#c'mon you know you wanna romance her

[slothspaghettiwrites]

Bestie. Bestie…

The world deserves to know all about Country!BigDaddy!Ari. Bless them. Bless us. Tell us all about his rusty red truck and his bad habits and how he fucks when he’s had cheap Jack Daniels. Tell us, bestie.

Look, I know we were just talking about Daddy and this ask is quite old, but let's talk

Big Daddy

Warnings: country/hillbilly au, female!reader(she/her), heavy daddy kink, pet names, a bit of second chance romance, smoking, drinking, explicit sexual acts, head canons because I doubt I will make this full fic to share with everyone and we were feral and unhinged on discord when this first came about.

Country!Ari is a wild one night stand that turns into so so much more when you finally leave the big city and come back home where you belong.

Ari is very blue collar, works for the county on the highway crew, owns a bit of land and lives in a double wide.

Ari was captain of the football team when you were in high school together, and he is still very popular. Most of the guys from the team still get together and play touch football on the weekends

When you come back to town, he makes it his mission to make you his for keeps. He got one taste of your perfect pussy, heard you moaning his name and calling him Daddy for one night and he was hooked.

Everyone around town teases the fuck out of him the way he follows you around like a big puppy dog. If only they knew what he was whispering in your ear 🫣

"C'mon, sugar, why are you fighting us? Such a stubborn little thing just because of something in high school? I just wanna treat you and that sweet pussy of yours right. Let me be your Daddy."

It is no surprise the first time (really this is the second time), you fuck it's during a Friday night football game. You don't even know why all it took for you to say you'd go was your mama saying "Ari goes to every home game", but you showed up.

The 1st quarter isn't even over yet, but Ari catches you a few spots over on the bleachers eating a soft pretzel with cheese and he's dragging you away to where his truck is parked far out in the field lot. It took everything in him not to lick the little bit of cheese off the corner of your mouth in front of the whole crowd.

Ari's truck is big and red and "old". It's a bit rusted out and really jacked up, but he looks regular sized next to it. The passenger side is missing the foot rail so he always has to help you climb up.

However when the tailgate is dropped, it's the perfect height for him to have you lie back while he eats your pussy like a starved man.

And does he fucking love giving you oral. Loves feeling the weight on you on his face, the muffling of his hearing with your thighs clenched around his head.

He could spend the rest of his life with your clit in his mouth and your pussy juices running down his chin.

The one thing he won't do is finger you.

At least not if he plans on fucking you. If your sweet lips are around his cock he can't stop himself from coming down your throat. He will finger you then if you want something to cum on too.

But when he has every intention of fucking all the thought outta your little baby head, Daddy only uses his mouth to get you ready for his dick.

"Let Daddy in sugar, wanna feel every inch of me in ya, don't you? Gonna treat you just right, baby, fuck you just how you need."

God taking his cock a stretch 😤 it's heavy and thick and long and so fucking pretty just like the rest of him. He loves when you get dumb on it. Loves how all it takes to get the sour outta you is Daddy's cock stuffing you full.

"Only sweet for me, ain't'cha? Only like this for Daddy."

Big Daddy is full daddy mode basically all the time. He is so sweet on you.

Anyhoo 😤😤😤😤😤😤

#sloth asks #howdoyousleep3 #ari levinson smut #ari levinson #ari levinson x fem!reader #ari levinson x reader #this has only been sat in draft for an age and a half #😅😅😅

[hazenllas]

Teenage Romance II Hazel Callahan

Pairings: Hazel Callahan x fem! reader

Contains: Pure fluff. Just a really really cute little story

(Apologies for any spelling mistakes, English isn't my first language)

A/N Message: i'm honesty so proud of this. I've been thinking of writing something like this for a while. Also i love hazel Callahan so much. (If you couldn't already tell...)

Summery:Due to so many stressing schoolwork and family issues, you haven't had time to spend time with your girlfriend Hazel.

You woke up to the subtle raindrops against your windows. It was a rainy grey day and thank god you had nothing to do today. You got out of your bed and tangled yourself into your big white blanket that covered basically your whole bed. You walked out of your room and down the set of stairs to see nobody home. You smiled to yourself and made yourself a bowl of lucky charms. While eating, you got the best idea yet. Since your schedule has been all occupied by family activities and many more you haven't had time to actually spend time with Hazel besides school. You jumped up from your chair and ran upstairs to get ready. You decided to wear a white collared shirt and some baggy blue jeans and your black converse. You were going to suprise hazel at her door but you hoped if her mom was there she wouldn't dissrupt you both. When you got to her mansion, you began walking up to her doorstep occasionally stepping in water puddles. You knocked on her door two times and waited for someone to answer. When the door finally opened, it revealed a very tired hazel who was still in her "pajamas" which was a white tank top and green sweatpants that made her look so breath taking. her eyes lit up when she saw you. "Hey baby, come in." hazel said guiding you by your arm inside her warm, welcoming house. When you came in, she hugged you by your waist and swayed both your bodies side to side. "Haze i missed you" You say, hugging her tighter. she hums and kisses your temple. "What d ya wanna do baby? My mom's not home and won't be for a while so your choice,love." Hazel says letting go of you to look down at you. "Uhh can we make cookies?" You ask looking at her. "Anything you want. c'mon" Hazel replies guiding you to the kitchen.

