each other’s training, and here we are, showing concern to each other for the others improvements to their strength.

Effie: Ahaha, I suppose you’re right. We have greatly improved upon our weak spots. I feel that we’re able to accomplish more on the battlefield and not just carry the burden of our jobs on ourselves anymore.

Corrin: Yeah, we have each other now to watch the other’s back, as well as Elise. With us together, I’m certain that no harm shall ever befall to Elise.

Effie: You got that right. Elise will be able to sleep comfortably at night knowing that she will be protected from any and all harm.

Corrin: Well, I’m pretty sure that Elise sleeps comfortably already, but I see your point. Let us continue to train together and build our strength to protect Elise.

Effie: You got yourself a deal pal.

Effie and Corrin have reached A-Support.

S-Support

Effie: Corrin, may I talk to you for a moment?

Corrin: Of course! Is everything alright?

Effie: Well as you know, I’m Lady Elise’s retainer, so my main focus should be to protect her on the battlefield.

Corrin: If you’re worried that you’re not doing a good job about that, then there’s no need to worry. You’re doing an amazing job!

Effie: Thank you Corrin, but that’s not what I was going to say. Lately, my thoughts have been about you and wanting to protect you Corrin.

Corrin: Effie?

Effie: I’m worried about you when you’re on the battlefield, and I want to protect you. During training, I want to become stronger for you so I can continue to protect you as well as Lady Elise.

Corrin: Oh Effie…

Effie: Now I’m worried because of this, I can’t protect Lady Elise to the best of my abilities. I’m unfit to be her retainer now…

Corrin: Effie, there’s no need to think like that. You’re an excellent retainer for Elise. You can protect both me and Elise at the same time with this simple solution that I came up with.

Effie: Oh? Well let’s hear it.

Corrin: Will you marry me Effie?

Effie: W-what?!

Corrin: After training with you, I’ve found myself wanting to be able to protect you too, I want to fight alongside you. Only then did I realize my true feelings for you Effie. I love you, with all my heart.

Effie: Corrin… I love you too, but we can’t do be together. I’m a commoner busy protecting Lady Elise and you’re a Nohrian Prince, you have a bunch of royal duties that you have to attend to.

Corrin: The “royal duties” that I do have I have Leo do, after all he loves all that political stuff. Plus, if we’re to get married, you and Elise would be sisters-in-laws, allowing you two to spend more time together.

Effie: Well… that does sound nice, but first I want you to hug me with all your strength while I do the same.

Corrin: Of course Effie, though may I ask why?

Effie: I swore to myself that I would wed a man who could match my strength ever since I started training. Plus I want to see the fruits of your training.

Corrin: Oh… well, I can certainly try my best.

Effie: Alright, on a count of three, we will give each other the tightest bear hug imaginable. 1, 2, 3! AAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!

Corrin: AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!

Effie: Whew… I’m surprised you actually survived that hug, I even felt a bit of discomfort from the hug too. You certainly are strong.

Corrin: Thanks Effie… *pant pant* but I’m no where as near as strong as you are… Your strength is one of the things I admire most about you as well as how you’re not afraid to speak your mind.

Effie: Thank you Corrin, it means a lot to me to hear you say that even though it is true that I am stronger than you. I love your huge heart though. How you want to protect Lady Elise, your siblings, and all your friends, no matter the cost. It’s what I love the most about you.

Corrin: Thank you Effie, I’m blessed to have you as my wife.

Effie: As am I to have you as my husband.

Effie and Corrin reached S-Support.

#Fire Emblem Fates #Fire Emblem #Corrin #Corrin (male)#Male!Corrin #Effie #effie (fire emblem)#Corrin x Effie #Support rewrite #commission #writing commissions #fanfiction

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vengfulfate · 6 years

Text

Rose’s Twins, Ch. 3

Did some tweaking and finally felt confident releasing this chapter.

Story Summary - Melanie and Miltiades Malachite have trouble with love. They share everything, and this has either scared people away or made them think their relationship was more open than the twins would wish. Then along came Ruby Rose… could she be the one the sisters have searched for?

Read Chapter 1 here

Read chapter 2 here

The next day Weiss resumed her studying at the desk. Ruby was zooming around the room, getting ready for a day on the town. She walked up next to Weiss and opened her mouth.

Weiss cut her off. “Before you ask, I’m studying today.”

Ruby was taken aback. “Um… I just wanted my scroll.”

Weiss looked next to her and saw Ruby’s scroll out of the redhead’s reach due to her sitting there. “Oh, I’m sorry.” The heiress handed her partner the scroll.

Ruby took it and took a few steps towards the door before turning back around. “What… was that about?”

“I just…” Weiss was hesitant to answer. She couldn’t seem to get anything right these days. “Every weekend for as long as we’ve been here, you have asked me to hang out in Vale.”

“And every weekend you turn me down.” Ruby pointed out. “I’m hanging out with Miltia today, Weiss.”

“Oh. Miltia. Right.” Weiss stared on. “Well… have fun!”

Ruby was almost out the door when what Ruby said caught up with Yang up on her bed. “Wait!” She shouted.

Ruby froze in place.

“When were you going to tell me you were on a date!?” Yang bellowed.

Ruby found herself becoming very red despite herself. “It’s not a date!” Ruby shouted.

“But you liiiike her!” Yang teased.

“Shut up, Happy!” Ruby scolded.

“Who is Happy?” Blake asked, and was completely ignored.

“I wasn’t even thinking about her that way!” Ruby scolded.

“… But you are now?” The blonde picked up.

“ONLY BECAUSE YOU KEEP SAYING STUPID THINGS!” Ruby screamed.

“How did you two survive growing up together?” Blake wondered aimlessly.

“Cause we’re sisters!” Yang answered proudly.

“Oh, that you heard?” Blake asked skeptically.

“I’m going, before I hear any more of Yang’s… urghh… stupid!” Ruby told her sister off.

Weiss stared at the door after Ruby left. “So… how long has she known, what was it? Miltia?”

“I dunno.” Yang shrugged, losing interest without having a sister to tease.

“Why do you care?” Blake asked. “You’ve always blown her off.”

“I’m just… worried.” Weiss didn’t know how to respond, and eventually returned to her studying.

“You’re worried about her?” Yang sounded unconvinced, “Since when?”

“She is my partner, Yang,” Weiss pointed out.

“You never cared enough every weekend before this,” Yang countered, only getting increasingly suspicious.

“I…” Weiss didn’t have any further rebuttal, and simply resumed her studying.

Miltiades was nervous about today. She was actually going to hang out with the girl both her and her sister were now crushing on.

“Heya! Hiii! Hello!” Ruby shouted, skipping towards Miltiades.

“Hello, Ruby.” Miltiades found herself smiling at the energy of the young girl.

“You’re wearing red again.” Ruby noted.

“What?” Miltia asked.

“Your dress. Last time you were wearing white. Now you’re wearing red again.” Ruby pointed out.

“Oh. Right.” Miltia responded, knowing full well she wasn’t the one wearing white. “Which do you like better?”

“I’d have to say the red. I’m kinda biased though. It’s my favorite color.” Ruby answered.

“I see.” Miltia smiled.

“What are we doing today, Mil-… Mill-Tie… uuuhh…” Ruby struggled to pronounce her name.

“I told you, Miltia is fine.” The red twin offered.

“Oh. When we talked yesterday, I kind of felt… Sorry…” Ruby nervously poked her fingers together.

“Ruby, I have to tell you something.” Miltiades confessed. Ruby took a step closer to show she was listening. “Yesterday… it wasn’t me you me you were talking to.”

Ruby tried to put the pieces together in her head. “You mean… on the scroll? Then how are you here…?”

“No, it was me on the scroll!” The twin quickly corrected, hoping she didn’t just ruin something.

“Then I don’t understand…”

“At the club. That wasn’t me.” Miltiades told her.

“What?” Ruby was only more confused.

“That was my sister.” Miltiades clarified.

“Your sister…” Ruby took a few more moments to put things together. “Wait, are you twins!?” Miltiades nodded. “Oh my god that is so cool! We should all hang out, the three of us! Wait, how can I tell you apart? Wait! You wear red, she wears white! I can totally tell you apart like that! This is gunna be so cool and very confusing for me and still VERY COOL what’s her name?”

“Um.” Miltiades was taken aback by the speed of Ruby’s speech. “Melanie.”

“Melanie and Miltia, sounds good!” Ruby smiled. “Anyways… what are we doing today?”

“I’m a little hungry… Breakfast?” Miltia asked.

“Well, it would be lunch for me,” Ruby nodded, “But sure!”

“Can I get the rest of this boxed?” Miltia asked the waiter at the end of the meal.

“Exactly half.” Ruby noted.

“Yeah, Melanie and I usually share a meal. She doesn’t eat a whole lot and I like to snack.”

“I see,” Ruby nodded.

The two girls had a pleasant lunch. They learned a lot about each other, and the world the other lived in. For example, Miltia never knew there was so much more to training for a huntress than learning how to fight. Ruby spoke a lot about her team, and Miltia knew she cared for team RWBY. Ruby also learned that bouncing a club didn’t include as much fighting and kicking people out as one would think. Miltia had a lot to complain about as far as idiots who hassled girls, danced like morons, and couldn’t hold their drink.

