#I might make another one of these cause this was fun!! yippee!! | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

radiojamming · 2 months

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My ass fell down the Sherlock Holmes tree A G A I N and I am currently hitting every branch on the way down so literally anything you know about sending telegrams is useful information to me. Do they need stamps. How long do they take. Do I have to say Stop after every sentence or is that just a comprehension convention. IS IT A MORSE CODE THING

I AM REVVING MY ENGINES ABOUT THIS ASK AHHH LET'S GO

Telegrams did not need stamps. They were usually sent from one telegram office to another and were distributed outward by dedicated telegram couriers from that company. Most of the time, this system was faster than the mail.

Which is to say--THEY ARE SPEED. At telegraphy's height in the early 20th century, you could easily send a message across an entire country in a day. Telegram messages would get relayed up and down lines from office to office, sometimes passing through places like railroad stations, before arriving at the office closest to the recipient. Transatlantic messages shot across undersea cables in record time! It was bonkers! It's probably Samuel Morse's first message in his code (he didn't invent the telegraph, but the code's important) was: "WHAT HATH GOD WROUGHT"

So the STOP thing is funky. There's a myth that people used it because telegraph companies provided the word for free in place of paying for punctuation, but that's probably not true. What is true is that the STOP really started showing up in telegrams during World War I. In this case, the STOP separated sentences clearly so messages wouldn't get misinterpreted and potentially cause things like horrible war disasters if someone read something incorrectly. Supposedly, the public caught onto using STOP and continued using it long after it was no longer necessary. It became a style of convention! It was en vogue!

(An aside is that one of the alternatives to STOP was using the numeral 30 in place of a period. This practice, as far as I'm aware, comes from newspapers using 30 to signal to the typesetter that they were at the end of a column. You can still find clippings of old newspapers that use this method! And sometimes you find telegrams using the same system!)

You, as the sender, would also pay by letter. This is why telegrams sound to us like these choppy, informal messages that are very easy to make fun of. If I remember correctly, the average length of an American telegram was about 11-12 letters. Very few people had the means to send long, flowery telegrams to each other or observe strict grammar rules. It was a whole lot easier to send the word NO than to say "I cannot come to your party, Geraldine, for I have a strong disdain for you as a person". It's also fun to look at some telegrams to see an early form of our text messaging acronyms. Some of them are so short that they're nonsensical to us.

So why send a telegram that says NO, anyway? Why not send a letter or, better yet, call the person? Because at the peak of telegraphy, both of those latter things are expensive and not always reliable. A rural farmer might not have the funds to make a long distance call, or straight-up doesn't have a telephone line! And what if their letter gets lost in the mail? What if the message is urgent? This is partially why a critical announcement of something like thee Armistice herself is delivered via telegram rather than someone calling and saying, "Yippee! The war's over!" Say it in tiny words and say it faster!

To date (and what I love to say to the kids I teach at the museum), sending a telegram is faster than sending a text message. If I sent the word NO through a telegraph line, it's already at its next stop the second I send it. If you texted the same word, you'd have to open the message prompt, type out the letters, send it, encode it, bounce it from a tower to a satellite and back down to another tower, have it go to the recipient's phone, decode it, and wait for them to open the prompt to read it. My NO is already there. :) (Now, I grant, it's going to take longer to get it on paper and sent through a courier to someone else, but if I work at a place like a railroad station and I'm sending a message to another station, then it's faster!)

Depending on the year you're looking for, there are a few different ways to send the telegram itself. There are telegraphic typewriters! Punch cards! Punch ribbons! Some guy wearing headphones and using a pencil! Someone else standing on a post and wildly waving flags around! A thing called a wigwag! Endless options!

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bruhhhh-huhhhhh · 9 months

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hello!! is it alright if i ask for junkerqueen relationship head canons and head canons about how she would be as a parent? with a fem! s/o would be preferred thank you!

YESSS MY BABY GIRL I LOVE HER SO MUCH

I'm gonna do both cause i love her ssoooo much

Junker Queen general relationship/parenting headcannons!

(With a gender-neutral S/o)

Ok, first things first, Dez is a wonderful and loving girlfriend. Even with ruling Junkertown, she always makes sure to take time for you.

She'll take you to plenty of different places for fancy dates.

Honestly everyone in Junkertown loves you because you make their Queen a little more forgiving and kinder.

Dez had nightmares a bunch before she met you, which made her not enjoy sleeping much.

But, now that she has you in her life, our one and only Junker Queen only has them once or twice a month.

Yippee!

She LOVES cuddling.

So so so much.

Odessa doesn't care if you're in public or at your house, she'll always have an arm wrapped around your waist.

She'll constantly praise you in front of anyone who'll listen.

"Look how amazing my partner is!"

"Oh, my partner got me that! Aren’t they so cool?"

"My partner is just so amazing-"

etc.

Onto parenting head cannons!

OMG she's such a good parent.

I know pretty much everyone talks about that one frame in her cinematic where she's teaching the kids of Junkertown how to throw knives but it's just so cute!

(Please tell me you know what I'm talking about)

Dez will absolutely teach your guys' kid how to throw knives.

If you're cool with it, ofc.

She'll literally kill someone for your kid. Actually.

Like, if Junkrat suddenly thinks its a good idea to take your kid for ransom or whatever she's absolutely going to rip his cute little face off.

(Guys I'm a Junkrat simp I'm sorry)

Or if someone thought it'd be a good idea to make fun of your kid for whatever reason, they're getting thrown out to the wasteland, no questions asked. Dez MIGHT consider just beating the shit out of them if you beg enough.

Unless if it's another kid, she's not that cruel.

Odessa, somehow, knows everything that she needs to about kids. Like, she knows exactly what to say or do to make them stop crying, for example.

She'll also get both of you crowns that match her, because, let's be honest, no one's going to de-throne her anytime soon.

#overwatch x reader #overwatch 2 #junker queen x reader #queen of junkertown #junker queen #bean writes

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aroace-polyshow · 4 months

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hellloooooo lovely meowtual may you please talk about hw tsukasa?!?!? as per ur request

hehehehhe. you guys are so so niceys to me btw. cries

awawawa so tsukasa tenma. world future star. he isn’t too different from canon tbh. he’s still loud as always, got that high ego, got those memory issues and everything. his past isn’t much different from canon either. his goal to be a star still came from wanting to make people smile like shows made saki smile, but he forgets that, etc etc you get how it goes. but yknow. n25 swap. he isn’t doing great.

he tends to set high standards for himself, and he’s been trying really hard to get into the acting scene, but it hasn’t been going well. the constant failures have slowly but surely been weighing on him. he’s got a lot of frustration building up, and all that has definitely hit him in the self esteem department *just a tad*, but he does not acknowledge that! cause of course he doesn’t. he’s tsukasa tenma, he’s going to be a star! a star like him doesn’t have time to worry about stuff like that. all he needs to do is keep pushing forward, keep trying harder and harder, just don’t think about the past and all the constant setbacks and he’ll be fine! probably. he has to be fine after all. what kind of a star would he be if he wasn’t?

saki and toya do notice smth’s up with him, saki especially, but tsukasa being tsukasa he lies to them, both intentionally and unintentionally. by that i mean like. like he genuinely Does Not Know he’s not fine. he is just avoiding thinking about his own negative feelings too much, so he just does not fucking realize. when he’s confronted with the idea that he might not actually be perfectly fine, he’s genuinely confused. so when he’s asked if he’s okay, he says yes, because he’s sure he is. and sure sometimes he gets a little down, and he does intentionally lie to them those times, but its simply nothing his siblings need to worry about, so there’s no point in telling them! they don’t need to know, cause he’ll be okay! he can deal with it on his own, he *has* to deal with it on his own, he’ll (repress it) get over it soon enough! no need to worry them :)

like i mentioned, tsukasa’s also the only one still actively doing theater at the time of the main story. he loves it, he’s dedicated to it, he hasn’t given up on it yet. and he gets to be the one to get hw back into it. yayayayay. i like to think hw is very fond of him, like rui and nene were w/ emu. here’s another one of their group who holds so much passion for theater and loves it, and who hasn’t given up on it. they believe in him. its like living vicariously through him. yk. they might not know each other too well yet, but they hope it goes well for him.

and like idk but the thing about tsukasa and theater is that its So important to him, he’s devoted so much of his life to it, he can’t see himself doing anything else. he doesn’t have a driving motivation for it, he can’t remember it, but all he’s sure of is that he has to reach this goal. so like. when faced with the idea that maybe he *isn’t* good enough to become a star like he wants to, its terrifying to him. so he just. doesn’t think about that. every failed audition, every rejection, every setback is a reminder of that though. main story gets him to his last straw. which is fun!

again. main story ideas are giving me trouble. and i’m still figuring stuff out. so not elaborating too much on what happens. but after a series of events tsukasa remembers and gets the rest of hw on board w/ trying to do shows again. cause like, again they don’t know each other that well but tsukasa does care about them, he wants to make people smile and his friends are included in that. he wants them to enjoy shows again. he wants his friends happy. and w/ enough persuasion hw joins him and yayy they become a theater troupe. yippee :3

i might have more thoughts to add later. idk. i’d add a fun facts section but i already mentioned everything i had for him in past posts jdhfgdfjkgl

#asks #hollow ☆ wonderland #this took way too long i kept getting distracted and anxious about dumb stuff but YAY ITS DONE #the gangs complete #yay

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shadows-coffeebeans · 3 months

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Okay, so, ask game: 4, 6, 15, 21, 22, 28, 30, 45, 55, 56, 61, 62, 69, 88.

yippee!! (beware of the many not knowing how to answer lol)

4. how did your elementary school teachers describe you?

They usually described me as quiet but usually a good student

6. pastel, boho, tomboy, preppy, goth, grunge, formal or sportswear?

I mean, if I had to choose one, probably grunge

15. favorite book you read as a school assignment?

The Giver. I don't know why but I just enjoyed this book so much and was so happy when I was reorganizing my bookshelf and found out i had it in the stack of books handed down from my mom's boss' kids to me.

21. obsession from childhood?

considering I am still a minor, I'm just gonna choose from elementary school

i think the biggest is definitely cats

i somehow keep finding more cat related things in the depths of my room

22. role model?

i.. dont know?

this question has always been so hard to answer to the point i just avoid answering it when i can (now imagine how much this question has been asked to me in school >:[)

28. five songs to describe you?

Hmm..

Does it make sense to say I don't feel i know myself well enough to be able to choose??

30. places that you find sacred?

Not really?

45. which genre: sci-fi, fantasy or superhero?

Fantasy.

I've never really been into superhero stuff (though of course there are a few exceptions) and i find sci-fi really confusing a lot of the time (IM DUMB, ALRIGHT??)

55. favorite fairy tale?

I think my favorite might be the little mermaid for many reasons..

56. favorite tradition?

posadas

i really like holding candles and just watch them melt. the atole we recieve at the end is good too

61. favorite line you heard from a book/movie/tv show/etc.?

"What goes up must come down, Yet my feet don't touch the ground" from Sonic Heroes. Not quite sure why but I just really like this line

another one is "what? no, I'm the devil" from the shadow the hedgehog snapcube dub. I love it so much

62. seven characters you relate to?

Barry the Quokka (sth), Luca Paguro (Luca 2021), Luigi (Super Mario), Franky Fetti and Felix (tffs), Varian (tangled) and Libby Stein-Torres (tgamm)

69. a fun fact that you don’t know how you learned?

I dont have a fun fact but i somehow learned how to shuffle. I know for a fact I didn't know how cause i struggled whenever i tried but then suddenly i knew how??

88. your greatest wish?

i want to leave this fucking household please

she keeps threatening to put me up for adoption saying that no one is going to be as "patient" as her but i know for a fact id do much better if she actually did

that, or therapy

yeah, thearpy's good too

#hashtag ask shadow™#insert shadow noises™#thatwordybirb #finally that damn fourth chaos emerald™#sorry for the mini rant toward the end D:#mother's been pretty annoying recently #this took so long to answer lol 😭#friend ask :]

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who-is-shades · 3 months

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raz dnd 29

flash of light! were in the remains of a village, burnt down. abandoned. overgrown. teya's hometown. lovely. 1 house still standing but in poor shape. oh boy. wheatley takes teyas hand she needs support. following teya inside.

the inside is rotted and moldy eww. toys on the floor. teya says we should split up but cmon teya we dont wanna leave you alone xD wheatley is staying with her. senna sticks with parsley. looking around. need to find hints to the portal. senna follows parsley cause he decides to fuck off into the woods?

android just wanders into one of the rooms and theres a bunkbed all broken and rotted stuff. zen finds a photo of teya and tori. teya enters a room and begins tearing it up. wheatley just watches her. parsley is looking for the portal with senna. looking for specific signs like mushroom circles. dont see anything yet tho.

teya checks under the bed. lots of bugs under there eww. she sees a box! she grabs it and the sagging part of the bed is stuck on it ewww. its silver. its pretty locked. teya tries to slam the dagger through the lockhole. wheatley says theres better ways to do this. he starts lockpicking. he got it! teya says wheatley can keep the box. theres a rolled up scroll inside. she opens it and its all in sylvain and has her moms signature. she cant read it lol. wheatley puts the box in his token.

teya messages parsley she found the pact but cant read it lol. he starts heading back and lets senna know. android and zen finish so they go to another room. wheatley messages zen and says they found something neat, a weird paper! zen messages teya asking if shes ok cause mildew lol. androids in sunnies old room its boring lol. teya goes outside. bots follow.

zen gives teya the picture. he also shows senna lol. teya tosses parsley the pact. he blinks and rereads it lol. before he can speak he hears an etherial voice call out 'yes read that private thing outloud' its coming from behind teya! wheatley tries to punch it but it goes through. a wispy firbolg. teya looks pale. its her mom ewww. shes such a bitch why is she here. tori and sunnie didnt want the feywilds so she 'rushed'. teyas just like bye. parsley says shes stuck here cause of the pact. teya just keeps walking away so we follow. parsley says her plan was to bring her kids to the feywilds and get assigned roles but it doesnt say what roles. parsley threatens to kill us if any of us sign a fey pact.

ghost mom still following us, fuck off. teya tells her to fuck off lol. she just wants to see teya off, weirdo fuck off. now shes trying to justify herself to wheatley cuts her off and ignores her. parsley says its not specific in the pact which is the worst kind of deal. wow shes so stupid please make fun of her we want you guys too. wheatley keeps interrupting her based. teya teaches SP that shes a bitch lol. senna says wheatley could silver his weapon. he shows it to parsley but holds it away from him cause silver.

