#I never had a chia but I knew of their colors but like | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

servin-up-surveys · 11 months

Text

survey #171

Do you always smile for pictures? I can't say ABSOLUTELY always, maybe I want a different mood for the picture, but in most cases, yes.

What is a big pet peeve you have? This is so random, but I tried to think of something I don't normally answer with, so people who take pictures with the animal they've killed. You see this especially a lot here in the South when it comes to deer hunters and it's like congratulations, you murdered an animal. I've made it clear I'm fine with hunting for food if you do it with a mindset of deep appreciation and honor, but I will NEVER support making hunting a loud, proud, happy thing. It's extremely solemn and should be treated as such, and that's absolutely NOT happening when you feel the need to take a fucking photo smiling next to a deer with its bloody tongue hanging out.

Is it okay for guys to wear pink? I'm honestly surprised I even still see this question in surveys, like honestly does ANYONE have a problem with a person that likely happens to have a dick wearing a specific color? Guys can wear whatever fucking color they want.

What do you dip your chicken nuggets in? I go back-and-forth between ketchup or honey mustard, depends on what I'm feeling.

Take any daily vitamins? I take Vitamin D once a week.

Have you been anyone’s bridesmaid/groomsmen? My sister's, yes. I was supposed to be one for my half-sister's wedding too, but we couldn't travel due to Mom's cancer; she was enduring chemo at the time.

Do you know anyone named Dennis? Yes, I had a great high school bud named Dennis.

If you had any advice to give the younger generation, what would it be? Being fucking loud in your pursuit of making the world better. Don't be shy about it, and take action whenever you have the chance.

What is something you have always been curious about? Dinosaurs. I'd say they were my first obsession, them or Pokemon, but pretty sure dinos.

What bands and artists did you listen to when you were a teenager? Basically what I do now, however I notably listened to more Korn, Metallica, and Manson, and even more Ozzy. My peak interest in classic rock and metal was while I was a teen. There are many others, those are just the really strong ones that stand out that I listened to A LOT.

Do your feelings get hurt easily? Yes, I know I am extremely sensitive, especially regarding particular subjects.

Do you have a friend who's always sending you TikTok videos? Do you actually watch them? No, I only ever occasionally get them from Girt, but not directly from TikTok, he most likely saw what he sent on Reddit.

Have you ever seen a cougar in the wild? No, pumas don't live in NC and haven't for centuries, apparently.

Will you attend a wedding in the next 3 months? No, I can't imagine that happening. I feel the next wedding I'll be at is either my own or Girt's sister's, which seems more likely to happen first.

What's your backyard or outdoor area like? Our backyard is super boring, it's just some grass, bushes, a single small crape myrtle tree, and a shed. It's very small, I basically never go out there.

Do you like your boss? (or your last boss if you don't currently have one) I didn't like my last one, the guy literally commented to another employee that the computer training work I did the last two days was a waste of time when he found out I'd had a breakdown and had to quit not even two hours into my first real shift. He didn't realize I was there; I obviously didn't say anything to him, but boy trust me I got plenty of crying in.

What's the hottest temperature your current town/city has ever had? Google says 106*F for my town. It's gotten slightly hotter out of the whole state, though.

Have you ever had a chia pet? Haha yeah, those were cute.

Do you know anyone who owns a pet chinchilla? Are they fun? I knew someone, but she didn't keep it a very long time. It was absolutely an impulse buy.

Do your parents trust you alone with members of the opposite sex? I'm an adult.

Have you ever cheated on a significant other before? Never.

Does your boyfriend or girlfriend have a pretty smile? His smile is SO fucking cute.

Do you get along with your significant other’s friends? The ones I've met, yes.

What’s the last TV show you watched, and do you relate to any of the characters? The Rain, and idk yet, we're still early into the series.

Favorite Taylor Swift song? I genuinely enjoy "Love Story."

Does everyone in your family have a job? Mom and I both don't. I'm actively looking for something, but my mom is on disability because of her cancer. She'd still work if she could, holy shit she hates not working and literally cleans the church she goes to for fucking free (in their defense, they used to pay her, but had to stop because of disability reasons), but there's just nothing she can physically manage and has the education + experience for.

Does your best friend have any phobias? I don't know about phobias, but I know he's sorta iffy about snakes (it's not a raging fear, he's just uneasy, I haven't gotten him to hold Venus yet lol) and he also doesn't like horror games or movies, he's jumpscare-prone. I thiiiink he doesn't like heights? I remember that's something I learned in our little couples fun book, but I can't completely recall what he said.

Do you prefer the taste of lemon or limes? Lemons.

Have you ever done any internship? No.

Do you have a digital camera? What kind is it? Yeah, I have a Canon EOS Rebel T6.

What is your favorite video game of all time? I generally answer this question with Silent Hill 2 and Shadow of the Colossus, but when it REALLY boils down to it, my favorite game I've ever played and the one that had the most profound impact on me is SH2.

Have you ever been in weather below 0 Fahrenheit (-17 Celcius)? No.

Do you use Instagram? If so, what's your current profile pic? Yeah, I have three different accounts for various purposes. My personal one though is me when my hair was red, it's one of my favorites.

What was the last thing you felt apprehensive about? Getting this last wisdom tooth out, I think I was actually more nervous than last time, despite it going just fine. I think because my last one was causing intense, legit pain and I just wanted that shit out so I was willing to do anything, but this last one wasn't causing me problems - yet.

Have you ever been caught outdoors away from shelter during a thunderstorm? Lol yeah, this happened at the Alice Cooper concert. At least it wasn't pouring buckets, it was mostly a lot of thunder and lightning. Also when coming out of the grocery store and to the car.

What's your favorite macaron flavor? Never tried them.

How many times have you stayed at a hotel in the past year, and where? None.

Are you the kind of person who can wake up with one alarm or do you need several? Generally one, but I don't use alarms a whole lot. I know in the past I've tended to set two if it's me waking up early.

What was the last physical pain you experienced? Getting numbing shots in my gums today.

When you exercise, do you do anything to entertain yourself like listen to music or watch TV? I listen to music when I use the bike.

Do you know anyone who is terminally ill? Yes.

Do you have nice views from your house? lol absolutely not

How often do you get paid? I don't.

Do you like bologna? Yeah; I don't have it much, but yes.

Do you have any upcoming plans with friends? Not at this very moment, but Girt's family and mine are likely gonna do something for the 4th of July.

Have you ever sung/spoken/performed in front of people on a stage? Yeah; in elementary school and for a while in the church I grew up in, I was in chorus/choir. I also had to read my D.A.R.E. report that won the writing contest in elementary to the entire 4th and 5th grade in the gym, and lastly, I took dance classes for many years and did numerous recitals and even one or two competitions.

What are the first three things you do when you wake up? Check the time, go to the bathroom, then take my thyroid med 30 minutes before eating + taking my other pills.

Can you remember the first time you ever talked to the person you love/like? Does he/she remember? I'm actually not 100% sure, but I FEEL like it was the time he invited me to sit with him and some other band buds during lunch; I was just sitting on my own, and thanks to him, for the rest of the year I ate lunch with them. I still appreciate the shit out of it. It's very possible we'd spoken some in band prior, but I feel like this event really started our friendship. I know he remembers this instance, but idk if he recalls it as our first real interaction either.

What was the last thing that one of your parents bought for you? A soda.

Is there a TV show or movie in which you’re incredibly emotionally attached to the characters? I think the only show or movie I've watched where I was "incredibly" attached to the characters was Meerkat Manor. Those little guys were basically family to little me.

Do you have any health problems that are unusual for your age? Yeah; my memory is absolutely horrific, and I also have tremors in my hands and feet. My legs are still very much weaker than a 27-year-old's should be, but at least this I'm recovering from. I don't know how truly uncommon this is nowadays, especially in America, but I'm pre-diabetic; very very barely, but still, it's a concern that is being watched closely. I've been told plenty of times by doctors that I'm too young to let diabetes happen to me, and I'm sure as hell not going to, especially when I'm genetically extremely susceptible to it.

Have you ever been hopelessly in love with a celebrity? lol no, the celeb "crushes" I've had are very invalid and not truly serious romantic interest, like I've known zero of these people personally and therefore I literally can't be "in love" with them. It's only ever a joke from me.

When was the last time you met someone who seemed very unpleasant? Today actually, the dental tech I saw today that helped with my wisdom tooth extraction was very dislikable, even my mom sent me a text about it (she was in the room with me) that she really didn't like her before I'd said a word about it. The dentist himself was great, but this lady was a bitch.

Are your eyes the same color as your siblings’ eyes? Only my brother's, but he has a different dad than me, and I have zero idea about the eye color patterns in Mark's family.

If you could house any pet, what would it be? I should preface with these are NOT regular, domesticated "pets" and only an absolute qualified professional should keep one (and never by ripping a healthy individual out of the wild), but an opossum. It's my dream to rescue and raise one one day, but I'd need training.

How often do you like to have sex? I don't have a set goal list for this lmao, sexual stuff happens when it happens. Thinking about it though, "things" probably happen at least once a week, sometimes more and sometimes less.

Do you exercise? Yes, I still do physical therapy exercises but now I prioritize the exercise bike following my visit with my nutritionist. I need more cardio and exercises in endurance.

What’s your favorite album from your favorite music artist? Ozzy's is Black Rain and Rammstein's is Zeit.

What is your Facebook cover picture? It's a gorgeous photograph of an adult meerkat and pup touching noses, I just edited the colors and lighting a bit.

When was the last time you weighed yourself? Yesterday, at the nutritionist. I lost a bit of weight since I last saw her! I know so because the number I saw was on the higher end of my daily usual fluctuations, yet it was still smaller than what it was previously. Yeah, all scales are different, but.

Would you convert to a different religion if your fiancé/fiancée was of a different faith? Nope, adios if you're gonna try pushing that shit on me.

What is the funniest one-liner Tumblr text post you’ve ever read? oh my god I couldn't tell you, I see so much gloriously unhinged shit lmao

What pharmacy do you use? Walgreen's.

What is your favorite Elvis song? "Devil In Disguise" is so great.

If you ever took dance classes, what were your favorite classes? Jazz. I like modern the most visually, but I was much better at jazz. There's a certain amount of grace and often flexibility you need in modern dances that I ain't got lol

Have you ever been a bad friend? I definitely have, more than once. I'll believe nobody who answers this with "no," we're all imperfect humans that don't always make the best choices.

What would you say are your top five bands/artists? Oh, that's so hard. I'll try though: Ozzy Osbourne, Rammstein, Marilyn Manson, Otep, anddddd... Motionless In White, or Korn.

Do you listen to a wide variety of music? Not really tbh, the very vast majority of things I enjoy have hard roots, like metal, rock, alternative, indie, etc. However there definitely are artists whose names you'd see on my music player and be surprised by, like Melanie Martinez, Jeffree Star, and Marina. I'm more open to other music than I was as an older teen, but I like it to be very charismatic, different.

Is your Facebook profile private? Yes.

[TW: DOMESTIC ABUSE] Do you have abusive family members? In my extended family, yes.

#survey #surveys #random questions #personal questions #questionnaire

0 notes

lovemesomesurveys · 2 years

Text

How are you? I just want to try and get some sleep, so I’m waiting for my pain medicine to kick in.

What's your preferred name? Stephanie or Steph. Have you ever sit under a bridge? No. Do you ever go fishing or do you find it to be cruel? No, not my thing. What's your favorite kind of donut? Glazed and maple.

When was the last time you went on a date? It’s been about 6 years. What flowers look best in a bouquet? I don’t know. Do you like chia pudding, if you've ever tried it? I’ve never had It.

Have you ever put the blame on someone for something that was your fault? I’m pretty quick to take the blame for everything. Do you have trouble remembering people's names? Not usually. Do you separate your laundry or just throw it all in there and hope for the best? I don’t do the laundry, I have help with that from my mom. What is something you want? Right now at this moment? To get some sleep. What I really want is to get to the point where I can finally go home. I just know it’s not anytime soon. :( Have you ever been in a castle? No. Can you sing well? Nope. I wish I had that talent. Sadly, I don’t have any talents. Are you currently procrastinating? No. When was the last time you kicked a ball? Never. What age did you learn how to tie your shoes? I think when I was 4. I remember going around the house and tying all the shoes once I learned how, ha. When did you last change clothes? Yesterday. I’m sick of these hospital gowns. I wish they had different ones for some variety at least. What all have you done here recently that you found to be fun? There hasn’t been anything fun here. Do you ever like to watch the clouds? It’s not something I really do. Have you ever tried to make your own bread? No. Mmm, fresh bread sounds lovely. Have you ever shut your hand up in a door? Omg, yes. That is excruciatingly painful. How did you get your last bruise? Getting lab work done. What's your favorite kind of tree? Pine. Do you like to collect rocks you find outside? I used to do that when I was a kid. It was something my Nana and I did when we’d go on walks together. She and my Papa used to travel during the summer and wherever they went she’d bring me a rock from each place. In recent years people in my town started this thing where they’d decorate rocks and hide them at various places for others to find and either keep or hide them somewhere else. It was fun finding one, I collected a few. People got really creative and showed off their artistic skills it was cool. Do you collect anything or would you like to? I used to collect rocks. My current collections are giraffe stuffed animals and knickknacks, keychains, and merch from various things I’m really into, like Baby Yoda stuff, Sanrio stuff, Stars Wars stuff, Marvel stuff... What's something you find hard to believe? I can’t believe I ended up here, going through all this. I knew I had health issues that weren’t doing well and I needed to get things taken care of, but I didn’t think I’d wind up in the hospital with a trachea tube and all the other issues that I’m dealing with. When I first came I thought I’d have to stay for a little while, maybe a couple weeks or so, and receive IV fluids that would help me get on track health wise and put on some weight. Then I thought I’d be able to continue recovering at home. I was admitted back in May and here we are mid July. I still have a ways to go and have no idea when I’ll finally get to go home. I wouldn’t mind keeping the feeding tube I also had to get because it’d be a big help in gaining weight and I could also still eat and drink actual food and drinks. It’s this damn breathing tube that sucks. What color is your favorite pair of socks? I don’t have a particular favorite pair. What makes you sensitive? I’m just sensitive. Does your town have a lot of graffiti? Yes. Do you like mozzarella sticks? I do. Have you ever tried to fit inside of a suitcase? No. Do you like mullets or wish they were a thing of the past? I’m not a fan of the mullet. What's a current trend you do not like? Crocs. Like, why?? Have you ever stepped on glass barefoot? No. What's your opinion on The Beatles? I like a few of their songs. What's sitting on your dining room table currently? We don’t have a dining room table. What do you hear right now? Boy Meets World, the sound of the humidifier from this breathing tube, beeping machines, nurses’ chatter. Do you ever argue with people online? Nah. Have you ever caught someone doing something they shouldn't? Yes. Do you ever pluck your eyebrows? Yes. Last time you ran into someone you know in public? It’s been awhile. What is for supper today? Feeding tube supplements. What is a tv show that you find annoying? Big Bang Theory and Two Broke Girls. Tell me about an embarrassing thing you've said to someone so I can feel less alone in being weird. 😅 Nah. What's a music video you enjoy? *shrug* I haven’t watched a music video in a longgg time. How long do you spend in a bath or shower? Like 30 minutes. Are you accident prone? I have my clumsy moments. Name a song that reminds you of summer. Summertime by Will Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff. What did you last use a microwave or air fryer for? To make a tv dinner thing, most likely. What's your middle name? I’m not sharing that. Have you ever regifted something? Yes, but they were aware of it. I didn’t have use for said thing and knew they would be interested. Have you ever been scared of something you've seen on the internet? what was it? Yeah, like back when you’d be tricked into clicking a link and something would pop up and scream really loud. Do you share any of the same favorite bands as your parents/guardian? Yeah. What kinds of cereal do you have in your pantry/cupboard? I don’t think we have any. What's the last thing you spent more than $20 on? Clothes. Do you enjoy maple syrup? Yes. Do you or anyone you know want to run for any political office? No. Have you ever used a kerosene heater? No. What's your favorite outfit to wear? I like wearing my graphic tees and leggings. Do you own any purple clothing? I have a couple purple shirts, I think. Do you currently see anything shiny in the room you're in? No. How many pairs of jeans do you have? Just a few. It’s honestly been a few years since I’ve worn jeans. Like 5 years at least. Do you have any alcohol in your house? Yeah. Could you easily wake up at 5am every morning? If I actually got sleep and was sleeping when 5AM came around I’d have a hard time, but most likely I’d be up anyway. Are you allergic to any foods? Just tangerines as far as I know. What's something you've owned for more than 10 years? A lot of things. When was the last time you were excited over something? I haven’t felt that in a long time... Is there a tv family that reminds you of yours? Yeah. Were your parents/guardian very open with you about stuff? Yes. If you had to create a character for a book or whatever, what would they be like? I don’t know, that’s something I’d have to really think about and it would depend what type of story it was. What's the weather like where you are? Hot. Chapstick or lip gloss? Chapstick. Do you get annoyed over pda? No, unless they’re just being very inappropriate and obnoxious. Have you ever been in a wedding? No. Do you or anyone you know constantly stay on their cell phone? Yes. Do you know how long your screen time is? I could check that app on my phone, but nah.

#personal #text #survey #surveys

1 note · View note

terrm9 · 4 years

Text

Cieli di Toscana

Words count: 1 600

Author’s note: I love Italy and Italian language, I miss hearing it, I miss eating gelato and the sea and I like Bocelli. That’s it, that’s all you need to know to understand this fluffy useless piece. Also, I tried to translate that one line the best I can, but my Italian is mediocre at best, so if someone from Italy sees it - please, feel free to correct my translation and don’t hate me if I got it absolutely wrong.

Takes place some weeks after the OHSY Finale.

It was raining heavily as Chiara stepped into Ethan’s car, making her sigh.

“This is absolutely terrible weather for a road trip,” she rolled her eyes dramatically, earning an honest chuckle from Ethan.

They weren’t going on a road trip. They were invited to attend a conference in New York and as much as Ethan hated those, the vision of three whole days with Chiara, out of reach of the chaos that’s been erupting in Boston ever since Edenbrook’s closing and its subsequent grand re-opening, was enough for him to make a decision to go.

The excruciating rate of their lives in those past few months has also been reason why Ethan decided to drive for four hours to New York. Four hours on their way back and another four on their way back, eight full hours of the two of them being next to each other without anyone else’s presence, with nothing better to do than to simply be together. Hell, even if Chiara decided to just sleep the whole time, those eight hours of her peaceful sleep would be worth the time spent in a car.

“Okay, if you don’t want to start with my playlist,” Chiara waved indefinitely with her phone in the hand, “you better have something else than an audio book to listen to.”

To be absolutely honest, Ethan wouldn’t mind listening to her playlist if that would serve her best, however he gestured towards the dashboard on Chiara’s side of a car.

“There should be some old CD’s in there.”

Opening a storage space of the dashboard, Chiara raised her eyebrow at him and exclaimed: “Some old what? Have you ever heard of the possibility of connecting your phone to the radio?”

Ethan resisted his urge to pinch the bridge of his nose as he was in the middle of overtaking a truck. He knew what was coming and that he didn’t dispose of any power that could stop it.

“I remember the times when the only way to listen to something of your choice in a car was to use a CD. I said they were old.”

Chiara rolled her eyes, not even trying to hide the smirk that found its way onto her face. Of course he would remember that.

“Remind me again, which dinosaur was your favorite? You know, since you were lucky enough to live among them.”

“This joke is getting old.”

He regretted the words the moment they left his mouth, knowing that they would backfire terribly.

“Yes, and so are you,” Chiara replied without missing a beat, her triumphant grin so wide Ethan was sure her cheeks hurt.

She grabbed the first CD, disapprovingly muttering under her breath.

“Vivaldi, Sinatra, Schoenberg, another Sinatra, Bocelli? I know this one,” she turned to him with Italian tenor’s album in her hand.

Ethan glanced at her quickly and nodded, encouraging her to develop her statement.

“My mom loves Bocelli, like really loves, loves. I remember when this particular album came out, I was maybe eight or nine at the time and my mom would listen to it on repeat, all day for two solid weeks,” she chuckled to herself at the memory and decided to put the CD into the radio, letting herself get lost in the memories of her childhood. “My dad was going crazy, always shutting himself in his study to listen to Queen or David Bowie. I would usually follow him and when I asked him why he didn’t tell her to turn it off, he’d just smile, shrug and say something about the music making my mom happy.”