“It was nice talking to you today.” Ruby smiled. “It feels good to have a friend outside Beacon.”

“My day’s still young, if you still want to do something?” Miltia ventured.

“Like what?” The redhead asked.

“I dunno…” The red twin grew nervous. “Like a movie…? Or something…?”

Ruby smile fell, and her face turned to one of thought. “Miltia? Can I ask you something?”

“What?” The twin noticed the change in tone.

Ruby fidgeted with her fingers. “Was this a date…?”

Miltia froze. She couldn’t tell if Ruby’s tone was simply curious, or if it was opposed to the idea. “Do you… want it to be?”

“I mean…” Ruby thought carefully about her words. “To be honest, I probably wouldn’t be thinking about it if my sister wasn’t teasing me over it… but still, I have been thinking about it.”

“Ruby, listen.” Miltia spoke up. “Before you come to any decision about that, there’s something else I need to tell you. Melanie and I may not be stereotypical twins. We don’t have an exact personality, She likes white, I like red, I eat, she doesn’t, and so on… But we do still have that closeness. We’ve shared everything since birth. Everything.”

It took Ruby a good minute to catch on. Her eyes widened the moment it clicked into place. “Oh.”

“It’s been hard on us, finding someone who is comfortable with both of us, and content with only the two of us.” Miltia confessed.

“I… I don’t know, Miltia. It’s a lot to think about.” Ruby crossed her arms. She shook her head, intent on changing the conversation. “Do you still want to go to the movies?”

“I don’t think our heads will be in it.” Miltia confessed. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Ruby nodded, “but if we’re not doing anything else, I should probably head back to my dorm.”

“I’ll walk you to the airship!” Miltia offered immediately. The two girls paid for their meal and left, but the walk was awkwardly quiet. The bid each other farewell and the airship took off, leaving Ruby with a lot to think about, and Miltia praying she didn’t rush it and screw everything up.

Ruby walked back into the dorm, her face blank as she thought.

“Heya sis!” Yang called out. “How was your date?”

Ruby’s noncommittal grunt showed she barely hear her sister.

“Rubes?”

When Ruby passed Weiss, the heiress spoke up. “Are you okay?”

“Huh?” Ruby looked to Weiss. “Oh. Yeah. Miltia just gave me… a lot to think about…”

“What, she propose on the first date?” Yang asked.

“Nothing like that,” Ruby shook her head, her mind still barely there.

Yang raised an eyebrow. “Did you at least have fun on your date?”

“Yeah, we had a nice lunch,” Ruby nodded.

“Any plans for future dates?” Yang continued.

“Not yet…”

“Ruby, Yang just used the word date a half-dozen times and you haven’t said it wasn’t yet,” Weiss pointed out.

“Huh? Oh,” Ruby finally snapped into the present, “Well… I’m still trying to decide if it was.”

Yang noticed Weiss’s eyes widen.

“Does Miltia know you’re still trying to decide?” Blake finally spoke up, seeing room for her extensive, book-born romantic knowledge.

“Yeah,” Ruby nodded.

“Wouldn’t you be moving a little fast if it was?” Weiss suggested, trying to hide the unease in her voice.

Yang noticed. “Would it be too fast if Miltia was a boy?” she sneered, not hiding her resentment for Weiss’s previous display.

“Yang, stop it. Weiss is right,” Ruby told her sister, “I need to hang out with-… her, more to decide.”

Blake’s cocked eyebrow showed she didn’t miss the hesitation in Ruby’s sentence, but she decided not to ask. “You should tell her that, then. You have her number, right?”

Ruby: You there?

Miltiades: Yes

R: That was quick. Were you waiting for me?

R: Miltia?

M: No

M: Well… maybe

R: I was thinking about whether today was a date or not…

M: yes…

R: And I decided that… it wasn’t…

R: Hello?

R: Milita?

M: This is Melanie. Milita is in the other room.

R: I didn’t mean to upset her! Its not what it sounds like I swear!

M: Then what is it?

R: I just need more time to decide is all time with you both of you

R: I dont want to move to fast on accident or anything

R: I want to try being friends a while so we dont rush

R: please tell Miltia im sorry if I upset her im not good at talking to people

…

R: hello?

M: we seem to have that in common

R: Miltia?

M: I guess I should have asked you to clarify. I’m too used to these things going badly. I understand you don’t want to rush, and you’re right that all three of us should hang out as friends.

R: oh thank Oum… I’m busy the next few days… Thursday afternoon? That’s double token night at my favorite arcade.

M: An arcade sounds fun. See you then.

Ruby was smiling as she set the scroll back down.

“It went well?” Blake asked.

“A little rocky in the middle… my own fault…” Ruby admitted, “But yeah. We’re going to hang out at my arcade this Thursday.”

“Isn’t that double ticket night or something?” Weiss asked, surprising them all with this bit of knowledge. “What?”

“It’s just… How do you know it’s double ticket night?” Yang asked in return.

“Double token, actually,” Ruby corrected them, “But still?”

“You told me once, right?” Weiss reminded the redhead.

“Yeah, but…” Ruby rubbed the back of her head, “I didn’t think you were listening.”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Weiss shrugged, “We are friends, aren’t we?”

“Hey, Ruby?” Yang interrupted, “Have you finished that weekend assignment for Goodwitch yet?”

“Um, no, I was going to-”

“Great!” Yang grabbed Blake and Ruby and pushed them out of the dorm, “Blake can help you finish in the library!”

“Yang, what is- Yang!” Ruby cried as the door closed.

Blake stared at the closed door, the picture coming together in her head. “I think we should head to the library…” Blake tugged on Ruby’s arm and led the girl away.

“But what’s going on?” Ruby was utterly confused and never received an answer.

Back inside the dorm, Yang rounded on Weiss. “What the hell is up with you today?”

“What are you talking about?” Weiss scowled.

“You suddenly acting like you care about Ruby?” Yang scowled right back.

“I do care, she’s my partner. And my friend,” Weiss denied.

“You always blew her off,” Yang rebutted.

“She always asked when I was studying,” Weiss explained.

“You’re always studying!” Yang shouted, “I think this is the first day since I met you, that you haven’t had a book out on that desk while you’re in here!”

“Well… M-maybe…” Weiss started stuttering for a response, “Maybe I… I… regret not hanging out with her more, okay!?”

Yang gave the heiress a dubious stare. “Oh my god… I don’t know if that’s better or worse than I thought…”

“What?” Weiss questioned.

“You’re jealous,” Yang started to giggle.

“Excuse me?” Weiss crossed her arms, “My previous feelings about homosexuality aside, which by the way I am working on, I’m still quite sure I’m straight.”

“Oh, maybe it’s not a romantic jealousy,” Yang continued between chuckles, “But just as Ruby starts hanging out with Miltia, stops annoying you about going into Vale and being BFFs, you start to pull this crap? I mean, at first I thought you were trying to trip Ruby up because of your ‘previous feelings’.”

“That explains your… sisterly defensive, here…” Weiss worded it carefully, “but I am not jealous, romantically or otherwise. I just obviously didn’t know her as well as I thought. She’s my partner, I should have known she was… you know, into women.”

“You’re right, you should have gotten to know her better,” Yang shot, “She’s been trying to be your friend all year. If you really want to be her friend now, don’t start by questioning her and Miltia.”

“What if Miltia turns out to be no good for her?” Weiss pointed out.

“I taught Ruby was to look for in a toxic partner myself,” Yang informed the heiress, “and she’s not afraid to fight someone off if she has to. I trust her, and if Miltia makes her happy, then I’ll be happy for her. You should be too.”

Weiss bit her lip and nodded. As much as she was certainly not jealous, she couldn’t help but feel she had missed out on something nonetheless. But Yang was right, the best way to be Ruby’s friend now was to support her.

#rwby #fanficiton #rwby fanfiction #ruby rose #Melanie Malachite #Miltiades Malachite #malachite twins #ruby x twins

17 notes · View notes

ionchef · 6 years

Text

King of Anything - An Escaflowne Fanfiction

King of Anything

Act 1, Chapter 3

In which Celena curtsies and Allen drinks Martini.

It was quite rare that Fanelia's royals received visitors from the ruling family of other countries, what with the dragon infestation and all. It was also quite rare that the king was anything but thrilled about the attention public treatments of foreign relations would get in his precious free time. Except, maybe when the one visiting was a dear friend he'd known since childhood.

Only a few years his senior, princess Millerna Aston was the youngest of the ruling Asturian king's daughters. A tragic illness had taken the middle sister, Marlene, so the loss of a sibling was something which created an even stronger friendship between them.

Relations between Asturia and Fanelia were to be deepened a few years ago after Folken claimed the throne but then the whole fiasco with the rite of dragon slaying happened, so needless to say that whole plan went poof. It would have been easy enough. Millerna's older sister, Eries, was supposed to be wed to Folken. They would have made such a great pair and no wonder Eries was so completely down in the dumps about his death. Not only had they known each other since they were little, but they actually harbored real feelings for each other. A rare thing with such unions.