android says teya is fucked up cause of her mom, sigh thanks. teya says she didnt raise her lol. senna tries to ask her wtf she was protecting them even from its a small village. oh no shes trying something. she fucking possesses wheatley?! senna tells zen to call robotgod. zen cracks his knuckles and here comes god and they grab wheatley! oh hes mad forcibly connects. the bitch screams good! wheatley is ok! SP asks if bitch gone yes!

wheatley hugs robotgod, he dealt with her. teya asks where she went. shes contained in a soul jar lol. teya walks off to get something? oh. shes getting her families bones. ok then. gonna help her i suppose. just using your families and neighbors. senna holds onto any extra skeletons for teya. robotgod asks teya if she wants her mom in the jar lol. senna says teya should give her to spingledorf xD yippee! robotgod says teya could benefit from the jar tho. can use her as a source of power? wheatley takes her for a second and shakes the jar lol. god says the equipment might explode so i dunno.

back to pact talk. parsley says her soul cant move on until her deal is done so uh never. wheatley asks parsley to read the pact. in exchange to protecting the kids from any and all threats through the use of warlock spells they will be sent to the feywilds for unnamed roles. in the event of her death the kids must be collected by someone from the fey and taken care of until taken to the feywilds. bitch cant pass on since it wasnt fulfilled lol. jar is soundproof lol.

robotgod brings out a device to stick the jar in. dont overuse it, its a prototype. like a backpack. short rest time 2 hours! during the rest they come up with a plan. if we take teya shes gonna be stuck there together. parsley says we COULD leave her behind. wheatley says yeah we could kill the archfey like no? have teya become a warlock so her patron and the archfey duke it out? teya cmon dont go into the portal, stay HERE. please. maybe it doesnt count on teya cause she died? only in the feywilds fuck. no one collected them. maybe tori did something? they had wards on the house and parsley asks what kind. they disappeared after tori left. bizarre set of circumstances. android agrees with senna that teya should stay. shes just gonna be a hinderance. teya rolls her eyes and stands up. she walks away using hidden step, great.

following her rustling through the grass. she fucking flies away jesus. zen pulls out his token to follow her. senna throws her hands up "fine whatever" and walks away. parsley keeps re-reading the pact. senna watches him. teya asks if shes mad, senna says no shes just worried. teya wants to discuss her relationship with senna. she loved smierc. now senna. she didnt know him. not knowing her hurts too. omg she broke up with her. ladies, sennas single and depressed!

"If...that would make you happy, Teya." she finishes her drowning story. her brother tried to drown her at the age of 4. she survived cause her sister rescued her. he wound up dying somehow, she doesnt remember. she was then named heir and uh had to fight for her own survival every day after that. she chooses teya with every fiber of her being, having so much taken away from her at such a young age. one step at a time. (shes duuuuumped help her)

anyway on to parsley! he has no idea how to help fuck. uhh i made a joke in the chat so uh break up real not a break cool cool. putting her back in the box

parsley is so upset he cant figure out the contract cause its so shitty and open ended. he knows who the contractee is lol. ITS HIS MOM WTF. teya might actually be parsleys pet. anything ELSE we should know parsley? his moms an archfey so like what is he? crown prince?! parsley outranks senna this is hilarious. cant he just ask his mom to get rid of the contract? not a chance. what if parsley took teya's name? maybe. but he might count as a reprensentive but also teya was raised by her siblings. hmm. grasping at straws is what the fey do best! technically teya is a clone so ya know. we shouldnt bring the jar cause the bitch is in it but ya know.

first, find the portal. change teya's name. we trust you parsley. he got her name and can now transform into her xD Zedalia Wyntris is her new name cool. parsley can say teya's name tho xD push come to shove we have a silver box. parsley says take off that jewerly senna please. wheatley and SP have silver inside them. that should be fine. senna sighs and takes the jewerly off. shes trusting parsley. android comments about fey not liking silver oh no. just something to remember. in and out, super fast. might even take no time cause feywilds time is weird.

now to find the portal! teya ran the other direction of the portal when fleeing, so going that way. zen can find it i guess. teya might get to meet living relatives cool. senna says they might run into her friend ribbon, a pixie who was her friend and seamstress. found the portal! no idea how long parsley has been gone. hes been here 60 years but that means nothing in the feywilds. into the portal!

#senna #dnd #dnd adventures

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quietwingsinthesky · 9 months

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a fluffy caterpillar is surprisingly accurate haha!

also number 21 👀

oh yippee :D

#21! oh look my dean/jo/sam fic i keep saying ill finish and then forgetting about. def talked about this one before, it's like 9k of me rambling about s2 if jo was there and caught the winchester derangement syndrome (family edition). got a little excerpt here from a bit where sam & dean are discussing her (and the effect she's having on their pre-established incestuous fun.)

“You and me, that’s one of the only things I have that doesn’t feel corrupted,” Sam confesses. Dean already knew he held the weight of Sam’s salvation in his hands. It’s another thing entirely for Sam to tell him that. “But if- If Jo is what you want-” Dean raises an eyebrow. Sam’s trying for selflessness, but he’s grinding the words out between his teeth. He’s not fooling either of them.

“I don’t want her more than you,” Dean shoots back. “You’re everything, Sam. All I’ve ever had.” Sam chews on his lip.

“But she’s a part of this now, isn’t she?” Dean opens his mouth to argue, to say that he’d ditch her as soon as anyone if Sam only gave him the word. That he loved Jo, but she wasn’t family, never would be, and Sam came first. Only, he can’t make a sound. “You know this is a terrible idea, right? Sooner or later, she’s going to see something. You can’t juggle two dates to prom, Dean.”

“Watch me,” Dean grumbles. He presses into Sam, shoulder to shoulder, and tries not to think about the night before, stumbling through a back alley exactly like this but with Jo on his other side, laughing half-hysterical cause she was still getting used to the rush.

“What if I don’t want to share?” Sam asks. Dean doesn’t want to answer that question.

“Her or me?” Sam shoots him a look. Dean leans into this. The only thing he’s better at than arguing with Sam is embarrassing him. After all, he’s still Dean’s little brother. “Don’t think I haven’t seen you blushing around her. You’ve got a crush, Sammy.” He teases, and Sam flushes right up, pretty and pink. Nail on the head.

“Fuck off,” he mutters. “She reminds me of you.”

“Better not use that as a pick-up line.” Dean says and blatantly ignores that he still thinks her eyes look like Sam's.

"It's my bed she sleeps in," Sam says. "If you don't hurry, she might just decide she likes me better."

Well. Dean can't just let that stand.

#tw incest #spn #jo/dean/sam #literally they are sooo messy. i should finish this fic.#look away dev

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meandmypagancrew · 7 months

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Yippee !! (I'm Previous ask btw)

I was wondering what some of your favorite parts/lines are from the UK version? (I just wanna hear more of your thoughts) :D

I was really surprised by Aimie Atkinson. Like, I wasn’t expecting to like her because I’m super familiar with her performance in Six, which is such a different character and a different music style. I was very surprised by how beautiful she sounds on more ballad types. Like, I still believe that the shinigami should be played by Japanese actors, but when I think about favorite parts, Aimie is the immediate standout.

I especially really liked the relationship between Ryuk and Rem. Like take Mortals and Fools. I was expecting the duet between Misa and Rem where Rem is pointing out all the bad things love causes where Misa responds with the good ones - I wasn’t expecting a reprise as Rem’s feelings deepen between her and Ryuk that honestly might be lyrically identical the original, where now she’s singing Misa’s lines about the upsides of love and he’s trying to remind her that they’re shinigami and not made for love. Another example is when Misa first meets Light. Rem says something to the effect of “Misa, don’t get involved with him” and Ryuk says to Rem very sharply “Don’t interfere.” And at the end of the Mortals and Fools reprise when she’s singing the final line “Love makes you break-“ he interrupts her and says “Rem. Don’t break the rules.” And his tone when he said it was… almost scared? Like it really felt like she really was the only sentient thing he actually cared about in any way and after she’s gone, his actions towards Light turn from mild interest to open anger and disdain, which may not be an aspect to any previous telling of the story but I really loved in this one.

Also, the random rap section in I’m Ready is just hilarious and amazing. Like in the West End Live performance she does it a little, but the version in the actual show is longer and has more words and it’s very amusing to me.

I also really liked Sayu having a larger role. Their Sayu was so cute and the fact that, like, Light only hears Misa’s new song because she bursts into his room to make him listen to it is so indicative of my relationship with my brother, I loved it.

I’ve already mourned the loss of the first verse of The Way It Ends but I’m happy to say that otherwise, everything seems to be intact? I was really worried that, like, songs would be cut and I was especially worried about Honor Bound, but happy to announce that it is intact and was performed with the perfect amount of restraint with a touch of fear, like what if I really am wrong about this?

Honestly, I can’t even think of a weak link. Like, perhaps Light, because he wasn’t a likeable character at all, but I’ve recently started rewatching the anime and… Light just isn’t a likeable character. I also didn’t love their L but I think that was just because L is a character that I love the physical appearance of and like.. where’s the messy hair? Also, his mannerisms are hard to capture, I’ll grant that. But like, I see videos from other productions that @deathnote-dramanmusical posts and I see their Light and L’s and am kind of bummed because I wish we had gotten portrayals more like that.

But overall, I think it translated to the stage well, I think the numbers are really good that we’ll see either a tour or an actual sit down production and maybe, in a year or two, a transfer to the US, and I’m ready. I can already see Eva Noblezada as Misa, and the Tony nomination she’d bag for it. Oh, and how fun would it be to have Adam Jacobs as Light and Arielle as Sayu?

#Parker’s asks #death note musical #please feel free to ask more specific questions as well #if you want thoughts on more specific parts #but these are what stands out to me as really iconic moments

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kuuyandere · 1 year

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I used to be a really big fan of nijisanji before the en wave even hit, specifically kanae. I liked him a lot bc he reminded me of... myself. and he even kind of looks like me a lot as I have messy hair that's near ish brown (altho it's not) and grey eyes. his older model is more relatable in terms of appearance, but I also liked his personality... n also b4 the en wave, there wasn't really a lot of gay stuff if that make sense lmao. kanae was kind of the only one even targettin gay men as his audience. I know the nurse girl was literally in a relationship w another one of the girls in niji but their content as far as I remember rlly wasn't abt the fact they were gay, plus I feel more comfort around men as... I do have a fear of women. I also found comfort in genzuki but he was far less relatable and at the time I was watchin kanae, genzuki seemed more nervous abt queer stuff even tho he is. I don't know if kanae is but he definitely was more chill and comfortin n I even think his name for his big fans translated to "boyfriends" or smth. (I don't wanna talk abt the one liver who kind of was heavily fetishisitic of bl) idk how to describe how I relate to kanae himself, but I act in a lot of similar ways to him and share a lot of his humour. also a lot of the songs he'd cover were also relatable, even if they were often depressin. he even covered one song that is highly personal to me "I think I just died". while it really wasnt a drivin force into me likin him, his character also just bein an amnesiac like me (anythin b4 2021 april 14 gone yippee! altho I have regained a lot but I won't go into how. only some memories feel real tho, a lot of what I remember still feels like just a story) just added a little later on top. also, I am not a shipper as I find it a little weird as vtubers kind of are still just themselves, but the lore with kuzuha always around him and seekin him out time after time even if kanae will never remember kind of like soulmates lmao, just remind me of my boyfriend. n him always tryin to keep me no matter what and seekin me out again n again. altho I'm not a fan of kuzuha himself, more just how he relates to kanae.

I mostly stopped watchin as clips were really slow to come out w english translation back then n I couldn't understand japanese even if I did occasionally actually put on his streams. I also just don't like watchin streams tho, and kanae is a lot of handle with never havin missed a single day of streamin n often streamin multiple times a day. my youtube feed got flooded.

like a lot of people, I didn't really take interest in the en wave for a long time, I've still never put on one of their streams ngl. I mostly just will click a clip here n there, watch their debut songs and maybe occasionally look up more covers from them if I like their voice. I'll also just listen in on the drama sometimes cause why not. I've debated becomin a vtuber b4 via a company n always thought nijisanji would be nice but after some of the things some of the en vtubers have done.... idk if I could stand to be around or associated with them. I also feel like I have way too many boundaries n wouldn't wanna stream as much as them even if I know less is required by the contract. like that I just wouldn't be fun even if I do have the ability to talk nonstop and carry on lots of conversations. or how 3/4ths of my personality is just my boyfie.

millie's song just popped up on my feed n I just clicked it, altho I do have a slight more interest in her as she speaks a lot of tagalog or at least compared to the other nijisanji livers and I wanna learn it. idk if I have told u that b4. mayb I'll put on tagalog stream logs once I get to an okay point w my tagalog.

as for the songs u gave me, I'll check them out! altho I did go a different direction w the playlist they might still work we'll see ~🎵

I have not been involved with Njisanji much, but I will definitely check Kanae’s work out! I am a glutton for the amnesia and “lover who stays with the amnesiac despite them not remembering them à la Immortal by Reinairy” tropes. I also have memory issues (and a penchant for one-sided pining), so I understand how it is nice to relate to characters with the same.

I thought about doing vtubing too actually, and I agree that maintaining the upload schedule among dealing with the other trials and tribulations of streaming and privacy boundaries would be difficult. And I do not remember you mentioning wanting to learn Tagalog, that is very cool! I wish you the best of luck in your language studies and with crafting your playlist!

#your yandere #aidoneus asks #🎵 anon

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ordinaryschmuck · 2 years

Text

If Eda Found Hunter Instead (Part One Hundred and One)

The slitherbeast runs off with Eda, Edric, and Emira. Hunter, Luz, and Amity watch in shock and horror.

Luz: What do we do?

Amity: I’m going after them. You two stay back.

Hunter: Oh, come on! We’re not that useless.

Luz: And we can’t just do nothing! It has Eda!

Amity: And because of you two messing with my wand, it also has my brother and sister. Now stay put...You’ll only get hurt.

Amity draws a spell circle and causes a magical cage to appear around Luz and Hunter.

Luz: Amity!

Luz tries to run through the cage, but the second her hand touches it, she gets a shock that keeps her back. Amity then runs off.