Chiara listened to the first track, the melody all too familiar despite not hearing it for at least fifteen years. It sounded like her parents and home and love. The unconditional love her father always held for her mother, the one that grossed her out when she was a kid and caused her to have unfulfillable expectations from boys when she was a teenager.

She always dreamt of meeting a man that would love her that way, the man that would listen to the music he hated and she loved just because it would make her happy.

Shaking her head slightly to get herself out of the dangerous waters of her mind, the waters of nostalgy, the waters of infinite sadness she felt when thinking about her dad and her brother and how they would never get to decide if Ethan deserved their precious Chia, their light, she cleared her throat and read the title written on the plastic cover of the CD.

“Cieli di Toscana. Do you know what that means?” she turned to Ethan, thankful that the traffic kept him from noticing how lost she’s been for the last few minutes.

"Skies of Tuscany," Ethan replied, not tearing his gaze of the road.

Chiara smiled to herself, her mind taking her back to all those documentaries she's seen about that part of Italy.

"They must be bewitching. Skies of Tuscany, I mean," she leaned further into her seat, the soft melody of second song making it easier to just imagine being there, far away from struggles Boston had in store for her. "Have you ever been to Tuscany?"

Ethan nodded, his sharp gaze melting slightly as his focus has been divided between driving and reminiscing his time in Europe.

"Once. I've been attending a conference with Naveen in Florence. I hardly had any spare time for sightseeing and yet the city managed to render me speechless as I walked its narrow streets."

Despite his efforts to find a better word for the city, all he could think about, back then in Florence, was how romantic its streets were. He could still remember how his whole body both loved and hated the atmosphere and how, when he surly muttered that it was city made for couples, Naveen would laugh and say: „If you are clever enough not to repeat my mistakes, you will come back with a woman of your life one day and belong to those scandalous couples.“

Another memory flashed in his mind, too bright and fresh for his liking. The one where, laying on the thick fabric of hazmat suit that protected his chest, tears streaming down her cheeks slowly, Chiara admitted that she regretted not travelling more while she could.

„I’ll take you there, when this chaos settles down and we’re allowed to take some time off. I’ll take you to Tuscany then,“ he said softly, quietly, pretending to concentrate on the road, which must have looked absolutely ridiculous as the highway was currently deserted. He hoped Chiara didn’t notice how flushed the back of his neck suddenly became.

She didn’t.

Chiara was biting her cheek, staring back and forth at Ethan and the road. Her own cheeks were colored in a bright pink color, the sincerity of Ethan’s words making her weak.

It wasn’t only the fact that he remembered about her dream of visiting Italy. It wasn’t even about the way he told her, that he would take her. It was the fact that planning his future with her came so naturally to him at this point, he didn’t even need to think about it.

Lost in her thoughts once again, Chiara didn’t notice how Ethan’s eyes widened few seconds into fourth song when the recognition hit him.

It was the song he liked the most, the song that he would listen quite often to back in the days when this album kept him company on the roads.

It was the song that, just like the city of Florence, used to make that small, almost negligible part of him wish that he had someone to share it with.

With the rain falling heavily on the windshield, Chiara couldn’t hear Ethan’s almost unaudible singing. She could’ve easily miss it, if she didn’t notice his lips moving.

„Are you singing?“ she asked, absoltutely shocked. She caught him humming various melodies sometimes, but never in her whole life would she believe to see Ethan Ramsey sing.

‚Scusi se mi innamorai in un istante di lei per

l'aria serena che ha.‘

„Absolutely not,“ he shook his head, the wave of heat on his neck becoming almost unbearable. „I am reciting the lyrics, at best.“

How cute, Chiara thought.

However, she didn’t want to ruin the moment and so instead of teasing him mercilessly, she asked: „What does it say? The part that you absolutely weren‘t singing.“

„Excuse me if I, in an instant, fall in love with her for the air of serenity she has. Very freely translated.“

„How do you know the lyrics so well?“

„I like the song.“

„Sure, liking the song is one thing, but knowing – and singing – the lyrics is another. Especially when the lyrics is as soft as this one. Is the song special to you?“

She tried to ask it as casually as she could, as if she was simply curious, when really, there was a hint of jealousy blooming in her chest.

Was the song special to him? Did he use to recite it to his first girlfriend trying to impress her?

The car stopped at the red light, giving Ethan a chance to finally look at the woman next to him fully.

„It is now,“ he nodded, smiling softly as he caressed her cheek with his thumb.

The expecting and so vulnerable green eyes staring back at him made his heart flutter. At this point, it was useless to pretened that he wasn’t utterly and terribly sappy when it came to her. Taking a deep breath, just before the red light turned to green, he whispered.

„The name of the song is Chiara.“

#open heart #open heart choices #open heart fanfiction #ethan ramsey #ethan ramsey x mc #ohsy

104 notes · View notes

carewyncromwell · 3 years

Photo

*hums the Up is Down theme* All right, let’s get the usual stuff for the POTC AU out of the way super quick so we can just jump right in --

Previous part is here -- full tag is here -- alternate version of picture two with a lame attempt at blood is here -- and characters that aren’t mine are Jules Farrier-Weasley @cursebreakerfarrier; Finn McGarry/Davy Jones @theguythatdraws; Samantha O’Connell @samshogwarts; Arjun Singh and Aishwarya Mehra @hogwarts9; and Ellie Hopper @that-ravenpuff-witch! Hope you enjoy! xoxo

x~x~x~x

The crew member Orion sent delivered his Piece of Eight -- his right earring -- to Jules aboard the Revolution. Both Bill and Jules had been concerned about Orion sending it on ahead rather than bringing it back to them himself; they were even more concerned when the fleet of small ships was led by Jae and the Kumiho, rather than by the Artemis. Jacob and Ashe, however, didn’t seem surprised, even though Jacob’s eyes narrowed slightly and he went oddly quiet when he heard the news. If Bill didn’t know any better, he could’ve sworn he might’ve even seen some guilt in the curly-haired pirate’s face.

Meanwhile Charlie pulled up alongside the Revolution to drop Chia Dalma off safely before the Phoenix rejoined the Blackbird, Naga, and Treasure. Before parting ways, Charlie actually pulled Chia aside.

“So,” he said a bit sheepishly, “guess it’s time, then?”

Chia nodded. She tilted her head slightly to the right in response to how uneasy Charlie looked.

“Something troubles you?” she asked.

“Not trouble, exactly,” said Charlie, offering a smile. “I mean, I’m glad you’ll get to be free. What the Brethren Court did, back then...it was a right rotten thing to do...”

His smile faded. “I guess I just wondered why you called yourself ‘Chia Dalma,’ and not Calypso. I mean -- you are Calypso, right? It’s not like when the spell is broken, you’ll just...disappear, right?”

Chia was taken aback by the concern. Then her pale face softened, betraying genuine fondness.

“You have a noble heart, Charles Weasley,” she said. “I’m afraid that Chia Dalma will cease to be, when the spell is broken. She is human -- I am human...and I no longer will be, when the spell is broken. I will no longer feel things the way I do now, or see things the way I do now...and my perspective once again will be that of an immortal, not a mere human.”

She gave Charlie a reassuring smile.

“But Calypso will not forget what Chia Dalma has seen and learned. Nor will she forget the kindness you showed her.”

The corners of Charlie’s lips turned up too. He brought up a hand and clapped Chia on the shoulder, giving it a squeeze.

“And I won’t forget the sea goddess who was once my friend,” he said with a grin.

Meanwhile, on the HMS Lion, Cutler Beckett had assembled his higher-ranked officers on deck to give them their last set of orders. There would be no quarter during the battle, no prisoners taken -- everyone in the pirates’ fleet and in Shipwreck Cove would be wiped out, without exception or mercy. Carewyn could see how hesitant the other officers were, upon hearing this. Percy, in particular, looked very troubled.

“Lord Beckett -- ” he said before he could stop himself, “d-denial of quarter -- surely that isn’t necessary...we have more than enough room to transport prisoners back to Port Royal -- ”

“The pirates themselves wave a flag that represents no quarter,” said Beckett very smoothly without stopping his stride as he walked past the line of officers. “They have not earned the right to it themselves.”

Percy faltered. “W-well...yes, but...they are pirates, sir. Should we not...show a better example, as King’s Men -- ?”

Beckett came to a sharp stop in front of Percy, looking up at the slightly taller man with a rather beady dark eye.

“Do I sense a lack of conviction, Captain Weasley?” he asked, his voice very soft but very dangerous.

Percy stiffened, his freckled face losing quite a bit of its color. The officers surrounding him looked worried too. Rakepick, who was standing a few feet away from the line of soldiers with her arms crossed, didn’t look worried, but her dark blue eyes did narrow grimly upon Percy and Beckett.

“No, sir!” said the red-haired Captain very quickly.

“Ah, then it’s a conflict of interest, perhaps,” said Beckett, his voice becoming a bit harder as his lips spread into a cold smirk.

He leaned in a bit closer, and whispered something else in Percy’s ear that no one else could hear. It made Percy’s entire frame stiffen, his face blanching in horror as his wide brown eyes flickered over to Carewyn.

“Lord Beckett, Captain Weasley’s loyalty to the English Crown is unflappable,” Carewyn said in a very loud, harsh voice. “As is the loyalty of all of our officers. He meant no disrespect, I assure you.”

Beckett looked at her, his eyebrows raised high over his coldly narrowed eyes. As he strode purposefully over to stand in front of Carewyn, all of the officers tensed up even more anxiously, none more so than Percy. Rakepick had uncrossed her arms and was watching the scene unfold like a hawk.

“I certainly hope that is true,” said Beckett very softly. “Treason is -- as we all know -- a death sentence.”

Carewyn met Beckett’s icy gaze head-on, even as he likewise leaned in, his head once again lingering over her shoulder like it had back in his cabin, so that his breath grazed her face.

“I will not punish your brother for his insubordination, as a favor to you. But I expect proper gratitude on your part. After all, I’m already doing quite a favor for you already, allowing you and him to remain among the ranks.”

Carewyn’s almond-shaped blue eyes narrowed, but she refused to look at him or speak. Beckett’s face grew a bit colder still as he tilted his head enough that his lips were mere inches from her ear.

“Don’t forget, Admiral,” he whispered, and there was an odd satisfaction creeping into the corners of his pitiless voice, “your loyalty is, first and foremost, mine.”

He then moved away, turning his focus back to the rest of the officers with his more usual, detached sort of expression.

“Attack when ready -- no prisoners, no mercy. You’re dismissed.”

The officers all saluted and immediately bustled off to head back to their ships. Carewyn glanced over just in time to see Percy, rather than heading immediately back to his ship, rush up to her. His freckled face was ashen and his eyebrows were knitted tensely over his eyes.

“Carey...Lord Beckett -- ”

“I know,” Carewyn cut him off. She already knew what Beckett must have said to Percy, for the rose-colored lenses to fall from his eyes so quickly.

Percy’s brown eyes widened even more. They darted over to Beckett heading up to the helm and then back to Carewyn, welling up with anxiety.

“He suspected it after you expressed interest in him hiring a woman,” said Carewyn softly. “I reckon him knowing Rakepick first made it easier -- she dressed as a man for a while, when she was in the Navy...”

Percy seemed to be losing more and more of his courage every second. His face suddenly looked so much more boyish as his gaze fell away from Carewyn’s face, staring down at the deck of the ship without seeing it.

“It’s my fault,” he mumbled.

“Don’t say that,” Carewyn cut him off firmly.

Percy closed his eyes and shook his head.

“It’s all my fault,” he repeated, shame and pain pulsing through his face. “I never should’ve trusted him, I never should’ve believed -- I just -- he was so against piracy, and I...after you were taken by Orion Amari -- after you got kidnapped by the crew of the Revenge -- ”

“Percy -- ”

Carewyn brought a hand onto his shoulder, but he cut her off, his soft voice more choked and upset than ever.

“I never should’ve let Bill and Charlie go after you alone -- I should’ve followed them myself in my own ship, if I had to -- ”

“Percy.”

Her hand clutched the top of his shoulder, right beside his neck, so as to force him to look up at her.

“You were only trying to do what was right, as an officer,” said Carewyn, her blue eyes blazing with conviction despite their pain and empathy. “The Navy is your dream, far more than it ever was mine, or Charlie’s, or Bill’s. Don’t hate yourself for trying to do things the right way. ...That’s always been who you are.”

Giving Percy’s shoulder a tight squeeze, she steered him forward enough that she could bring her other arm around him and give him a hug.

“I know what Beckett must’ve threatened you with, Perce, but I want you to forget it,” she said, and her voice betrayed a crack of emotion Percy had never heard before. “Don’t try to protect me or my reputation -- those things won’t matter much longer anyway. Do what you need to, to do what’s right...for yourself and them.”

Them... Percy tensed. He knew who that “them” was, but...the way her voice choked -- was she...trying not to cry?

He looked at his surrogate sibling with dismay, but he couldn’t see her expression.

“Carey -- ”

“Admiral.”

Carewyn pulled away from Percy and looked up.

Rakepick had approached them, her dark blue eyes flickering from Carewyn to back over her shoulder at Beckett, who had seemed to have turned his focus back to the two red-haired officers -- almost as if she was...trying to warn them.

Recovering from this surprise quickly, Carewyn turned to Percy with a harder, more serious look and grabbed his shoulder, giving him a light push backward.

“Go, now,” she said, her voice hardening to try to obscure the pain and tears she was trying to force back.

Percy’s brown eyes rippled with anxiety. He clearly wanted to insist on her explaining, wanted to argue her point -- but he too could sense Beckett’s gaze. So, with a pained expression, he reluctantly straightened up and exchanged a salute with Carewyn, before finally leaving the deck and returning to the jollyboat that would return him to the Clearwater.

Rakepick and Carewyn both watched Percy go.

“You didn’t tell him,” said Rakepick lowly. “No doubt because you don’t want him to try to stop you...”

Carewyn looked at Rakepick, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. “Didn’t tell him what?”

Rakepick, however, didn’t respond. Her eyes watched the horizon absently, but seemed to almost look beyond it.

Carewyn's eyes flashed with even more distrust as she turned to face the older woman. “Don’t play games with me, Rakepick -- ”

“The time for games is long since through,” said Rakepick sharply, as she turned to looked Carewyn straight on in the face.

What...was that, in her expression? It was certainly harsh and arrogant as ever, and yet...there was something almost sadder there.

“You truly are a guardian, Admiral Weasley,” murmured Rakepick. “Right now, though...it seems to me that it’s you who most needs guarding.”

Carewyn felt a knife in her chest at the thought of Jones and the fate that awaited her. Her blue eyes drifted off to the side and away from Rakepick’s face, hardening further as she tried to obscure her emotions.

“I’m not so much of a coward as to choose my safety over the lives of others’,” she said very harshly, turning her focus to the helm.

She turned her back on Rakepick, her arms looping behind her straightened back in proper Navy posture.

“You should return to your post...before Beckett gives you the side eye too.”

Rakepick didn’t respond, and Carewyn refused to look back as she strode away.

Almost immediately, the strategy Jacob had devised did not go as planned.

The plan had been for Jules to bluff Beckett before releasing Calypso -- but although the Revolution, as flag ship, had pulled into position at the head of the pirates’ charge, Beckett’s (and therefore the Navy’s) flag ship the HMS Lion did not. Instead it hung back, letting individual Man O’ Wars immediately start the charge without it.

In alarm, Jules ordered her crew to hoist the colors and signal to the rest of the Pirate Lords to attack, as the Flying Dutchman sailed out in front as if to meet the Revolution. Charlie and Merula led the charge in the Phoenix and the Blackbird, firing at will against the Man O’ Wars in an attempt to hit their stores of ammunition, even as the Navy’s ships’ superior firepower quickly overwhelmed them, cutting down the smaller ships in the dozens with their cannons.

“Captain!” said Barnaby from his place at the helm. “We just lost three more ships -- oh. Make that four!”

Charlie’s eyes narrowed as he racked his brain.

The Man O’ Wars were too powerful to face head-on -- they just had far too much firepower, compared to their pirates’ fleet --

A mad idea beginning to take root in Charlie’s head, he whirled around toward Samantha O’Connell, who’d been up in the rigging adjusting sails so that the Phoenix could better avoid the Navy’s cannon fire.

“Signal to the Naga! We need to get closer to that Man O’ War at the front!”

Samantha’s mouth dropped open disbelievingly. “Closer? But that’ll only make it easier for them to shoot us down!”

“Not if we divide their attention!” Charlie shot back forcefully.

He ran up to the deck of the ship and leapt onto the railing so he could dangle off the rigging and better talk over the sound of cannon fire.

“We’re going to do what pirates do best,” said the red-haired pirate captain, shooting a huge, blazing grin up at Samantha, “we’re going to sack and commandeer that Man O’ War ourselves!”

With some help from Arjun and Aishwarya running interference, Charlie was able to steer the Phoenix up alongside one of the Navy’s ships, called the Clearwater. As mad as Charlie’s idea was, however, it seemed he hadn’t been completely off-base -- just as Ben Copper himself had proposed earlier, the Navy had indeed not expected the pirates to try sacking and stealing their ship. Unfortunately to get close enough, the Phoenix ended up directly in the path of the Clearwater’s cannons, and as the pirates started to board, cannonballs blasted through the air, smashing the Phoenix to pieces.

“ABANDON SHIP!” roared Charlie. “ALL HANDS TO THE CLEARWATER!”

The pirates all flocked to the rigging and gangplanks to board the Man O’ War, now their only hope at avoiding the ocean waves. Charlie met up with Barnaby on deck, even as its planks was blasted to pieces.

“Is everyone else off?” demanded Charlie.

“Aye, Captain!” said Barnaby.

As splinters of wood and metal shot through the air, Charlie and Barnaby both leapt up into the rigging, preparing to swing across --

Unfortunately, just as they both swung, a cannonball collided squarely with the ringing. In an instant, both men were flung off of the ropes they’d been holding and into the air, falling toward the water with the weight of stones.

Barnaby, in a purely instinctual move, leaned forward in mid-air and, with all of his strength, shoved Charlie forward just enough that he could clear the hurtle between the two ships.

Charlie ended up colliding harshly with the deck of the Clearwater, his leg collapsing out from under him with an unpleasant CRACK.

“ACK!”

With a bellow of pain, the red-haired pirate captain crumpled in on himself, gritting his teeth as he struggled to control his breathing.

“Charlie!”

Samantha chucked a lit grenade right into the side of one of the Navy soldiers’ heads, using the Navy officers’ alarm and the subsequent small explosion as a distraction so she could run over. Bending down, she quickly grabbed hold of his arm to help Charlie to his feet.

“Augh -- “ choked Charlie. “My leg -- I can’t...ack!”

Samantha secured her arm around his waist, using a considerable amount of strength to try to hold him up at her side. “Hold on -- I’ve got you -- ”

Charlie looked up and around, taking in the scene of his men hot in battle with the Navy’s men.

“Barnaby?”

Charlie looked around. His First Mate wasn’t there.

Limping badly on his injured leg, Charlie threw himself across the deck to look over. In the ocean between the two ships was an unsettling set of ripples -- as if a body had collided with the water.

“BARNABY!”

“LOOK OUT!” yelled Samantha.

Charlie would’ve likely thrown himself overboard to try to retrieve his fallen comrade, but he immediately had to yank out his cutlass and defend himself against a Navy soldier who‘d made to attack him. Samantha pulled out her pistols and began shooting, trying to beat the enemy forces back as they descended on the fallen Phoenix’s captain.

Neither Charlie or Samantha saw the second cluster of ripples and bubbles that burbled up from under the surface, nor the gold mermaid tail that briefly flipped up out of the water before disappearing again under the waves.

Nothing turned out as it should. The battle plan Jacob and the pirates had devised hoping to scare the majority of the Man O’ Wars into surrendering was cut off at the legs. If they released Calypso now, there would be no reason for any of the Navy officers to think that her release was a threat pointed squarely at them. Calypso would certainly have no reason to cooperate, even if Chia Dalma had expressed some favoritism toward Orion and Charlie previously. They were still pirates, and Calypso had no reason to help the kind of people who had trapped her for so long just because they released her, especially since the decision was made out of desperation. The only thing guaranteed by Calypso’s release would be that the battle would be harder and would likely put everyone’s lives in even more jeopardy.