The strategy changed after that and Marlene's death. Eries was instead to take the Asturian throne since the laws were progressive enough to let a woman rule alone there, but she was too shook about Folken's death, even now still mourning after all these years. It was unlikely that Eries, although always appearing reserved and seemingly strong on the outside, would ever recover from her broken heart.

What a mood killer to think about it again right as the gates in the wall opened to admit the armored vehicle convoy. They were bringing in the visitors who had landed at the airstrip not far from the city perimeters. Luckily, no dragons had been sighted in the area around that time but just in case, a good number of the melef drones had been sent on patrol. The airstrip was really just a paved area in the woods with a few bunker-like hangars which housed equipment and the royal jet. Staff communicated with, and coordinated flights remotely.

Just like everything else, levi ships had also evolved over time to become aerodynamic, metal pieces of engineered ingenuity. They were still powered by levi stones at their core, but the energy was now being more thoroughly harnessed. Thanks to mechanical designers and progress in technology, they looked less like ships which sailed the oceans and were much, much faster.

If civilians wanted to travel to other countries, there were enough commercial services which overlayed in Fanelia for a short time but none had their home base here- no surprise there. On occasion, dragons could be spotted from high up in the air. Seeing one was kind of cool but only if one didn't consider the havoc they could wreak upon that small, pressurized, metal tube if given the chance.

When Van and Merle stood on the mosaic in the palace square, waiting to officially greet the royal envoy, the king couldn't help but grin a bit when noticing that Merle took special care to chew her gum as discreetly as possible to avoid it being taken from her. She was looking forward to seeing Millerna because they both were party girls at heart. He already dreaded this evening when they would drag him along to the Mystic Moon, Millerna's favorite place to visit when in Fanelia.

Van wasn't fond of the nightclub. Oodles of odd high-society folk liked to dance the night away there, usually several notches too imbibed. In the occasion that he did show his face there, women vied for his attention and men in positions of leadership or high office tried to pander to him without shame, hoping to reach new heights in their careers. As if a whiff of vodka from their mouths would sway Van in their favor.

More than once, he'd wished he could have just given them a firm nudge and watched them fall over to be collected by security but he couldn't be seen doing that. Even though, no doubt, many of them woke up crapulous the next day, memories slowly dawning on them about how they had embarrassed themselves in front of the king. Sadly though, he was the head of his country and required to treat people with respect. Even when they were drunk off their asses, especially if they were related to diplomatic offices from other countries.

But anyway, this was a problem for future Van. Present Van actually cracked a smile when he saw princess Millerna exit the elevators first and confidently make her way towards him as the forefront of the entourage. She hadn't changed much from the last time they'd seen her except that she probably was even more radiant. No wonder her father had her protected so well.

A whole group of guys in navy blue suits along with a younger woman in a white sundress tagged along not too far behind. The princess herself wore light pink, her favorite color, and the dress itself, although proper enough, still hugged her body snugly. With her long, wavy, blonde hair and periwinkle eyes, she was nothing short of stunning. Hey, nobody could blame a guy for noticing those things. She was standing right in front of them by now, after all.

As soon as elaborate greetings between the king, the princesses, and the officials concluded, some pictures were taken from the few press representatives who had been admitted. Then, the group was off towards the palace where everybody finally was able to relax again after the double doors shut tightly behind them. Millerna's high heels click-clacked even through the crimson carpet covering the marble floor before the three royals came to a stop.

Not able to contain her excitement anymore, Merle squealed and both women hugged tightly in a proper greeting which prompted another, rare smile from the usually reserved king. "I'm so excited you're here Millerna!" Merle exclaimed as the other princess hugged her back tightly.

"Me too!" Millerna replied and then held Merle at arm's length. "Wow, your hair is so different I barely recognized you at first glance. You look more mature."

"Oh but wait," Merle laughed and reached into the pockets of her blue etui dress, only to retrieve two rubber bands. While chewing on her gum more shamelessly, she made quick work of the pink tresses and in no time had them back up in a pair of trademark buns on top of her head. "Better?" She asked Millerna.

"Much better. Now you look more like the cute kitten I used to know," Millerna nodded, pearly whites showing through a satisfied smile.

Van snorted a bit with a slightly raised eyebrow at the comment. Sweet kitten? More like a sly fox at times. Oh well. Much love, though.

With so many unfamiliar faces behind Millerna, a few more introductions were in order. On cue, a guy with long, blonde hair and the only other woman in the group approached.

Millerna motioned for them to come closer. "Van, this is Allen. He is my new head of security."

The blonde guy bowed lightly at the waist. "King Van." He greeted politely. "Behind me are our pilot and my second, Gaddess, as well as Reeden, Kio, Ort, Pyle, Katz, and Teo," he introduced the rest of the crew who bowed in greeting.

"…and this lovely lady is his sister Celena," Millerna continued. "She may look innocent but don't let that fool you. She hopes to become a member of Asturian security too. Until then, she's permitted to trail along and shadow Allen and the rest of the guys."

Celena, the young woman in question, offered both Fanelian royals a perfect curtsy. "Your highnesses."

Merle immediately liked her, Van could tell. She nodded eagerly, sensing an ally and fellow party girl only waiting for a chance to show it. "You can call me Merle when we're alone. It's totally fine. I can already tell we're going to get along well. Just wait until tonight when you get your first taste of Fanelia out and about. We're all going to the Mystic Moon! It's the best nightclub in town!" Noticing Van's scowl, she elbowed him gently in the ribs. "It's going to be awesome. I'm there with my friends a lot but it's going to be even better with you all."

Van was fully aware of how well she was plowing through his lack of enthusiasm- with the unyielding strength of a pack mule. Really though, it was good to have Millerna and her together. One, because he was hoping that Merle would take on some of Millerna's more mature qualities and two, because having a friend like her around made the palace instantly feel warmer.

The Mystic Moon's location was easily visible from anywhere in the capital because of its sky beam. A solid, blue column of light shone straight up into the inky night sky like a guiding beacon and young Fanelians flocked to it on weekend evenings like moths to a lamp. Likewise, Hitomi, Yukari, and Amano were on the way there.

Being that it was a Saturday night, the streets were livelier still than during the week. Some restaurants had extended seating outside in the pedestrian zone and on sidewalks. Groups of people enjoyed a late dinner and friends sat together for a glass of wine and to talk story. Hitomi would have much preferred to do so too, but Yukari was too excited to see the club for the first time and Hitomi didn't want to be a downer. Even though the prospect of mingling with a crowd of strangers didn't appeal to Hitomi, she at least owed her best friend an attempt at fun.

So there they were, ready to party. While Amano was dressed not much different than usual, in a pair of slacks and polo shirt, the girls had taken the opportunity to wear things bought on a whim during shopping sprees which likely would never fit another occasion. Yukari sported a purple, strapless dress and was proud to have matched it with her favorite heels to ensure maximum dance capability.

Hitomi had, after some persuasion from Yukari, finally given in and cut the tag off a pair of hunter green shorts made from some velvet-like fabric she'd had in the back of her closet for longer than she could remember. They were tighter than she would have liked but now, with the tag off, she'd sort of committed to at least wearing them once. A pair of strappy, black heels in addition had even made her bestie whistle at the sight of her legs. Too bad her usual sneakers really weren't an option. Thankfully, combined with a long-sleeved, ivory, high-collar blouse, the outfit looked more classy than trashy.

The Mystic Moon was located in one of the old, historic mansions in old-town, not far from where they lived. It had been renovated on the inside and some on the outside, thereby keeping the original structure and charm of the building intact.

The line to get in already wrapped around the corner and by the looks of some of those in that line, they'd been waiting for a good while. Some left eventually when it wasn't moving for a long time or were turned away by the hostess for random reasons after finally making it to the front. Few attempted to hide the looks of disappointment as they walked off, apparently too casually dressed or not important-looking enough to be admitted.

All this waiting in line to be let into a club they were barely good enough for. This was starting pretty great already, Hitomi thought while wondering what the night was to bring. There was a separate line for those who were on the guest list. It made Hitomi feel weird to bypass all the other people but Yukari marched up to the hostess with such confidence she had to admire her.

The woman eyed them suspiciously when Yukari announced that they were on the guest list. She scanned their attire, taking her sweet time, then finally clicked her tongue. They probably reeked like peasant but Yukari was calmly smiling at her, imperturbable as always. When the hostess scanned the guest list, her red lips curled in a somewhat dissatisfied manner because she couldn't turn them away.

"Go on," was all she said and motioned for the giant mountain of a bouncer behind her to let them pass. He grunted in acknowledgment and used one of his meaty arms to pull open the nearest one of the brushed steel double doors next to him.

Yukari beamed at him in passing and Hitomi wasn't far behind, followed by Amano. Sound waves of a pumping bass hit them before their eyes adjusted to the visual overload that was the inside of the club.