Hunter: Oh, great. Yeah, this is just great Luz!

Luz: Shut up.

Hunter: It wasn’t enough that you were so impatient, but because of you, Eda might be dead.

Luz: I said shut up.

Hunter: Seriously, what is with you? I don’t want to be made fun of either, but at least I was willing to take my time and--

Luz: I SAID SHUT UP!

Hunter jumps at Luz’s yell. She breathes heavily, forcing herself to calm down as she sits on a rock.

Luz: ...I didn’t have the best school life at home. If students weren’t making fun of me, they were also avoiding me. I thought that I could make things different, but if I already ruin things by being put into the baby class, it’s going to be exactly the same as it was at home. Only worse. So I wanted to avoid it, but in trying to do so, I just made things worse. You were right. Eda was just trying to teach me how to use my own magic. But because I was so impatient, I’ll never learn anything more than this.

Luz draws a light glyph, taps it, and watches a ball of light float to the sky.

Hunter: ...Look, maybe if you--

Luz shushes him.

Hunter: ...Did you just shush me? I was trying to--!

Luz: No, Hunter, look!

Luz points to the stars, tracing a constellation.

Hunter: Is that...a light glyph?

Luz: Looks like it. But why is--

A snow flake lands in Luz’s hand, and she sees another glyph in it.

Luz: Wait...

Luz takes a stick and draws the glyph she saw.

Luz: Eda said that magic is a gift from the Isles. Meaning that magic is everywhere.

She taps the finished glyph, and a column of ice comes out from it. Luz and Hunter her share a look, and then get started on drawing an even bigger glyph. They get on the rock, ready to jump.

Luz: On three. Ready? One. Two.

Hunter: Wait, maybe this isn’t--

Luz: THREE!

She takes his hand and they jump onto the glyph, causing a pillar of ice to shoot them up and out of the cage. Luz cheers, Hunter screams, and they both fall face first into the snow.

Luz: ...I learned my second spell!

Hunter: Yippee...

They get up.

Hunter: Doesn’t change how Eda is captured, though.

Luz: I already have a plan for that.

Hunter: Oh, no. I’ve had enough of your plans for one--

Luz: It involves using me as bait.

Hunter: ...Lead the way.

#the owl house #luz noceda #amity blight #toh hunter #the golden guard #adopting hunter au

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splintergirl13 · 3 years

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So here is a little head cannon I thought of while reading your fan fic.

What if herobrine never had/celebrated his birthday so he forgot when it was, so Steve and Alex pick a day and celebrate his birthday with him. (P.s. sorry I have horrific grammer)

I liked this idea so much I made a little drabble under the read more :3 I hope it is worthy of such an great headcanon! Thank you so much for the ask! It fills me with joy to hear that people are thinking about my story lol <3. And don't worry. Grammar is hard and doesn't make any sense. I feel your pain

Before we dive in: this takes place pretty earlier into Steve and Brine becoming friends. So they are just starting to pine. Not in a relationship yet. Alex and Brine are still a little wary of each other but have come to accept that they are stuck with each other.

I'd say this is rated teen for just some small strong language lol

The Birthday Brine

It was a hot, lazy summer afternoon. Too nice to spend down in the mines. But a little too warm to do any strenuous activities.

So Alex and Steve decided to go on down to the small river they frequented on days like today. A secluded area where the water pooled deep enough to swim. And, of course, Herobrine tagged along. As was becoming more of the norm these days.

Steve was lying comfortably in the shade of a few trees on the bank of the river. Legs in the water; small waves lapped up to his knees as the water went by. Arms crossed behind his head. His shirt was off and laid over his eyes, shutting out any of the light that filtered through the leaves. Not really dozing off, but close to it.

Herobrine was similarly relaxing. He lay on his belly; balanced precariously on a nearby tree that had fallen over the river. Looking like a big cat lounging about in the direct sun. Soaking up the rays. One hand was draped down to the side, touching the cool water.

Alex was the only one fully in the river. She was a little upstream, floating on her back. She had taken off her pants, leaving them on the shore, and let her long green shirt cover her lower half. Every once in a while she would swim back to her original place as the current took her down towards Herobrine.

The trio had been chatting absentmindedly. Talking about anything, really. Steve ranted humorously about his pickaxe making a squeaking sound. Alex discussed way too many of the current happenings in town. Even Herobrine brought up that a dragonfly had landed on his shoulder. Which had the trio all staring for a bit before it flew off and they went back to their current positions.

It wasn't until a certain question came to Alex’s mind that the peace of the scene was disturbed.

"Hey Sparky." The adventurer asked. "...How old are you?"

Herobrine took a while to answer. Seeming to think through the question slowly. Finally he asked without opening his eyes. "Why?"

"Just curious." Alex shrugged, swimming a little.

The demon shifted. Now peaking over to look at Steve. It was like the miner could tell that he was being looked at because he lifted his shirt to look back questioningly.

Herobrine spoke up. "When was the last time I respawned? Four months ago?"

Steve frowned. "Yes. More like three. You fell through a roof, remember?"

"Right, right." Herobrine moved his hand up out of the water. "Terribly made and rusty old structure. Glad it forced a respawn. Tetanus is not fun even with healing powers."

"Why is this relevant?" Alex asked impatiently.

"I'm 28." Herobrine said immediately.

Alex sat up in the water. Causing a bit of a ruckus amongst some fish that had gotten close. "No you're not!"

"Yes I am." Herobrine turned his attention to her. She shuddered ever so slightly under his scrutinizing stare. "Every time I die, I respawn back to the same age at which I turned immortal."

Alex crossed her hands over her chest. "Okay, well that's only technically. I meant, like, if you count ALL the years you've been alive."

"I have no fucking clue, Alex." Herobrine rolled his head to the otherside of the tree to ignore her. Yet continued to talk. "Time loses all meaning when you're immortal. Not to mention I was trapped in the nether for most of that time. So it's even harder to tell."

"What's your best guess?" Steve asked, now curious as well.

And the head came back around. Looking at Steve. The demon wouldn't ignore the miner. He bit his lip, eyes trailing towards the water. "I dunno... maybe a few centuries... a millennia or so..."

"Old." Steve clarified. Seeing that the demon was struggling a little.

"Yeah... old." Herobrine scowled.

"So, what, do we have to, like, wait until you live a year to celebrate your birthday?" Alex giggled. "No wonder you don't remember it. It would never be your birthday based on that criteria."

Herobrine scoffed. "What are you talking about?"

"Yeah." Steve added, putting the shirt back over his eyes. "Come to think of it, when is your birthday, Brine?"

"You want to know the exact date I was born?" Herobrine sat up now, clearly confused. "Fuck... I don't know. I didn't even keep track of days back then. I just survived. It wasn't until I met... my brother that we talked about days. And he was able to do some weird 'code calculation' as he called it to figure out my true age. But we didn't really care about that. None of us counted in the aether. None of us wanted to count. When you have endless time you tend not to care. It's a depressing chore."

"So none of you celebrated your birthday?" Alex asked.

"Why would you celebrate your birth?" Herobrine growled. "Existence is a curse."

"That's why we have to celebrate!" Alex exclaimed. "It helps us mortals to forget about our fleeting existence."

"Yeah!" Steve enthusiastically raised a fist to the sky in agreement.

"Like the aether needed another reason to celebrate..." Herobrine grumbled, flopping back down on the tree. "The amount of bullshit dances I had to get dressed up for was astronomical."

"So you really have never had a birthday, huh?" Steve wasn't sure why he was surprised.

"Nope." Herobrine said, popping the p and settling back on the tree. Thinking that was the end of the conversation.

But Steve and Alex had other plans.

"Bro you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"You think we have enough time today?"

"Sure why not? We were already planning on going into town together."

"Then we better hurry."

"What are you two talking about?" Herobrine muttered. The siblings were getting out of the water and putting back on their clothes.

"We're going to throw you a birthday party!" Steve smiled over at him.

Herobrine almost fell off his branch.

"W-what? Why?"

Alex shrugged. "Well, if you don't know what day your birthday is, it might as well be any day. And since we are already all together and don't have any plans for the rest of the evening... why not?"

Herobrine teleported off his tree and stood next to the two. "You really don't need to-"

"Too late, it's happening." Alex smiled. Starting to walk off. Not putting on her shoes as she walked through the increasingly tall grass.

"Go wait in the nether and come back around sunset!" Steve pushed on his back excitedly. As if he could shove him through a portal that wasn't there.

"Why?"

"We are gonna surprise you!"

"Oh. Yippee. Surprise." Herobrine did not mask his unenthusiasm.

"It'll be fun, I promise." Steve said as he stopped pushing and went to go join Alex.

Herobrine was left alone and very confused as to what had just happened. He blinked up at the setting sun and winced. He wouldn't know the correct time in the nether. So he decided to go back to his tree branch and relax until the time came. He had no idea what was in store for him. But he didn't try to think too hard about it. If he didn't like it he could always teleport away.

All this talk of aether and age had his head buzzing with unpleasant thoughts. He tried to will them away and think of nothing instead. Watching as the river flowed beneath him. The dragonfly landed back on his hands.

It was just after sunset when Herobrine was walking up to Steve's small house and knocking on the door. Steve was adamant about him knocking. As Herobrine had the tendency to just teleport into a location, unannounced. There was the sound of muffled talking as well as a wonderful smell of something cooking in the furnace.

He heard the miner walk towards the door, he recognized his footsteps easily. Much different than Alex’s.

Steve cracked open the door. "Herobrine, you have perfect timing! We are just finishing up."

Herobrine tried to move forward but Steve closed the door more. He smiled, shyly. "Er. You gotta close your eyes."

"... Why?"

Steve smiled wider. "It's all part of the process."

So Herobrine huffed and closed his eyes. Steve took him by the hand. Leading him inside. Herobrine could feel his heartbeat where they connected. The miner was excited. So Herobrine was excited.

He was led into the house and then Steve stopped and walked over to join where he could sense Alex.

"Surprise!" They both yelled.

Herobrine stood there with his eyes closed. Face oozing confusion.

"Open your eyes now, Brine." Steve whispered loudly to him.

"Oh." And he did. He blinked and took in the sight.

The inside of the house was decorated with a few colored strings on the ceiling and what seemed to be little torches everywhere else. It was very simple and yet very pretty.

"Do you like it?" Alex asked.

"We didn't have too much time to decorate so we made due with what we had." Steve said. "Probably not as fancy as your aether parties."

"No." Herobrine smiled. "But I like this better." The aether parties were always decorated with too much. This was nice and made Herobrine feel cozy.

Alex gestured to the table, patting the chair to sit down. "Since it's pretty late we figured we'd just do a birthday dinner. Steve said you would eat if we made you food."

Herobrine nodded. Glad he hadn't had anything to eat for a while. He wasn't the biggest fan of eating. Steve had been reintroducing it to him slowly. The miner was an excellent cook.

"Good!" Alex smiled. Steve sat next to Herobrine at the table. "I handled dinner and Steve handled the most important part of a birthday, the dessert!"

"It all smells nice." Herobrine commented politely. It did. He was actually excited to eat.

Alex disappeared into the kitchen. Preparing plates for them all. Steve and Herobrine shared a look. Both smiling, somewhat uncomfortable and comfortable at the same time. It didn't last long as Alex came out with two plates, setting it down in front of them.

The meal consisted of roasted corn, slathered in butter, some sort of shredded pork on bread with some sweet sauce, and a cold potato salad. Steve instantly dug in. Probably hungry from all the work they had been doing. Herobrine waited for Alex to return with her own plate before starting to pick at the food. It wasn't long before he was eating more sloppily than Steve. Alex apologized, saying she wanted to make something more special like a smoked biscuit but Herobrine wasn't sure why she was sorry. It was all delicious. And Herobrine found himself wanting to eat the entire plate. It was the perfect meal on the warm night.

The house was filled with the delightful sounds of eating. None of them talked very much. Not needing to. Just enjoying each other’s company. And the food! They were all very invested in the food.

Once they were done, Herobrine was tempted to ask for more. But he remembered that there was still dessert to eat. He started to try to clean up his plate. But Steve stopped him immediately. "Ah, ah. No dishes when it's your birthday."

"Hmm. This birthday business keeps getting better." Herobrine smirked at him.

Steve disappeared into the kitchen and returned with two plates filled with two generous slices of homemade chocolate cake.

He set them down in front of Alex and his own seats. "We have a special slice for you, Herobrine. Hold on."

Steve rushed away and walked slowly back with a similar piece of cake. But this one had a very tiny torch stuck in the middle of it. Herobrine blinked. Huh. Strange.

"It's a candle." Steve explained. "It's a tradition to have some on your cake. We only had this old one." He set the on fire cake in front of him. Herobrine enjoyed the fire flare. "Usually you have a candle for every year you've been alive."

"But that would've set the house on fire." Alex snickered.

Herobrine rolled his eyes and tried to grab his fork. But Alex stopped him. "Wait! We have to sing to you!"

"Er, no thanks." That seemed silly. He did not want to be sung to.

Steve made a face. "I don't like that part either. I think we should skip it."

"We have to! It's tradition!" Alex wrapped her elbow around Steve’s neck. "Come on, Stevie. One time!"

"Alright. Alright." He caved easily. And they began.

Herobrine sat awkwardly as the two sang a little song. Saying his name. Herobrine had never heard Steve sing. It was nice. He had a pleasant voice. He thought the man should sing more. He hummed a lot but never truly sang.

Once they were done. Alex said. "Now you make a wish and blow out the candle."

"A wish? Wish for what?"

"For anything." Steve added. "But you have to wish in your head. And don't tell anyone or your wish won't come true."

"Like a curse?"

"Yeah kinda. But it's just for fun."

The demon chewed on his lip. Seeming to think about it. He nodded eventually. "Okay. I've made my wish."

"Now blow out the candle to complete the spell." Alex joked. Steve nudged her.

Herobrine looked at the small torch on the cake and willed the fire away. It went out.

Alex and Steve stared. Alex giggled. "Guess there's more than one way to skin an ocelot."

"Why would you-" Herobrine blinked.

"It's an expression." Steve laughed, sitting down and picking up his fork to eat his piece of cake. "Ignore her and dig in while the cake is still warm."

Herobrine did, setting the small torch- candle aside and picking up his fork to eat. The cake looked moist. Fresh. And smelled absolutely delicious. His mouth was watering before he even put the treat in his mouth.