Despite this, however, Jules was firm in her conviction. They’d made a promise to release Calypso, and more importantly, it was a decision that was already well overdue. Regardless of whether Calypso decided to help them or not, she didn’t deserve to stay in bondage.

So despite the hesitance on Jacob’s and the majority of her crew’s faces, Jules fetched the tricorn hat full of the seven Pieces of Eight she’d been given by the other Pirate Lords -- Orion’s gold hoop earring, Jae’s copper mun coin, Ellie’s sunflower-engraved pocketwatch, Arjun’s snake-engraved fob seal, Charlie’s “S”-trimmed anchor button, and Merula’s jade ring. Then Jules plopped in the eighth that Samantha had fetched from the inside of the Pirate Codex (a cheap copper brooch shaped like a mermaid and scarred over with greenish-white rust), to represent her as Pirate King, and handed the full hat to Chia Dalma before setting the pieces on fire.

“Calypso,” Jules murmured as gently as she could, “I release you from your human bonds.”

The transformation was terrifying. It was little wonder that the process of turning Calypso into a human was described as her “being bound in her bones,” for when the goddess was set free of her human form, it was like a foreboding, slow-motion explosion. Chia’s eye sockets erupted blueish-white light, while her hair and clothes dissolved away into terrible gusts of wind and crashing sea spray. The low, rumbling, earthquake-esque sound that erupted from her could not be contained by her lips, instead coming from her every pore, as she levitated up off the ground, her flesh and blood limbs dangling uselessly in the face of her supernatural essence breaking free of them. Her flesh seemed to melt away, becoming more liquid and blue and white and incorporeal -- until at last, Chia Dalma’s frame burst open in a violent crash of seawater that for an instant submerged the entire pirate ship.

Jules, Bill, Jacob, and the rest of the crew were suddenly underwater, scrambling to escape so they could breathe. It was only thanks to Ashe that they survived. The merman quickly swam up to the helm and took control of the ship’s steering wheel, chucking it all the way around to tilt the Revolution sharply enough that it forced the ocean wave that had been Calypso back off the side.

Calypso, however, was not just the wave, as the pirates quickly found out. Overhead, there was a horrible rumble of thunder. Within moments, the ocean began to quake under the Revolution and the Flying Dutchman, darkening forebodingly. Somewhere in the distance, Jules could hear a delighted roar, like a triumphant beast’s -- it was Jones, delighted by the liberation of his lover and by the vengeance she would wreck for him.

Rakepick stared up at the darkening sky, her eyes very wide. “This...this storm -- it can’t be -- !”

“Oh, but it is.”

The cursed captain whirled on Rakepick, a smirk curling up into his octopus-stained features and a malevolent gleam in his eye.

“And now,” he said as he unsheathed his sword, “I fear no consequence o’ this!”

Rakepick cried out in agony as Jones plunged his sword right through the upper-right side of her chest. The privateer-turned-pirate-hunter crumpled up on the base of the stairs, her tricorn hat flying off into the wind. She tried to pull the blade out, but she was pinned down to the deck, unable to move as blood spurted out of her chest like a red flower.

“Augh...augh...”

Satisfied that the woman who’d so haughtily lorded over him was going to suffer properly before dying, Jones whirled on the rest of his crew with a victorious gleam in his eye.

“Let’s finish dismantling this ship afore us!” he indicated the Revolution, which was sailing up alongside the Flying Dutchman. “Then we can turn our sights toward different prey!”

Out of the blackening sky, a bolt of lightning crashed down, colliding with the ocean a mere twenty feet from the HMS Lion. The threat of fiery white death terrified Beckett’s men. Carewyn struggled to keep them calm, ordering them to weigh anchor so the HMS Lion could join its brothers in the charge. Beckett, however, contradicted her.

“If we advance, then we’ll merely be sailing right into the pirates’ hands,” he said coolly, as he sipped a cup of tea from the helm. “Our other ships are already dismantling them well enough.”

Carewyn’s blue eyes flashed. In an oddly harsh move, she brought up a hand and slammed it down on the table, making the china tea set rattle precariously and her fellow Navy men flinch.

“Don’t be a fool!” she hissed. “This isn’t some normal storm! Look at the waves you’ve sent our ships into! Look at this lightning -- it’s touching the sea itself! This is not an act of God -- this can only be Calypso!”

The rest of the Navy’s crew tensed up at the name. Beckett looked up from his tea, his dark eyes flickering with some interest for the first time.

“Calypso?” he repeated.

“The Pirate Lords bound her years ago, and now it seems they’ve released her,” said Carewyn fiercely. "We can’t stay still, if we hope to evade the wrath of a sea goddess -- ”

“But you believe she can, in fact, be evaded,” said Beckett mildly, putting down his cup on its saucer with a soft clink. “Good. From what I understand, Calypso doesn’t particularly like pirates much either...so it seems we can have her do some of our workload for us, if we merely steer clear of her destructive path.”

Carewyn’s eyes widened, her pupils narrowing to slits of rage.

“So you sentence your men to death? You choose to abandon our other ships to the mercy of both the pirates and to a vengeful goddess, in the deluded hope that they’ll destroy each other and leave us be -- ?!”

She didn’t even care if her voice was shriller than it should’ve been, thanks to the emotions that rebelled against her chest.

Beckett got to his feet, stepping right into Carewyn’s personal space with a fierce, cold eye.

“Our men know where their loyalty lies -- may you not forget the placement of yours, Admiral!”

Carewyn, however, got right back up in Beckett’s space in return, yanking her pistol out of her belt and pointing it right between his eyes.

All of the soldiers on deck stiffened or let out small, shocked cries. Even Beckett, whose expression did not flinch, raised his eyebrows.

“Just because my soul is no longer mine doesn’t mean that I won’t protect my men, Beckett,” Carewyn spat.

Beckett’s eyebrows furrowed over his eyes, which gleamed with cold, stony, foreboding rage.

“You dare...?” he whispered.

Carewyn’s eyes flared with hatred. “The only leverage you had over me is currently out there, being sent to his death on your orders.”

‘You have nothing left to take from me, Beckett. I’m already enslaved to Jones, and therefore you. I have no future. I can’t do any more good for the others. ...I’m worthless...’

Carewyn returned her pistol to her belt and turned to her men with a gentler, but still very serious look.

“Prepare to abandon ship, Lieutenant.”

The young Lieutenant who’d nearly caught Ben the previous night straightened up sharply. “Sir?”

“I will not have men who were assigned to this mission lay down their lives fighting a sea goddess,” said Carewyn solemnly. “Just as I don’t intend to let the men out there do so. We can’t signal to them to retreat from this far-off, but I won’t endanger your lives while I call them back. Tell the men to abandon ship and head for the Swallow...and then do so yourself.”

Despite the firmness of her voice, she knew the gravity of what she was asking of him.

The boyish, uptight Lieutenant looked from the silently seething Beckett to the grim, pale face of his commanding officer, visibly conflicted. Then, his lower lip trembling, he saluted.

“...Yes, sir,” he said weakly.

The young officer and his compatriots reluctantly followed orders and left the helm, leaving Beckett and Carewyn alone.

“You will regret this most dearly,” Beckett said in a very soft, pitiless voice.

“I only regret that I wasn’t able to do it sooner,” Carewyn shot back icily.

“There will be no safe place to hide from me,” said Beckett. “The entire world will know who and what you are. I will hunt you down with the might of my Company and the English Crown, until you sit under my heel like a dog.”

Carewyn was reminded of how he spoke to Orion, back on that tiny island -- like he was some pathetic, disgusting cockroach.

“I’m not a coward like you, Beckett -- I have no intention of running and hiding.”

‘You won’t need to hunt me down,’ she thought. ‘I already know I'm trapped.’

She turned her back on Beckett and walked away, shooting coldly back over her shoulder,

“Flee with your life while you still can.”

Once Carewyn was sure that her soldiers had all boarded the jollyboats and were on their way toward the HMS Swallow, she immediately made her way down to the lower deck, to where she knew Ben Copper had set up the explosives from the previous night.

The HMS Lion could not use flags to signal the other ships to fall back, from this distance...but the flagship being in distress would be more than enough for them to come back to try to help.

Carewyn approached the highly flammable barrels of black powder, her jaw set in determination despite the fear and paleness of her face. There was only one way she could make it explode on her own -- and so, with a deep breath and a faintly trembling hand, she slowly slid her loaded pistol from her belt and raised it to point at the barrels.

All of a sudden, Carewyn felt someone grab her from behind. She struggled against the grip as the person’s hands seized her arm, trying to pull it back -- “No, please -- please, no -- please -- ”

The voice made Carewyn freeze where she stood.

It was soft, detached, almost airy, and yet so choked and tense...she’d never heard that voice sound that way. Not that voice, at least...only a voice much younger, much less confident --

Carewyn slouched immediately.

“Orion?” she breathed.

The Pirate Lord’s shaking hands still clutched at her arm even after her pistol was no longer raised.

“Please,” he gasped for air, clearly trying to steady his heavy breathing. “Please -- ”

“Orion!”

Carewyn dropped her pistol to the floor with a clatter. She couldn’t pull out of his grip, but she tried to turn around to face him. Only managing to make it half-way, she looked up at him, taking in his parted lips and hollow dark eyes, and reached up to take hold of his face.

“Orion...it’s all right...”

Shakily Orion released her arms. Then, very abruptly, he just as quickly grabbed the back of her head with one hand, cradling it almost desperately.

“Orion, breathe,” Carewyn said desperately as she trailed a hand through his dreadlocks to try to comfort him. “Breathe...I’m here -- I’m here...”

The pirate closed his eyes. His breathing gradually slowed and quieted as he worked to ground himself.

“...Carewyn...” he murmured against her hair at last, still sounding faintly tense, but much more level again.

Carewyn’s chest was so overfull of emotion that her eyes flooded with tears.

“God, Orion!” she swore.

She placed a short, searing kiss against his lips before pulling away to look at him and tearing into him with anxiety,

“What are you doing here!? You’re going to get yourself killed!”

“I could say the same to you,” said Orion, his much more usual, calmer voice low in his throat with disapproval.

Carewyn’s eyes fell down to his shoulder uncomfortably. “I have to signal the rest of the fleet to retreat -- ”

“You needn’t sacrifice yourself for that.”

“I can’t make this signal any other way!”

“Don’t take all of this onto yourself -- ”

“It’s the only way I can help now!” Carewyn burst out. Her own hands were shaking now. “I know what you and Jacob were trying to warn me about, Orion, but it’s no use -- I can’t just stay off the Dutchman! Jones told me that the contract can’t be undone unless I wanted to condemn someone else in my place, and I...I can’t do that, Orion! Even if it means I can never make that world I promised for you -- even if it means I can never get Bill and Charlie and Jules their lives back, or protect Jacob and Ashe from the Navy, or even see you again...”

She fiercely tried to hold back her tears even as they blurred her vision.

“My life isn’t worth protecting, if it means I lose you! I can’t lose you! Without all of you, there’s no point to anything, anything I do!”

Orion’s dark eyes were swirling like miniature galaxies as he adjusted his hand on the back of Carewyn’s head more securely, tilting it up to try to prompt her to look at him before speaking again.

“Carewyn...will you marry me?”

Carewyn looked up at him like she’d just gotten a splash of cold water right to the face.

“What?”

“Will you marry me?” Orion repeated, undaunted.

Carewyn’s mouth hung open in disbelief. Where in the world did this come from?!

“I don’t think now’s the best time!” she said in a weaker, more high-pitched voice than usual.

“Now may be the only time,” said Orion, sounding oddly serious.

Carewyn scanned his face, struggling to understand his thought process.

“Orion...I’ll be part of Jones’s crew -- there can’t be a future for us, even if we -- ”

“On the contrary,” Orion cut her off gently. “We would only have the freedom to be together, this way.”

Carewyn’s eyebrows furrowed. Then, very, very slowly, her blue eyes widened in understanding.

“You’d be a member of our family,” she whispered.

Orion inclined his head in a nod. “I’d take the Cromwell name, rather than give you mine. That would make it so that Jones’s conditions could apply to either of us -- and so, if we wished to be together...the one Jones does not take could volunteer to remain with the other, as part of his crew...or, if not...one of us would be free to leave, with the debt still paid.”

Carewyn stared, hardly believing what she was hearing. She clutched at Orion’s shirt with both hands.

“You...you can’t!” she said desperately. “Jones is still under Beckett’s command -- if you join Jones’s crew, you...you’ll never be free again! I can’t let you enslave yourself to Beckett, not after what he did to you!”

“What he did to me...” murmured Orion.

He cradled Carewyn’s head as he leaned his forehead against hers so that their noses touched.

“Carewyn...what Beckett did to me was make it so that I’m no longer able to live a normal life. What he did to me was make it so that the only life I can lead is that of a pirate -- a creature of few friends, adrift on an unfriendly sea. However much I’ve been able to find independence and camaraderie on the high seas, that doesn’t mean I’ve ever been truly free. For I was never free to stop being a pirate. I was never free to stop running. I was never free...to return to the island where I first met the girl who would flit in and out of my dreams, like a songbird on the wing...see if she was happy...see if...she even still remembered me...”

Carewyn’s eyes widened.

“When I met you, I was an orphan with no name or home to call my own,” murmured Orion. “Although I’ve since crafted a name for myself...thanks to Beckett, I can never have the second. And even if I somehow ever could...that home would not be complete without you.”

His lips spread into a smile as his dark eyes slowly flooded with tears too.

“The freedom I want more than anything,” he said, “is the freedom to stay. Perhaps this choice wasn’t one we ever wanted to make, and perhaps it will be one we’ll have to live with longer than either of us envisioned, but...please...will you let me stay with you?”

Carewyn choked, trying to hold in the storm of emotions beating at the inside of her chest. She covered her face in both hands in a vain attempt to obscure the pain. She could feel Orion’s hand on the back of her head tense slightly, but he made no move to comfort her -- the pirate wasn’t entirely sure how, and he didn’t know if he should, since he knew he’d unloaded a lot onto her.

At last, Carewyn finally tore her hands away and threw her arms around Orion’s neck, burying her tear-stained face into his chest.

“Yes,” she whispered against his neck. “...Yes...”

She placed a feathery kiss to his collarbone.

“...Orion, I’m...I’m so sorry...”

Orion mirrored her, bringing his lips into the crook of her neck.

“Don’t be,” he said seriously, “for I am not.”

Carewyn looked up at him, prepared to speak -- but she stilled when her ear caught the sound of a pistol being cocked.

“GET DOWN!”

In an instant, she’d thrown herself against Orion, knocking him down to the floor just as the bullet whizzed overhead with a loud BANG, just barely missing the barrels of black gunpowder and instead colliding with one of the columns.

Carewyn and Orion both shot up, to find Cutler Beckett standing at the base of the stairs, his stony eyes set ablaze with a kind of hatred Carewyn had never seen.

At the exact same time, the Revolution and the Flying Dutchman were hotly engaged in battle on the rockier, more tempestuous sea. Jules had been firm in not having anyone swing over to the Dutchman until their ship had the upper hand, since she knew her mortal men would be outmatched by men who were already technically dead -- but Jacob, it seemed, had no intention of following her direction. Jones was still aboard the Flying Dutchman, and he had a score to settle with Jones. And so he swung over to the ship of the damned himself to confront its captain.

“Ah, Captain Roberts,” sneered Jones. “Welcome aboard.”

“Where is she!?” he snarled.

Jones’s dark eyes narrowed coldly. “If you mean the Admiral, I’m afraid you’ve come to the wrong place. Her enlistment isn’t set to begin for another month or so.”

With a roar of fury, Jacob lunged at Jones, hacking at him with his cutlass. The shorter man was very talented with a blade -- it was fortunate, considering he was hotly engaged in battle with someone who couldn’t be killed through ordinary means.

“Don’t know what you’re intending to do, Jacob Roberts!” spat Jones. “The contract is not one I can break either! The Admiral will be in my crew, no matter what she or anyone else thinks of the matter -- ”

Jacob slashed at Jones’s beard, slashing off several tentacles. Jones cried out in pain and frustration and when Jacob tried to attack again, Jones seized his arm in his claw, snapping down on it really hard.

“AUGH!”

Jones lifted the smaller man up off the deck by his arm so that he dangled off his feet.

“She only has her brother to blame for her misfortune,” the captain of the damned said lowly. “Yet she somehow has enough grace to not do so.”

Jacob’s face blanched and his slit-like pupils flared with hatred as he fought against Jones’ grip.

“You -- argh!”

Jones’s claw twisted Jacob’s arm painfully, making him drop his sword.

“Were I not a heartless wretch, I would feel remorse, knowing I have to condemn so decent a person,” said Jones.

All of a sudden, out of nowhere, Jones cried out in surprise as a sword was plunged through his back.

It was Bill.

The eldest Weasley knew that the wound wouldn’t really hurt Jones (and he was correct), but it was the proper distraction for Jules to jump in from the other side and bring her sword down on Jones’s claw with enough leverage that he dropped Jacob. The curly-haired pirate captain fell onto the deck, clutching his arm, as Bill yanked his sword back out of Jones’s back.

“That is for Carey,” he snarled at Jones.

Jones whirled on Bill with his own cutlass, hacking away at him. Jules rushed to help Bill, while Ashe ran over to Jacob’s side to help him up.

“Jack, you’re bleeding -- ”

“I’ll be fine,” croaked Jacob as he clutched his wounded arm.

Jones fought both Bill and Jules singlehandedly, his cutlass slashing at Bill as his claw snapped at the air sweeping through Jules’s dark hair.

“Tell me, William and Juliette Weasley,” he crowed, “do you fear death?”

“Do you?”

Jones froze. Everybody else on the deck froze. Then, as if as a unit, they slowly turned, to look at Rakepick standing at the foot of the stairs.

The privateer-turned-pirate-hunter had shed her red jacket, leaving her in her blood-stained, high-necked and long-sleeved white undershirt, and her ginger-red hair had come loose of its bun and flapped in the gusting wind like a flag. In her hand was the throbbing, pulsating heart of Davy Jones.

Both Jacob and Bill lunged forward, but Rakepick moved before either of them could. Her dark blue eyes flaring with pure, undiluted hatred upon Jones, she yanked her loaded pistol out of its holster, thrust Jones’s heart down hard onto the deck, and fired at point-blank range.

BANG.

Jones lurched forward as if he'd been shot in the chest. He choked, his dark eyes going very wide as he struggled to breathe -- then he swayed, suddenly finding himself unable to stand, as his claw shakily clutched the railing of his ship.

Rakepick’s eyes held no compassion whatsoever as she bore down upon the crumpled-up Jones.

“The Chest’ll be doing its work soon enough,” she said very softly. “As it’s said...‘the Dutchman must have a captain.’”

Jacob suddenly felt like his hand was on fire. Ripping off the bandages, he stared in disbelief as the Black Spot Jones had given him so long ago seemed to shrink and disappear, leaving his palm completely unscarred.

For the deal Jacob had made was only in effect as long as both he and Jones lived.

Jones gasped for air as Rakepick seized him by the collar.

“I would ask if you wished to serve under me -- but I don’t want scum like you on my crew. So I’ll instead be kind...and send you to meet your dear Calypso.”

In a heartless move Jacob only knew too well, Rakepick shoved Jones overboard, right off of the Dutchman into the rushing waves.

“No!” hissed Jacob.

Rakepick turned to Jacob, a cold smirk spreading onto her face. “You know what this means, then, Black Jack? I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised!”

Out of nowhere, Rakepick lurched forward, clutching at her chest, which pulsated with demented, sickly sea-green light. She shrieked in agonizing, hellish pain as her chest ripped itself apart, her own heart molting out of her skin -- the Dead Man’s Chest appeared out of nowhere in a flare of light at her feet -- and it swallowed up the heart that had ripped itself out of her chest before snapping shut.

“What -- ” gasped Bill, “what is -- ?”

“The one who stabs the Heart,” said Ashe, his face very pale with fury and anxiety, “must replace it with their own.”

“And become the immortal Captain of the Flying Dutchman.”

Rakepick clutched her chest with one hand, her long ginger hair in her face. She breathed heavily as her lips spread little by little into a broad smirk. When she pulled her hand away, the wounds in her chest and in her shoulder had completely sealed up. Even the blood had dissipated.