In front of them, a buzzing mass of people was dancing and drinking, moving through a kaleidoscope of colors. Although the club was mostly dark, light emitted from the inside of glass tables, the structure of the bar areas in different locations throughout the club, and pillars that went all the way up to the tall ceiling made for an otherworldly kind of mood. It looked as if the place had been built with cosmic mortar and pestle. A big disco ball was mounted right in the center of the tall, vaulted ceiling and reflected the colorful lights around the club, casting stars across any surface it could reach.

"Wow," Hitomi allowed herself to say.

Yukari elbowed her, giggling. "This is awesome!"

Hitomi laughed. "Okay, this is pretty cool."

Amano couldn't help but admire the ambient too. While there were small tables to sit or stand by around the sides, the middle was reserved mainly for dancing and busy waitresses dressed in black expertly weaved through the crowd to deliver drinks to thirsty guests.

"Come on! Let's find Allen!" Yukari yelled in Hitomi and Amano's direction while taking her boyfriend's hand and already dragging him along. Hitomi followed them as they made their way around the side of the dancing crowd, dodging a few people who were so immersed in their moves they had strayed from the rest.

Allen had sent a message a few days ago, letting them know that they were on the guest list for this evening and that he'd be near the VIP area, mainly off duty with his second, Gaddess, in charge but still close to the princess just in case. Fanelia was known as extremely safe due to good diplomatic relations but being overly cautious never hurt.

"I see him," Amano announced, pointing to a set of three, wide steps straight towards the back. A long, red carpet was spread across the floor there and leading up the stairs with another hostess desk occupied by a duo much like that at the front door.

Not far behind the thick, velvet rope which separated the VIP area from that of the common people, a man in a dark blue suit with a martini glass stood half facing the crowd back there and half lazily scanning the area down where the three friends were. Although Hitomi knew that Amano and Allen were twins, seeing a nearly identical copy of Amano smile warmly at them was strange. His features were so strikingly similar.

The only difference was the hair. While Amano's was chestnut brown, Allen's was platinum blonde. It was the wildest thing. Hitomi tried to remember if the few times she'd seen Allen in younger years, his hair had already been this shade or if, perhaps, some hydrogen peroxide had been used to help with that.

As they neared the stairs, Allen lifted a hand in greeting. He moved to meet them halfway after the hostess stepped over to unhook the rope for him so he could exit the VIP area. His long hair trailed behind him when descending the stairs; and not without an obvious look of admiration from the hostess, Hitomi noticed. No wonder, Allen was quite the looker in many regards, tall and handsome like his brother but with a different style.

Allen deposited his Martini glass on a tall side table in passing, this one illuminated pink from the inside. The guys wasted no time in greeting each other with a manly hug and slapped each other on the back.

"Hey little brother," Allen greeted Amano.

Amano rolled his eyes. "Don't start that again. By two minutes…," he trailed off, shaking his head lightly, knowing that their never-ending argument already had a longer beard than Emperor Dornkirk of Zaibach.

Yukari looked back and forth between them, obviously a bit overwhelmed by seeing the two next to each other after four years. She snapped out of it when Amano placed his arm around her shoulders, thereby popping any developing phantasy bubbles involving the handsome duo and herself.

Allen took Yukari's hand, bowing over it in a formal gesture that was probably making her blush a bit, but who could be sure in that lighting. "It's been a while, Yukari. I see Amano finally had the guts to follow his heart."

That made Amano pull Yukari a bit closer against himself. "Better late than never."

The three laughed and by now Hitomi felt fairly awkward off on the side, pretending to be busy scanning the crowd during the reunion. She glanced towards the VIP area where Allen had just come from. There was a small but packed dancefloor with a bar on the right but on the left, even further back, bead curtains hung all the way from the ceiling to the floor. They looked like somebody had strung up diamonds but they certainly weren't real, or were they? Hitomi wondered what could be behind them. Probably a seating area to give the high society some privacy when chatting with each other or otherwise…occupied.

Yukari's voice reached Hitomi from the side. "Allen, do you remember…"

"Hitomi," Allen's voice rang clearly over the sound of the music.

She turned her head around and up to lock her eyes with Allen's. They were ocean blue and regarded her with curiosity. Just like with Yukari, he took one of Hitomi's hands but instead of just bowing, he kissed the back of it like he would no doubt for some highborn lady. Despite the absurdity, Hitomi couldn't deny herself some enjoyment out of the formality.

"How could I forget Hitomi. You were one of Amano's best friends, after all. It was my bad for not making enough time to hang out with all of you back when we were younger." Allen held on to Hitomi's hand for just a bit longer than necessary. "I'll be sure to make up for some of that tonight," he finished with a slight wink to emphasize his promise.

"It's good to see you again, Allen," Hitomi responded. It really was, although the sudden interest from his side was unexpected.

More conversation ensued after the four of them ordered drinks at the nearest bar. Yukari immediately wanted to know more about princess Millerna's schedule in Fanelia, of course, to which Allen simply smiled knowingly.

"Well, actually she is here tonight although you can't see her because she's somewhere in the crowd on the dancefloor up there. My crew is strategically placed around the area to ensure her safety. He said all this with aplomb, thereby earning him looks of awe from the girls and a proud nod from his brother.

"Didn't think she'd be here! I thought this was something like your night off," Amano said.

"A bodyguard is never really off duty, but she's cool with it. Underneath it all, she's really just a person like you and I and she has siblings too don't forget that. She insisted that I take the time to see you after I mentioned that my little brother lives in Fanelia." Allen twirled the stem of a new Martini glass between his fingers as he talked.

Amano combed several fingers through his hair. "Here we go again."

Yukari gripped his upper arm in a gesture that left no room for arguments. "You know what? It's way to amazing here to stand around and talk. Plus, I love this song so why don't we give that dancefloor a try?" She didn't wait for an answer and instead pulled Hitomi in front of herself, then pushed her towards Allen. "We even got the right amount of dance partners." Winking, she already had Amano's hand in hers and was on the way to join the crowd.

Hitomi smiled a bit nervously while smoothing her short hair behind her ears. She did like to dance but that was normally done at low-key parties with Yukari and not with a guy like Allen at the hippest nightclub in town.

"Shall we?" Allen asked her, extending his hand expectantly.

Well, she couldn't think of a tangible reason to say no. Not that she wanted to think of one.

While Merle, Millerna, and Celena danced their collective hearts out, Van was content to sulk moodily in their reserved seating area, nursing a glass of neat whiskey. The bass was pumping in his ears and even made the silly bead curtain separating their table and couches from the dancefloor and bar shake. At least he'd be left in peace here unless somebody choose to come looking, of course.

He ran a hand through his hair which was neatly combed and briefly wondered what it'd be like to come here incognito. Would he enjoy it more if nobody knew who he was? If he were to be able to hang out with a group of normal people? Like his…ahem…acquaintance from the coffee shop?

Damn.

He'd done such a good job up to this point to not think about her again. However, the tricky part when trying to not think about something was that he had to think about it to remind himself what not to think about. Considering that, he'd actually done a lousy job because it required him to think about her at least once a day.

Ha. Once a day? If only…

It also didn't help that just at that moment, he spotted a way too familiar face near the bottom of the steps. He could see her between the cracks in the curtain.

Damn. Damn. Damn.

If he hadn't been sure before, he definitely was now because she was staring right at where he was sitting, just she obviously couldn't see him behind the sparkly diamond fringe. Seeing her here was like spotting an island in a vast, wild ocean. She seemed a bit out of place but it wasn't due to her looks because she was by far more tastefully dressed than most of the women he'd fended off earlier this evening. She seemed out of place because this obviously wasn't her natural environment.

He saw Allen greet a guy who looked a whole lot like him, no doubt the brother Millerna had mentioned he was going to meet. And there was the other woman from the coffee shop. The one who'd been in line in front of him the other day, so excited about the upcoming visit to the Mystic Moon.

After some elaborate show of courtesies from Allen's side, the four went further away so Van couldn't see them anymore but now he certainly couldn't stop his thoughts from spinning. And spinning they were, around the image of a certain short-haired, green-eyed woman. Why couldn't he just stop thinking about her? Pondering this for a while, he then waved over a waitress who was only too eager to assist her king.

They were all out of breath when they ordered a new round of drinks at the bar. Despite everything, Hitomi had to admit that she was having a great time. Allen was a good enough dancer to make up for her level of ineptitude with his confident moves. A few gulps of water and more potent drinks later they were nothing short of stunned when the VIP hostess appeared beside them and told them that they had been invited to enter that area.

"Wait but who…," Yukari began to ask but the hostess interrupted her.

"Look, do you want to come back there or not? I don't have time for this," the woman said over her shoulder while already on the way back to her post.

Amano chuckled, "now that's a pure-bred Rottweiler. She hardly even needs the bouncer's help."

Shrugging, the quartet made their way towards the VIP area, albeit a bit weary still. The hostess stood and looked them up and down, much like her colleague outside while unhooking the thick, red piece of rope to allow them passage. She was clearly not in favor of having any of them except Allen in this area but couldn't do anything about it despite her position as a gatekeeper. Some higher power had overwritten her authority.