When he took a bite he almost moaned. "H-holy fuck." He quickly took another bite.

Alex giggled. "Never had a Steve-made cake have you?"

"Steve, you should stop cooking everything and just make cake from now on." Herobrine had almost finished his piece already. It was just so damn good. He couldn't stop.

"Then it wouldn't be special." Steve chuckled. Looking happy that they both seemed to be enjoying his cake.

"Can I have more?" Herobrine asked, frosting definitely smeared all over his face, unabashedly.

Steve and Alex howled at that. The demon just looked so different from how they normally saw him. It was nice. And also hilarious.

Herobeine got a second slice and sat back, looking full. The demon didn't usually eat so it was a lot all at once. Totally worth it though.

"Present time!" Alex jumped up from the table as Steve moved the dishes into the kitchen.

"Present time?" Herobrine parroted.

"You get presents on your birthday!" Alex walked over to grab two things that had been set aside on a coffee table. "From everyone who comes to the party."

Alex handed Steve something and walked back to the table to give Herobrine a rectangle that looked like a book wrapped in paper. Herobrine took it confused. "Er, thanks?" He held it in his hands.

"You gotta open it dude!" Alex said excitedly.

"Open it?"

"Yeah tear open the paper!"

"Oh." Herobrine, a demon of destruction, ironically opened the book very carefully. Not wanting to damage it.

He held the book up once it was unwrapped. It was, indeed, a book. Not too hard to guess correctly.

"It's a book of modern day phrases." Alex explained. Tapping the cover. She smirked. "I know that you have some trouble with some of our more modern hip lingo."

Herobrine lifted an eyebrow at her. He flipped to a random page. "There's more than one way to skin an ocelot? Oh. I get your 'joke' now."

"See. You're learning already." She snickered. Steve smiled too.

Herobrine looked confused. But not unappreciative. He waved his hand, tucking the book away into his inventory. "Er, thanks. I will read the rest later."

"No problem!" She giggled. She then pushed Steve forward. "Go ahead, your turn."

Steve had a paper package tied up in butcher's twine behind his back. He coughed and walked forward, handing Herobrine the parcel.

The demon took it. Knowing what to do now, he tore into the paper. Revealing what was inside.

He paused when he realized what it was after pulling all the paper off and letting it float to the ground.

"It's... your cloak." Herobrine said. Not giving away any emotion. Steve seemed to droop a little. Expecting him to be a little happier. Alex nudged the miner. They shared a look. Steve rolled his eyes. He walked closer to the demon, touching the cloak in his hands.

"I knew it would already fit you. And there wasn't enough time to get you a new one made. I just know how much you like to borrow it from me when it gets colder." Steve ran his fingers along the cloak. Pointing out some stitching on the green material. "I sewed up all the holes so it won't be as drafty. And-" He tapped the button that held the cloak together. "I replaced the old latch with a golden one I got from town today. I know you said you like to wear a little gold in the nether for piglin respect or... whatever." The miner let go of the cloak and backed up, rubbing his head awkwardly.

Herobrine stared at the green gloak. Rubbing the material in his fingers.

"If... if you don't like-"

"I love it." Herobrine almost whispered. Sounding so genuine it made Steve blush and Alex smile. "It's perfect."

"O-oh." Steve scratched his head again. "Good. I'm glad." He smiled, looking away. Desperately trying to hide his blush. He had gone bright red. And Herobrine wasn't helping.

The demon stood instantly and put the cloak around his body. He had worn it before. But it looked different now. Like it was his now. It was truly his.

Herobrine looked up at Steve. "This is... the greatest gift I've ever been given." He didn't smile but his glowing eyes said it all. He was absolutely telling the truth. "Thank you, Steven."

The miner stared back. Smiling to the side and tilting his head. Embarrassed but screaming on the inside in happiness.

Alex had to butt in. Not liking the way the two were looking at each other and getting a little protective of Steve. "Pfft. Thanks a lot there, Briney boy. Glad my gift meant nothing."

Herobrine blinked. Processing the words. And then realized. "Oh, no, sorry Alex. Thank you as well."

"Yeah whatever." Alex nudged him with her fist, walking past him. She then let out a yawn. "Well. I think I'm all birthday partied out. Mind if I crash on your couch, Stevie? It's too late to walk home."

"Sure I'll get you some blankets." Steve mimicked the yawn. His eyes looked tired. They did do a lot to put the party together for him. They deserved a rest. "Happy Birthday, Brine."

"Thank you." Herobrine nodded. "Thank you both. This was... enjoyable."

"See our traditions aren't so bad." Alex said, flopping down on the couch.

"I do believe I've judged it too early." Herobrine nodded. "You do this every year?"

"Yep. And you get to do the planning and gift giving to us when it's our birthdays. No party is exactly the same." Alex nodded. "I think planning is actually more fun than celebrating your own birthday."

"Oh. Well I look forward to that. You will have to remind me when the time comes. Time is... difficult for me."

"Of course, dude." Steve produced some blankets from the closet. Herobrine sensed it was time to make his leave. He headed for the door.

"Thank you again." He said a little awkwardly. "I will uh, see you both tomorrow."

"Sounds good!" "Bye!" The siblings said.

And with Herobrine out the door. Steve and Alex looked at each other.

"I think that went well." Steve said.

"I think you owe me money for not making a single birthday suit joke." Alex said back. He threw the blankets over her head as she giggled.

"Goodnight Alex!" He went to his bedroom, trying to hide his blush. "Put out the candles before you sleep."

"I'm just saying, Stevie! That would've been a better gift if you-"

"Goodnight Alex!!"

Herobrine stood just outside the door. He wiggled his shoulders a little. Feeling the soft weight of the cloth around his shoulders. He smiled. Feeling warm inside and out. And teleported off.

#herosteve #fluff pining and stupidity #ask #jaraemonfox #fic #writng

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has-gilgamesh-doneanythingwrong · 3 years

Text

Celebration

In which an unexpected servant congratulates my mastersona for both passing their Mage Exams and helping Gudako complete yet another singularity!

(The true backstory is that I recently finished all of my essays, my thesis and exam- so thought I should treat myself by writing a fic to commemorate it!!! YIPPEE!!)

Staring blankly at the spotless ivory walls looming above their head, Seihai frowned. Listlessly plonking yet another slice of pizza into their mouth, they flopped onto their bed.

‘What the heck do I do with my life now?’ At current, Chaldea had lapsed into a week-long festival, due to everybody successfully completing yet another singularity.

As a result of this, Gudako managed to rouse the entirety of Chaldea into a tremendous partying mood; in which servants were blasting sparklers at one another; Liz was hogging the speakers to blast out her latest hit tunes; and the Chaldea kitchen was overwhelmed with both chefs as well as hungry customers.

Although Seihai did actively partake in some of the activities, and was overjoyed to see Chaldea enveloped in such joy, a gnawing sense of unease still tore at their stomach. Even though today was the dawn of Chadea’s first ever Nightclub Party- a day that Seihai had been dying to experience- said anxiety made it all but impossible to enjoy it.

‘I’m not in the mood to party anymore,’ Seihai languidly flicked through the television channels, eventually landing upon yet another battle anime. ‘I dunno...It feels like the victory’s hollow or something...’

In Seihai’s eyes, the one who did the bulk of the work during singularities were Gudako, Mash, the staff and their servants. When it came to Seihai’s own place in this war; they had no idea in hell where they belonged. Besides from offering support, assistance, and lessening the load on Gudako’s shoulders- by providing mana to servants that Gudako hadn’t the energy to supply- they were naught but a small bit-piece in the war.

Clutching their fists -as a character on the television behind them began to yell, they contemplated the box of pizza sitting before them.

As a treat for also passing the Mage Association’s rather convoluted, and extremely unnecessary Online Mage’s Exam with flying colors, Seihai had more or less begged Boudicca to make some pizza- so that they could celebrate on their lonesome. Lifting the glimmering slice towards the sky, Seihai smiled wryly.

“Congratulations, me. We’ve fought hard. Let’s not let the negativity beat us today.” Before they could chow down on the beautiful, tantalizing slice- an array of golden sparkles invaded their vision, as they choked on their slice.

‘H-HOLY SHIT!!!’ Slapping their back, they managed to slide the slice back out again, only to be distracted by a horrendous clunking noise; as Seihai’s room shook like a tornado.

Only one person would enter their room like this.

Spinning their head to the side, they take sight of the king’s pernicious smirk; his red eyes sparkling with impish glee.

“G-Gilgamesh....You sure as hell caught me off guard this time.” Sighing audibly, Seihai rubbed their crimson red locks of hair. “Why don’t you like to knock before entering?”

“You would ask one as mighty as I- the King of Heroes- to knock on your measly door before entering?” He looked genuinely shocked by the suggestion. “Have you lost your mind, by perchance?”

“I feel like we’ve gone through an argument like this already.” Helping themselves to their feet, Seihai attempts to look him in the eyes. “I tell you ‘Yes, you should knock’, and then you go ‘you foolish cur! The king shall never knock before entering! It’s my right!’ or something like that.”

“Well, there you have it. Although wisdom initially evaded that tiny brain of yours, you’ve finally conjured up the answer to your own enquiry.”

“Hey, my brain isn’t tiny. I just can’t keep up with you sometimes.”

“If you’ve managed to fool yourself into believing that, then who am I to disagree?” Whipping out a decadent golden throne from a rippling gold portal, he places himself by Seihai’s side. “Now, I’m here to depart a word of wisdom. Listen carefully.”

‘W-Wait, he’s here to talk?! Why?!’ Utterly bemused by this turn of events, Seihai felt compelled to burst into laughter. ‘Oh shit, hold it in! Hold it in!’ Last time they laughed at the king; Gilgamesh threatened them with a thousand deaths. “Er...You want some drinks? Food?”

“Hoh...I’m glad to see that you retain enough honor to serve your king. However, the food of mongrels isn’t to-” As soon as Seihai pulled out an assortment of global snacks, Gilgamesh’s words caught in his very throat.

“Fine. Pass that one. On the right.” A look of embarrassment briefly flickered across his features, as he coughed lightly. “Don’t hesitate, mongrel! Pass it, post haste!!!”

Seihai smirked proudly at that. ‘Hehe, that’s payback for you being so damn rude! Can’t look down on my global snack collection, huh?’

Keeping such thoughts locked firmly within their mind, they pass Gilgamesh a vanilla twinkie. ‘How amusing...Gilgamesh, the arbiter of all pleasures; owner of all the items of the world, is a fan of snacks like twinkies...’ Seihai would most certainly make a note of this later on.

As they both settled down, munching down on an assortment of foods- Gilgamesh cleared his throat, his expression as hard as stone. “Mongrel.”

“Hm?”

“What ails you, to be avoiding a festival as grand as the Chaldea party? I’ll have you know that even I have no choice but to approve of its splendor.”

Seihai’s mind boggled at this. Was he inquiring as to their health? Lowering their head, Seihai mumbled a tiny “Well, you know...I’m just not in the mood. That’s all.”

“That’s all? I hadn’t taken you to be such a bore.”

“Well, that’s not really my problem; you know. Sometimes, I can be boring as hell, and today’s just one of those days.”

“Mongrel, Chaldea’s been renovated into a sparkling nightclub. A nightclub.” Gilgamesh placed heavy emphasis on the word ‘nightclub’. “And yet you still manage to profess that you’re ‘not in the mood’?! Whatever happened to that mongrel that wouldn’t stop dancing in the canteen the other day?” Gilgamesh looked truly offended, as if Seihai had broken a sworn covenant or something.

‘Wait, what the hell?! He caught me dancing in the canteen? FUCK!’ Seihai grimaced at this. “W-wait, Gilgamesh. How the hell did you catch me dancing?!”

Ignoring Seihai’s question, Gilgamesh continued to complain. “Don’t you understand? A night as dazzling as this may never happen again. I declare that you enjoy it to the utmost, before everything disappears.” He had an excellent point there. Life was all but fleeting, a translucent kaleidoscope of effervescent events. Who knows when all of Chaldea may breathe their very last breath?

“Okay, I’ll admit you have a pretty good point there.” He definitely did! However, Seihai was yet to be moved by his advice. “However, I don’t feel like I’m worthy enough to join...I messed up so many times during the last singularity....and it took me quite a few tries before passing the mage exam.”

“So, you’re a fool then.”

Before Seihai could leap up in outrage at this statement, Gilgamesh silenced them with a flex of his golden-plated hand. “However. Albeit being a fool, you’re a determined one; who fights for their own cause. And as the King of Heroes, I must acknowledge that such actions are actually worthy of merit. Therefore, I shall not allow you to wallow in such pathetic self-misery! Celebrate your achievements with all of your might, mongrel- and REJOICE!”

Eyes widening with awe, Seihai’s heart sung with joy at his words. Spirit roused, they gawped at him in shock. “W-what...?!”

Did he just praise them? Gilgamesh offering praise? The world must certainly be ending soon. Looking around them, to check whether they were dreaming- Seihai was completely befuddled. ‘Of all the people to come and cheer me up when I’m feeling sad...How the heck did he end up being the one to do so?!’

“Fuhahaha! You look as if you’ve transformed into a fish! How utterly amusing!” Gilgamesh’s shoulders trembled with laughter. “You heard me clearly, mongrel. Even fools such as you have inherent worth. Now go out there, and rejoice!”

“Er...well, thanks Gilgamesh. That was kind of you to say that.” To see one’s own failures as a bastion for developing success...Seihai was taken aback by Gilgamesh’s perspective on things. However, it was much appreciated. “I do like hearing your titbits of wisdom.”

“Don’t grow too accustomed to them. I shan’t hand them out willy-nilly, you know. Now, rise to your feet; so that we can descend upon the dancefloor!”

“Haha, that does actually sound like fun. Thanks again, Gilgamesh.”

“Don’t get too conceited, mongrel. I’m only offering you alms for this particular occasion.”

As Seihai chuckled at this (as Gilgamesh obliterated their bedroom door with a flying kick), the two rivals (Friends? Enemies? Who knows, really), made their way to the festival.

The End

WAIT. WAIT. WAIT. THIS WAS MUCH MORE FRIENDLY A FIC THAN EXPECTED. ALSO, I AM CERTAIN THAT MY MASTERSONA AND GILGAMESH WOULD BE LIKE ARCH ENEMIES BUT THEY ACTUALLY GOT ALONG????????