"You both head into the kitchen and begin to get a chocolate chip cookie mix out. "As you are mixing all of the substances together, Hazel hugs you from behind and starts kissing your neck lightly. "Haze it tickles!" You giggle as you feel her smile into your neck. "I missed you so much you know?" Hazel mumbles. ""Me too Haze, I promise to try my hardest to spend more time with you." You say, turning around and cupping her cheeks. She sighs and closes her eyes leaning into your touch. You giggle and kiss her on the lips quickly before mixing your cookies once again. "Now go to the couch and find a movie to watch" You say bringing your attention back to the cookies. "Fineee" Hazel whines walking into the family room. After putting the cookies into the oven, you decide to mess with Hazel. Since the back of the couch was facing you, you decided to sneak up behind her and scare her. You tip-toe into the family room up against the couch and launch at her. "Boo!" You say making her jump. "Fuck Y/N, you scared me!" Hazel says looking at you with wide eyes. "Well that was kind of my whole plan Haze." You say messing up her dark brown hair. Hazel just rolls her eyes and continues watching the movie. After a few minutes, you see that the cookies were done. You get a baking glove, and take out the tray of cookies and place them on the stove. After they cool down, you get two cookies one for you and one for hazel and take them to the couch. "Here you go" You say handing Hazel the cookie. "Thank you sweetheart" Hazel answers while taking a big bite of her cookie. You walk over to the couch and cuddle up beside her. She instantly wraps her arm around your shoulder and holds you tight against her. You can smell her, you can tell she put her dark nature forest cologne you baught for her months ago. "I love you Haze." You whisper looking up to meet her beautiful blue eyes. "I love you too, baby" She answers, looking down at you and kissing your forehead. "So much."

#hazel callahan #bottoms hazel #hazel bottoms #hazel callahan x reader #i suck at writing #hazel callahan imagine #hazel callahan x you #Hazel callahan is such a sweetheart i may die #hazel callahan fluff #wlw #bottoms movie 2023 #bottoms movie #bottoms 2023 #ruby cruz

[bebe-writes-stuff]

I haven't wrote anything for a hot minute, so here :

Sick! clingy! Mikey x Reader

You were angry at him, but at the same time, you couldn't leave him like this. Mikey was sick, really sick. He was shivering in his bed, whining about how cold he was.

"Well, if you would've just listened to me, and not gone out when you had just taken a shower. We wouldn't be here, would we?"

Your tone when you scolded him was stern, but the way you placed the wet cloth on his forehead, to lower his temperature, was oh so soft. He felt like he could simply melt under your gentle touch.

"If it meant you taking care of me like this, I'd get sick all the time, just to have all your attention on me, heh." :>

"You sure do talk a lot for someone who's sick, Manjiro. Just rest, so you can get better soon."

You mutter, before landing a small peck on his temple. He couldn't help but get shy, no one ever could fluster him, only you had that power. He felt hot, all of the sudden.

"Manjiro, are you okay? Your face is red, are you getting worse?"

You were quick to place the towel again on his forehead, which he quickly brushed your hand off his head. Despite how much his body ached and was sore, he sat up, and took your wrist into his palm before looking directly into your eyes. You didn't notice time passing as you both just...sat there, looking into each other's eyes.

"Are you ok-"

He abruptly cut you off by kissing you. He simply just leaned in and kissed you. Almost as a reflex, your hand reached up, cupping his face and sinking further into the soft sensual kiss.

"Damn, I wanted to kiss so fucking badly, but I didn't wanna get you sick angel. A few kisses won't kill you, right?"

He whispered in a raspy low tone. Your mind melting into mush, you failed to realize Mikey's sneaky moves, he was slowly pushing you against the bed, caging you between his arms.

"Y/n, you're so warm."

He was hugging you against the bed, nowhere to run. His breath fanned your neck because of his rested head on your shoulder. You felt his sweaty body pressed so tightly up to yours. Before he could continue his little romance moment, it dawned on him. A sharp pain right in his lungs. His rough cough caught you off guard as you quickly broke the tight embrace to check his continuously declining health. You quickly tuck him back into bed, wrapping every blanket in sight around him. You glared at him,

"Don't do that again, just stay in bed, you need to get better. That cough sounded really bad."

"I'm fineeee y/n, your kisses make me feel better. I just wanna get closer to you-"

He whined as he was started to get up again before you pushed him down,

"Nope, you're staying here. I'm gonna go get something for you to drink. Stay."

Making your way out of his room and into the kitchen, you were met with his younger sister, Emma.

"Hey Y/n, how's he doing?"