“Incredible,” she whispered. “I can feel the Dutchman -- the sea -- the creatures of the deep, all responding to my every whim...”

She flung out her arm. In an instant, Jones’s fallen barnacle-encrusted blade soared into her open hand, and she raised her head, her dark blue eyes devoid of human light or mercy upon Bill, Jacob, Jules, and Ashe as her loosely flying ginger hair seemed to smack the air like tentacles.

“Now I finally have the power I need,” she whispered triumphantly, “the power to destroy all of you and Cutler Beckett, in one fell swoop!”

26 notes · View notes

strangebrews · 4 years

Text

@purplenebulosa asked: Insane for Tommy and Alfie?

this may or may not be partially autobiographical - you’ll never know, you’ll never know o.O this is a modern au

-----

#26 Insane

Tommy fixated on hobbies very easily.

It didn’t take a lot for him to commit his time and money towards an activity like, crocheting, for example. He would stock up on supplies, print out pages of instructions and designs, watch Youtube tutorial after Youtube tutorial, start on his own creation and then—stop.

Tommy called this behavior ‘coping’—a way to keep his hands busy and his mind focused on something other than the impending doom—and that was fine. That was great.

But the coping never lasted very long.

It wasn’t necessarily a surprise to Alfie—he had his suspicions even before they started officially dating. He’d noticed on multiple occasions that Tommy would try to hide his multi-colored fingerprints and tuck pleated friendship bracelets under his sleeves, but the true nature of the behavior became apparent once he finally visited Tommy’s home.

There were many things, to put it gently.

Soap-making kits were scattered around the rooms, canvases of finger paintings stuck into crevices, scrapbooking stickers caught in between the couch cushions, and a variety of chia pets lining the windowsills. A particularly grim looking cat stood in the middle among them, dried sprouts hanging off its sides, and its ceramic eyes peering holes into Alfie’s shirt. He shuddered.

“Who’re you playing with, Tom?” he gestured towards the tennis rackets and earned himself a growl. It was a reasonable question to ask—anyone but Tommy Shelby, that is, because Alfie knew well he was playing alone. Bought them on a whim, too prideful to ask anyone to join now, so he slammed balls against the walls. The holes still adorned the plaster in the basement.

It was not enough to scare Alfie away, though. Alfie was a strong man—he could stomach a few stares from a fake, demonic cat and some stickers on his pant legs.

The truth was, Tommy seemed to enjoy the process of getting a new hobby more than actually investing himself into it. He scoured magazines for ideas, bookmarked websites and tracked his delivery statuses religiously. But it was the TV that proved to be the most dangerous.

Alfie learned that Tommy Shelby loved bad advertisements. Every single time an infomercial popped up on the screen, showing off some new, poorly-made product, Tommy would be writing down the phone number onto his hand or dialing it immediately.

He turned to Alfie one time, hand already hovering above the receiver in the middle of a commercial announcing a new colored pencil assortment which came with a free electric sharpener if you called within the next 15 minutes! “I’m not insane, you know.”

No, but he was getting there.

This month Tommy was coping with candles—he’d seen a make-it-yourself kit on sale from the original $200.

It was only wax, wicks and some essential oils, without the correct containers. Alfie had warned that it wasn’t even a good fucking deal—he anticipated the purchase before it occurred—but for a reasonable man, Tommy was particularly vulnerable to the toothy smiles of men on TV telling him it’d be the greatest buy of his life.

“Tommy, the man on the screen, right, he does not come with the kit. Mate, please tell me you know that?” The bruise on Alfie’s upper arm had only just begun to fade.

Their kitchen table was trashed three days later—their because Alfie may as well have been living there now, though both of them were too nervous to make any official suggestions.

Alfie stayed away, ate his breakfast on the counter or couch. It was ok, the hobby would only last a few days anyway and he could clean the wax drips on the floor then.

On the second day of creation, Tommy lit a half made candle and held the flame up to Alfie’s nose. “It’s lavender.” He’d never actually shown Alfie anything he’d made—out of embarrassment, and because there never was much to show off—but the scent of candles was meant to be shared.

It didn’t smell like anything at all. The bits of dried lavender that he’d thrown in had caught on fire, masking all other aromas. Yet Tommy was looking at him so innocently, so expectantly, that Alfie couldn’t bring himself to joke. He inhaled deeply and said, “Oh yeah Tommy, am I sensing a bit of honey in there too?” It was all smoke, but he’d seen the scent lying on the table beside the dried bits.

Tommy raised his eyebrows, a small smile tickling the corner of his lips. “Uh—yeah. Yeah there’s honey in there.” And that was the perfect amount of encouragement.

Candle-making lasted a week. Then a month, a month and a half, two. They were approaching month 3 and Tommy still sat hunched over the table, fingers waxy and smelling of mint or eucalyptus or lemons.

He didn’t consider himself an expert by any means. It was curious, actually, because this was one of the hardest hobbies he’d taken on and even after he’d surpassed his record of focusing on a single task, Tommy was quite sure the candles still didn’t smell at all.

But Alfie—Alfie seemed to love them. He was always guessing the right smell, marveling at the work—even bought Tommy some dyes to add color to the candles now decorating their house. And Tommy was in no rush to point out his own flaws in the creation process, so this hobby turned into a real hobby, as opposed to some 3 day fixation.

Tommy coped and Alfie basked in hundreds of unscented-scented candles.

#tommy x alfie #alfie x tommy #sholomons #tofie #tommy shelby #alfie solomons #thomas shelby #mine #peaky blinders #purplenebulosa #hope it's ok that this one's a bit more light-hearted than the prompt suggests lmao

45 notes · View notes

dramaqueeenamby · 5 years

Text

Feast

A/N: Yeah. Idk how to stick with the word requirements for blurbs so here is a whole damn oneshot with Big Nasty and a black reader. Also, ya’ll know I love Amara and she’s my go-to FC, but feel free to ignore and imagine yaselves’! :p

Words: 3.4K

Warnings: Slight, like very slight, and shitty smut

Tagging the fellow Flo’s Hoes/Lil Nasties who I know share love for our manzzzz and expressed interest in this hot mess!

TAGS: @chaneajoyyy @forbeautyandlife @heyauntieeee @crushed-pink-petals @mimigemrose @thepinkjinx @honeychicana @sdcyumyum @babygirlofwakanda

FEAST

“Bitch, hurry up. I can only hold my stomach in for so long. Not all of us have abs like you.”

Your best friend and current photographer sucked her teeth. “What abs? I haven’t done a real workout in months.”

You rolled your eyes, breaking from your position to place your hands on your hips and look over at her, squinting from the intensity of the sun. “What are we about to do then?”

Maya mirrored your stance. “You know damn well we’re only going to make it about a block before we call it quits.”

You laughed. It was true. While Maya had a bit more stamina than you, neither of you were feeling like being healthy. Plus, between decorating your new condo that you’d purchased with your best friend since elementary school or getting in a negative calorie burning workout….playing interior designer sounded a lot more appealing.

“Well let;s at least get these pictures done. We look too bomb to not snap a pic or two.”

“Or 100.”

You fake sniffled. “You know me so well.”

Sharing a laugh, Maya instructed you on how to pose, snapping more than two photos before you switched positions.

“Ugh. Give me your height, please.” At 5’10 with a slim thick figure, your best friend could have easily been a model if you two hadn’t went into the clothing business, opening your own boutique.

Maya snorted. “Give me your booty.”

“It’s a trade,” you agreed as Maya gave you poses that made her look even that more angelic and bomb than she already was. “Work, bitch.” The two of you fell out laughing as she gave a little twerk before covering her face.

“Can’t take us anywhere.”

You wiped at your eyes. “Nowhere.” She came to stand beside as you two perused through the photos you’ve taken eventually settling on one for each of you to post on social media.

“Franchise is going to love that one,” Maya murmured as you guys started to walk back toward your condominium, the decision to bypass the workout an unspoken agreement made among you.

You threw your head back and groaned. “You and that damn nickname.”

“I wouldn’t have given it to him if you would bless that man with some Rosetta Stone.”

“Now see, what we not gon’ do is talk about my baby.”

“That’s the biggest ass baby I’ve ever seen.” As her eyes fell onto you, she caught the sly and suggestive smile planted on your face. “Stop that!”

“You tell no lies,” you wiggled your brows as she grimaced.

“I think I’m going to be sick.” She pretended to gag as you pulled out your phone to check the post. Sure enough, he’d been one of the first to like it.

Smiling, you swiped to see he’d left two separate comments.

😍😍😍

Mine 🤪🙌🏻❤️

You quickly double tapped both to heart them before giving a quick reply.

☺️😘❤️

Your boyfriend, Florian, was the definition of unexpected. You’d met by chance, both of you being on the same connecting flight that been delayed, forcing passengers to spend the night in the terminal. Your phone was dying, you foolishly leaving your charger in your suitcase as you hadn’t expected your battery to die before you reached your stop, Honduras.

Looking around the terminal, you noticed that there was only one available seat that was near a charging station. And it just so happened to be next to the tall, large, and handsome man who you could have sworn you’d caught staring at you several times. Never really into white guys, even you couldn’t deny the man was sexy as hell.

You’d overheard him talking on the phone and noticed he had a European accent to his deep voice, amping the appeal you were already having problems ignoring.

As your battery sunk into single digits, you decided to approach the handsome stranger, asking if it was alright for you to take the seat next to him.

“Of course.” Was his kind reply, his smile causing your stomach to do all kind of somersaults and walkovers.

While you’d initially planned to pretend to be busy on your phone, it seemed as though being in his proximity or being the first to make the move was the only thing he needed to start up a conversation.

An exchange of names and casual conversation quickly turned into you learning almost everything to know about each other. He was an actor who’d just been cast in a film he couldn’t tell because of contractual reasons and was going on a short vacation with close friends before traveling to the states to start filming.

You told him how you were heading to Honduras to celebrate your best friend’s 25th birthday. His favorite color was green. Yours was pink. He was the baby of his siblings. You were an only child. He was single….you were single.

You could definitely detect the flirtatious tone he allowed to seep in his naturally confident demeanor and surprised yourself with how you matched his vibe. Then again, how couldn’t you? The man was gorgeous and his body was delicious.

And that was just from what you could see through his sweats.

Contact information was exchanged as you two eventually separated, and what started as a long distance friendship easily transformed into something a lot more serious. He was away filming for three months, 90 days that comprised of constant phone and video communication, virtual interaction constituting the forming of your relationship.

Though you hadn’t officially discussed the status of you “-ship” as you’d gleefully ran into his open arms as you met him at the airport, making physical contact with him for the first time since you met…..you just kinda knew.

Then, of course, the fact that you two went through almost half a box of condoms the same night and you learning the real reason they called him Big Nasty probably helped as well.

So now, months later, there was no question about where you two stood. Florian was your man, and you, his lady.

Pulling down to refresh the comments, your smile dropped as you saw Maya’s reply on the thread between you and your boyfriend.

🤨 She been both fine AND mine long before you, Franchise.

Looking at her with the ‘really, bitch’ face, she busted out laughing.

“You know I had to.”

You maintained your annoyed expression before joining her in her cackling. “I hate you.”

“Lies,” she sang. “That’s like saying you hate Baby Arnold.”

“Maya!”

She was right though. Though you’d always been hesitant about falling too deeply given your less than stellar track record with men, there was something different about Florian. Being with him made you feel like a teenager all over again. Hell, you were 25 and getting all giddy over a damn Instagram comment.

You didn’t want to say that you loved him. Not yet. Not out loud, at least. But….you definitely more than just liked him.

As you two made it back to your condominium, you decided to start unpacking the boxes that created a fire hazard in your kitchen. You’d had just about enough takeout and while neither of you could cook to save your lives, it couldn’t help to start learning.

After all, you wanted to try to learn how to make at least one of your man’s favorite dishes. All you needed was a recipe, ingredients, prayers, and a fire extinguisher.

“Would you get off your phone and help me put some of these dishes away?” You yelled at your friend as she waved you off, continuing her IG live as she ate the last bit of her Chinese takeout.

“You’re doing great, sweetie!” She snorted as you turned around to flip her off.

“Hey, Siri. Play my music on Shuffle,” Maya called out to the HomePod. You rolled your eyes and prepared to tell the music player to turn it off when you realized it was “Bust Down Barbiana.”

“Ayee!” You shouted, running over to turn the music all the way up as Maya jumped up as well. Going over by her, the two of you started to dance and sing along.

“Thank you next, Ariana!” You both yelled as you two twerked on each other, all desires to stay on task thrown out the window. You continued to dance, noticing as the viewers of the Live continued to go up and up as you remembered Maya had a good amount of followers.

For a second, you contemplated moving out of the frame but as soon as the next song came on, Tia Tamera by Doja Cat, you knew it was a wrap.

“Hair grow long like Chia. Money go long like Nia!” You sang loudly, moving to climb up on the half wall, dancing on there, dropping into a squat and moving your ass. “I am the big idea! My twins big like Tia!”

“Aye! Aye!” Maya continued to hype you as she grabbed her phone to better film you. “Get it, Thickems!”

Continuing to act a fool, you didn’t notice Maya roll her eyes until she shouted.

“Go away, Franchise!”

Hearing that, you looked at her. “Flo’s watching?” As she murmured a ‘you know he is,’ you grin widened as you blew a kiss. “Hi, baby!”

“Can ya’ll not be all romantic on my live!” Maya groaned. You ignored her and continued to dance, purposely moving your ass even more. Flo loved your booty, his big hands always going to grab or smack it every chance he got.

Especially during sex. His favorite position was any that allowed him to bend you over. The counter, the bed, a workout machine, anything really.

“He said get your ass down before you fall, Bee!” Maya warned, though you were unsure if she was just saying that or if Flo really was concerned.

“If I fall and hurt myself, will you come home?” You asked, half joking, half serious. Promo for the film Florian had been filming, Creed II, was at full force, your poor boyfriend having to partake in interview after interview and premiere after premiere. A part of you felt bad for him, but you missed your man more.

It’d been almost two months since you’d seen him in person, and he wasn’t set to come visit you for another month. Your shower head and vibrator could only do so much. You needed the real and much bigger thing.

But sexual desires aside, you really just missed being held by your boyfriend, joking around with him, forcing him to watch your “chick flicks” or the occasional trip to the club.

“Ooooh.” You finally jumped down and walked over to Maya. “Call him.”

Maya turned up her nose. “Hell no. This is a rated G live. Ain’t no freak shit taking place on my watch. I’m a Christian.”

“Bitch you a whole lie and 3/4ths.” You smacked your lips as you looked over her shoulder to see comments coming in left and right but focusing in only on his.

😂😂😂😂😂

“Call me, baby!”

“It’s maybe.”

“Maya, I am about to punch you in your throat.”

“Come on then, bitch. I ain’t never been scared.”

“You are so ignorant.” You wiped at your eyes and elbowed her, walking away to get your phone out the kitchen.

“That ass though!”

Shaking your head, you looked at your reflection in the FaceTime before calling him. Ring, ring, ring, With each ring, your smile dimmed. Why was he not answering? Eventually, the “unavailable” screen came up and you frowned.

“He didn’t answer.” You told Maya as she walked over, having ended her call.

Maya shrugged. “Probably went to go beat his-“

“Maya!”

——

As you finished applying your night serums, your mind was still focused on the day’s earlier events.

You’d tried calling Florian a few more times after that with each call being ignored. You texted him. No reply. Hell, you’d even resorted to more stalkerish tendencies by checking his IG activity to see if he was liking photos or whatnot. Nothing. He’d just gone ghost.

You tried to ignore it. You really did. The last thing you wanted to think about was him cheating, messing around on you. He was probably working, but as you thought about where he was and the time zone, what work could he be doing at 3 something in the morning?

Something just wasn’t right.

Of course, Maya called you stupid.

“Terminator knows I’ll kick his Russian ass if he breaks your heart.”

“He’s Romanian, Maya.”

“I don’t care if he’s Lettucian. He still gon catch this fade if he wanna be on some Tristian Hoempson shit and cheat on you.”

You chuckled. Your best friend was crazy, but you loved her.

Just like you love Flo-

“Oh hell no.”

Frowning, you walked to the bedroom door. “What’s up?”

“Ain’t this about a bitch.”

Sighing, you walked over to slide on your slippers and headed out your room. “Heifer, you better be dying.”

“Oh, someone is about to die.”

You rolled your eyes and walked over to the top of the steps. “What-“

Mouth ajar, eyes wide as saucers, you completely blocked out Maya’s smirking, charcoal mask covered as she crossed her arms over chest, and murmured a small “gotcha.”

No, your eyes were focused on the giant standing at the bottom of your steps, bag on one shoulder, suitcase on the floor next to him, his magnetic smile on his handsome face.

“Surprise.”

As though his voice was your ‘on’ switch, you broke from your trance. “Baby!” Descending down the steps with surprising speed, you threw your body into his, legs wrapping around his waist.

“Now what if you had fallen? Hmm? Who was going to pay that hospital bill?” Maya wondered aloud as you flipped her off while crashing your lips onto Florian, his hands going to palm your ass as he held you against him.

“Hey, hey, hey! All possible baby making activities need to take place in the bedroom as per section G, paragraph 2, lines 8 through 11 of the contract.”

“What are you doing here?” You asked after having to break away for air, completely ignoring your best friend. “I thought you couldn’t get away for another month.”

“I’m done in a month, but everyone needs a break, yeah?” His finger traced your lips as you went to drop your legs so that you could stand up, only for him to tighten his grip. “You missed me, hmm?”

“You know what I’m going to miss? The silence!” Maya groaned. “Where are my Beats because if you think I’m going to listen to “fuck me daddy” and “don’t stop” all night-“

Florian chuckled as you wrapped your arms around his neck, dropping your head on his chest. “It’s nice to see you too, Maya.”

“Don’t lie to her,” you mumbled into him as he turned to look at you, pecking your forehead, forcing a giggle as you clutched him tighter.

Maya gagged. “I’m leaving. Don’t beat it up too much. Tomorrow is the Lord’s day.”

“Hate you, mean it.” You groaned as she walked up the steps, finally leaving you two alone.

Hitting him on his shoulder, he looked over at you with a scowl. “Wh-“

“You had me worried sick about you.” You finally remembered the stress he’d unknowingly forced you to endure as the result of his surprise.

“I’m sorry.” You noticed the guilt in his eyes and voice and felt a bit bad about making him feel bad. “I wanted to surprise you.”

“I don’t like surprises,” you pouted as he finally let you down so that he could slide the bag off his shoulder, hands going to your hips. “I like being able to talk to my man.”

“Maybe I don’t wanna talk,” he hummed, head dropping down as he lightly nipped at your neck. “Maybe I want to touch…to taste.”

You released a mixture of a moan and groan, legs involuntary clenching together.

“You should be tired.” You tried to be considerate. As much as you wanted him, you thought about how he’d most likely been in the midst of traveling while engaging with you on Instagram. He’d been in airports and on planes for the most of the day. “At least, take a shower. Settle down.” Your fingers crawled up his chest. “Just for a bit.”

He sighed with irritation as you giggled. Standing up on your toes, you kissed his nose. “Go on. The sooner you get done, the sooner we can get started.”

——

Pouring the crystal light into the glass, you closed up the container and placed it back in the fridge. As soon as you turned around, you were ambushed with a passionate kiss, Florian grabbing you by the back on your legs and hoisting you up against his shirtless frame.

Hands holding onto his broad shoulders, you nipped on his bottom lip.

“I guess I don’t need to ask if you missed me, huh?” You teased as he sat you down on the counter so that you could grab your drink.

He chuckled and looked down, hands moving up and down your bare thighs. “I always miss you, Bee.”

Grinning bashfully, young nails lightly raked across his back as he netted his head into your neck. “Needy.”

“Very,” he absentmindedly replied, hands moving higher up your legs and under the big shirt you were sporting.

“Flo,” you whined, taking a sip of your drink as his fingers toyed with the waistband of your panties. “At least let me fix you something to eat.”

“I don’t want that.” He groaned, lifting and relocating you to the island. “And you can’t cook.”

“You know what,” You gasped and slapped his arm. “I-“ Your eyes fluttered as pushed him hands up your body, kneading your breast with one hand while using the other to carefully push you down on your back. “Not here.”

“Why not,” he murmured, kissing the inside of your thighs as he started to tug on your underwear. “Kitchen made for eating, hmm.”