#gilgamesh #fate series #mastersona #my writing #gilgablog #ok ye i wrote something selfish okay ye i did but i am bad at celebrating so idk i thought itd be funny to put gil there

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perspective-series · 4 years

Text

Pet Perspective (1/19)

By: @arc852 and @hiddendreamer67

Warnings: tiny people being treated as pets (duh), shock collars, tell me if I missed anything

First Chapter (here) || Next Chapter

Summary: Welcome to pet perspective, where borrowers are treated as pets. Logan has grown up training for this, but his curious nature makes him difficult to control. Roman has a habit of slipping away from his owners, but he always seems to wind up back in the system. When Patton and Virgil decide to adopt tinies of their own, perhaps the humans can help the borrowers learn their place in this world.

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Patton entered the little shop with a grin, looking around excitingly. He couldn’t believe it was finally happening! He was going to get his very own pet tiny! Something he had wanted since he was little. His heart beat widely in his chest as he asked for assistance to where the tiny’s where. He was led to the back and saw terrarium upon terrarium of tinies. Oh, how was he supposed to choose?

Meanwhile, one of the tinies was far less excited to be seen. Logan sat away from his peers, choosing instead to sulk in the corner. He was not exactly-how did the humans put it?-obedient. Logan despised this unjust system, so much so that after weeks of his badgering the owners of the shop had equipped him with an obedience collar.

Logan scratched at the device idly, forgetting how it always chaffed. He never could get used to the sensation.

Patton scanned the cases, looking over all the tinies within. They were all so cute. He came to one of the last cases in the line-up and his gaze was focused on the tiny in the corner. Patton blinked, staring at him with a slight head tilt.

Feeling the human’s gaze on him, Logan turned. He wanted to tell the human off, yell at him for participating in such an inhumane economy and the enslavement of borrowers everywhere...but, with the collar still on, Logan knew better. Instead Logan raised a judgemental eyebrow, hoping his expression could convey what words could not.

Patton’s eyes widened in awe as he took the tiny in and something in him just clicked. Was this the feeling people talked about? When you just knew the pet you were meant to get? Patton had to think so. He grinned. “Hello little guy.” He greeted.

No. Refusing to let the human think they were ‘bonding’ any further, Logan turned his head away, looking at the other end of the cage instead.

“Ah, come on little guy.” Patton said, trying to move and catch the tiny’s eye. “My name is Patton. Do you have one?”

“I do.” Logan said coldly, knowing he was meant to respond when addressed.

Patton lit up when the tiny spoke. “And what would it be?” Patton asked again. He was loving this tiny already.

“I think it would be ill advised of me to share that information.” Logan responded, careful to avoid the ‘no’ word as he turned back to the human.

Patton tilted his head. “Oh? And why is that?” He was happy to see the tiny talking but he did think it was weird that he didn’t want to say his name.

“Because then you might get the notion to become attached.” Logan explained.

Patton chuckled. “Well, it’s a little too late for that.”

Logan frowned, beginning to feel a sinking feeling in his chest. “...oh?”

“Yep! I think I’ve decided.” Patton smiled down at the tiny. “I’ll be right back.” And with that, Patton went to go grab an employee to help get his tiny.

Logan paled, looking around at the rest of the tinies within his view, all looking as shocked as he felt. No one ever expected Logan to be sold, and frankly after spending so long in the security of these walls Logan found himself quite nervous to leave.

Patton came back and pointed to Logan. “I’ll take this little guy, please.” The employee gave him a weird look but didn’t say anything. He just shrugged and opened the case to scoop Logan out and put him in a smaller cage.

“No-” Logan tried to protest, but the moment the word left his lips a slight electric shock was sent through his veins, causing him to be compliant as the worker wrapped his grimy hands around Logan’s form.

Once Logan was in the cage and it was closed, the employee handed him over to Patton, who took it carefully. He grinned. “Thank you!” The employee nodded and let him to the register to pay. Patton set the cage down for a moment in order to take out his credit card. As soon as the transaction went through he looked down at the tiny. “You are now officially mine!” Patton said excitedly, picking up the cage and holding it close to his chest.

Logan shuddered at the implication. To be merchandise on display was degrading enough, but to be owned?

Patton walked out to his car, putting the cage in the passenger seat while he buckled up. “Oh this is gonna be great! We’re going to have a lot of fun together!”

“Doubtful.” Logan muttered. This human seemed overwhelmingly bubbly, and Logan began to wonder if his role would be more equivalent to a toy than a pet.

As Patton pulled out of the parking lot, he couldn’t help but wonder how Virgil’s search was going.

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

Virgil entered the shelter with a small sigh. Maybe he should have just gone with Patton but, then again, the whole reason he chose the shelter was because he didn’t want some frilly, trained tiny or whatever. That wasn’t his thing. And the only place he would find one of those was here. At the tiny shelter.

A worker led him into the back and Virgil started walking, scanning each tiny nervously. Geez, there were a lot more than he thought. How was he supposed to choose?

Roman, unlike most tinies was always eager to greet humans. He sized them up, hoping to find the ideal match. Not that Roman wanted to be owned, oh no- Roman was a free spirit. He longed to one day return to his borrower roots. That’s why he needed an easy target. Roman had actually been nearly successful on several occasions, but always after sneaking away from his owners something would go amiss and Roman would end up back here. No matter. Sooner or later, Roman knew he could succeed.

However, that would only be possible with a human who was negligent and easily manipulated. Looking at the emo nightmare that had just walked in, Roman could tell from the way his eyes shifted that he was neither.

Virgil’s eyes wandered over to a strange looking tiny. He seemed to be wearing some sort of prince outfit, probably from a doll. He raised an eyebrow at him.

“What?” Roman scoffed. How dare the human judge him when he was dressed like that. “Move along, Jack Skellington.” Roman advised, waving him off.

Virgil blinked, eyes going wide. “What did you just call me?” He asked, coming right up to the little cage the tiny was in.

“Jack Skellington.” Roman repeated, unafraid. “Because you look like a halloween nightmare spirit come to life.”

Virgil stared at him for a moment before snorting. “Well, princey, you sure are creative.”

“I try.” Roman preened a bit, always grateful for a compliment before he remembered that he was meant to drive this human away. Curse his everlasting charm.

“But seriously, hit the road, Jack.” Roman pointed down the aisleway.

Virgil smirked, leaning against the wall. “It’s Virgil, actually.” Virgil said. “And what are you gonna do about it if I don’t?”

“Ah…” Roman hadn’t considered that. “Well, I may not be able to make you leave, but I’m certainly not going anywhere with the likes of you so you might as well keep your hopes down.”

Virgil raised an eyebrow. “You act like you have a say on whether or not I bring you home with me.” Virgil chuckled. “How cute.”

“What- you don’t want a borrower like me.” Roman sputtered, desperately trying to make himself sound unlikeable. “I’m a rebel, a firecracker. There’s a reason guys like me end up in the shelter, you know.”

“I know you're trying to make yourself undesirable.” Virgil said. “But unfortunately, you just listed everything I was looking for in a tiny. Why do you think I came to the shelter in the first place?”

“D-did I say rebel?” Roman let out an awkward laugh. “I meant obedient! Well-mannered, quiet as a mouse even.”

“Uh huh. Sorry, Princey, but I think I made my decision.” Virgil shrugged and walked off towards an employee.

“HEY!” Roman ran up to the front of the glass, pounding on it angrily. “YOU GET BACK HERE AND UN-LIKE ME RIGHT NOW!”

Virgil did return, but he was not alone. An employee was there to happily maneuver the little cage out of its spot and hand it over to Virgil. Virgil raised the cage to his eyes, smirking. “Too late. We’re definitely gonna have some fun together.”

“I disagree wholeheartedly.” Roman crossed his arms, glaring defiantly back at his newest owner.

“Yeah, we’ll see.” Virgil paid for Roman and then got into his car. Heading home. He wondered if Patton was already done with his little errand but that question was answered for him when he saw his car in their driveway.

“Looks like you get to meet my roommate today.” And his new pet. He wondered what kind of tiny Patton got.

“Oh, yippee. I’m so thrilled.” All of this Roman said with a deadpan expression, sulking at the bottom of his cage.

“Don’t be like that. Besides, you’ll have a little friend too.” Virgil revealed, taking the cage and getting out of the car.

“What?” Roman perked up slightly at that. Another borrower could act as his partner in crime, making it twice as easy to escape. Although, Roman quickly dashed that hope as soon as he caught sight of the borrower in the other enclosure. It was trained, still collared up and everything. There was no way the humans would let such a precious pet out of their sight for more than a second.

Patton perked up as he saw Virgil come home. “Virgil!” His eyes wandered to the cage. “You got one!”

Virgil smirked. “Yep and I see you did too.” Virgil looked to the tiny still in it’s cage, putting his tiny’s cage next to it.

Logan looked over, eyes wide as he took in the appearance of his fellow borrower. He offered a wave of greeting, but the princely figure just scoffed and turned away from him.

“Hey,” Virgil said, noticing this. “Princey, play nice.”

Patton blinked. “Princey?”

Virgil looked at Patton. “Oh, it’s just a nickname. Because of his outfit.” He motioned to it. “He hasn’t told me his name yet. What about yours?”

“Oh. Uh, not yet but I just got home so I haven’t really gotten the chance to talk to him.” Patton spoke.

“I still think providing my name is unnecessary.” Logan spoke up, his voice quiet in the presence of two humans.

“Hey look, we agree on something.” Roman smirked. Perhaps this other borrower was alright.

“Well, we have to call you something.” Patton said with a small frown. “Wouldn’t you rather us call you by your own name?”

Virgil shrugged. “Hey, if you want to be difficult, I’ll just keep calling you princey.”

“Well joke’s on you, because I happen to like that nickname.” Roman stuck out his tongue.

“Oh darn, guess I should come up with something else, then.” Virgil smirked. Patton chuckled at the two of them, seeing that they really were a good fit. He picked up Logan’s cage.

“I’m gonna head to my room to bond with this little guy.” Patton announced and Virgil nodded. He thought for a moment, before picking up Roman’s cage again.

“I think I’ll do the same.” He said.

“Oh, goodie.” Roman twirled his finger with an unamused expression.

Meanwhile, Logan was a bit more nervous in his reaction. What exactly did ‘bonding’ entail? Unlike Roman, who had experienced this song and dance before, Logan was brand new to the pet world and was not a fan of the uncertainties.

Patton brought Logan to his room, setting the cage down on the desk and sitting down. He sent the tiny a comforting smile and he opened the door of the cage. “Come on out, little guy, I bet you feel all cooped up in there huh?”

“I have adequate leg room.” Logan shifted nervously on his feet, hesitant to come out. He did not like to be grabbed, but in a new environment Logan was unsure how to avoid such an outcome. Perhaps it was inevitable.

Patton’s smile turned softer. “It’s okay, you don’t have to be nervous. Besides, it’s good to stretch your legs a little.” And Patton wanted to get a better look at him.

Logan supposed he would rather have the choice to walk himself, and knew that one way or another if the human wanted him out Logan would soon be leaving this cage. So, with hesitance, Logan stepped out onto the desk.

Patton grinned. “There we go!” Patton looked the tiny over, eyes focusing on his neck. Patton blinked as he finally took notice of the thing, lifting his hand to touch it. “Oh! You already have a collar.” He smiled at the tiny. “Well, at least we don’t have to buy you a new one now.”

Logan touched at it absent-mindedly with a scowl. “I think this collar is unnecessary.”

“I think they’re pretty handy.” Patton said. “That way if you ever get lost, people know who to contact! Although, I’ll have to get a new tag for it. With all my information on it.” They could do that next time they went shopping. Which he was hoping to do with Virgil tomorrow anyway.

Logan wrinkled the thought of his bane of existence now serving a duel purpose of keeping him tied to a human owner as well.

“So! Can you tell me your name now?” Patton asked with a smile.

“I could.” Logan said carefully, watching the human for a reaction.

“Great! Then what is it?” Patton asked, leaning forward in anticipation.

“It seems you would benefit greatly from learning my name.” Logan observed. “What motivation do I have to be inclined to share?”

Patton frowned in confusion. “Wouldn’t it be nice to be called by your name?”

“I suppose, but at this point it feels like I will be submitting my only leverage.” Logan was surprised to find himself admitting this aloud to a human.

Patton’s eyebrows furrowed. “Your...leverage? Well, why would you need leverage?” His tiny sure was confusing.

“To gain a sense of control, as well as to possibly help manifest an understanding.” Logan explained. “Perhaps my name can be exchanged for a policy decision regarding how I am treated.”

Patton blinked. “How you’re-oh kiddo, you don’t have to worry!” Now Patton understood. He felt sad that his little pet even thought that of him for a second but now he’ll set the record straight.

“I promise, I’m not going to hurt you or anything. I’ve never been one to believe in those types of punishment. It’s just cruel, ya know?” Patton said.

“I certainly agree.” Logan gave Patton a suspicious look, trying to gauge if the human was telling the truth. It would certainly be foolhardy to trust an individual so easily. “Regardless, I can guarantee an issue will arise where we do not see eye to eye. For example, I am generally against the entrapment of borrowers, while you clearly view the issue in an abysmally positive light.”

Patton blinked. “Uh, what?” His borrower was using a lot of big words that Patton wasn’t sure about. What did abysmally mean?

“I think I should be free, and you think I should be in a cage.” Logan deadpanned, gesturing back to the enclosure.

“Well...of course, kiddo.” Patton gave him a small, kind of confused, smile. “You’re domesticated. And it’s been proven that a borrowers life is longer than ever when they’re with a human.”

Logan looked to the side. Why could humans not comprehend that a longer live was not necessarily a better life? “Regardless, the idea of being another person’s belonging is rather distasteful.”

Patton frowned. “I’m sorry kiddo, I don’t know what to yell ya.” He smiled. “But I can promise that I’ll take great care of you. We’ll be a small, happy family!”

“Very well then.” Logan sighed. It was indeed the way of the world, whether Logan enjoyed it or not. At least this human seemed malleable enough, and Logan might even be able to form a tolerable existence here for the time being.

“Great!” Patton said, clapping his hands together. “Does that mean you’ll tell me your name now?” He asked, putting on the puppy dog eyes.