To Hitomi, the grass wasn't much greener on the other side. Except that people here were perhaps dressed even fancier, looked more self-important, and the drinks they held looked more expensive too. Half-full bottles of Champaign and liquor had been carelessly left on tables littered with overturned glasses and crumpled bills, including traces of white powder which looked a lot like cocaine. It instantly gave the term high-society a whole new meaning.

They stood there for a few minutes, looking around to take it all in again, minus Allen who was already used to it. Nobody paid attention to them and even Yukari was still a bit taken aback. She probably couldn't believe her luck about having the chance to come all the way to the heart of the club on her first visit.

They were still standing at the edge of the dancefloor when Hitomi looked behind herself and saw somebody she didn't expect to see again in real life. All the tumult receded and everything around her grew hazy like standing in a dark tunnel with him at the end. Aw crap.

Dressed in a black suit with the royal crest embroidered on the breast pocket, sans sunglasses and with his hair combed back, the king of Fanelia could hardly be mistaken for anybody else. A few people who'd been busy dancing in that area took a moment to stare and exchange some hushed words which were easily lost in the sound around them. Yukari, Amano, and Allen were still looking the other way, pointing at the bar, when he came to a stop in front of Hitomi.

Neither of them said anything until Van offered a "hello."

"Hi…," Hitomi answered in an equally awkward way.

Cue for the others to finally notice the person who'd joined them. That seeing the king of this very country suddenly stand a mere few feet away shocked them would have been an understatement. Well, everyone except Allen again, of course, who was merely surprised to see Van approach them.

"King Van," Allen acknowledged him. "Was there anything you needed from me?"

Van looked at Hitomi for another moment before shaking his head. "No." He then proceeded to kick himself mentally. He'd thought about what exactly to say but now it was all gone. Smooth. Real smooth. Distraction! Now! "Is this your brother?" He asked although it was quite obvious that the guy next to Allen couldn't be anybody but an identical twin.

Allen was taken aback that the king had decided to not only venture out into the open but now also showed interest in his family life. "Indeed, your majesty. This is Amano, his girlfriend Yukari, and their friend Hitomi." Allen introduced them all. "We all grew up together in Asturia."

Van didn't crack so much as smile, one hand clutching his glass of whiskey like a lifeline. Meanwhile, Yukari's eyes were still as big as saucers, words having failed her. Was this a dream? The awkwardness of the situation was completely lost on her. Hitomi, on the other hand, was close to bursting out in hysterical laughter. How was it that she kept stumbling into him?

Van nodded at the group as a collective greeting. "I saw you with them and thought it would be better to keep everybody together."

Amano was the first of the others to say something, shaking his girlfriend out of her stupor. "Thank you for the invitation, your majesty. Would you excuse us for a moment though? I think my girlfriend is thirsty." That said, he took her hand and coaxed her out of the semi-circle.

Hitomi could hear her protest a bit.

"Amano, why are you pulling me away? It's the king for Pete's sake…," Yukari huffed when they were out of earshot.

"Because you've been staring at him since the very first second," Amano laughed. "Calm down and we'll go back over there eventually, okay?" A mere warm, loving gaze from him usually did wonders in cooling her down.

Yukari rolled her eyes and nodded. "Fine. You're right. Thanks for making sure I don't say anything weird."

"Not a bad idea that with the drink," Allen said. "Hitomi, can I get you anything too?"

"Uh…sure," she answered.

"Your majesty? Anything?" Allen asked Van too.

"No. I'm alright," he answered and lifted his whiskey glass.

After Allen made his way towards the bar, it was just Van and Hitomi continuing their stare-off.

Hitomi finally laughed, but it was more because she was at a loss for what to say and do than actual amusement. It wasn't like this could get any more awkward. Enough shilly shallies.

The few drinks she'd had and the extravagant, overpowering atmosphere made her bold. "What now? Are we going to pass the time dancing? We know each other well enough after all." The absurdity of it all.

"No…I hadn't planned on it," he responded ruefully while taking in the sight of her in the party outfit. Although she looked glammy with the velvet shorts and high heels, the blouse gave her an aristocratic look and only underlined her natural beauty.

Even if he wanted to dance with her in a place like this, he couldn't. Not in a club where more than half the people were drunk, on drugs, or both. The possibility of somebody snapping a picture of him doing anything that would shame the royal house was too big. If was different when his little sister was spotted on the dancefloor. She was known as a party girl, a bit younger, and the darling of the media but he needed to be taken seriously at all times.

"Then…what am I supposed to be doing while we wait? Pretend to converse with you?" Hitomi asked him. "Like we just met for the first time?"

She was becoming impatient. Not many people would usually get away with talking to Van in such a way- it was quite sobering.

This was going absolutely not excellent. If only he could remember what he'd planned on saying earlier to smooth out the wrinkles.

Van scowled at her. She was testier than he remembered and his cheek tingled in remembrance.

Finally, another person saved them from their own stubbornness.

"Van! Look at you coming out of your hiding place!" A melodic voice proclaimed from the side.

"Millerna," Van said a bit gratefully.

"Who is this? Hi, I'm Millerna," she introduced herself, not even waiting for Van to do it.

The blonde was almost as tall as Van in her heels and shook Hitomi's hand eagerly. "Are you a friend of Allen's? I saw him here just a moment ago."

Allen was still not back and a quick look around confirmed what he had told them earlier. That Millerna's security detail was positioned at various places in the club. A guy in a navy blue suit was close by but still far enough away to give them privacy.

"Y-yes, your majesty," Hitomi said, the title feeling strange in her mouth.

"You don't have to call me that. At least not when it's just us. Call me Millerna," she offered.

"Uhm…alright…Millerna," Hitomi said.

By the gods. She was standing in the middle of the Mystic Moon's VIP area, talking to not just one but two royals, which doubled the number of royals she had ever talked to in her life.

"How do you know Allen? We haven't been to Fanelia in years, and even then it was before he became head of my security detail." Millerna asked curiously.

Hitomi felt a bit more at ease. The princess was clearly more laid back than she would have expected. "I'm actually from Asturia too. So is my friend Yukari. She is Amano's girlfriend. The three of us share an apartment here in town."

"What a crazy coincidence!" Millerna exclaimed. "Why'd you leave Asturia? Too boring because no dragons?" She joked.

Van stood next to them as the two women fell into an easy conversation. He was really quite relieved that Millerna had shown up. It gave him an excuse to look at Hitomi without the need to say anything at all. So far, he had only gotten himself in trouble or been a nuisance when alone with her. Not a great track record. Maybe it was better if there were other people and no disguises.

When Hitomi and Millerna arrived at another topic which they could bond over, both their eyes lit up. While Hitomi was nearing the end of her nursing education, Millerna was on her way to become a physician. She'd taken up medical studies despite her father's vehement protests and continued them even after Eries had threatened to abdicate after Folken's death, thereby making Millerna the only eligible heir in the event that she'd make her threat a reality.

Allen eventually came and delivered a drink to Hitomi but Millerna insisted that he re-join his brother and Yukari at the bar, which he did, albeit reluctantly. Hitomi had a feeling that Amano was keeping Yukari away on purpose still, to make sure the alcohol wouldn't prompt her to say things in front of the king and princess she'd later on regret. Millerna assured Allen that Hitomi and she were now best friends and that they had important things to talk about. The only reason Van was allowed to stick around was, well, who would tell a king to butt off? It of course also helped that he didn't say a word while the women were talking.

On the other end of the long bar, a guy with silver hair was playing absentmindedly with the ice in his empty glass. His eyes scanned the crowd without aim, watching people dance, laugh, and yell at each other over the loud music. Those fools.

Dilandau Albatou came solely for the people-watching and drink. Definitely not for the dancing and horrible music. Clad in a merlot shirt and black jeans, he was one of the more casually dressed people here. However, as a member of the Zaibach attaché corps, he never had trouble getting into the Mystic Moon no matter how he was dressed.

Reaching into a pocket, he retrieved a small plastic bag containing a single, white pill. Drugs weren't anything too uncommon here and the effects some of the stuff had on others was too entertaining to not sit back and watch. Sometimes, people did downright cringe-worthy stuff when high.

After ordering another round, he slipped the pill into one of two drinks in front of him before taking a sip from his own gin and tonic. He waited until one of the waitresses he knew well came by to load her tray with new orders.

Dilandau stopped the woman with the wavy, teal hair as she picked up drinks from the bartender. "Sylphy. I'm feeling generous tonight. Would you bring this to someone for me?"

"Sure. Who do you want me to bring it to?" Sylphy asked with a facial expression that suggested mild indifference.

Dilandau was regarded as a weirdo in certain circles. As an albino, his outward appearance was unusual. Pale skin, eyes the color of rosé, and nearly white hair weren't exactly what women would list as top desirable features. Although money had, more often than not, helped make them forget about that. It wasn't like he ever felt like wasting time with pleasantries in a woman's company anyway.