You whimpered as his finger stroked your folds, a low groan leaving his mouth. You were already so wet for him. “You said you missed daddy, ehh?”

Nodding rapidly, you threw your head back and just as you felt his cool breath on your pussy, it fell out in breathy voice.

“Mmmm, I love you.”

Both of you froze. Your eyes stretched as you started to wonder just how you were going to get away from him, put as much distance between you two as possible.

Unfortunately, with the position he had you in, it was almost physically impossible for you to dash so you forced yourself to attempt to do damage control.

“I-uh-what I meant is-you know-uh-,” you stammered, finally gaining the courage to him to see that he was smiling at you. Like, genuinely fucking smiling. You wanted to smack him.

“Don’t look at me like that,” you snapped, turning your head when you felt his hand come to cup your cheek, forcing you to meet his eyes.

“You love me?” He questioned casually, like it wasn’t something you’d been trying to keep a secret for weeks, still unsure if it was, in fact, love or just lust. Maybe that’s what it was. Lust. Yeah. It’d been too long and you were speaking from your pussy. Not the heart.

That was your story and you were-

“I love you too.”

Silence.

The silence that fell over you two was so thick that you could literally hear the sound of your gulp.

“W-wh-at you just say?”

He couldn’t have said what you thought he said. No. Your-your ears were playing tricks on you.

His gaze darkened as he gazed his lips over yours. “You heard me, frumos.” Beautiful. “You want me to say again?” He questioned, giving you no time to process let alone reply as he brought his head back down your body. “Or show.”

You moaned and released a shaky breath. “Baby-“

“Shhh,” he tugged your thighs over his shoulders, pulling you right into him. “Daddy needs to eat.”

And as your man finally indulged on the dessert he’d been waiting for all day and your mewling fueled his hunger, you realized that while your punani certainly loved the man feasting on you like you were his last supper…..so did your heart.

Huh.

“Ugh. I’m starv-ARE YOU SERIOUS RIGHT NOW!” A Beat. “YA’LL ARE GOING TO JAIL, PERIODT!”

#florian munteanu #florian munteanu x reader #florian monteanu x black reader #big nasty #big nasty fanfic

526 notes · View notes

synthaphone · 5 years

Note

besides kikos are there any other pets u think got done dirty by the customization update? or specific pet/color combos? i personally am made irrationally angry by what they did to mutant hissi post-customization

oh yeah tons... feels kind of like beating a dead horse at this point, but man

uhh i mentioned koi last time but im bringing them up again because i think they come close to the kiko in terms of how badly suited they are for customization. the fists just look so bad... i feel like scorchios lost a ton of its appeal, theyre very blocky and oddly drawn and proportioned now. dont like how they changed the arms and legs, the pre coversion chocolate scorchio is a way nicer looking update to the old artwork. uhhh lutari is kind of ruined for me, i just do not like the post customization art at all and i loved the species pre conversion. it feels like a shame they made chias so lifeless- they have the potential to be cute but someone figured out the most stiff and unemotive way to draw their expressions and then pasted that face onto nearly every fruit chia. this makes me sad. tonus have thicker lineart than other species and this annoys the hell out of me. poogles at first look identical but then if you really look you realize that there’s been a noticable loss of fidelity between the old and new art and you can never unsee it. kougras have faces that are shaded the opposite direction from their bodies because it was traced from the old art where its head was turned around, and iirc the head also has slightly thinner looking lines than the body??? aaaaAAAAA. oh also both of the frog pets look really strange and frozen and eerie post conversion, which is a shame because i like frogs a lot and thought the original designs were charming

i agree with you on mutant hissi- i think the new one is charming in its own way but its totally different than the old one and doesnt have the same personality or feel to it at all.

this is a weird one but its stuck with me: the mutant grarrl went from being ‘kind of boring with dated art’ to ‘contender for worst looking pet on the website’

i’ll never get over how much personality virtually every grey pet lost... plushie and royal are pretty big losses too, but at least royal is a color where they can go nuts on an elaborate outfit and kind of make up for the lack of unique poses. mutant maraquan and baby are infuriating when theyre worse because its like. these ones could have all probably been left unchanged. some of them DID get to stay the same, like the mutant ixi... my least favorite thing is how many maraquan pets especially are poorly thought out edits of the new base pet art, when maraquan pets barely even get any clothes and they look SO much worse than the old art. the maraquan techo and scorchio and zafara didnt deserve this come on

which reminds me: another standout bad pet, the maraquan lupe is completely ruined. the tyrannian korbat is ALSO ruined, they decided to make it a caveman instead of a pteranodon so it would work better with customization and i will never forgive this. 9 year old me would be heartbroken if they knew that this had happened

i say all of this while also knowing that customization is ultimately what got me back into neopets in high school and that i enjoy being able to make my pets feel like unique individuals with the feature... it can make for a fun project. there’s also a few species that i think got better art post conversion. the acara and the kacheek come to mind as looking more appealing to their pre conversion designs- there’s other pets where its subjective, like the gelert, aisha, buzz and bruce. i like the new designs for these, they feel a little more lively, but can see why other people might not and a few of them i could go either way on. the draik looks technically nicer but i kind of prefer the old draik anyway... the circle pose at least, the happy pose doesnt have the same appeal to me

#this is a lot- sorry for such a long answer #i have even more opinions probably but im gonna stop here #long post #neopets #asks #i need a text post tag

13 notes · View notes

ultimateclownimagines · 5 years

Text

Ultimate Spy

This was on my original DR blog, but I’ve moved it here! I don’t own anything canon of Danganronpa, but there are original OCs here that are mine! Hope you all like it!

- Mod Chiaki

I never quite thought about what my actions would do to people in the long run. I never quite thought about the effects that happen after I drop into a new mission sight. My policy is just to get into places and get out with all the information I can. This case was supposed to be the same as any other: get inside unnoticed, find the information, and then get out once said information was acquired, but I didn’t realize that this was a trap that I actually walked into. Not set up by the people who hired me, mind you, but by people who most definitely were not expecting me.

I guess I should start at the beginning… My name is Chia Fumei and I am known as the Ultimate Spy… I’m a student at the renowned school known as Hope’s Peak Academy and this is my story of encountering the Ultimate Despair sisters as well as the Ultimate Hope. Except, I didn’t always know him as the Ultimate Hope, at one time, he was just my friend… Hajime Hinata… A Reserve Course student at Hope’s Peak, but that’s not important now.

About three years ago, I was scouted by Hope’s Peak Academy as their Ultimate Spy and I was dropped into Class 77-B; my first day at the school could’ve been classified as ordinary, but that would mean my teacher was sober enough to stop the rest of the students leaving the classroom. I guess it would’ve been smart of me to stay too, but usually people don’t notice an ordinary girl like me. I’m plain as day type of Jane… If that makes sense. I wandered the halls until I decided that what would really test my ultimate ability is if I could find the secrets of Hope’s Peak out. The system the school held must have been massive and the bubbling sensation of excitement boiled in me as I ran to the library and began my research on Hope’s Peak.

That’s what happened for the first month of the term; every day I would do more and more research about Hope’s Peak, but I would always hit a wall when I was getting to the good stuff. Sighing for the upteenth time, I shut the, what seemed like, four hundredth book and leaned against one of the many dusty bookshelves and stared up at the ceiling. Unlike a detective type of person, I hated secrets, I hated mysteries, all I ever wanted was answers.

“Hello there, Chia!” A very obnoxious, perky voice filled my ears as I looked over. A orange haired… maid(?) was waving at me with a few of my classmates behind her. I tilted my head in confusion, who was this woman? “I knew I would find you here! I was telling your classmates that an Ultimate Spy could be anywhere, but I had a feeling that you would want to look more into Hope’s Peak! Especially a foreigner like you!” What? What is this lady talking about? “So, I said to the others, I bet she’s researching! Ultimate Spies like to have every last detail on display or they can’t do their jobs and here you are!”

“...Um… Yeah, I would agree with that, but I’m not a foreigner” I informed her, standing up, “I’m Japanese and I’m originally from Shibuya.”

“Oh, dear… I’m so sorry! I thought your hair meant you were a foreigner!” She bows to me, maintaining that comforting smile she aimed specifically at me.

“I… Dye my hair peach…” I sigh gently tugging at the hair, “My literal sister has this beautiful peach hair, but mine is naturally just dark… I thought that while I was in school, I would change it up a bit, you see… I don’t like looking so… plain…”

“Well, I don’t think you look so plain, but your appearance is what makes such a great Ultimate Spy!” The woman encouraged me, holding out her hand, “I’m your new teacher, call Miss Yukizome! I’m here to bring you back to class, so you can strengthen your bonds with your classmates!” She smiles brightly at me. Without a second thought, I just agreed to along with her and we rounded up the rest of our classmates as well as dropping off Kazuichi at the Nurse’s Office with Mikan because, by some miracle, he survived being hit by a bus.

I can’t say that my time with my classmates was horrible; I quite enjoyed being around them. All the laughter, all the dreams, all of the bonding, it was all amazing, but I couldn’t help but feel like there was a piece of the puzzle missing. Something about Hope’s Peak made me feel uneasy, like there was something much worse going on behind the scenes.

It was confirmed to me when Miss Yukizome showed up at my house one night. She was in her usual blue blazer outfit and her hair was tied up in that white ribbon, but she wasn’t wearing her usual apron, “Miss Yukizome? How may I help you?”

“I’m sorry to bother you, Chia, but may I come inside? I have something important to talk to you and your parents about.” She smiles at me as I move to let her inside my home. A two bedroom, one bathroom apartment with ugly mustard colored walls and dark brown carpeting. This was my home… My home with my little sister, Yukue.

“I’m sorry, Miss Yukizome, but my parents aren’t here.”

“Oh?” She tilts her head at me as I lead her to the conjoined kitchen and living room, “Where are they? Will they be back soon?”

“No, they died,” I stated plainly, walking into the kitchen to start making tea, “Is green tea alright? We don’t have much else than that, but I’m sure Yukue could run to the store.”

“No, no, please don’t go to any trouble because of me,” Miss Yukizome smiled at me with that same comforting smile she always has, “If your parents have passed, how are you and your sister living here?”

“My paternal uncle pays for this apartment for us and gives us enough money to serve on a month to month basis,” I stated, starting to boil water on the stove inside a chipped white tea pot. I made my way back over to the dining table where Miss Yukizome sat. The black poker table and the uncomfortable black chairs weren’t much, but it was home to us.

“Oh, well, I’m sorry about your parents,” She gave me a small bow of her head.

“You don’t seem too surprised about it. Get a good look at my profile?” I teased her a little, already knowing she’s looked into me. Who wouldn’t? As a teacher, she already seems to want to do everything for my classmates and myself.

“You could say that,” She laughs lightly, tracking me with her eyes while I got back to go into the kitchen. The screeching sound of the pot had just began, hissing steam out of the spot like I was in a sauna, “So, what really brings you here?” I ask her, pouring the teach into two cups and walking back over to her with her, probably very bad, tea. Miss Yukizome gratefully took the cup and placed manila envelope in front of me.

“What’s this?” I questioned her, raising an eyebrow.

“I’m sorry, but I’ve done more than just looked into your immediate background,” She sets her tea down, and bows deeply to me, “You see, I also looked into all the assignments you’ve taken and I think your more than qualified to help me.” She sits back up, looking me in the eyes earnestly.

“Help you?” I quirked a dark eyebrow at her, “With what?”

“I didn’t come to Hope’s Peak to be your teacher. I mean, that’s partially why I came here, but the real reason I came here was because Hope’s Peak is working on something terrible.”

“Terrible? Terrible how?”

“Well,” she hesitates, “I don’t know everything fully. I need your help to get some more information,” She sighs, looking dejected, “I’m afraid I need you to come with me to the Reserve Course.” My eyes didn’t really weaver, but I’m sure my face contorted into something that was another version of amused and confused.

“Why the reserve course?” I asked, tilting my head. I know Miss Yukizome had been demoted because of the whole Nagito and the bomb business, but why do I need to come along?

“I’ve heard there are students who are just up and disappearing without a trace. That’s where you come in. I need your help,” She places her hands together in a form of begging, “Please?”

“Well, I’m not just going to agree right off the bat,” I informed her, going into full on business mode, “I don’t do favors. I do business. If you want something, you have to offer something up in return,” I gently sip my tea, trying to make myself seem intimidating, but the moment the awful tea hit my tongue, I started sputtering and choking. Damn… I quickly stood up and walked into the kitchen after snatching Miss Yukizome’s tea. I could hear her giggle softly and the blush began to form on the back of my neck, all the way over my dark cheeks.

“And what would get you to agree?” She continued to giggle, I let out a small whine and a pout as I made my way back over to my seat.

“Why did the school bury the Kuzuryu murder and the Sato murder?” I asked her, cupping my hands in front of my face, elbows on the table, “Doesn’t that make it much worse than how it started?” Miss Yukizome’s eyes feel as she let out a small sigh.

“I don’t know why they covered it up. I do know that that isn’t the only shady business the school is involved in. We… We need new management Chia, Hope’s Peak is not the school it was and we have to stop anymore trepederity that will follow.” She looks at me, with genuine concern in her eyes. She truly does care for this academy… Or is it for somebody else?

“I can’t do my job without all of the factors on the table,” I told her, leaning back in the uncomfortable chair, “But if you can figure out a good excuse to make absence not suspicious as well as getting me into the reserve course without the principal knowing, I’ll help you.” I nod my head in finality, “But that means that you cannot contact me in school unless its an emergency. I’ll have to change my appearance and I can’t let you know who I am. It’s my policy to have total anonymity.”

“My, you’re so formal,” She laughs a bit, “You’re so different when you’re working than when you’re in class.”

“In class, I can be myself without any worries, but when I’m working, I have to become somebody else.” Miss Yukizome held out her hand to me.

“Then it’s settled. I’ll come to you with any information I have and you will help me unearth the activities the school is doing. Do we have a deal?” Hesitantly, I took her hand, shaking it. I sealed my fate.

Within a week, my transfer was handled by one, Kyosuke Munakata, who paid my way into the Reserve Course as Ainu Nakano. A girl who was the cousin of Kyosuke and had everything she could ever want when it comes to money. Her father is a top notch human rights lawyer here in Tokyo and her mother was a beautiful aristocrat who thrived on the praise and appeals from others. Ainu would be blonde with long wavy hair, with foundation as light as I could get it, I made sure her face and hands were a peachy pale. The leggings should cover my dark legs and the contacts make my brown eyes now a bright blue. I made sure that the fake teeth were sparking white and that my nails were done in a cheerleader pink. This is who I am for the next bit of time, Ainu Nakano. When I was sure every nook and cranny of myself looked different, I set out for Hope’s Peak like normal, only today, I was going to join the Reserve Course.

It was unusual for me to feel nervous during a job, but I seemed to be realizing that, if I’m caught, I won’t be the only one in trouble. Not only will Miss Yukizome be caught, but this Kyosuke guy is her leader or something and that means things will be even worse. I’m they have other eyes and ears around this whole school too, so it is imperative that I stay focused and do my job correctly. Feeling the light sweat boil up on my neck, I walk into the classroom with the stiff professor ahead of me. He wasn’t very friendly which tells me nobody quite likes this program that we’ve got going on here.

“Listen up, ya buncha brats,” The teacher clamored, slapping the board with all of his strength, making me flinch. The entire class turned towards him with bored expressions on their faces, “We’ve, unfortunately, got a new student. Treat her well, show her the ropes, blah, blah, blah,” He huffs, collapsing in his chair, “Nobody wake me. Even if somebody is dying.” And with that he was out. Leaving me to stand at the front of the room feeling very uneasy. Oh yeah, I am definitely in enemy territory. What have I gotten myself into?

“Hey,” A female voice called to me and, as I looked up, I saw a girl with with bushy blue hair. She looked kind of fed up with her whole situation, but she continued speaking, “What’s your name?”

“Um… Ainu Nakano,” I murmured, bowing slightly. Play up the shy girl act as best as you can, Chia, “It’s a pleasure…”

“You better sit down, Ainu,” She informs me once more, pointing to the empty desk next to hers, “Attendance is mandatory and if you’re caught out of your seat, you’re reported as absent for the day and will get class detention.” Yikes… This school is super strict. Quickly and quietly, I shuffled my feet to the desk next to hers. The girl cracked a grin at me, “I’m Sachiko, but my friends call me Sachi. Let’s be friends, okay?” I smile at her and nod my head. Okay, looks like nobody noticed anything. I looked around the classroom and noticed three more desks were open.

“Why are there so many people missing class?” I asked, tilting my head at Sachiko. Her eyes darkened a bit before she smiled and waved off my question, “Don’t worry about it. Don’t worry about it.” She points to the board, “We have to get our work done before Mr. Kinjin wakes up, ya got it? He’ll have your ass if he thinks you’ve been slacking.”

That’s strange… A slacker teacher punishes slackers? Such a hypocrite. I opened the textbook that was neatly placed in my desk and I began my busy work. Looks like things won’t be easy here.

I spent the next month in this school trying to dig up as much information as I could find. The teachers and students don’t know their butts from their elbows here. Even though they paid thousands of yen to get into this school, they still have no idea what is going on here. It wasn’t until one day, as I was working in the library, did I hear two boys talking,

“Man, I wonder what Hajime did to get expelled,” Sighed the brown haired boy two tables in front of me.

“I dunno, dude, but I heard he hasn’t been home in weeks,” Piped the black haired boy next to him.

“Really? You think it has to do with that guy who’s been abducting kids?”

“What!? There’s a guy like that!?”

“Nah, I just wanted to see how you would react,” The brown haired boy cackled as the black haired one held his heart. Bingo. A boy named Hajime has been expelled and missing, huh? I typed out a text Miss Yukizome.

‘What do you know about a Reserve Course student named Hajime?’ And send… Okay, now to pack up my things and wait for a reply. It didn’t take long for a response.

‘He’s a friend of Chiaki’s. I heard he was expelled. Why?’

‘Do you know why he was expelled?’ I started looking through the shelves of the library for a student registry. There has to be one here somewhere… As I continued to scavenge through the shelves, I felt my phone vibrate in my hand.

‘I couldn’t find out anything when I was looking… What’re you getting at?’

‘I think he is connected to the missing students. In fact, I think he is missing himself.’ The next response was faster than the rest.

‘I need you to do an infiltration tonight. I found a lead.’ I sent an affirmative response before pulling out the student registry booklet. As I searched through the pictures of students from previous years, I came across one Hajime Hinata. A handsome looking boy with weird spiky hair… So he was definitely a Reserve Course student, although that was easily deduced earlier… He’s about my age… And the teacher put down that he was in love with Hope’s Peak Academy’s Ultimate course… And that’s all the seemed relevant… Sighing, I walked out of the library with the page from the registry in my hand, the registry back on the shelf. Guess I’ll find out what’s going on later.

That night, when I realized Miss Yukizome wanted me to infiltrate the main building of Hope’s Peak, I thought she was nuts. I mean, sure, I can get in and out, but that isn’t exactly what I was expecting. I haven’t done a mission like this since the Prime Minister asked my bug his wife’s bathroom… Why me?

Miss Yukizome told me to find out all I could about the Izuru Kamakura Project… Can’t be that hard, right? Wrong. Dead wrong. 100% wrong. This school has so much security, they could tell you the last person who sneezed, but here I am, dressed up like a teacher, walking the halls like I belong here. I’m not even getting paid for this. This sucks!

As I make my way into the data center, I took out my little virus system and plugged it into the USB drive. I watched as all the monitors in the school began to glitch out except for the one I’m using. Confirming that there was nobody around and everybody was headed to the main control center to fix the bug in the security room, I got to work. I used every password known to man that the Headmaster could’ve used. Good thing he’s such a dad, I smirked to myself as I typed in ‘Kyoko Kirigiri’ and with a validated big, the computer opened up to me.

Bingo. I used everything I knew to get into the strongest locks of the computer and pulled up information on the Izuru Kamakura Project, but what I thought I could have been prepared for was way more out of left field than I realized. Human… experimentation…? No way! As I tried to get more and more information, I quickly figured out that no matter what I trick I could think of, I couldn’t get access to at least eighty five percent of the rest of the documents… Damn… Sighing, I looked at what else I could get my hands on and that was a list of the people who were being experimented on, but there was only one person who survived so far… Hajime Hinata.