“N-ah, later.” Logan cringed, quickly changing his answer from ‘no’ as the collar gave a warning buzz.

Patton pouted. “Pleeeeeeaaaaaase.” He wanted to know his pet’s name!

Logan quite literally could not say no to that face. “What do you intend to do if my name remains unshared?” Logan asked, curious.

“Be sad.” Patton admitted. “But, I mean, I don’t know. I guess I would call you kiddo until the meantime? Little buddy? Things like that?”

Logan’s lip curled at the juvenile suggestions.

“You really aren’t going to tell me your name?” Patton asked, looking deflated.

Logan paused, considering the consequences of not sharing this piece of information. Finding the odds to be in his favor, Logan shook his head.

“Oh.” Patton looked down. “Well, that’s fine. I get it. You’re in a new place and need to get used to everything. I just, I do need your name by tomorrow so we can get your new collar tag, okay?”

“Perhaps I wish to remain untagged.” Logan stuck out his nose defiantly.

“Well, that’s just not safe. What if you got lost? I’d never find you again.” Patton said, shaking his head. He then stood up suddenly. “Alright, well, I’ll let you rest for a little bit while I go make up some dinner, okay?”

Logan jumped, so startled by the human rising to his full height that he could only nod.

Patton smiled and lifted his hand to gently nudge the borrower back towards the cage.

Logan quickly shied away from the touch, scurrying back into his enclosure. He certainly preferred his own two feet to being grabbed.

Patton closed the cage door and sent him one last smile before going down to prepare dinner. Hopefully after some food, his borrower would be more inclined to talk.

#pet perspective #perspective series #borrower!logan #borrower!roman #human!patton #human!virgil #pet!logan #pet!roman #part 1

155 notes · View notes

dammit-stark · 4 years

Note

i am OBSESSED with royalty aus

fun fact: red, white & royal blue by Casey mcquiston is actually my favorite book (tied with Emma by Jane Austen, obviously) but anyway this was heavily inspired by the plot of that book so I hope you like it! - p.s this turned out to be like 1.8k words soooooo here it exists now okay

DROP YOUR FAV AU IN MY ASK BOX (OR JUST ANY IDEA IDC) AND ILL WRITE IT FOR YOU :)

...

“We’re supposed to hate each other,” Tony insists, head hanging off the side of his bed, his feet cushioned in the onslaught of pillows by the head board. Nat sits criss-cross applesauce in his peripheral vision, flipping through a magazine, “It’s not my fault he’s a pompous ass and we’re star-crossed nemeses.”

Nat stops flipping to look at him under an arched eyebrow, “Star-crossed, Tony? Really?”

“Oh, shush, you know what I am. We’re total opposites. My dad got elected by the people into the greatest country in the world, and he was born into the crappy inbred monarchy whose ass we beat centuries ago.”

Nat doesn’t look up from her magazine this time, “Didn’t your dad fund his campaign with the millions of dollars he got from his inheritance?”

Tony pauses. In the silence, he can hear the blood rushing to his head. He chooses to ignore Nat’s logic, “I really don’t think that’s relevant here.”

Nat gets to the last page and the flimsy pages clap noisily together. She points an accusatory finger at him, “I don’t care if you think he’s the Loch Ness monster, it’s a royal wedding and you’re the first son of the United States. You’re gonna have to suck it up and be on your best behavior.”

“Oh, no, Nat,” Tony coos sardonically, still hanging upside down, “Are you afraid I’m gonna embarrass you?”

With a complete straight face, she throws her magazine at him, and stands so she’s towering above him. He has to stretch his neck to look at her.

“Yes, she says. I absolutely am. Now, what do you want on your pizza? I’m hungry.”

As it turns out, Tony isn’t humanly capable of staying on his best behavior at the royal wedding. He definitely embarrasses Nat, and maybe, sorta, totally causes an international incident in the process.

“It’s not my fault,” He tells Nat on the jet back to the States, still hanging somewhere in the precarious limbo between disastrously drunk and world-endings hungover, “He started it.”

Nat just glares at him, “I was standing right there, Tony. I watched you push him first.”

“I-“ There’s not much point in arguing, “Yeah. Dad’s gonna be pissed, isn’t he?”

Nat sighs, a long, never-ending sigh that makes her sound decades older than she actually is. Tony has that effect on people.

“Don’t worry about your dad, Tony,” She tells him. This time, she’s flipping through a classified file folder instead of a dime-a-dozen tabloid edition, “We’re gonna fix your mess, as per usual.”

Tony can feel the hangover rearing it’s head over the drunkenness, and he sinks into his chair, eyes closing, “You’re the best, Nat. Thanks.”

Nat rolls her eyes as Tony falls asleep, “Yeah,” She murmurs under her breath to herself, “Damn right I am. Dumbass.”

It turns out that Nat’s solution to Tony’s antagonistic little international incident is to make it seem like the whole The-First-Son-Just-Pushed-A-Beloved-Prince-Into-His-Brother’s-Wedding-Cake thing seem more like a frat boy-esque ribbing gone bad. Tony hates the plan, and he tells Nat as such.

“This is a horrible plan. It’s not gonna work, and it means I have to spend an entire weekend with Prince Pissy Pants.”

They’re on the private plane again, flying back to England to fix Tony’s mess.

Nat rolls her eyes, and punches him in the shoulder, “Get over yourself, Stark. If you don’t want to hang out with your so-called nemesis, then stop getting drunk and pushing people into wedding cakes. This is your own fault. We’re fixing your problem for you. Get over it.”

Tony rolls his eyes, but otherwise consents, “Whatever.”

Nat passes him a file folder.

“What’s this?”

“The Prince’s interests. Study it. Learn it like it’s the back of your hand, and then study it even more. If you get caught in a lie, Stark, you’re beyond dead.”

He gets two lines in before he tears narrowed eyes away from the paper to suspiciously meet Nat’s expression, “Did he get one of these about me?”

“Yep.”

“What was in it?”

“Your interests, Stark.”

Tony does not envy whoever got assigned that task. He wonders how accurate it’ll be. He obediently reads through the Prince’s interests among an uncharacteristic silence. Nat almost thinks he’s grown up until he breaks said silence with a snort.

“His favorite book is Great Expectations? Nerd.”

When they land, Tony remembers why he pushed the prince in the first place. Yeah, the alcohol did half the work for him, but- something about the Prince’s stupidly perfect, absurdly handsome face just makes Tony want to start shoving people into cakes. Surely other people have the same urge.

“Mr Stark,” The Prince says as greeting. He doesn’t even offer a hand for Tony to shake, just smiles with his hands folded together, “It’s a shame these are the circumstances that you-“

“Yeah, yeah, you’re very polite, I get it. Prince Steve here to save the day with his antiquated, impeccable manners. Yippee-kiy-yai.”

Tony counts it as a win that he sees a flicker in that smile, but it crests back to sparkly perfection with a blink of the eye. There are cameras. Tony sees Nat out of the corner of his eye, glaring beside a distinct row of security, somehow looking the most intimidating of all of them. He smiles back, pasted and ridiculous and spiteful, his whole body tensed and relaxed at the same time.

He smiles winningly for the cameras.

Later, at the hospital, Tony wonders how Mr Prince Perfect can put on such a facade, even with sick kids. Because that’s obviously what this is. He watches from across the room as Prince Steven kneels beside a sick kid’s bedside, smiling kindly, and talking to the little girl with her baby yoda doll tucked into the crook of her arm.

It’s not until Tony has completely committed to his eavesdropping that he realizes there aren’t any cameras around to capture Steve’s amiability. That’s the first moment Tony thinks oh, maybe this guy isn’t as fake as I thought he was.

“You totally wouldn’t be Han Solo,” Tony interrupts because he’s totally an asshole and he knows it (that’s the different between Tony and Prince Stick-Up-Butt, he at least owns his assholery), “You’re a textbook Luke Skywalker if I ever met one, Prince.”

Steve’s responding grin is surprisingly left-leaning, and the kid in the hospital bed is giggling.

“Are you gonna try to tell me that you’re a Han Solo then?”

“Actually, I-“

“Because you’re not,” Steve’s totally serious except a slight twinkle in his eye, one forefinger tapping against his own knee as the little girl sits enraptured by the ridiculous conversation occurring just above her, “You’re Anakin through and through. Not in a bad way, just-“

Tony doesn’t mean to come off as truly surprised as he really does, but the way he shuts his mouth immediately gives him away, “No,” He says, “You’re right.”

Steve’s lips punch off at the corners in an amused, vaguely self-satisfied way that makes Tony want to soberly push him into another cake so expensive you need to take out a mortgage to eat a slice. Before Tony can needle him back, the prince is smiling back at the kid, a gentle hand on her arm. Huh.

“It was a pleasure to meet you, Wendy. Thanks for talking about Star Wars with us.”

And like the smug bastard he is, Steve gracefully stands from her bedside and leaves the room. Oh no he won’t. Tony follows, angrily.

That’s how they end up in a near-empty hospital hallway together. And subsequently, it’s also how they’re pushed into the closest nearby maintenance closet by the nearest secret service operative, tripping over themselves and invisible equipment alike as they’re safely hidden away. It’s also how they end up on the floor, joints every which way, elbows menacing and in all the wrong places as they cajole violently among the brooms and buckets.

“Your elbow-“ Tony grunts, “Is in my side, Steve.”

“Yes, well, my elbow wouldn’t be in your side if your elbow wasn't in my shoulder.”

“Get your shoulder out of my elbow!”

“Why do you hate me?” Steve cuts him off, a hiss in his voice. Ooh, Mr Perfect Prince can actually get angry. Exciting.

Tony takes a deep breath. Or- as deep of a breath as he can take without drawing attention to their tight little maintenance closet/hideout.

“You’re not real. You’re fake. Everything you do has been trained into you, it’s annoying.”

“I feel pretty real to me, Stark.”

“You just- it’s a persona. You’re a persona. And the whole world blindly loves you for it.”

In the dark, Tony chews on his bottom lip- a chronic bad habit of his.

When Steve responds, his voice is low, even lower than it necessarily needs to be to keep attention away from their location. He can’t tell in the dark, but Tony thinks his head might be bowed. He can practically hear the thoughts in the prince’s head. But then again, they’re physically close enough, practically spooning ridiculously on the ground, he might as well tap directly into Steve’s mind they’re so close together.

“Do you think I want to be a persona, Tony? Do you think I did this to myself? I’m still me, I’m just- guarded. It’s not up to me. There’s a lot more to the world than my place in it.”

Tony’s quiet. It’s a much more real answer than he’d expected. He’d half expected the prince to spit on him or something, dig his elbow extra far into Tony’s side or something. Instead he gets this vulnerable little morsels of honesty, and Tony has nothing to say.

“I-“

Tony’s cut off by blinding light. Nat whips the door open.

“Ew, what are you guys doing on the ground? Why are you spooning?”

Steve hurried to his feet, cheeks visibly red, “The threat?” He demands, and Tony’s surprised Nat doesn’t demand a full sentence like she usually does, the cocky bastard. She nods succinctly.

“A false alarm. However, we’ve deemed it safest to move onto the next event.”

“Great, thanks,” The Prince says, and moves off down the hall, disappearing behind twin EXIT doors.

Tony’s still on the ground when Nat swivels back to look at him, a smug smile on her face.

“You hate each other, huh? Is that what you’re calling it nowadays?”

Tony rolls his eyes, “Oh, shut up, asshole, and help me.”

But he hadn’t had to tell himself deflect, deflect, deflect, and he’s pretty sure something about being stuck in a children’s hospital maintenance closet changed his feelings on the guy. Something about it.

As Tony walks to his next event, he has to push to keep the prince out of his idle mind.

When he departs for the United States hours later, Tony leaves the prince with his phone numbers.

“To corroborate our stories or whatever,” He tells Prince Steven, though he’s sure Nat isn’t convinced, “So we don’t have to keep going between these losers.”

Prince Steven accepts the offering with a smile, and Tony gets on the plane, leaving Britain behind him one last time.

#royalty au #drabble #stevetony #rwarb au #I hope this makes sense even if you haven’t read the book #I’ve been meaning to write this for 6+ months so it was awesome to finally do it heh

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turtle-steverogers · 5 years

Text

Government Affiliated Love Affairs

idk @fuck-your-fandoms suggested this and i vibed with it so yeee here we are

soulmate au! kinda!

ship: ralbert

warnings: none i dont think, but if i missed something lemme know

word count: 2600 ish

editing: eh kinda idk

“Well, this is stupid.”

“Yeah, tell me about it, pal.”

Race sighs, looking down at his hands as he fiddles with the cup sleeve of his grande americano.

It was common knowledge that the “Formulated Love Act of 2023” was not the most foolproof of laws passed by the government in the past 5 years (not that anything the government did anymore was foolproof, but he’ll digress), but Race couldn’t help but at least appreciate that it wasn’t trying to push any heteronormative bullshit.

That didn’t make this asshole any more bearable.

Granted, the notion of solving the ‘loneliness epidemic’ (which apparently was a thing and was causing the US enough damn trouble that the government fucking stepped in) through means of systematic soulmates was sweet. Everyone gets a match based off a stupid fucking questionaire they completed when they were 21, like “oh, you can drink now! Here’s a shot of vodka and also your future partner is gonna be determined by this thick ass packet, go ahead and fill that out, no pressure!” And by the time you’re 25, a soulmate’s been hand picked for you. By law, you’re required to marry them within a year of meeting, and then you’re set to live your life happily ever after.

It was nice in theory. But in practice? Not so much.

Then again, wasn’t the government usually like that?

Race wished he had some whiskey to pour into his americano like those edgy movie characters. Or Jack Kelly. Jack Kelly did that sometimes.

When he’d gotten the email a week ago with his soulmate’s information and their established ‘meet-up arrangements’- which were really just fancy words for ‘forced date, have fun’- Race had been tentatively hopeful that maybe he’d be one of the rare cases. The ones you read about on Buzzfeed where it really is love at first sight and maybe those few, poor FBI Agents who were stuck with the ‘Pairing Process’ had done something right for once.

The ounce of a Disney fan within him had even entertained the thought of some miraculous meeting, where sparks fly and eyelashes are batted and smiles are exchanged.

But no. Instead, Race is sitting at some random Starbucks in the middle of Manhattan with an obnoxious (and upsettingly pretty) redhead, who’s first words to him were, “I fucking hate coffee, I’m gonna get tea.” To which Race had tried to cover his scowl, but failed miserably.