In his position, he enjoyed all the honors of a noble but was content to remain mostly antisocial. When he came to the Mystic Moon, he rarely left his favorite seat at the bar. The reason he was still a favorite among the staff was that at least he tipped well.

"Dealer's choice," Dilandau answered with a lazy grin. "Bring it to whoever looks like they could use it."

Shrugging, the waitress tossed her long hair over one shoulder before placing the glass on the tray, grabbing it and walking off into the crowd, weaving through it carefully.

Taking a big swig of his drink, he nearly choked on it when, very unexpectedly, a single finger poked his shoulder. Who the hell was dumb enough to approach him?

"Hey," a female voice demanded his attention.

"What?" Dilandau asked, obviously annoyed and not even turning around because he was trying to not lose track of Sylphy in the crowd. She was moving fast, doing her job well so he didn't want to miss who she'd deliver the drink to. Then, when he saw her finally zoom in on someone and hand the glass over, he was finally ready to deal with whoever had intruded his personal space.

"Did you just spike someone's drink?" The female voice prodded.

Even though many people in the crowd were on some sort of drug, they took them with intent. Dilandau whirled around and immediately backed away a bit because the young woman's face was closer to his than expected. Two pale blue orbs stared at him so accusingly that it made him feel naked on the spot. It was as if she was trying to read his thoughts.

When focusing on her more closely, he realized that she was around his age. He should be able to deal with that easily, or not? "No," he still answered calmly. "I spiked a drink. Not someone's. There's a difference." Dilandau regarded the young woman lazily, challenging her.

Her hair was cut the same way as his, although with natural waves. She wore a pair of thin, black palazzo pants and a lavender, silk, crop top. Where a lot of women liked to take the opportunity here to dress up to the nines, she looked like she was on her way to Sunday brunch. It gave her an air of sophistication and that made him a little curious.

Contrastingly, the girl was holding a fresh bottle of beer by the neck, apparently having stood not far away to order a fresh round for herself. Beer wasn't really the choice beverage of high-society girls. She was pretty and interesting so far, he had to give her that.

What he said made her frown. "Well," she said innocently. " Why would you spike a random drink?"

Dilandau chuckled. "Just sharing some Intensified Luck in hopes it will make someone's evening."

Brow slightly furrowed, the girl slowly said, "right. Because let me guess, you're a generous guy?"

Celena looked at him with an expression that was completely unfamiliar to him. Not outright disapproval about doing something fucked up like drugging a random person but instead bypassing the outrage and going straight about finding his motivation for it. That, in combination with her confidence about approaching a guy who was a stranger to her in a bar, made his skin prickle uncomfortably.

"Shit. You won't believe how many snappy one-liners I just forgot and because of that, I need to go." Dilandau said while getting to his feet and downing his drink in one large gulp while simultaneously grabbing a black sports coat from the back of his barstool.

In any other situation, he'd never be the one to back down. Who was he, to be scared of some naïve girl getting under his skin by merely looking at him? Even as he pushed past her, moving her out of the way with his elbow carefully but deliberately, she didn't make any attempts to follow him. At least, she knew what was good for her. The dancing crowd swallowed him in the blink of an eye.

Fuming, Dilandau ducked into the men's room. His evening entertainment was ruined for the time being. The audacity of this blonde bitch. He was so mad he kicked the silver trashcan sitting in the corner which earned him an annoyed glance from the guy at the urinal.

"What the fuck are you staring at?" Dilandau challenged him.

The guy shook his head, finished his business, and left the bathroom without washing his hands. Pig.

Dilandau walked up to the sink and braced his hands onto the marble washbasin. His own reflection stared back at him. Of course, he'd taken some of the Intensified Luck himself too but he already knew what it'd make him feel like. Like he was actually in control for once. Weird, because normally people took drugs for the exact opposite reason, to be able to let go.

His knuckles turned white as he gripped the marble surface harder and focused on his mirror image. The more he looked at himself, the more the resurfacing images of his surreal nightmares threatened to swallow him again. Hissing at his own image, he tore himself away and strode into the far-off stall, banging the door closed before locking it.

The smoke detector in the closed-off room was still damaged from the last time he'd broken it. He leaned his back against the side wall and reached for the pack of cigarettes in one of his pockets. After lighting one up, he inhaled greedily and then rolled up the sleeves of his jacket to be more comfortable. At least here he'd be safe from the curious, little inquisitor for a while.

Hitomi had lost track of time. At some point, a waitress stopped by and handed her a drink.

"But I didn't order anything," Hitomi protested while the waitress thrust the gin and tonic into her hand.

"It's from this guy at the bar," she explained and gesticulated vaguely towards it.

Over the woman's shoulder, Hitomi could make out Allen, Yukari, and Amano. Allen smiled at her from across the distance and she raised the glass in a toast before tasting it. It had obviously been sent by him- how nice. She was actually having a good time now even though the dark king was still next to Millerna and her, hanging out there like a soggy raincloud. After two more sips, she was glad about the refreshment even though she'd already had a few drinks up to this point.

Van was pretending to look as much interested as a guy could reasonably be expected to be when two women were conversing animatedly, not including him. But that was just fine with him. It gave him all the time in the world to glance at Hitomi whenever appropriate, drinking in the sight of her cheerful face more eagerly than the whiskey. Her genuine nature made him feel more at ease in the usually dreaded environment.

More time passed as the women talked about similar classes they'd had and shared stories of training rotations with obnoxious patients and shocking diagnoses. It was Millerna's turn to tell a story about a guy she'd treated in the ER who had thought it a splendid idea to mend a wound on his leg with superglue, which then necessitated them to soak the affected area in acetone.

Hitomi wobbled a bit and smothered a laugh with her free hand when Millerna talked. It wasn't actually that funny but an unfamiliar feeling in her head stole away her ability to keep it together. "'Scuse me for a moment please," Hitomi said and stepped away as gracefully as possible. What in the hell was wrong with her. She hadn't had that much to drink, or did she?

She stumbled into the VIP restroom where the sound of music was more muffled and the light was brighter, aiming for the sinks. Two other women were in there, fixing their flawless warpaint and giggling amongst themselves. "…sooo hot in that black suit and I can't believe he's here tonight."

Hitomi stifled a groan as she put down her drink and turned on the faucet to splash cold water onto her face, not caring if it would smudge her own, much less elaborate makeup. The cool water helped her focus again better. As far as she could tell from her reflection staring back at her, she looked fairly normal. Phew. At least she wouldn't embarrass herself completely if she went back out there to let her friends know that she would be leaving.

The two high-society girls brushed past her with envious looks on their faces, one whispering something into the other's ear without Hitomi even taking note. Right. Good. So that was the way out. Kind of hard to tell with all the light and glitz in there. All she had to do was follow them. Back out into the cosmic darkness of the Mystic Moon. The difference in lighting and intensity in sound after the brief stop in the restroom hit her like a brick wall against the head. She was feeling worse and worse by the minute and the refreshing effect of the cold water had worn off fast.

She wobbled again, looking around but everything appeared strange. It was as if she had fallen through a rabbit hole and been spit out in another dimension. Faces were blurry and bodies moved too fast for her to follow. Walking felt like having to wade through molasses. She stumbled to the other side and reached the area across from the bathroom doors where a polished shelf along the whole length of the wall was meant to hold drinks for those whose hands were otherwise occupied. Only a few steps away, a couple made use of just that and had abandoned their champagne glasses while thoroughly exploring each other with hands and mouths.

Hitomi reached out to place her half-empty glass onto the shelf but, in her delirium, misjudged the distance. Only halfway on the secure surface before she let go, the glass fell and shattered, sending shards of expensive crystal, ice, and booze flying. Some splashed on her toes, some on the couple's legs and ice went sliding across the floor. They only spared a moment to shoot her an annoyed glance before stepping away further and resuming their previous activities.

In the meantime, Hitomi could do nothing but stare at the floor, dumbfounded and utterly at a loss for what had just happened. As if hypnotized, she stood in the same spot for what felt like an eternity before she, even despite the blaring music, heard glass crunch under the soles of, no doubt, expensive shoes and felt a firm hand on her shoulder.

Tbc...soonish.

A/N: Really, I had nearly 19 pages written already but decided to cut it off sooner for my own sanity. That said, ch 4 (or rather chapter 3, part 2) shouldn't be as long as this update. Alas, real life often gets in the way.

Thank you to everybody who's taken the time to review. It's motivating, as you can imagine. Keep it up!

Until next time!

#KOAescaFF #escaflownefanfic #the vision of escaflowne #escaflowne

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brokenmimir · 6 years

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Unmasked

White Rose Week 2018 Day Seven: Trust

Despite being allies in the endless war on crime, and even though they've been dating for months, Speedgirl, Vale's Fastest Girl, and the White Witch, the Modern Mistress of Magic, have never revealed their secret identities to each other.

Maybe it was time for that to change.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/14947469

Ruby sat on the edge of the building with her booted feet kicking and a pout on her face. She was wearing her new costume, the one her girlfriend, the White Witch, had had made for her before she'd agreed to start dating, having claimed that her old one was too embarrassing to be associated with. It was a skintight black bodysuit with large red panels like oversized racing stripes, with a red corset and black with red trim skirt over it. In addition, she'd insisted on wearing her red hooded cloak over it, and of course she on her all important red domino mask to conceal her secret identity.