When the footsteps of the guards began resounding outside my door, I made a quick attempt to get out of the computer and sneak my way through the air vents. Looks to me I’ll be visiting the Hope’s Peak medical center after all and I’ll have to meet up with my Ultimate Forensic Analysis herself later on… If Miss Yukizome will let me get in contact with her. Still, the most important part before I find Hosei is getting inside the medical center and finding this Hajime. If he can give me the answers I’m looking for, I’m sure this will help the rest of the students who lost their lives. Steeling my resolve, I made my way home as quietly as possible.

The next evening was my next phase, infiltrating the medical center. This is more my style because I don’t actually have to hack into stuff and I can just hang out in the background of scenes. Going in through the back door, I stole a doctor’s badge (female, of course) and made my way through the halls. Thank god these aren’t photo IDs or else I’d be in deep trouble. I passed one doctor after another, making sure to smile and nod at them, trying to keep the suspicion off of me at all costs. Gently, I grabbed a medical kit with a bunch of needles inside of it. Weird, why would they need so many needles for one kid…? On second thought, we don’t need to answer that yet.

As I was walking the halls, I spotted a man that I did not expect to see this very night: Jin Kirigiri. The Headmaster of Hope’s Peak… Somebody that all the students trusted… So he knew about the human experimentation after all? What kind of man would allow his own students to be experimented on!? Trying to keep control of my emotions, I stealthily started to follow Kirigiri, but I never did truly realize he knew I was following him until much, much later. Kirigiri went into a room for a while, and then left while giving a small chuckle.

“Get some rest, Hajime,” He calls into the room, “You have another surgery tomorrow.”

“Yes sir!” The voice called back as Kirigiri made his way back down the hallways, passing me while I hid in a deserted hallway. Once I was sure he was gone, I snuck into Hajime’s room where I saw the boy I had been looking for… Only… Something seemed off about this boy as compared to the boy in the picture… This one seemed… Happier? Who would be happy about human experimentation!? This school is weird.

Hajime looked up at me in surprise, and then he tilts his head, “Do you… need more blood?” He asks nodding to the kit in my hands. Ooooh… These are for blood… That makes more sense… Jeez, needles make me so squeamish… I smile at him, walking over to him.

“This won’t take long, Mr. Hinata,” I informed him as I sat at the end of the bed. He rolls up his blue hospital sleeve and reaches his arm out to me.

“With how many tubes you have, I expect it to take at least ten minutes,” He jokes with me as I look around the kit. I should’ve asked somebody how you draw blood before I did this, but nobody told me I was going to have to take somebody's blood! I pull a need out and Hajime tilts his head at me, confused, “Don’t you need the blue elastic to wrap around my arm? So you can find a good vein?”

“Oh! Right, right!” Taking a breath, I pull out the blue elastic and start tying it to his arm.

“You’re new, aren’t you?” He smiles kindly at me and, without even thinking, I nodded my head. Hajime took the wrap off his arm, took mine, rolled up the doctor’s jacket I had swiped from the front, and then wrapped it around my arm, “You do it like this, and then you take this disinfectant,” He holds it up for me to see, “and rub it on the vein, and then you take that needle and poke it into the vein to retrieve the blood.” That makes sense… I nod my head, removing the elastic from my arm.

“Alright, I get,” I smile at him, “Thank you.” I wrap the elastic around his arm and do as he told me, but the moment of using the needle arrived and I had no idea what I was doing!

“...You’re not really a doctor, are you?” He asks me. Fuck, busted, “Are you… A student?” Double busted. I think he can read my soul! Or my face is just giving him all of the answers. Bad spy, bad spy! “What’s a student like you doing in here? I thought I was the only one.” If you don’t say anything, he call the guards, but if you say something, you’re totally breaking spy code. Whatever that is, I dunno, I’m panicking at this point! “Hey, you don’t need to worry,” He smiles at me again, “I won’t tell on you.”

I sigh, hanging my head, “Never failed a mission before and here I am… Failing one now…”

“So you are a student?”

“Yes… My name is… Chia.” I told him, removing the fake glasses from my eyes, “I was actually looking for you, Hajime,” I smile, trying to be as reassuring and friendly as possible. He eyes me with his brown irises and crosses his arms.

“Don’t tell me. You’re here to help escape, right? Well, jokes on you, I don’t want to leave.”

“No, no! It’s nothing like that,” I tell him, holding my hands up, “I’m just here to learn about the missing students. I just wanted to know what happened to them.” Okay, not fully truth, but not fully a lie, “I would like to get them back to their families.”

“Other students?” He tilts his head as if he was thinking hard, “The only person I know that is a student is Yusuke, but he’s the neurologist around here.” ...There’s such a thing as kid neurologist- Never mind, I’ve heard of stranger ultimate talents.

“So there aren’t any other students on this floor?”

“Well, you’re here, so that means you’re the only other one besides me and Yusuke.”

“...So what’re you doing here then?” I question with a tilt of my head.

“I’m achieving my dreams.” He replied simply laying back in the bed, “Anyway, shouldn’t you be getting out of here? Somebody will notice that kit is missing and they’ll start searching for you.”

“A blood kit can’t be that important,” I scrunch my eyebrows in a frown, “Plus I just got here! Why should I leave now-“

“Has anybody seen a petite girl running around here!?”

“What’re you talking about?”

“A really plain looking girl! About this tall! Short, brown hair! Brown eyes! She looks like something you’d see in a role play game!”

“What?” Shouts outside of Hajime’s door cause my eyes to shot up in surprise. I look at him while he sports a cheeky smirk, opening his window for me.

“This may be your cue to run.” He chuckles as I start climbing out the window.

“Fine, I’ll leave now, but I most certainly will be back later!” I huff as I watch wave me off.

“Just don’t get caught… Chia,” He grins at me, shutting the window after I started climbing down. This boy is going to make me lose my mind, I can already tell.

So, for the next half a year, I went to visit Hajime while he was having his procedures done until one day, when I went to see him, he was gone. After getting to know the boy who thought he was nothing without an Ultimate talent and to suddenly disappear… It was almost as if his disappearance was a bad omen because everything went to hell after that.

#danganronpa #danganronpa oc #super danganronpa two #danganronpa goodbye despair #hajime hinata #fanganronpa

11 notes · View notes

flightfoot · 5 years

Text

Second Chances

So I wrote this fic MONTHS ago, back in December, but only now decided to publish it. It’s part of my Goddess Meg, Little Apollo, and Skelekittens series. Hope everyone likes it!

“Are you ready?”

I wasn’t ready. I doubted I’d ever think I would be ready for this. But it needed to be done. So… “Yes.”

Meg looked over at me. I could see that she knew I was lying, but she let it go.

Meg had grown up a lot since we first met a year ago. So had I, though in my case, it was more literal. She had become a god in order to save me, and she was still getting used to what that meant. A few months ago, she’d snuck out of the Waystation while mother and I were sleeping. She plunged into Tartarus and recovered the essences of Percy’s and Annabeth’s friends, Bob, Damasen, and Small Bob. Those weren’t the only beings she had saved, however.

A tiny calico kitten perched on Meg’s shoulders, nuzzling her and purring. Meg had found the skelekittens that had been destroyed and sent to Tartarus. Naturally, she rescued all of them. Her own skelekitten, Chia, was absolutely adorable. She’d defend Meg tooth and claw if she were threatened. I was fairly certain that her battle prowess would be unnecessary today. The difficulties we would face would be more emotional than physical.

I played “Love is an Open Door” to the Door of Orpheus. This door had MUCH better taste in music than the last door I had tried that on. It opened without a fuss.

A dark tunnel lay before us. I glowed brightly, lighting up the corridor. Meg studied me for a moment. “You make a good flashlight.”

“Comes with being the god of light,” I replied, cracking a small smile. I could hear water gushing up ahead. I needed any bit of cheer I could find.

We exited the tunnel. The source of the roaring became more apparent. I looked to the right and saw the source of my dread. The River Styx gushed beside me, forming a barrier between the mortal world and the Underworld. I heard whispers emanating from the river. All your fault you broke your promise you’re the reason Crest and Jason died why should you get to live? Don’t you deserve to d i s a p p e a r?

“-pollo! APOLLO!” I could feel someone shaking me, dragging me along. A small black-haired girl, with a kitten on her shoulder, mewing, clearly alarmed.

Meg. This was Meg. I needed to keep going. Get away from the Styx. Keep Meg away from the goddess’s curse. Couldn’t let her suffer too.

I shuddered, but I got to my feet, putting one leg in front of the other, taking myself - and more importantly Meg - away from the Styx. With every step, its call became quieter, until it disappeared altogether.

By the time I had calmed down, we were at the Gate of Erebus. Spirits surrounded us, but paid us no mind. Fine by me. We weren’t here to see any of these spirits. Our goal was further on.

Cerberus bounded up to us, tongues lolling out of his mouths, tail wagging. Meg’s skelekitten sprang off her shoulder and grew to her adult size. For a moment I thought we’d have to separate the two of them, a task that was NOT on my to-do list for today. Instead Chia bounded up to the massive Rottweiler and rubbed up against his legs, purring so hard she visibly vibrated. Cerberus looked confused for a moment. He then decided that this was the Most Awesome Thing Ever, and started giving Chia a tongue-bath, which she thoroughly enjoyed.

“Awww,” Meg cooed. I just thought about how sopping wet with drool Chia would be by the time we got her back. Though, come to think of it… “We can leave her here for now, if you’d like, and pick her up when we head back from Hades’ Palace. That’ll give her a little more time with her new friend.”

Meg thought about this for a moment, before nodding. “Chia, we’ll come back for you in an hour or so. You can hang out with Cerberus until then!” she yelled. Chia gave a quick yowl of acknowledgement before she went back to climbing all over Cerberus.

We moved on, walking towards the massive palace ahead of us. It looked a lot like Olympus, if Olympus was going through an emo phase. It was dark, mostly consisting of dark browns and blacks, where Olympus is bright, with white and silver colors. I preferred the lighter colors personally, but that was just me. The darker colors suited Hades better anyway. I didn’t see how anyone could like the images on the gates of mortals dying horrific deaths, though. Hades’ taste in decor was beyond me at times.

Hades’ skeleton guards parted to let us into the palace. We walked into the entrance hall, our footsteps echoing loudly, as if saying “You are but a speck here. Behold the might of Hades.”

I looked at Meg, thinking that I’d reassure her that everything would be fine, give her moral support. She didn’t need it. She strode along the hall like she belonged there, unintimidated by our surroundings. She even started humming a song. It was off-key of course, but it broke the tension nicely. I smiled. We were going to see the Lord of the Underworld while within his own domain, and Meg was treating it like a walk in the park.

Meg noticed my gaze, looking back at me. “It’ll be fine,” she said, “I know I can do this. It’s part of my domain.”

Go figure. I was going to reassure her, and instead she was reassuring me. I was glad for her comfort. I’m not sure what I was even afraid of. That Hades would reject her proposal? That she’d say something insolent (which let’s face it, is VERY likely) and he’d retaliate? Ok, I needed to stop this train of thought now before I worried myself further.

The doors to Hades’ throne room swung open. Hades sat on his throne of bones (eww…) looking regal. He’d decided to stay a normal godly size, about twenty feet tall.

“I thought you’d be coming here, sooner or later,” he declared. “When Meg brought you and herself back from the brink of death, I suspected that her domain would cross over with mine. When she banished Zeus to be reborn, I knew that she would one day stand before me.” Hades stood up, his cape billowing out behind him, “Tell me, child, why you have come. What role do you fill in the Underworld?”

Meg straightened beside me. “I’m the Goddess of Redemption and Rebirth. When someone dies who needs a second chance, but who didn’t earn Elysium, I’ll go to them and offer them the chance to be reborn, to better themselves. Sometimes if people are put in different circumstances, they’ll grow, change, become better. I help those people get started. I have to try, even if I can’t be sure it’ll work. I won’t give up on them so easily.”

Hades nodded, thoughtful. “I saw what happened with Lityerses. I never expected a soul that was sentenced to the Fields to make such good use of a second shot at life. Though I suppose that was mostly due to Apollo,” he said, looking at me with bemusement.

He turned back to Meg. “There are some people who I won’t allow to be reborn. Some have committed heinous enough crimes that I will NEVER allow them to see the light of day again. I will not allow you to bring those souls back.”

Meg frowned. “I’m not bringing back just ANY soul. But if I think a soul deserves it, I’m bringing them back, whether you like it or not.”

Hades sat up, angered. The room appeared to darken. I started glowing, counteracting some of the shadows that seemed to be strengthening.

“You DARE go against me?” he hissed. “I am the Lord of the Underworld. These souls are MY jurisdiction.”

“They’re mine too.” Meg cut in, “You might not like it, but I’m gonna do my job, even if you don’t approve.”

Hades glowered at her for a moment. My hands itched for my bow, but I kept them still at my sides. I would not escalate this situation unless I had no other choice.

Hades relaxed slightly and sighed. “Should have remembered, you’re the same girl who screamed at Zeus. Very well. I won’t make you swear on the Styx not to bring back such souls. Know this, though. If you go against my edicts, there WILL be consequences.”

Meg nodded.

Hades continued. “You didn’t come down here ONLY to tell me that, did you?” He looked at Meg expectantly.

“No. There’s a soul who deserves a second chance. I’m here to give him one.”

She gave the name of the soul we were going to retrieve. Hades’ eyebrows raised. “Him? Are you sure? He caused a lot of trouble. His actions could have cost a lot of lives. Do you really want to give him another chance?”

“I’m sure.”

“I suppose that’s why Apollo’s here? To have a talk with him?”

“Well, that and because there’s no way he would let me do this by myself.”

I was affronted. “Last time you went into the Underworld alone, you jumped into Tartarus!”

“Hey, I was fine!”

“That’s no excuse!”

Hades interrupted before we could argue further, “If you are done, please bicker on your way out, I don’t want to hear it.” He snapped his fingers, conjuring up a skeleton. “My servant will guide you. I hope you know what you’re doing.”

I muttered quietly, “So do I,” as we followed the skeleton out of the palace.

——————————————————————————————————

We arrived back at the Gate of Erebus. Cerberus and Chia were bounding around chasing each other, Cerberus barking up a storm and Chia joining in with loud yowls.

“CHIA!” Meg yelled over the cacophony. “I NEED YOU NOW!”

Chia looked disappointed, but bounded over to us, shrinking back to her kitten form. Cerberus whined, giving us pleading puppy-dog eyes, sad to see his new friend go. Meg walked over and gave him a few scritches on his head. “Don’t worry, we’ll be back,” she soothed. He perked up slightly at this and gave a happy bark.

We walked through the gates to the Field of Punishment. I kept my eyes fixed on our skeleton guide. I didn’t want to look at all the horrific punishments going on around me. At one time I would have found it entertaining to watch mortals get their righteous punishment, but now I just felt sorry for them.

We were only here for one person. It was my fault he was here. I should have looked closer. I should have KNOWN. But I let myself be blinded by my own ego and arrogance. I couldn’t look beyond myself, to see that he needed help. It was time to rectify that mistake.

I heard shouts up ahead. At first I tried to ignore them, like I’d been avoiding paying attention to the rest of the Fields of Punishment. Then I caught snatches of what the voices were saying.

“You’re weak.”

“You failed New Rome”

“No one will listen to you. No one cares about you.”

“You were always the weak link. The world is better off without you.”

My stomach clenched. I have had similar thoughts running through my head in the past. If this was his torture, then he was more similar to me than I had thought. Once I had blamed him for my predicament, for my punishment. But he was not to blame. I was. He had believed every word he told me. It was my fault, for not seeing how he would interpret my blessing.

We rounded the corner. In front of us was a blond teenager in stocks. His head and wrists stuck in the board, forcing him to stand hunched over, unable to move. Surrounding him were shades, jeering at him. One walked over and began kicking him, laughing all the while. He didn’t respond.

No. I would not allow this. I blasted the surroundings with light. By the time I had dimmed, the shades were nowhere to be seen. Of course not. They were conjured up by his own imagination. They were never real in the first place.

The teen glanced up at me, his face brightening. “Apollo!” he called, a crazed look overcoming his formerly somber expression, “I knew you would come. They were wrong. Wrong! Those traitors failed New Rome, and failed you. But I won’t. If you give me another chance, I will carry out your will. I will become the savior of New Rome. I will kill the Graecus for you! I will make you the greatest god in the Legion, above all others! You won’t have to be confused by those Graecus scum anymore.”

My heart sank. Intellectually, I knew that the dead didn’t grow or change during punishment, that they would stay in pretty much the same state as when they died, forever. Otherwise they’d all go insane. I’d heard of the state Octavian was in near the end, how mad he had looked, how bloodthirsty he had become. It was another thing entirely to see him for myself. It was like looking at Commodus again, before I had murdered him. I had ignored my failures for so long, pretended they didn’t exist. But that had only allowed me to repeat my mistakes.

At least this was one mistake that I could go some small way towards fixing.

“Octavian. I’m sorry. You misunderstand. We’re here to free you, but not for revenge, or to lead the Romans. The Greeks were telling the truth. They were right. Going to war against Camp Half-Blood, trying to destroy it? I would NEVER wish for that.”

Octavian breathed harder and faster, until he was on the verge of a panic attack. “NO! No no no no no! You PROMISED ME that I’d be the savior of New Rome. That can’t be right! This must be a test. Yes! A test! You’re testing your most loyal follower, seeing whether he truly understands your wishes. I will kill the Graecus and free you from their poison, my Lord!”

He wouldn’t listen. He would never listen. He was another one I couldn’t save, a victim of my ego and cowardice, my refusal to look beyond my own desires, to understand what others were thinking and feeling. Why did I think I could save him? Why-

*SLAP*

I refocused on Meg. It seems that she’d gone for her usual method of telling people they were being stupid: mild violence.

“He’s not tricking you, and he’s not corrupted or poisoned or whatever. He didn’t mean what you thought he meant. We’re here because you tried to do what you thought was best, and I think you could be better. Apollo didn’t want to give up on you. I don’t either. I’m gonna give you another chance.”

Octavian looked confused, not knowing what to make of Meg. I didn’t blame him. Meg had that effect on people.

He opened his mouth, and started to speak, but his words died in his throat as he stared in Meg’s direction. I followed his gaze, ascertaining that he was staring at the kitten on her shoulder. Chia leaped down and started rubbing her face against his ankles, purring and mewing.

“That cat… likes me?” Octavian asked, utterly bewildered. “Where… what… no animals like me. They’re all afraid of me! So why…” He seemed lost. A god testing him, that he could understand. But an animal liking him and showing him affection? Beyond his comprehension. It reminded me of how Lit had responded when Emmie had welcomed him into the Waystation family, how he’d collapsed sobbing at being shown a little kindness.

“Would you like to hold him?” Meg asked.

He moved to nod, but then glared at her. “You mock me. I can’t hold her while restrained. This was just a trick, to torture-”

*click*

The upper part of the stocks disappeared, leaving Octavian free. Meg twirling the keys she had conjured up from who-knows-where.

Of course Meg had the keys for the stocks. Her duties now involved freeing souls from the Fields of Punishment, so she would have to have the means to remove them from their punishments.

Octavian stood, stunned once again. Meg gently lifted the purring skelekitten up from the ground, and placed her in Octavian’s arms. Chia nuzzled Octavian, licking his face endearingly. Those were rough kisses, but Octavian didn’t seem to mind. Tears ran down his face, which Chia happily licked up.

“You’ll get another chance,” I promised him. “I don’t know what your next life will be like, but I know I will meet you along the way. I’ll make sure you aren’t left alone. You will have the help you need this time, and people who care about you. And you will meet up with Chia again.”

Octavian nodded absently, still stroking Chia, lost in her cuteness and affection. Meg reached out and gently touched Octavian. He glowed brighter and brighter, pulsing once, twice, and on the third pulse, he disappeared.

Chia mewed, unhappy that she had been separated from another one of her new friends.

“You’ll see him again,” Meg assured her skelekitten. “It’ll be awhile, but you’ll get to cuddle with him again. I promise.” Chia purred and hopped back onto Meg’s shoulders.

Meg looked at me. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” I squared my shoulders. “This time, I’ll look after him properly. I’ll pay attention to what the people around me are really thinking and feeling, and I’ll make sure they get help. I won’t fail him a second time.”