He hated tea snobs. Don’t get him wrong, he enjoys tea as much as the next 25 year old guy, but those dudes who fucking made a point to openly despise coffee in favor of tea like some sort of pompous jerk? Yeah, they killed his boner.

Race toys around with his coffee cup for another moment, before the silence gets too thick and he breaks, “Albert, right?” he asks, because even though it’s been a good half hour since they’d met up, the guy still hasn’t properly introduced himself.

It had said Albert’s name and age in the email last Saturday, but come on. It’s basic human decency to at least offer your name and maybe a handshake.

Albert scrunches his nose, taking a long sip from his iced peach green tea lemonade. Fucking asshole.

“Yeah,” He says. He sounds bitter and uninviting. Race tries not to shrink in his seat, “And you’re Antonio.”

“Race,” Race interjects.

Albert’s eyebrows draw together, “Race? What the fuck kinda-”

“It’s a nickname, just-” Race scrubs a hand down his face, “Just, don’t question it, but it’s Race, got it?”

Albert leers at him, “Fine.”

The silence settles over them once more, except this time, they’re maintaining eye contact. Albert looks like he’s trying to size him up and Race’s neck prickles uncomfortably.

I mean, seriously, this is the guy Race has to marry? Yippee fucking ki yay.

“Listen,” Race says slowly, “This- I mean,” he blows out a breath, starting over, “I hate to break it to you, but we’re stuck together and you’ve gotta move in by,” he pauses, checking the date on his phone, “Wednesday, so we could either work something out or suffer.”

Albert’s glare doesn’t falter, “I’ll suffer.”

Race sighs again.

XXX

“And down the hall here is my room and that,” Race gestures to the door opposite his room, Albert trailing behind him, “Is yours.”

After their disaster of a first date last Saturday, Race had relented and cleaned out his office, turning it into a guest room and moving his desk and file cabinets into his own room. It was a tight squeeze into his relatively small space, but he wasn’t about to share a room with Albert. But he was a nice person and wasn’t gonna condemn him to the couch, either. So, guest room it is.

Albert hefts his box of belongings higher into his arms, shrugging his right shoulder to adjust the duffle bag on his back before inching into his room.

“Thanks, I guess,” He calls bluntly behind him before kicking the door closed, leaving Race standing dumbly on the other end.

Race blinks. Then, blinks again.

“Man, fuck you!” He calls in a sudden surge of anger. He hadn’t done a damn thing to Albert, what fucking right did he have to hate him? He didn’t even give him a chance!

“Nah.” Albert calls back.

“I didn’t mean it like that you fucking ass- you know what? Nevermind.” He storms into his own room, slamming the door shut behind him.

XXX

Later that night, Race is curled up in front of the TV, cradling a bowl of Panang curry and watching some random documentary about koalas. He spoons some fried tofu into his mouth, frontwardly considering getting a koala, because they’re fucking adorable, and distantly wondering if Albert was ever going to come out of his room.

He hadn’t heard from him all afternoon and the only indication that he was still in the house had been the distinct sound of a toe being stubbed, followed by a loud, ‘fuck me!’, which Race didn’t laugh at. He didn’t.

His question is answered a moment later when Albert’s door creaks open down the hall and he pads into the living room. Race can feel him lingering in the doorway, watching him, and he groans a little, placing his spoon back into his bowl and muting the television.

“What,” he says, turning to face Albert, who looks sheepish for a moment before replacing the scowl on his face.

“Nothing, just-” he purses his lips and glances towards the kitchen.

Race softens a little, “Are you hungry? I didn’t know your order, but I got you some pad thai,

‘cause it’s pretty standard…it’s in the fridge if you want it.”

Albert looks back at him, a strange look on his face, “You got me something?”

Race shrugs, “yeah?”

“Even after I-” Albert shakes his head, “Thanks.”

Race watches as he seems to go through some internal conflict before stalking off towards the kitchen. A moment later, the microwave starts up.

“Alrighty,” Race mumbles to himself, unmuting the television and picking his spoon back up.

A couple more minutes pass with the remote sounds of Albert putzing around in the kitchen and the narrator’s accented voice droning on. It feels weird to have someone else in the house, but Race shrugs it off. He never loved having roommates, but it was no different than his college days, really. Even though he couldn’t just forget Albert after the year was over. He had to marry the damn guy.

He’s surprised when Albert comes back into the living room and even more shocked when the other end of the couch dips. Glancing over, he finds Albert sitting with his legs tucked underneath him, twirling rice noodles around his fork and staring fixedly at the TV. He forces himself to relax and finish his curry.

They don’t say anything and eventually, Race lets his guard down a little. An indiscernible amount of time passes and the program turns to a show about domesticated hedgehogs and how to care for them.

Race feels himself nodding off, and he’s about to let sleep take him over completely when he feels his bowl being lifted out of his hands. He cracks open an eye in time to see Albert get up and clear their dishes.

He comes back a moment later and looks mildly startled to see Race awake.

“I thought you were out out,” he says, and Race notes that the hostility that’s been ever present since they met is curiously absent.

“I woke up when you took our stuff,” Race admits.

Albert hums and sits back down on the couch, clicking off the TV and bracing his forearms on his knees. He looks like he might want to say something, so Race waits patiently.

“Look,” Albert starts, sounding a little strained, “I’m sorry for how I’ve been acting. I’m not trying to justify my behavior, but this whole,” he gestures a little wildly, “soulmate thing freaks me out and I kinda panicked over it and totally took it out on you even though it’s not in any way your fault and,” he lets out a humorless chuckle, finally looking at Race, “I’m sorry. Really.”

Race offers him a tired, but reassuring smile, “Listen, bud, I’m like half asleep so only, like, a fraction of this conversation is getting comprehended, but it’s okay. I mean, you were an asshole, but I get it. This whole system is fucked.”

Albert laughs for real and Race finds that he likes it. Just a little. He can appreciate a nice laugh, okay?

“Sure is,” Albert agrees.

There’s a pause, but it’s not as charged as before.

“Where did the nickname ‘Race’ come from?”

“Uhhh,” Race yawns, stretching, “I dunno, my little sister always called me that and it stuck?”

“Cool.”

“Yeah.”

Race props his head up on his hand, sleepily watching Albert fidget. Albert seems to sense him staring, because he looks at him again, offering a small smile.

“You’re tired,” he points out uselessly, “you should sleep.”

Race nods, standing, “Yeah, I think I’m gonna,” he starts towards his room, “You should, too.”

Albert salutes him, “I will.”

“Goodnight, Al.”

“‘Night, Race.”

XXX

After their little impromptu apology session, things change between Race and Albert.

They hang out more, heading into the city to browse through museums and stroll aimlessly through Central Park. Albert brings Race to a planetarium and Race, in turn, takes him to an ABT performance at Lincoln Center. It’s nice, Race finds, and his initial opinion of Albert is rapidly changing into something entirely different and ten times more positive.

He discovers that Albert’s favorite ice cream flavor is stracciatella, even though it’s hard to find in the States. Albert tells him that he graduated from Pratt with a film degree and dreams to one day participate in the Sundance Film Festival.

In turn, Race confesses that even though he grew up dancing and always thought he’d be a professional dancer, culinary school had ended up being his calling.

Little things about Albert start to filter into Race’s awareness. Like the way he quirks one side of his mouth a little higher than the other when he laughs, or how he scrunches his nose a little and furrows his eyebrows when he’s filming. He’s got that kind of charming, self-deprecating humor, where he’s always cracking jokes, but only at his own expense, making him approachable and likable. When he’s telling stories, his voice always pitches a little different, captivating whoever’s listening. But when someone else is talking, he gives his full, unwavering attention.

It makes Race feel interesting and important. Like what he has to say matters.

It’s a sunny Friday and the two of them are sitting in a small sandwich shop in Brooklyn. Albert is retelling some ridiculous story about how he got a cab driver to bring him to a veterinarian for free, because he found an injured pigeon. His meatball sub is long since forgotten and Race notices that he has a little sauce on his cheek.

He’s just about to reach out to wipe it off when he realizes it.

He’s kind of in love with Albert Dasilva.

Huh. Crazy.

XXX

“Hey, so I was thinking we could go try out that new bubble tea place over on 14th?”

Race lifts his head from his pillow, blinking blearily at where Albert’s leaning against his doorframe. It’s Saturday and they’d spent the night previous in some club getting spectacularly drunk and naturally, Race is hungover as shit. But Albert doesn’t get hungover, the motherfucker.

He scrubs a hand down his face and Albert watches with a smirk as he struggles to sit up.

“Yeah,” Race says, “Yeah, I’m down, just,” he rolls his stiff neck, wincing as it cracks, “gimme a few minutes to freshen up.”

“No prob,” Albert says, sidling out of the room, “We can grab greasy breakfast for you somewhere as well!”

“You’re a saint!” Race calls back.

A half hour later, they’re bumping shoulders as they venture through The Village, keeping an eye on Albert’s google maps as they look for ‘Bubbleology’, the new fangled cafe Jack and Katherine had been insisting they try.

“So, the Air and Space Museum in DC is having an exhibit on Mars next weekend and I was thinking we could pop down to see it?”

Albert perks up, looking away from his phone to give Race an excited smile, “Really? Wait, how did you know about that and I didn’t?”

Race blushes a little, shoving his hands in his pockets, “It’s your birthday coming up, so I was looking for things to do and...yeah.”

“Aww,” Albert nudges him, but Race can see him flush, “That’s sweet, I’d love to- shit, Race, careful!”

Race gasps, freezing as a car speeds towards him. The only unfrozen part of his mind is screaming that the crosswalk says they can walk, so why isn’t that car fucking stopping and-

He feels a hand grip his bicep, yanking him back towards the sidewalk and all cognition slams back into him as he and Albert fall onto the pavement.

“-Fucking ASSHOLE, watch it!” Albert’s screaming uselessly after the car, but Race isn’t registering it. Not completely anyway.

He takes a moment to assess himself, breathing deeply as he becomes increasingly aware that he almost fucking died, but he didn’t thanks to Albert.

Albert looks down when Race tugs on his sleeve, “Are you okay? Jesus, that was- mmph.”

Race pulls him down, crashing their lips together. For a moment, Albert’s frozen against him, then he relaxes into the kiss, reaching up a hand to cradle Race’s jaw. They kiss for a while, until Race remembers that they’re quite literally sitting in the middle of a sidewalk and pulls away.

Albert opens his eyes, looking slightly dazed, “Whoa.”

Race bites his lip, suddenly unsure, “Sorry?”

“No,” Albert’s eyes widen, “No, don’t apologize, that- no, that was okay.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes,” Albert says, hoisting Race to his feet and pulling him in for another kiss, “Very okay.”

When they break apart again, they’re both laughing, foreheads resting against one anothers.

“Hey,” Race whispers, waiting until Albert’s eyes meet his to continue, “I like you.”

Albert rolls his eyes, but it’s fond, “I like you, too, dumbass. Maybe those FBI guys actually were onto something.”

Race smiles, goofy and genuine, “Yeah, maybe.”

They stand there for another moment, enjoying each other’s embrace. Then, Albert steps away abruptly, grabbing Race’s hand and pulling him down the street.

“C’mon, I still want bubble tea.”

It’s Race’s turn to roll his eyes, “Idiot.”

“Yeah, butcha love me.”

“You got me there.”

do we want a part 2 with fluffy dating stuff/wedding?

lemme know!

thanks for reading, chiefs

hmu to be added to my tag

TAG LIST: @getchapapes @we-dont-sell-papes @suddenly-im-respecsable

@aw-jus-let-em-try @well-the-kids-do-too @spot-conlon-king-of-brooklyn @felix-loves-albert-and-ralbert @technically-whizzy

@andthewoildwillknow @the-newsies-justice-for-zas-blog @localfakeitalian @have-we-got-news-for-you

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#newsies #newsies fic #albert dasilva #racetrack higgins #ralbert #chaotic bois #we lov #lol #okay yeah i posted a fic eee

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vegetacide · 5 years

Text

Whump●tober - Ransom

Veg-notables: Second last Whumptober post ::wailssssss:::

TY to @gumnut-logic cause she continues to feed my muse and deal with me :)

Obligatory whumptober stuff: @whumptober2019 @la-vie-en-whump

Blanket warning: bit of swearing… actually a bit of swearing has been in all of my posts but I keep forgetting to warm ppl… oops. I work in the construction industry so a bit of swearing is my S.O.P

Characters: Almost the whole gang and an honorable mention

Whumptober - TaG’verse

Previous post can be found HERE

27 Ransom

Enjoy…

oOo

"Thank fuck" Virgil whispered to himself as he stepped onto the gangway and carefully took the stairs from Tracy Two down to the hanger floor.

"Home sweet home huh, Virg?" Gordon grinned tossing arm around his shoulder and unobtrusively leading him toward the lift up to the villa.

"You have no idea."

"Oh I have a few ideas." He chuckled companionably as they made their way across the vast space. "Though you may want to re-admit yourself once you remember that hospital food is so much better than Grandma's cooking… less gut rotting too."

"And here I was just getting used to having a stomach lining again.."

There was a bark of laughter and Gordon and thumping him once on the back. "Holy shit. Scott you hear that? Virg told a joke."

"Will wonders never cease." Came the reply from some behind them as Scott exited the family plan with John hot on his heels.

Kayo appeared as if out of nowhere the other side of Virgil. Silent as ever and Gordon sucked in a breath.

“Damn, Kayo. A little warning would be nice. Friggen quiet as a cat maybe we should put some bells on you.”

She just rolled her eyes and slipped a guiding hand into the crook of Virgil’s arm. “I got this, go give Alan a hand with the bags.”

“Sure thing, Spookio.” He turned back, “Oh, and we could but the bells on a bright pink little choker. You would look great in pink..”

“Not likely” She muttered and shooed Gordon away. “Such a brat.”

“He’s just blowing off steam in the only other way he knows how besides the pool.” Virgil shrugged. He really couldn’t blame him for the need with TI security and the GDF on high alert due to what happened to Scott.

Virgil also suspected that his younger brother was feeling a bit responsible for whatever small part he seemed to have played in things, though he wouldn’t confirm or deny anything. Virgil didn’t bother voicing this as he suspected he was purposefully being left in the dark for one reason or another.