Normally she was excited every time she wore the costume her girlfriend had had made for her, but tonight she was still down in the dumps. It had been a long, long day, and the evening wasn't getting any better. She had hoped to beat up some bad guys and then spend some time making out with her girlfriend, but it was starting to look like both activities might be a bust.

It'd been her first day at college, and she'd been so excited to start that morning that she'd hardly been able to sit still. Her sister had actually had to warn her several times to stop vibrating so hard, as it was becoming obvious that she had superpowers. She just couldn't help it, though. She'd been a total nerd that nobody besides her sister hung out with at Signal High, but Beacon University was sure to be different!

However, before she'd even managed to find her first class she'd had the worst encounter. The white haired girl had been meaner than most super villains, yelling and screaming at her for knocking her over, and, well, okay, so she'd been running a little bit, and maybe she'd been almost using superspeed, but it'd been an accident! She didn't have to yell like that!

Then to make things worse, she'd had several classes with the crabby white haired girl, and she'd glared at her and been mean to her all day long. It was the worst, and she'd just wanted to have a fun evening as Speedgirl, Vale's Fastest Girl (and she really should've run her name by her sister before selecting it when she'd made her first costume and captured Torchwick back when she was thirteen). She just wanted to spend time catching bad guys and hanging out with her girlfriend!

Just as she was about to give up her evening as a waste she heard a cry for a help, and she jumped down and ran off with a blur, leaving behind nothing but a trail of rose petals as she sought out the danger. She turned a corner into the alley she'd heard the scream come from, ready to take down the bad guys when her feet went out from under her. She found herself tumbling across the ground until she slammed into a brick wall, leaving her dazed.

“Well, well, well, little red, looks like you fell right into my trap,” Torchwick said as he pointed his trick cane at her, thumb hovering over the button that would launch heat seeking missiles at her. Just past him were two of his thugs, who were currently holding a woman hostage.

“Let her go, Torchwick!” Ruby shouted, although she didn't dare try to stand up. The entire alleyway had been littered with marbles, which is what she'd slipped on, and they would prevent her from using her super speed in time to avoid getting blown up by his rocket.

“Hmm… how about no,” he said. “She's my leverage, and the second you figure out a way around my trap I'm going to need her to stop you from causing even more trouble.”

Behind the two mooks holding the hostage a glowing, snowflake-like glyph appeared in midair, before two bolts of white, glowing energy flew out of them and slammed into the back of the thugs' heads. Two more glyphs caught them before they hit the ground, and dropping down onto a fourth to catch the woman was the White Witch.

Ruby's girlfriend had been a superhero for almost as long as she had, first appearing in Vale stopping White Fang gangsters as a young girl. Unlike Ruby's superpower, the result of a mutation that she'd first activated when she was five, the White Witch had studied magic from thick, boring grimoires to learn her craft. It gave her amazing power, but it came with strange limitations and inconsistencies, and meant that she had to study and prepare in advance before doing anything, which meant that she lacked Ruby's flexibility in the face of the unknown.

As always when seeing her girlfriend Ruby wanted to grin happily, although she was forced to hide that reaction as Torchwick was still looking at her. The White Witch wore an outfit resembling a figure skater, with a white skirt that showed off her incredible legs, high heeled white boots, and a white bolero jacket with red trim, something that had been added to her otherwise all white look when they'd begun dating. She had long white hair in an off center ponytail held in place by a tiara, and a white domino mask on her face. Despite never having seen her without her mask on, she was easily the most beautiful person Ruby had ever seen.

“Now, what you're going to do is put on these handcuffs, and if you cause any trouble it's lights out for you and the hostage,” Torchwick said, tossing her some handcuffs.

“But… you look so much better in handcuffs!” Ruby said. “Are you sure you don't want to just save yourself some trouble and put them on now?”

“Are you missing the situation, little red?” Torchwick asked. “I made sure to send Neo off to cause a big enough distraction to drag your little girlfriend to the other side of the city, and with that flaming idiot and her cat girlfriend fighting The Bull downtown, you're all alone. So, if you don't want… what was your name again?”

He turned around to face the hostage, his body slumping when he saw the unimpressed look the White Witch was giving him as the hostage ran away. “Oh. Well… not the face?”

The White Witch smiled coldly and snapped her fingers. The next glyph was blue and released a wave of ice, which froze his arms and legs into place. “Did you really think a trap that sloppy was going to distract me?”

“I could hope,” he said before his teeth started to chatter.

“White!” Ruby cried, scrambling to her feet, and after a few false starts caused by the marbles she wrapped her in a hug. “Thank you!”

“Of- of course,” White said, before clearing her throat. “And really, how much of a dunce are you? This was clearly a trap, and a very poorly fashioned one at that!”

“Hey, it worked,” Torchwick defended with a pout.

“Only because she's clearly mentally defective,” White said. “Seriously Speedgirl, you were beaten by marbles.”

Ruby pouted. “But… I knew you'd save me.”

White rolled her eyes. “Dolt. Come on, I already called the cops, let's get out of here.”

Ruby tried to run again, only to slip and fall over more marbles. Before she could hit the ground a glyph caught her, and with a sigh the White Witch carried them both to a nearby rooftop with her magic so that they could keep an eye on the criminals until the police showed up. Once they reached solid ground again Ruby sat right next to her girlfriend and cuddled into her side. White blushed bright red around her domino mask, but leaned into the embrace anyway.

“Thanks for saving me,” Ruby murmured.

“Of course,” White sniffed. “I've invested far too much time into this relationship to let you be taken out by Torchwick.”

Ruby sighed. “You would not believe the day I've had.”

“Oh?” White asked. “It can't have been worse than mine… other than getting beaten by Torchwick of all people. There was this complete dunderhead… ugh. I don't even want to think about her.”

“I'm sorry,” Ruby murmured. “Really though, I had the worst day… I just wanted to do this since this morning. Just… cuddle with you. I wish…”

“What?” White asked.

“I wish we could do this… without having to find each other,” Ruby said. “I wish I could just… call your phone. Go on normal dates with you. Stuff like that.”

White Witch was quiet for a long time. “Maybe… maybe we can.”

“Huh?” Ruby asked.

“We've been working together for a couple of years now, and, well… I mean, we've even been dating for six months!” White said with a bright blush. “Maybe we could… you know. Take our masks off. If you want.”

“Really?” Ruby asked. “I thought you didn't want to.”

“That was years ago,” White said. “I… I trust you.”

Ruby swallowed hard. “Okay. How about… on three?”

“R-right,” White said, grabbing her domino mask while Ruby did the same. “One… two… three!”

They pulled them off, and then both gasped. “You!” White shouted.

“M-me?”

“You're that dolt that ran into me this morning!”

“I'm sorry!” Ruby said. “I was just really excited about class, and really nervous, and I guess I ran too fast. I tried to apologize!”

“Yes, well… you almost made me use magic in front of the whole school!” she said. “I almost cast a spell to catch myself on reflex!”

“Oh!” Ruby said. “So that's why were so grumpy. I mean, I'm really sorry!”

“Hmph,” she grumbled. “Weiss.”

“Huh?” Ruby said.

“My name,” she said. “I'm Weiss Schnee.”

“I'm Ruby Rose! You know, I was really unhappy about being in a bunch of classes with you, but now…”

“Yeah,” Weiss said, before blushing a little. “We'll have to be careful, though. If we start dating after fighting all day people might wonder.”

Ruby bit her lip for a moment, then leaned in and kissed Weiss hard. “Let them wonder.”

Nothing says trust like revealing your secret identity.

White Rose Week has been tons of fun so far, and this was the last set prompt. I've already got my story planned for tomorrow's finale, and I can't wait to read everyone else's as well.

#white rose week #fanfic #white rose #weiss schnee #ruby rose #rwby

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aemilythings-blog1 · 5 years

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Artwork by Elena S

“It has to be easier than the usual walk out”.

It started with those words. It was the first time I ever used them, and unfortunately, not the last. The idea had sprouted when I looked down the steep rainforest covered slopes above a local canyon.

We had been canyoning in this particular canyon many times, making it seem familiar and welcoming. But we didn’t feel the same about the walk out, or the ‘exit track’ as we called it. A hard 4 hour uphill hike was the way out after abseiling the last 60 meter waterfall. It was our least favourite part of the trip. Obviously.

What Is Canyoning? Is Canyoning for You?

The Ultimate Canyoning/Canyoneering Film List!

What if there was a way to shorten the walk out, I wondered? With the idea kernel bursting in my head, it came to me.

Setting up ropes from the top before we started the canyon, and before the last waterfall into the deep, inescapable valley, we could ‘ascend’ out using rope grabbing devices and haul ourselves out, avoiding that 4 hour slog. A short spurt of energy followed by victorious cheering. It should shave hours off the usual time, and be much easier.

That was the plan.