Meg smiled. “Then let’s go home. It’ll be awhile before he’s reborn, and we need to make sure the world is ready for him when he is.”

Together we walked out of the Underworld, to a brighter future.

#trials of apollo #apollo #meg mccaffrey #octavian #hades #the trials of apollo #second chances #fanfiction #toa

23 notes · View notes

hcheadquarters · 6 years

Note

If you're doing headcanons rn, how about Jotaro surprising his s.o. with gifts/displays of affection on their birthday?

Jotaro birthday fluffiness!

-It’s no secret at this point in your relationship that Jotaro can be pretty awkward when it comes to affection. At face value, it could seem laughable to anyone on the outside who only sees his dark and intimidating appearance. But little do they know that just a kiss on his cheek from you or the playful stroking of his hair by your fingers makes his tongue feel incredibly heavy in his mouth. He’s not the smoothest guy on the planet, but you wouldn’t have him any other way.

-Jotaro was much crasser and easier to anger before you came into his life. Ever since your loving relationship began, he had become a lot more mellow and patient. It was often hard for Jotaro to find someone whose presence didn’t immediately irritate him. But you made him feel at ease, and he cherishes that.

-Jotaro had been internally chewing over what to get you for your birthday for a few weeks. Although he knew you were a fairly low-maintenance type of person, he still had this nagging urge to dote on you, at least a little bit.

-He’s a bit too prideful and embarrassed to ask others for suggestions in this matter, except maybe Kakyoin, and he feels a little too much like a bull in a chia shop as he mills around assorted fancy stores.

-Oh, screw it. He knew you, didn’t he? Why was he so nervous? Probably because he’d never been in love before.

-Jotaro is the type of person to find more value in the meaning of gifts rather than their monetary value.

-To your delight, Jotaro takes the reigns and has the two of you peruse the beach as the sun sets, you picking up pretty seashells as you walk along the cool sand. Jotaro finds that to be rather endearing; he lowers his hat to hide his small smile.

-The beach is blessedly sparse with people, and the two of you sit near the dunes as it becomes dark.

-You both enjoy comfortable silence a great deal, but you hear Jotaro rustling around in the deep pocket of his jacket.

-He pulls out a small lavender box wrapped in a shiny teal ribbon. “Happy…birthday,” he says softly.

-You give him the warmest smile and carefully open the box. You let out a delightful chuckle at the prettiest cupcake you’ve ever seen. Vanilla cake with ocean blue icing decorated with large pearl sprinkles, and the ribbed wrapping is colored like a pinkish clam shell. Upon further inspection you notice something else inside the box: a simple silver charm bracelet. It had three charms: a dolphin, a starfish, and a cat. Your heart flutters. A cat was your favorite animal, your favorite part of your aquarium dates was petting the starfish in the touch tank, and the dolphin…well, that was Jotaro’s favorite animal.

-Judging by the sparkling of your eyes, Jotaro realizes that he did a good job and can relax and enjoy your happy little face.

-He pulls out his lighter and a small blue candle from his pants pocket. He sticks the candle in the cupcake while you’re still holding it in your hands, flicks the switch on it, and enflames the candle like a pro.

-It’s gotten pretty dark at this point, so there’s just a simple golden light reflecting on both of your faces. You can’t help but admire how the lighting highlights Jotaro’s sharp, handsome features, and you swallow hard.

-”Make a wish,” Jotaro says, voice slightly feigning amusement.

-You giggle a little. “That’s a bit cheesy, but…” You can’t contain your smile, and you look him in his deep blue eyes.

-Jotaro gulps, and he can’t help but want to kiss you for giving him such an adoring look. So he does. Despite Jotaro’s intimidating appearance, he actually kisses quite softly. But it feels so nice. Usually Jotaro relies on you to lead the way in intimacies, but this time around he feels very sure of himself this time around. You almost get a little too into it as he presses you down a bit, but you have to stop with a yelp as the candle’s flame singes a small bit of your hair.

-”Sh-shit,” he mutters and quickly blows it out. You laugh a little bit, and Jotaro hides behind his hat.

-You now realize just how chilly it is without the lit candle, and your body does a small shudder.

-Without missing a beat, and wanting to erase the memory of the last 10 seconds, Jotaro shrugs out of his long coat and drapes it over your shoulders. It is blessedly large and warm.

-You take a lick of your cupcake: pure, delicious, sugary goodness. You snuggle up against Jotaro’s chest as he leans on his hands behind him. He reflexively wraps his arm around your shoulder and presses you closer into him. You look up at him, smiling.

-“You cold, too?” Jotaro offers up a smirk in response, takes off his hat, and places it on your head.

-”I’m fine.” He takes his index finger and swipes a bit of icing off of your cupcake and licks it off.

-You swallow. Jotaro doesn’t realize how much of a seductive sight that is. He’s quite handsome, but sometimes he considered it a bit of a hassle to deal with.

-”Jotaro…”you speak his name softly, and he responds with a curious look. “Thank you, I…like it when you’re close to me like this.” You stretch up slightly and plant a soft kiss on his neck, which makes his cheeks immediately heat up, with no hat to shield him.

-Your sentiment doesn’t go unnoticed, and Jotaro quietly takes your cupcake to set down safely before he turns you over on the sand and kisses you over and over until you’re happy ad breathless, his fingers laced with yours as his hands pin them to the ground.

-10/10 birthday,

#jjba #jojos bizarre adventure #jojo headcanons #jojo headcanon #jotaro kujo

85 notes · View notes

danganronpa-imagines · 7 years

Note

Ouma, Amami, Tenko, Kirumi and their S/O trying to cook something new and unfamiliar

How fun! Thank you so much for the request! I had a little trouble with this one, mostly because I had rewritten it a total of 7 times without feeling satisfied with my end product, haha. I want to make sure that I only give my best for you all!

Kirumi Tojo

- As the Ultimate Maid, there exists nothing that she has never cooked or prepared before. No recipe that she hasn’t carried out and no dish or confectionery or baked good that she has not made with her own hands and proudly served. Nothing leaves the kitchen unless it meets her standards, after all.

- So when you suggest that the two of you prepare something unfamiliar, Kirumi was dumbfounded as to what to say or do. That was just impossible. You pondered your request for a little longer. After some thought, you propose making something spontaneous and ridiculous, and, although it did not exactly suit Kirumi’s dignified tastes, she agreed to it to please you.

- So the both of you head to the nearest supermarket, with Kirumi behind the wheel as always since she enjoyed driving. As refined and patient as she is, she would occasionally experience a little road rage and would have to take deep breaths. Because the two of you have been together for such an impressive amount of time, Kirumi has seemed to loosen up around you because you insisted. You wished for a loving partner, not a maid. So since then she has tried her best to be less of a servant and more of an expressive lover to you.

- While at the supermarket, any time that it appeared that Kirumi was picking up ingredients for one particular dish, you would randomly pick up something unconventional and toss it into the shopping cart, flustering her. After some pleading, she gave her consent for you to push her around in the shopping cart, and vice versa. You both had fun, and came home with an assorted bunch of ingredients. Nothing leaned toward a specific recipe, but the two of you decided that both of you would make dishes out of some of the ingredients and occasionally add in something unorthodox, or even combine them with other dishes.

- In the end, the two of you ended up with:

Miso and butternut squash soup

Fried bacon slabs covered with peanut butter (Kirumi does not particularly enjoy fried foods so this was your idea)

Macaroni and cheese (but with quinoa and some chopped almonds instead of macaroni pasta)

Cauliflower disguised to be chicken wings dressed with Kirumi’s newly curated hot sauce (made with mangoes and apples)

Salty cotton candy with hints of lemon/lime (Kirumi has a cotton candy machine stowed away somewhere she was sure of it and you used salt instead of sugar?)

Chocolate avocado ganache cake

- Needless to say, the food combinations were really strange, but the two of you had a great time, and that’s all that really mattered. Also, Kirumi does not see herself doing this again and insists that you leave the cooking to her.

Tenko Chabashira

- You and Tenko mostly dined out, as you both shared a taste for healthier meals but can’t seem to prepare them well yourselves (a bunch of iceberg lettuce dressed with excessive amounts of dressing just wasn’t the same as ‘that one salad with that one dressing’ you had at a restaurant). The two of you were clueless when it came to the names of salads and dressings, despite enjoying them so often. In addition, you both never took too long to eat, and were in and out of cafes and such fairly quickly.

- One day, she suggested that the two of you come up with your own salad dressings! It was going to be so much fun! You could even keep it in those fancy jars that everyone seems to have and everything!

- It was a sudden and unexpected proposal, but you agreed to it. You two could experiment and have fun for a day or two and take a break from your Neo-Aikido training (she was teaching you and you would always jokingly call her your sensei). To the supermarket you go!

- While you were there, you really had no idea what you were doing or planned to do. You just bought a lot of random ingredients (mostly liquids) that you THINK would be good in salad dressing. You left the store with red wine vinegar, cherry wine, garlic, white wine vinegar, almonds, peanuts, sesame seeds, chia seeds (Tenko insisted on chia seeds because they looked like sesame seeds so why not), olive oil, salt and pepper, dijon mustard, honey, all the seasonings, red onions, rice vinegar, lemons and limes.

- Here were your end results (Tenko labeled the jars with what was inside):

Red wine vinegar, salt and pepper, olive oil, chia seeds.

Paprika, sesame seeds, dijon mustard, honey, a little salt and pepper.

Rice vinegar, red onions, lemon, salt and pepper, sesame seeds.

Olive oil, white wine vinegar, chopped thyme, lime zest, salt and pepper.

Garlic, peanuts, rice wine vinegar, honey.

- There were some hits and misses, but overall, you and Tenko felt a little more accomplished since you two invented new things!

Kokichi Ouma (this was arguably the most difficult, since I felt his was boring)

- It was around 10 PM. You and Ouma were nestled comfortably on your couch, complete with plenty of pillows and blankets since that’s how he liked it best. Even when it becomes rather humid, he insists on gathering the usual amount of pillows and blankets on the couch. It has been quite a while since he has been this calm. You were running your hand through his hair, and he purred with each stroke. That was, until, an advertisement for a soda making machine appeared on the television.

- His ears seemed to perk up just like a small animal’s, and he turned his face to the screen. Everyone and their mothers knew of Ouma’s love for Panta, a grape flavored soft drink. It was unhealthy, and you always tried to supervise his Panta consumption, much to his dismay (miraculously, he never obtained any cavities. If he did, it would be gross for you to receive a kiss from him, nishishishi~).

- So when he discovered the existence of a machine that could produce his favorite thing in the world (aside from you, of course), at at home too, he HAD to have it. You were quite content with your position on the couch beside him, but during the advertisement, Ouma pounced off the couch and scurried over to glue his eyes to the television screen. Once it ended, he turned his head to look back at you sadly and almost pleadingly, and before you knew it, both of you were in the car and on your way to the nearest store.

- You returned with the carbonator, some soda flavoring packets, and two large water bottles. The most difficult part wasn’t the actual making of the soda, but rather the assembly of the machine. Neither of you possessed any knowledge on how to assemble things, but somehow you both managed, and all you had to do was place a large water bottle beneath the dispenser and put in the soda packet.

- Ouma was practically vibrating as he saw the soda being made, and once it was finally done, he quickly grabbed the water bottle. But strangely, he did not put it to his lips right away. Instead, he stared at it for a little bit before handing it to you. He was looking downward, so it was difficult to hear him when he shyly said thank you, and told you how much he appreciates you for always going through so much trouble to make him happy.

Rantarou Amami

- After finishing a movie, Amami felt inspired to cook its main dish: ratatouille. He had never heard or seen such a unique dish, and was drawn in by how colorful it was. He asked that the two of you pay a visit to the supermarket immediately, as he did not want the inspiration to slip away. You agreed wholeheartedly, as seeing him Amami this way always brought a smile to your face. His carefree and ‘go-with-the-flow’ attitude prompts him to do things spontaneously and on a whim, but they were usually enjoyable and productive things.

- He insisted that there was no need to replay the clip, as he memorized everything that he saw, and with his basic knowledge regarding cooking matters, he also knew what was fundamentally needed. So the two of you walked to the local supermarket, picked up what you needed, and arrived home.

- Cooking sessions with Amami were always wholehearted and warm. He was always extremely compassionate and enjoyed taking the cooking process slowly, often taking the time to wrap his arms around you if you are working on something and he finished what he was doing, pointing at something and taking some food while you looked away, and planting kisses on your forehead every now and then. You had accidentally cut your hand while slicing the squash, and he immediately went to disinfect it and place a band-aid over it and kissed it.

- For some strange reason, whenever the two of you used the oven, the smell of the food in there seemed to be strong, and whenever you would bring that up, he would always reply with, “Maybe it’s because we prepared it with so much love?”

- Once the ratatouille was finished, he brings it over to the dining table and you two enjoy it together with some laughs and some wine, and discuss how grateful the both of you are for the other.

#danganronpa imagines #danganronpa killing harmony #new drv3 #drv3 imagine #drv3 #kirumi tojo #ouma kokichi #tenko chabashira #amami rantarou #sfw #modkiibo really tried

45 notes · View notes

ngohyuhao · 5 years

Photo

IP Project Log 26/02/2019

In today’s session, our group first shared about each others work in our own discipline to learn more about each others expertise and knowledge in our own fields. It was fascinating to see the different works each member has done in each discipline. One of my group mates was a fashion media student, mostly doing fashion photography, she showed us one of her works which was a photography session with a mirror in which she used Adobe Photoshop and illustrator to overlay a picture of the blue sky which was really beautiful. Up to this point I never really explored how photography was edited and how beautiful photos are crafted. Hearing the sharing has allowed me to learn new knowledge about photography as well as inspired me to explore other crafts even more.

Our other group mate was a interior design student. She showed us her design plan and layout. It was really intriguing to see as I was able to learn what a design layout is about and how it comes about. In the layout I always wondered how interior designers come up with the pictures of what their design would look like once it was complete. She shared that they create a model first in the design software render it and add other elements such as models of people after. It was really interesting. Overall for this portion of today, I thought it was really interesting to hear and see the works of others and how they perform their craft. It has inspired me to look further and to go to more exhibitions related to other crafts aside from music as I feel there is a lot to learn from other disciplines.

After the sharing session, we moved forward to planning out our idea and get some feedback from our facilitating lecturer, Mr Andy Chia. As logged in the previous journal entry, our groups idea was to do a interactive experiential exhibition. We discussed about what sort of rooms to use first, initially we planned on doing multiple rooms with different themes of blue across each one. Eventually, we scrapped the idea and decided to do one room but with projections of the different shades of blue that change in intervals. We wanted to do a square room at first, but right after my group mates suggested we do a cylindrical shaped room which I thought was not possible. However, a short sharing from my interior design group mate made me realize that it is indeed possible.

Our idea was to project animations of the different shades of blue from the ceiling to the floor and walls which would be covered in mirrors to give it a wide effect. I feel that all these concepts are concepts I have never came across before and it was interesting and insightful to learn about them. As well as the lingo and terms that they use in design disciplines. After which we presented our ideas to Mr Chia. Mr Chia’s comments and feedback was valuable as it made us think further. Our idea was to use the darkest and lightest shade of blue. with the darkest representing dysphoria and the lightest representing tranquility. Going from the deepest part of the ocean to the sky. The feedback given was that though the darkest shade of blue was considered heavy it did not necessarily gave the impression of dysphoria and therefore we had to come up with something else. I felt like this feedback really took our idea a step further as we were only touching the surface when we came up with this idea.

Moving along, we then reshaped the idea. Instead of just using two shades of blue we now decided to use at least 4 shades of blue. We researched the colors of blue available and decided to use 277 being the lightest shade, 281 being the darkest shade, Reflex blue being the neutral shade and lastly, 279 which had the biggest contrast with the darker blues.We still stuck with the concept however we added the idea of using the various zones in the ocean to represent the different moods we want blue to represent.

After which we presented our ideas again to the class. Hearing the ideas given by other groups in the class was interesting as we were able to see what others are doing. One group was planning an improvised dance performance whereby the audience would be able to paint their bodies and interact with the actors which I thought was interesting and something totally new to me as I have never heard of improvised acting before. Another group was going to do an instagram zine which was really interesting as well using technology to display art was something I knew about but did not realize that it was an actual thing people do. In conclusion it was really interesting to see what other creative minds come up with.

For my group, we presented our idea. And once again we earned some feedback. Our roles we have decided amongst ourselves initially were for the animation student to come up with the animation to display on the walls, the interior design student to come up with the floor plan and the design of the installation. The fashion media student to do the marketing work and come up with the targeting audience. And finally, I would be doing the soundtracks which would change when the color of the projection changes. However we met with a problem whereby, my role did not really fit the theme of interdisciplinary as I was just going to make the tracks and send them off. So this got us thinking a little more and finally we came to the conclusion that rather than just doing the soundtracks for the exhibition I would also be doing the sound design when somebody interacts with the installation. In conclusion today was a fruitful session and now my team and I have a base plan of what we are going to do. Moving forward we will work on our parts individually and continue the discussion tomorrow.

0 notes

carewyncromwell · 4 years

Photo

Next installation of the POTC AU, at long last! Sorry for the delay...RL has been a bit of a hindrance, and I also had to kind of restructure some things in the storyline to help with flow and such, and that resulted in me having to draw another drawing, and yeah, blah blah, Tory lost her sense of rhythm and pretty much daily update schedule in the process. XD; Mea culpa!

In this part, we’ll have focus on both sides of the “divide,” with both Carewyn and her new ally Davy Jones/Finn McGarry @theguythatdraws and Charlie Weasley (pictured above in an even more pirate-y coat and hat than we saw last) and his sloop’s passenger Chiara Dalma. Will our pirate friends be able to reach Shipwreck Cove before they’re cut off by our non-pirate ones?

Interestingly enough, there was a pirate called Moody in the 1700s, though this one was Christopher Moody, not Alastor. Not much is known about him aside from his brutality (refusing to take prisoners), his unique Jolly Roger flag (which was red and gold rather than black), and his death by hanging in 1722. Pirate!Mad-Eye is going to be much more like his book/movie/game counterpart, but I just thought it was a fun coincidence. (Particularly his red/gold color scheme for his flag, which of course are Gryffindor colors!!)

Jules Farrier-Weasley belongs to @cursebreakerfarrier, last part is here, and whole tag is here! Hope you enjoy!

x~x~x~x

Carewyn knew there was no way she would be able to get Jones’s heart as long as her men were guarding the Chest -- yet, at the same time, she couldn’t just order them to abandon it without cause...and she’d need that time, if she wanted to unlock it without stealing the key from Rakepick. And so she’d need a proper diversion.

Davy Jones himself came up with a solution. If the Flying Dutchman was engaged in battle, then the soldiers might have to jump in to help defend it. All they’d have to make sure of was that the enemy they engaged in battle was one Cutler Beckett would approve of -- namely, one of the more wanted pirates in the Caribbean, and someone who could end up being one of the Pirate Lords.

“I do not know any of the pirates’ current list of so-called ‘Lords,’” said Jones, “but if I were to guess, I would say your brother’s a viable candidate.”

Carewyn shook her head. “Rakepick blew up the Tower Raven. Jacob managed to escape, but he only has one other person with him and he won’t have a ship.”

“Not his flagship, perhaps, but the rest of his fleet would have still survived,” pointed out Jones. “And the more ships there are, the most justification there would be for your Navy reinforcements. Once I have my heart returned, I can always call off the attack -- there’s no need for me to capture or kill them, aside from following Beckett’s direction.”

And so it was very reluctantly that Carewyn agreed to let Jones covertly seek out the remainder of the Tower Raven’s fleet while supposedly looking for Shipwreck Cove. Little did Carewyn know that the Tower Raven’s fleet was likewise headed for Shipwreck Cove, and that they were on a collision course with a tiny red sloop steered by Charlie Weasley.

When Charlie came upon the fleet of pirate ships, he initially wasn’t too worried. Yeah, naturally, they dwarfed his vessel easily, but he presumed that they were heading for Shipwreck Cove as well, and they didn’t have much reason to attack a small sloop like his. What Charlie hadn’t factored in was that the captain of one of those ships -- Alastor “Mad-Eye” Moody -- had gone through his fair share of trauma when he used to be in the Navy and was something of a paranoid sort...and so within minutes, the little sloop Charlie and Chia Dalma were on was soon pursued by Moody’s much larger galleon, called the Phoenix.