Another thing for Virgil to ponder. It’s not like he had anything else to do besides physio and the painful neuro-therapy he was being subjected to daily. It was also really starting to make him wonder if the Doctor that had been assigned to him was a secret sadist. Pushing him the way she was with a smile on her face despite his grunts of obvious discomfort.

Kayo seemed to like her though so there was that one positive working for her. That and the fact that there had been some improvement the last few days in his recovery. If it had been otherwise Virgil would have protested the torture rather loudly.

Turning his head to brushed a kiss over the crown of her head in appreciation for everything and continued the long walk across the hanger.

Kayo shifted at his side and he got the impression that she was looking at him “How you doing, Big Guy?”

“Happy to be home..looking forward to being anywhere but that blasted hospital.”

She bumped shoulders with him playfully, “Me too” and lifted his hand to brush her lips over his knuckles.

There was still a lot to contend with still but things seemed to be finally heading in the right direction and Virgil took solace in that.

Canting his head he listened to the echoes of sound off the high stone ceiling, the hum of the machinery that sat idle and waiting for action, the shuffle of Scott and John as they brought up the rear. And the distinctive cadence and timbre of the Terrible Two as they starting pitching insults at one another.

God, he’d missed home. The sounds, the smells, the familiar settings and hopefully one day soon, the sights.

Reaching up, he pushed the nearly total blackout sunshades back up his nose as a twinge of pain flared through his skull. The overhead lighting was bright and it was like bolts of agonizing electricity to his overly sensitive, visual hindered ocular senses, a wonderful side effect of his condition and the neuro-therapy that was rewiring his brain and optic nerves. Yippee skippee.

“Headache again?” Kayo’s voice was soft as they rounded the corner to the elevator bay. Pitched for his ears and his ears only, she knew he wouldn’t want to alert the others to his discomfort.

He couldn’t hide it from her. She knew him too well, was too finely tuned to the subtle nuances of his facial expression to be able to disguise with anything but the truth so he nodded slightly and her hand rubbed up his back. “Let’s get you up to bed. You can take a couple of the tablets the Doc proscribed and zone out for a bit.”

She wasn’t going to get a protest from him and when he said nothing he could feel her attention zero in on him. Singularly focused. The worry palpable in the tightness of her grip on his arm.

“Bad one?”

He gave a shrug. “I’ve had worse but..this one has potential.”

He heard the ding of the elevator, caught the blurry glare of twin metal panels opening, the flash of the interior lighting that had him grunting..

She led him in and he settled back against the wall as they waited for John and Scott to catch up.

The huff of discomforted had his head turning, ever the worrier himself when a brother was down and out “You doing okay there Scott?”

His brother was a mass of bruises or so he had been told though contrary to his physical state he attitude was surprising light as of late, floating up above Five for some reason It had been an up-lifting change from the sense of distress that had been hanging over them and the contrast seemed to make things a bit more bearable.

It wasn’t until the mood had shifted to the more positive that Virgil realized just how much it had been weighing on him, pulling him down and making it hard for him to breathe. With that thought in mind, he pulled in a greedy lung full and savoured the salt tang.

“I’m doing.” Came the laboured reply but there was an air of the jovial to it “Bloody ribs. Remind me next time I get the brilliant idea to take on a group of thugs to use something other than my torso for a punching bag. A concussion is more then another to deal with, the rest of this is just bullshit.”

Virgil smiled and couldn’t resist. “Well with how hard your head is it’s really no surprise they went for your soft underbelly.”

“Ouch, is that a jab at my fitness level dear brother?”

“No, just an observation.”

“If you had used what was in your head your torso wouldn’t have been a ‘punching bag’ in the first place.” Came the very logical assessment from John. The first thing he had said since they’d set out for home from the mainland.

“Ya but what would be the fun of that?”

Fighting words if ever Virgil had heard them and he cleared his throat to dispel the growing tension.

It had been a topic of argument destined to be stuck on repeat since Gordon and John had located Scott in a dead end alley surrounded by three very unconscious masked goons. An argument they’d all had a part in, one that had finally had Grandma seeing red and losing her ever loving marbles all over the lot of them.

Reprimanded within an inch of their lives, they’d all gone off to lick their wounds but the issue remained. One of their own, their commander and chief had taken off to parts unknown. His subcutaneous tracker rendered useless by a very sophisticated jammer so they had no way of finding out where he had ventured off to.

His assailant had been well prepared, well trained but the one thing they hadn’t taken into consideration was how wily Scott could be when enticed. They hadn’t counted on him being able to defend himself with as much gusto as he had even with alcohol and drugs in his system.

Or that he’d beefed up his training since his stint in the military. He was a veteran that had seen active combat on multiple fronts, both in the air and out. Kept up his training physically and mentally and had the added benefit of a trained MI6 agent and Covert Ops specialist re-upping his skill set. So of course the guy could defend himself against three very determined individuals who had wanted to take him alive for whatever reason.

The GDF had been livid, the local law enforcement baffled and Grandma had gone on the warpath. So here they all were, back on the island where security could be assured.

Might have been A.M.A but when Sally Tracy put her foot down, there was nothing that could move it...even stubborn brothers that should know better.

Sighing as Scott and John started snipping at each other like teenagers Virgil braced for another onslaught of ‘what ifs’ and ‘should haves’ warfare.

Luckily for them, the elevator doors opened up. Unfortunately it was on the lounge level and Grandma was standing front and center, her foot tapping in annoyance.

She’d returned to the island earlier with Allan and Brains to sort the medbay out and resupply the kitchen. It had been a while since they had all been home together and the food pantry had needed to restock badly. With two iR operatives down for the count eating while off island was going to be limited to supply runs as operations were temporarily suspended.

The GDF was just going to have to put on their big person pants and handle things on their own for a bit.

There had been one concession to their early release from Auckland Memorial and that the addition of a new member their island home for the interim of Virgil’s convalescences. One Doctor Emaline Harris was expected on their island paradise in the next few days to continue his treatments so prepping in advance for her arrival was of the utmost importance.

“Boys, please don’t tell me there is a need for a repeat of earlier because I am not in the mood and I am liable to ground you all like the children you seem to be impersonating.” The all seeing eye of Grandma knew all.

Virgil resisted the urge to chuckle and bit down on his lower lip to hold it in. Last thing he wanted to do was have Grandma focusing in on him. He would rather slink off to his rooms with Kayo under his arm and hide until the Dread Doctor arrived with her torture device of pain.

Luck as usual, was not on his side. “Virgil, honey. How you holding up?”

Crap.

“Fine, Grandma.”

“You look tired.” And this is where the great Smother Hen characteristic originated…

“Been a long day.”

“I am sure it has dear. I heard from that lovely Doc Harris that this morning’s therapy was quite the grueling ordeal.”

Kayo gave his hand a squeeze in supported as their Grandmother stepped into the elevator to ride it up to the living quarters.

“I’ve made some soup. I’ll bring you up some once you and Scott have settled.”

The thanks was said in stereo as Scott and himself replied in unison. The excitement behind their words was ‘epic; and Kayo tittered at his side.

A hand brushed his cheek and he caught the lavender fresh scent of his Grandmother’s lotion. “You’re hurting.” She stated.

If it wasn’t for the fact that his eyes felt like there were about to fall out of his head, Virgil would have rolled them. Scott was over and on him before his Grandmother had even finished pronouncing the “T.”

8-8-8

Even injured as he was, Scott could be a right pain in the ass.

It took some doing but Virgil finally made it to his room, he’d only had to submit to a quick med scan from a portable scanner for it to happen and Scott standing over him as he dutifully popped back a couple of the hospital’s prescribed pain pills to do it.

Feeling loogy as the drug started to kick in, he leaned back against the door as Kayo order the automated blackout blinds down and the in suite lighting to low before taking his hand and tugging him towards the bed.

He shucked his sun shades and tossed them in the general direction of the night stand not really caring if they reached their intended destination or not.

It had been a long, long day of medical appointments, treatments, travel and family bickering and his bed was calling his exhausted and still recovering body home.

“Whoa. Not yet, Big Guy.” Kayo said as she placed a hand on his shoulder effectively stopping his desired belly flop into his mound of pillows and the oh so soft duvet that was beckoning him.

“Sleep..” He mumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“I know but first the bathroom and then some fresh, comfortable clothing. After that you can crawl in and hibernate for the next few days. No poking, no podding, just sleep” She commanded and turned him towards the loo.

“You promise?” He felt like a child as she turned him to the bathroom and pushed him through the door.

She tugged at the hem of his shirt, pulled it up and over his head before sneaking in to sweep a kiss over his lips. “I promise, even if I have to guard the door to do it.”

“God, I love you.”

Her movements stilled, her hands stopping on the draw string of his jogging pants.

It took him a moment to realize what he’d just let slip. He’d never said those words to her before. True they had been dancing around it for months but with their busy lives and the limited time they actually got to themselves they just hadn’t gotten around to saying it.

“What did you say?” Her voice was quiet in the stillness of the bathroom and he could make out the fast pace of her breath as she stood in front of him. The quick hitching it as it fanned over the taut muscles of his chest.

He opened his mouth a few times, closed it while he gather his wits enough to respond.

The words had tipped so easily off his tongue and it shocked him that he hadn’t made the time or found a way to say them earlier.

Taking both of her soft, capable hands in his, he brushed his thumb over the knuckles and he strained to make out the beautiful, fine boned features of her face.

Seeing no defined edges, just a blurred outline, he dropped his head and let go of her hands. “Nothing, never mind...” He turned towards the direction of the shower, fumbled as he tried to find the handle for the glass enclosure, stubbed his toe the edge of the vanity. Cursing a blue streak he parked his ass on the toilet and the next thing he knew she was in his arms.

Hands on his face she forced him to look at her. Impaired vision or not, didn't seem to matter to her at the moment.

“Don’t you dare.” She spat, anger and frustration bearing down on him. “Don’t you dare brush that off like its nothing".

Her grip eased off. "Say it to me again." She demanded.

"I…"

"No hesitation, just say it". It was implored, the lilt of her voice filled with emotion he couldn't see in her eyes. "I don't care if you can't see me. I don't care if you can never see me again.. no matter what happens after today.. I love you, you big idiot. Now say it before I break your jaw and you have to eat through a straw."

He couldn't help the chuckle at her threat, knowing she was fully capable of following through with it if she so wished.

"Well now, threats of bodily harm aren't going to get you far.".

"You wanna bet." She grinned, looping her arms around his neck and settling in closer to him, her body pressed in tight where she knelt between his knees.

Her tone grew serious again. "No matter what," she repeated again, dropping a tender kiss on his lips. "I want you to know that. Nothing could change the way I feel, nothing So don't hide from me. There's no need to be the altruistic hero here, it's not what either of us want."

He leaned in chasing her lips, finding them without sight and sighing when he struck gold. The kiss was slow and gentle. A lazy sensual meeting that left them both panting. "No, it's definitely not what we want."

"Good." She booped him in the nose and pushed up to her feet. "Now that we have that settled, shower and bed for you because there is no way I will be able to pick your muscle-bound ass off the floor if you decide to flake out right here."

Deciding the likelihood of that was fairly high, he grunted up to his feet and finished divesting himself of clothing.

8-8-8

Showered, changed, snuggled into bed and blissfully numbed out for the time being Virgil sleepily smiled as Kayo crawled in after him.

"Kay?".

"Mmhmm"

"I love you."

Sight or no sight, she would stay by his side and if that was a sacrifice she could contend with, a price she was more than willing to pay, who was he to argue?

Pulling her in close, he whispered the words she wanted to hear in her ear again and drifted off to sleep.

oOo

Epilogue - A week later

Rolling over in bed, Kayo stretched out pleasantly achy muscles and blinked up at the sun lit ceiling. The dabbled early morning light shifting across it as the ocean breeze blowing in from the window made the thin gossamer under curtains dance.

A curious look settled over her features as she pondered what was different. It took her a second to compute with her sleep addled mind but when it registered she pulled herself from the tangle of sheets, slipped into one of Virgil’s t-shirts and wandered over to the open doors.

There was sunlight in their room. A room that for the last few weeks since they had returned, had been shielded against the intrusion for fear of causing a spike of pain to drill through Virgil’s head.. Black-out curtains fully open with the acception of the light, whipsy sheers that sat underneath.

Stepping up the the open glass sliding partitions, she leaned a shoulder against the frame and gave her head a shake of amazement at what she was greeted by.

Virgil was leaning perched at the railing, a cup of coffee at his resting elbows and face turned towards the awe inspiring site of the rising morning sun. Its light playing of the waves far below and flickering through the overhang of nearby palms to flicker playfully across his skin.

Skin that glowed healthily, and warmly with colour and vibrancy. All of the six foot tall, buck ass nude, a hundred and eighty odd pound of it.

Saddling over to him, she picked pinched his mug of the railing and took a sip, her eyes raking over every inch of him.

He turned, brows arched as she stole his morning fuel and she returned the look though her gaze had a hard time staying put on his face with everything all out and the wind and such.

“Hey, are we turning the island into a nudist colony or is this just for my benefit?” She wiggled her brows suggestively and he smiled, skimming a finger across her cheek.

“God, your beautiful.” He whispered, her loose hair brushing over his knuckles as it was caught up in the gentle, salty breeze.

Her smile blossomed across at the unexpected compliment and she was about to reciprocate when her mouth dropped open in shock.

His expression alight with excitement she stepped up to him and pushed up on her toes and stared into his warm brown eyes. The answering happiness she say in their depth had her gasping in elation and she jumped up into his arms crushing his lips to hers. The actions saying so much more than words ever could

His arms pulling her in close, the last few remaining tendrils of tension brought on by weeks of worry finally leaving with the morning fog.

Kissing the tip of her nose, he turned back to watch the spectacular display of light and colour as the sun reached ever higher into the sky. Pushing back the darkness and revealing a world that wasn’t so scary after all, especially with her and his brothers at his side.

It seemed that he’d paid the ransom on his sight in full and the world had once more been returned to him in all its splendor.

oOo

The Master List of prompts can be found HERE

#whumptober2019 #whumptober #thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds 2015 #thunderbirds fanfiction #thunderbirds fanfic #no.27 #ransom #Virgil Tracy #Scott Tracy #John Tracy #Gordon Tracy #Alan Tracy #Grandma Tracy #Kayo Kyrano #virgil/kayo #Em Harris

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