I enlisted my good friend Josh for the adventure. Always up for some action, he was still new to rope skills, like I was, but we figured we could do it.

Packing bags that now weighed far more than on our average trips, after all, we now had double the amount of ropes, we set off one cool winter morning full of excitement about our adventure.

SETTING UP FOR SUCCESS

Before we started the canyon, I had to secure our ropes to ascend out. Smiling from ear to ear thinking of the sheer brilliance of my plan, I wiggle into my wetsuit and buckle up my harness.

This was going to be so easy!

Abseiling down the steep, heavily vegetated slopes, I find the best tree to use as an anchor. It takes one 60 meter rope to get down to the canyon edge, and another for the vertical 40 meter drop into the dark blue waters below.

Peering down, I am amazed to see the canyon from this new angle. Usually we are swimming below through the deep pools while we look up at the high rock walls. I lower the rope down the final vertical section.

I triple check the tree and the rope, making sure it was safe from any nasty sharp edges. I then ascend back up the slope to Josh and we begin the canyon as normal.

IS IT USUALLY THIS COLD?

We carefully walk into the first pool. A few steps in we know we have to, there's no point delaying the inevitable. We jump into the frigid water. Slowly, water seeps past the back zipper on our wetsuits and we gasp at the sudden piercing cold.

Despite it being winter, I was enthusiastic to do the trip. Winters in Queensland weren't that cold anyway, surely a 10 degree difference wasn’t that bad?

We continue on and do the first jump, a nice 4 meter drop next to a huge log wedged in place.

Canyons are amazing places. Like playgrounds, they offer up an abundance of fun that takes you back to being a kid. But while they are spectacular, they hold many dangers to the inexperienced. You need the skills, gear and teamwork to tackle any obstacles you find. Once you commit, there's only one way out and only one way to escape: Finish the canyon.

Soon we reach the major abseils. We had already done a few smaller ones, now the main show awaits. Throwing our ropes into the darkness below, we abseil next to the pounding waterfalls, occasionally brushing close enough to feel the pinpricks of the high speed water droplets.

Once the last abseils were done, we had the final 100 meter swim to where the rope hung from the trees above.

Nearing the dangling rope, I figure out the plan to get up. We only had one set of ascenders. Knowing this from the start, the plan was for one person to go up and slide them down again to the person below.

It'll be easy, right?

I had only bought my ascenders a few weeks prior so had a basic idea of how to use them. But Josh hadn't so a crash course was needed.

I quickly run him through the steps. There was a body ascender, and a hand ascender for the foot loop. Two different devices, two ways of attaching them to the rope, both doing the same thing. Helping you get up!

The water was cold and we were keen to get moving. We were starting to shiver.

I spot a small ledge 5 meters above the water. If we could both get on that, the other person wouldn’t have to wait as long in the icy water. I go first, as I would be better able to help from top should Josh have trouble with the ascenders.

We leave our floating bags attached to the end of the rope and I make my way upwards to the ledge.

Ascending was tiring. Moving the hand ascender up, I would stand up in the foot loop attached to it and take up the slack with my body ascender before repeating the process. After 5 meters I've warmed up significantly.

But Josh hasn’t.

It doesn’t take long for the onset of hypothermia to begin. It is one of the dangers in canyoning. Leading to a loss of mental and physical capacity, and eventually death, it’s important to be aware of it. Generally, as long as you keep moving, you stay warm. But stand still, or worse, float in the cold water without moving for a while, and it can begin very quickly!

I slide the ascenders 5 meters back down to Josh in the water. He struggles to open the carabiners with numb hands. Confusion begins and his speech is slurring. This is not good!

I talk him through the steps again. He needs to get up here quick!

Fighting through the mental fog and numb fingers and body, he finally gets the ascenders onto the rope. Like I did, he warms up again by the time he greets me on the ledge. Hypothermia avoided. I relax a little.

The next part is another hard decision. For the moment, Josh is ok on the ledge, and if I go first I can always help him from above easier than from below. We have a chat and agree this is the best option.

I start upwards again, working furiously to get to the top as fast as I can. Step up, take the slack, and repeat. Only 35 odd meters to go.

I reach the top, sweating, gasping, and exhausted. My biceps burn and my legs quiver. I feel worked. I'm done.

I detach my body ascender after clipping my safety to my anchor around the tree, and yell out to Josh to get ready. Using a jacket, he would catch the ziplining ascenders as they zoom down the rope. After 35 meters, they would be travelling extremely fast and hit with incredible force.

I send the first ascender, the one used for your body and your main attachment point, down on a carabiner hooked on the rope. Josh catches it without issues.

In my tired state I leave the foot ascender clipped to the rope and prepare to send it down with the progress capture teeth disengaged. The teeth sit less than a centimeter away from the rope allowing it to slide down.

But there is a flaw with my method. Tired, and without another thought about it, I send it down.

F*@K!

The word escaped my mouth before it had even happened. As the ascender screamed down the rope, it whipped back and forth. And those teeth that were so close to the rope, were just waiting for a taste.

A loud crack echos through the canyon. Those teeth got their taste and the stop was so violent, the rope bounced. The teeth must have brushed the rope and caught. It was 3 meters above Josh’s head, out of reach, and stuck.

The word made it out again.

There was a better way to send it down, by just clipping it to a carabiner. But I hadn't. Now, we had more trouble. This was all new to me. And to Josh.

At worst, the rope may have been badly damaged. And at best, a small nick. I rest my head against the tree I'm anchored into, close my eyes, and take a moment (of swearing uncontrollably).

When done, I focus again on our situation. At least he has the rope in his hand. Without that, he would have been truly stuck. I yell down. The moment of truth. Did he have his prussik loops?

Prussik loops are used as a emergency ascending method. Slow and physically demanding, its a backup option using loops of cord. They require practice to know how to loop around the rope and ascend up with them.

After some tense searching, he locates them on his harness. Thank god! But in the meantime, the cold had once again started its sinister work on him. Not only did he have to remember how to attach the prussik loop, he had to do it while fighting the cold gripping hold of his mind and body.

With some coaxing and yelling on my part, he finally manages. He now has to ascend on the prusiks 3 meters to the hand ascender and hope it isn’t permanently jammed on the rope, or worse, damaged the rope or itself.

Those 3 meters felt like an eternity as he slowly moves up, bit by bit. My mind played horrible scenarios of being stuck in this canyon and having to be rescued. That is, if we could even get a signal out on my personal locator beacon!

As he finally reaches the ascender, relief washes over me as he reports a

little nick on the rope, nothing too bad, and the ascender is fine. He can now continue with the hand ascender which was much more efficient.

The day was starting to take its toll. My stress levels were off the charts and I was tired. I just wanted the day to be over. But it was now my turn to feel the cold and its icy embrace. I started shivering, then stopped and felt very tired. Just a little nap is all I needed...

Josh joins me at the tree, bringing me back to the present. There was one sure way to beat the cold so we set about our next task. Hauling the bags.

AND YOU THOUGHT THE HARD WORK WAS DONE?

Setting up a basic pulley system, we start to haul the bags. We have since upgraded to specialised canyon packs which drain the water through mesh panels, but on this day, we hauled two 60 litre, water logged fabric backpacks.

And it was killing us.

If I thought I had worked hard on the ascending, I had been dreaming. Steam fumed from our wetsuits as we heaved, again and again. Countless times the bags got stuck on some unseen edge. It felt like we were hauling gym weights and it was a never ending session of pain and swearing. So much swearing.

With a final pull, the bags reach the anchor. We drag them in and with dismay I see water slosh out. We had hauled our already heavy bags up 40 meters with some extra water inside.

Pulling up the rope dangling in the canyon and packing it away, we still have to ascend the steep vegetated slopes to the trail above. Averaging 50° with some vertical rock steps, we had our work cut out for us.

As I had weaved the rope around trees in the beginning while I set it up, there was no clear way to pass the ascenders back down other than to attach yourself to a tree and slide them down again. A process that had to be done on each tree. A common theme was forming.

And now, carrying heavy water-soaked, rope-filled packs, it wasn’t any easier. With each bit of progress we become more and more exhausted. Muscles ached and cramped. Our brains felt like mush. We were 5 hours past the original estimated time I had expected it to take.

By the time we reach the top and touch the hiking track, savouring its familiarity, the sun was setting, the last rays touching the tips of the trees. But the day was not done with us yet. With 4 wet ropes, wetsuits, and our usual canyoning gear, we still had another hour of ‘gentle’ uphill track to get back to our car.

Because I had anticipated an early finish, Josh hadn’t brought a headlamp and mine was almost out of battery. So through the black rainforest we trudge as all the wildlife awakens for the night, a stark contrast of energy levels.

As we approach the car, the only one left in the car park now, our moods improve and we had to laugh out loud.

Compared to our 'shortcut', the walk out was probably the easiest part of the trip!

Lessons Learnt is a series documenting or telling the story of the adventures and epics that could have been avoided, done differently, or at least, provide a lesson on what not to do. Some details or events may be simplified, left out, or added for story telling purposes, and the sole purpose is to provide entertainment, not instruction.

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