Fortunately Charlie was more than talented enough of a sailor to keep his head. Using the advantage of his boat’s size, he weaved expertly through the remainder of the Tower Raven’s ships to evade the Phoenix’s cannon fire.

“Oi!” Charlie bellowed up at one of the ships he was hiding behind. “Tell your mate to bugger off! I’m not with the bloody Navy!”

Chia made no move to help Charlie: instead she stood on the other side of the sloop, watching the seas with a wary eye. There was something troubling on the wind -- something in the air...

A pirate from the Phoenix came up to the railing to look down at Charlie and Chia on their sloop as Charlie sailed it around his galleon. He was a broad-shouldered man about Charlie’s age with dark red hair under a black bandana and small emerald green eyes, and he was dressed in a burgundy-colored coat.

“Hey -- you!” the pirate bellowed down at him. “Down there! Shout up your name!”

Charlie hesitated at first. He knew it was unlikely that most pirates would recognize his name as being that of a pirate -- if anything, the name “Weasley” was associated more with the Navy, even if he, Jules, and Bill had recently been branded criminals.

‘Even so,’ he thought, ‘I’m never going to be able to build a reputation as anything other than a Navy veteran if I don’t use my name. And well, these guys answer to Carey’s brother -- it should be safe...’

“I’m Charlie Weasley!” he shouted back. “Quartermaster of the Revolution under Captain Jules Farrier-We -- ack!”

Before Charlie could even finish, both he and Chia had gotten a net thrown over them and they were hauled aboard the Phoenix.

As Charlie had feared, the name “Weasley” made everyone on the Phoenix tense up with suspicion. Charlie’s “twin,” it turned out, had been swept up by Cutler Beckett, who was now flaunting the fact that the famous, brilliant young Commodore Carey Weasley was answering to him and helping him with his new anti-piracy campaign. Charlie knew full well the only reason Carewyn could be associating with Beckett was to try to sabotage him, but the Phoenix’s Captain Moody seemed doubtful of that explanation. His First Mate, Barnaby Lee -- the young man who had first demanded Charlie’s name -- seemed noticeably less suspicious, but wasn’t half as assertive or articulate as Moody, so the Captain’s conclusion won out among the crew.

Charlie and Chia were soon hauled down to the brig with the thought that once the fleet arrived in Shipwreck Cove, Moody’s superior, Black Jack Roberts -- were he still alive -- would be able to discern how best to deal with them. Charlie hadn’t been too surprised that Jacob hadn’t told everyone in his fleet that “Carey Weasley” was really his sister, but he couldn’t help but curse the fact that Jacob had merely ordered that his men not “damage anyone with the name ‘Weasley’ and immediately bring them to him to deal with.” Even if he had to keep up a “tough guy” image, it would’ve been nice if Jacob had factored in the possibility that he wouldn’t be leading his fleet.

Unfortunately Moody’s suspicion had a real cost. Because of his focus on Charlie and Chia Dalma, he wasn’t focusing on the turbulence of the seas and skies that Chia picked up on -- and so had no warning whatsoever when the Flying Dutchman attacked. Soon the entire fleet of ships that once sailed under the Tower Raven was hotly engaged in battle with the infamous ship of the damned, pirates facing off against both cursed sailors and Navy officers.

While Davy Jones, his crew, and the Navy’s officers were fighting on the upper deck, Carewyn had stowed away below deck to where the Dead Man’s Chest had been left. After sending the remainder of the patrol above deck to help with the sea battle, Carewyn immediately got to work picking the lock on the Chest. Although it was a bit trickier to do it on her own than it had been with Percy, that hindrance was counteracted somewhat by her having unlocked the Chest once before. Within fifteen minutes, Carewyn had unlocked the two-sided lock and opened the Chest.

But when she opened it, she found it completely empty.

“It seems we truly are as alike as I thought.”

Carewyn whirled around.

Rakepick was leaning her shoulder against the door frame. She’d discarded her tricorn hat just as Carewyn had since they were no longer on deck, and her dark blue eyes were locked on the Commodore’s face as though it were a target.

Carewyn immediately pulled out her pistol, pointing it right at Rakepick.

“Where is the heart?” she said very coldly.

“I confiscated it,” said Rakepick simply, “back when I checked to make sure Jones’s key works.”

“On Beckett’s orders?” asked Carewyn.

Had she truly not fooled Beckett, after all? Had Rakepick been sent to watch her as well as Jones? Her face blanched at this thought.

“For my own benefit,” said Rakepick. “Just as I daresay your attempt to steal the heart also was.”

Carewyn’s eyes narrowed. “I’m not stealing anything.”

”I don’t know what else you’d call picking the lock on a Chest that’s in the custody of the British Navy,” said Rakepick with a rather cool smile.

Carewyn clicked her pistol and pointed it right at Rakepick’s head.

“Hand over the heart,” she murmured, “now.”

Rather than looking the least bit intimidated, however, Rakepick almost looked more pleased. She eased herself off the door frame and took a few steps closer to Carewyn.

“You intend to kill me, Commodore?” she said.

“I would prefer not to,” Carewyn answered icily. “But I suggest you don’t push me -- I can still shoot you in plenty of places that would be extremely painful or deadly, if left untreated. And no one would come to help you with your wounds -- there’s more than enough noise above deck to muffle any gun shots that might come from down here.”

Rakepick’s lips spread into an even fuller, satisfied smile as she came to a halt just a foot from Carewyn. “I see. If I’m dead, you won’t learn where the heart is. Very astute, Miss Weasley.”

Carewyn stiffened sharply.

“I knew it as soon as I saw you,” said Rakepick softly. “I daresay because your family is poor, you didn’t have enough prospects to just marry into money. Probably were too independent and self-sufficient to settle for that, as well....so you joined your brothers in the Navy by dressing as another son. I suppose ‘Carey’ is just a play on your real name -- is it Cara? Or Carina?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Carewyn whispered.

She tried to obscure her fear with anger, but it was proving difficult -- her face was as white as a sheet.

Rakepick couldn’t fight back a scoff. “Now, really, Commodore -- do you truly think you’re the only woman who realized how few opportunities there are, for us to get ahead in this world run by men? I dressed as a man and joined the Navy myself during the War, fighting the French off the coast of Africa as a privateer for his Majesty’s Navy.”

She started striding in a leisurely circle around Carewyn, even as the Commodore kept a beady eye on her.

“‘Patrick Rakepick,’ I was called then. I probably would’ve continued that way too, had privateering not been outlawed with the end of the War. Suddenly all of the skills I had learned -- just as with all privateers -- became illegal and therefore useless. I was at the bottom once again, even worse off than before, thanks to the time lost and the injuries suffered. So I did what many other privateers did -- I became a pirate, so I could continue using those skills the Crown had taught me to support myself -- ”

“By pillaging merchant ships and attacking innocent people,” Carewyn spat. She wished she’d been able to keep her temper, but the mental image of this woman shooting Jacob in the back and pushing him overboard had rippled through her mind and it was a knife to her heart she couldn’t bear.

“We all have to do things we’re not proud of in order to survive, Miss Weasley,” said Rakepick very quietly. “That’s the reason you’ve stayed in line with Beckett yourself, is it not?”

Carewyn’s eyes narrowed. Rakepick took her silence as an excuse to press further.

“I saw the way you treated the prisoners from Tortuga. You did not treat them as Jones would, or even as any other officer would. You insisted they be fed and watered consistently, despite their large numbers and their shortened lifespans. You gave one a Bible, on request. You even moved a woman into a different cell so she could be with her husband for the rest of the voyage back to Port Royal, without even being asked.”

Rakepick’s dark blue eyes surveyed Carewyn with something interested, almost admiring, as she came to a halt just behind the shorter young woman.

“You have the heart of a guardian, Miss Weasley. Something not frequently seen in any line of work I’ve ever been part of -- privateering, piracy, or pirate hunting...and something never found among men like Cutler Beckett. It makes you want to protect others as well as yourself. It makes you a natural leader -- one that anyone would be foolish to deny their proper place.”

“I don’t need your flattery, Rakepick,” Carewyn said coldly, turning on her heel to face the older woman once again.

“This is not flattery,” Rakepick answered just as coldly. “It’s advice from someone who has been in your shoes. It’s not easy for anyone without money and status to get ahead in this world, but it’s even harder for a woman. Even when she’s able to acquire those things, there’ll always be a man attempting to clip her wings, so as to make him feel more powerful -- more in control. Even the tale of the goddess Calypso herself proves this. She ruled the seas, until the Pirate King and his Brethren Court ‘bound her’ into human form and stole control for themselves. They were powerless in the face of the Crowns of Europe...and so they exerted power over someone they could hurt.”

“Yet Cutler Beckett hired you, regardless of your sex,” said Carewyn, raising her eyebrows.

Rakepick crossed her arms over his chest. “Cutler Beckett will clip anyone’s wings, female or otherwise, if it benefits himself. Hence why I need this leverage over him.”

“Seems like the leverage is much more over Jones, considering you hold his life in your hands,” Carewyn cut her off harshly. “Now enough stalling -- give me Jones’s heart.”

Rakepick gave a half-frustrated, half-exhausted sigh. “Miss Weasley, do you truly think I wouldn’t have handed the heart over to you already, if I could? I’ve already made it more than clear I trust Beckett as little as you do. I’m not in this fight for him. I have no more love for either the Navy or the pirates than you do. I assure you -- we’re on the same side in this.”

‘Doubtful,’ Carewyn thought spitefully.

Nonetheless she could tell that she’d been outmaneuvered. Rakepick wasn’t going to hand over Jones’s heart, whether because it wasn’t on the ship or Rakepick was just too brave to give in to any threats she might make. She’d lost the element of surprise completely...and if force wasn’t going to work, then a new strategy was clearly needed. She needed to find out the heart’s new location. So, very reluctantly, she tucked her pistol back into its holster.

“If you’re so out for yourself,” said Carewyn coldly, “and you believe me to be just as out for myself...then we can’t be on the same side, Rakepick.”

Rakepick’s eyebrows rose over her narrowing dark blue eyes.

“I never said you were out for yourself, Miss Weasley -- merely that we are alike.”

She swept past Carewyn and headed for the door. When she reached the door frame, however, she paused. Turning her head back toward Carewyn, she spoke a bit more seriously.

“The battle between the Navy and the Pirate Brethren Court is going to be a fierce one. It would truly be in your best interest to get and stay off the Dutchman, before that fight begins.”

Carewyn shot a suspicious look over her shoulder without turning around.

“What battle?” she asked lowly.

“The place where all pirates will have to make their final stand.”

“You’re so assured of that? We haven’t even found Shipwreck Cove,” Carewyn pointed out. “Come to think of it...shouldn’t you know where Shipwreck Cove is, since you were a pirate yourself?”

Rakepick’s eyes flashed.

“I’m afraid not,” she said, her voice noticeably icier than it had been previously.

The question seemed to have gotten under Rakepick’s skin, and Carewyn suspected she knew exactly why. Only pirate captains were generally told the the location of Shipwreck Cove -- since she hadn’t assumed captainship through “Code-sanctioned” means, Rakepick couldn’t have been told by anyone else on the crew of Howell Davis’s ship where Shipwreck Cove was.

‘Serves you right, for what you did to Jacob,’ Carewyn thought, and she couldn’t completely fight back a small smirk.

“Regardless,” said Rakepick, “it won’t take long to find it. You saw the map Beckett designed, in your office -- it’s been finished, since you last saw it. The world’s edges have been drawn and charted, and so too have all of the places pirates could’ve once hidden. Now that they’ve been fenced in and the British Crown has allocated its Navy to the East India Trading Company’s war on piracy...it’s only a matter of time before all pirates face extinction. Those in power will not surrender it peacefully...least of all to those they’ve decided to treat as inferiors...so they’ll use every bit of that power they’ve accrued to try to quash any resistance. Those remaining pirates will have to either adapt to this terrifying new world their rebellion has molded...or perish.”

Rakepick turned away.

“And you, Miss Weasley...should not remain on the Dutchman. You don’t belong on a ship like this.”

Even as Rakepick left, Carewyn remained where she was, standing straight-backed in the center of the room with her fists clenched. Then, after a long moment, she brought a hand up to the lid of the empty Dead Man’s Chest and shut it with a harsh SNAP.

The sea battle up above raged. Captain Moody, it seemed, was truly a force to be reckoned with, despite his age and wooden limbs. When Navy officers and Dutchman pirates found their way onto the Phoenix, he fought four of them off single-handed, even going so far as to yank a blunderbuss out of his pants and shoot one of them right in the head before smacking two of the others with it as if it were a club. It was just fortunate that Charlie -- newly escaped from the brig thanks to a charm of Chia Dalma’s -- was able to block the sword belonging to the last of them with his own dragon-hilted blade.

Despite this, the Phoenix and the rest of the Tower Raven’s old fleet was severely outmatched, since Jones’s crew couldn’t die. Many ships had already started to flee, only for the Flying Dutchman to cut them down with cannon fire. Even though the Dutchman was no larger than the pirate galleons, it seemed to have the supernatural ability to heal any damage dealt to it within the span of a few minutes -- an ability not shared by Captain Moody, when he swung over to the Dutchman and pursued Jones with singular, irrational focus, only to finally be overpowered and killed by Jones himself.

“NO!” bellowed Barnaby.

Charlie straightened up sharply, his eyes widening in horror, at the sight of Moody falling to his knees, Jones’s blade stuck right through his chest.

Jones regarded the old man with a grim expression.

“Alastor Moody,” he murmured, “do you fear death?”

Moody glared up at Jones with his one good eye, but was clearly too badly injured to speak. So instead he spat at his feet.

Jones looked almost jaded by the reaction -- the way any embodiment of Death would likely be, whenever anyone got mad at them for doing their job.

“Clearly not.”

With this, he rather callously tossed Moody back over onto the deck of the Phoenix and whirled back to his crew.

“Ready the cannons!”

Barnaby immediately rushed to his captain’s side to help him up.

“Captain -- Captain, are you -- ?”

Alas, Moody was still too injured to speak clearly. When he opened his mouth, all he could do was cough up blood. Charlie rushed over too.

“He’s hurt bad,” he muttered. He turned to Chia. “Is there anything you -- ?”

Chia shook her head, her gray eyes very solemn. “I’m sorry, Charles Weasley. There’s no more time I can give him.”

Charlie was startled by the sensation of someone grabbing the collar of his shirt. Moody pulled him down closer to him, trying to whisper into his ear.

"You -- ” he choked through the blood in his mouth, “ -- have the Pacific Ocean’s Piece of Eight -- ?”

Charlie blinked in surprise. He glanced down at the anchor-trimmed “S” button Chia gave him, which he’d pinned to his vest for safe keeping until he could properly sew it somewhere more secure.

“...Yeah,” said Charlie. “Chia Dalma gave it to me.”

Moody squinted up at Charlie.

“...Shipwreck Cove -- is due west, of here. Fifty miles -- through the D-Devil’s -- Throat. Take -- the crew there.”

Charlie was completely blind-sided. “What?”

“Lead them. Take them to -- Shipwreck Cove. To the rest of the Court. To -- Black Jack.”

Charlie’s brown eyes rippled with sadness, seeing how much difficulty Moody was having talking. He was out of time, as Chia had said -- and yet, here he was, putting his crew first.

‘For all of his faults,’ thought Charlie, ‘Mad-Eye Moody is a good captain.’

The second-eldest Weasley took Moody’s wizened hand in both of his and gave it a squeeze.

“I will,” he said firmly. “I promise.”

Blood streamed from Moody’s lips as they curled up in a pained smile. “That’s a good lad...”

He coughed, trying hard to take another breath. This time, however, the blood blocked his throat enough that no oxygen could reach him. And so Moody, in the last shreds of his life, bravely raised his eyes to the sky with a smile.

Barnaby had brought his two large fists up to obscure his face as he started to cry. Charlie hung his head respectfully over the fallen captain of the Phoenix. After a moment, he brought up a hand to close Moody’s eyes and then rose to his feet, his eyes blazing with determination.

“ALL HANDS, PREPARE THE CANNONS!” he bellowed. “We need all the explosives and smoke bombs we have -- we’re getting the Hell out of here!”

Charlie’s strategy was to assault the Flying Dutchman with two waves of attack. The first would be to damage the ship enough that it would need a few minutes to repair itself -- the second would be a smokescreen, so as to hopefully put enough distance between the Phoenix and the Flying Dutchman that the second couldn’t actively take down the first with its cannon fire. When Charlie ran to the edge of the Phoenix beside Chia Dalma to make the order to fire, he was startled momentarily by who he saw coming up onto the deck of the Dutchman.

It was Carewyn.

Jones confronted her immediately, his eyes narrowed sharply as he barked something to her -- Carewyn looked rather frustrated herself, but Charlie couldn’t make out what they were saying. Within seconds, however, both Jones and Carewyn turned their focus to the battle -- and they both caught sight of the two people at the railing.

Jones’s eyes flickered with shock, disbelief, and something oddly more vulnerable. He’d never seen the human woman on that ship’s railing in his life...but he knew those gray eyes...

“Ca...lypso...?”

Chia Dalma’s hands clutched the railing as her eyes filled with tears and a weak smile prickled at her features.

“Finn,” she breathed.

Carewyn, meanwhile, had met Charlie’s gaze straight on. Her eyes were very wide at the sight of him, just as much as Charlie’s was at the sight of her.

“Carey!” cried Charlie.

His heart felt like it was fit to burst, seeing his surrogate twin again. Part of him just wanted to throw himself over his ship’s railing over to her and pull her into the biggest hug, and yet --

She was on the Dutchman -- the Flying Dutchman, the ship of the damned --

Carewyn’s eyes flooded with fear as she shot her head around, taking in her soldiers fighting off pirates from the rest of the Tower Raven’s fleet on the deck of her ship and the Phoenix’s cannons being turned into the proper position.

Her gaze then shot back to Charlie’s face with urgency.

“BECKETT IS COMING!” she mouthed to him desperately. “BECKETT IS COMING! GO!”

She then yanked her pistol out of her belt and purposefully shot right over Charlie’s head, to make her point. Clenching his jaw, Charlie nonetheless nodded firmly, blinking back some traces of tears as he whirled on his crew.

“FIRST WAVE, FIRE ALL!” he roared.

With the Dutchman effectively hampered by both waves of attack, the Phoenix was able to successfully put a respectable distance between it and the Flying Dutchman. Carewyn tried to keep their focus on the rest of the fleet and on capturing prisoners from those vessels, but Rakepick contradicted her, ordering the Dutchman to shadow the Phoenix in case it was heading to Shipwreck Cove. What Carewyn did not expect was Jones agreeing with Rakepick.

“I want everyone on board the Phoenix locked in my brig,” said the captain of the damned icily, his gaze flaring with raw emotion as he glared at Carewyn. “I will not let them escape me.”

Carewyn knew she’d been outmaneuvered again. There was nothing more she could do, to protect everyone now. It was all up to Charlie now, to warn Bill, Jules, and Jacob...to warn Orion...

The memory of the pirate captain’s calm, dark eyes made Carewyn’s heart clench with longing and pain. He’d always made her feel so much stronger, whenever she felt most useless and hopeless...but right now, more than anything, she longed to have him at her side -- to feel his shoulder resting against hers and see his soft smile once more...

Rakepick was right -- the final battle was coming, sooner than anyone could’ve ever predicted. It was all up to Charlie to warn the Brethren Court now.

#potc au #au #pirates of the caribbean #my art #my writing #charlie weasley #carewyn cromwell #chiara lobosca #Mad-Eye Moody #barnaby lee #finn mcgarry #jules farrier #bill weasley #patricia rakepick #damn it rakepick!#sadly we couldn't afford to set finn free just yet though #gotta get closer to shipwreck cove and reunite him with chia :3 #but yay captain charlie weasley of the phoenix!#he may or may not change the name to something more dragon-like later XD #but yeah technically you gotta be a captain to be a pirate lord #one reason moody gave charlie captainship #and also because as great as barnaby is I think he makes a better First Mate than a Captain #just like bill does XDD #I love putting rakepick and carey in a room together #wonder if you guys can guess who the brethren court members are...#hint: two of them are mc's who have done content for the au #(another mc is the keeper of the code >:3)#four are hphm canon characters #(one of those is charlie of course)#and the last is one of my kiddos >:3

19 notes · View notes