She asked, looking up at you from her phone. She had just finished the chores around the house,

"Don't know, honestly. His temperature is decreasing a little, but his cough is bad."

You mumbled as you filled the kettle with water, you were gonna make him tea.

"Mm, are you making tea?"

She peeked over your shoulder, eyes following your movements, before she smiled,

"The tea you make always tastes so good, how do you do it?"

You shrugged,

"I don't know, you just make tea regularly. I mean, I use honey instead of sugar."

"Huh? Seriously, that's it?

"Yep, life's better when it's simple."

...

"Y/nnnn, I missed you."

Mikey whined when you entered the room after being gone for what seemed like forever. You sat on the edge of the bed,

"Hey Manjiro, can you sit up and drink this, please?"

You held the cup of tea in your palm as you watched Mikey cringe,

"Noooo, Y/n, is that tea? Ewwwww."

"C'mon Manjiro, you have to drink it. It'll make your throat feel better."

He shook his head childishly and crossed his arms. A sigh left your lips, before a thought suddenly popped in your mind. You blew gently at the cup to cool it down, then, you took a sip of the warm liquid.

"Huh what are you do-"

You leaned down, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear as your lips made contact, forcing the tea into his mouth, and finally, he swallowed it. You licked the leftover tea off his lips, and a smile tugged on his face,

"How is it?"

You asked, feeling his hot breath against your lips

"Hmm, it's sweet, just like you. Makes me want more of you, don't mind if I do, I'm kinda of greedy."

-you guys, part 2??

#tokyorev #tokyo revengers #manjiro sano #tokyo revengers manga #tokyo revengers anime #tokyo revengers Mikey #Mikey #mikey icons #mikey sano #manjiro #sano mikey manjiro #manjiro mikey sano #mikey #Mikey tokyo revengers #manjiro x reader #manjiro x y/n #manjiro x you #mikey x reader #mikey x you #sano manjiro #sano manjiro x reader #manjiro sano x reader #mikey x reader fluff #tokyo revengers fluff #tokyo revengers x reader #tokyo revengers x you #tokyo rev x reader #tokyo revengers hcs #tokyo revengers headcanons #tokyo rev headcanons

[isanggayfrog]

the person you were kissing wasn't me | p.jh

synopsis: it's better to keep some things to yourself.

warnings: angst, fwb situation, idk if i missed anything

you huff as you run, your uniform tie and hair blowing in the wind. the soles of your feet ached from how long you'd been standing at the restaurant you work in, tending to customers and serving dishes.

despite the tire of your bones and the muscles screaming at you to rest, you happily run your way to the home you shared with your best friend jihyo.

well, best friend was one way to label your friendship.

growing up together was probably one of the reasons you and her were so close. met in middle school, stuck together through high school, and now living together as you navigated through college and took on part time jobs.

✧ ‧˚₊ ❆ ‧ ₊ ⊹˚✧ ‧˚₊ ❆ ‧ ₊ ⊹˚✧ ‧˚₊ ❆ ‧ ₊ ⊹˚✧

the first incident was when you were both fourteen. young teenagers driven by recklessness who believed they were invincible never ended well. that's how you found yourself in detention after skipping school to hang out at the convenience store nearby.

how the teachers never realized that putting partners in crime together in one room was a bad idea, you'll never know. even more of a bad idea was when they left you alone.

so you and jihyo sat in silence, listening hard for footsteps approaching. but none came for a while, so you let your guards down.

she walked over to sit beside you, leaning her head on your shoulder as she picked on her nails. "have you ever kissed someone?"

she said the question so nonchalantly that you barely registered her words. when you did, however, you almost jumped in surprise. "why would you ask me about that?"

"because," she said, turning to look you in the eye, "haven't you ever wondered? kids our age usually do."

"i-i never.. really thought about it."

she made an expression of disbelief. "but aren't you curious?"

you shrugged, resting your cheek on the palm of your hand. "i mean, sure. i've seen enough romance to want to know why people like it."

jihyo looked away, thinking. you watched her side profile, ingraining it into your brain, but admired her as a friend. only as a friend, you always told yourself. you don't like her that way.

when she turned back to you she paused, staring deep into your eyes, before she spoke. "do you want to try?"

"try what?" you whispered, as if the two of you were up to no good once again.

"to kiss," she whispered back, leaning slightly closer. "i've never.. and experiencing it young couldn't hurt, right? i mean, we're just friends trying it out."

just friends, your mind echoed, she only feels that way towards you.

"okay," you breathe out.

and that was only the first time.

✧ ‧˚₊ ❆ ‧ ₊ ⊹˚✧ ‧˚₊ ❆ ‧ ₊ ⊹˚✧ ‧˚₊ ❆ ‧ ₊ ⊹˚✧

the second incident was a little later in eleventh grade. a new student, austin, had recently joined your school. he was your typical bully - a jock, tall, muscular, a total jerk to those who refuse to grovel at his feet and kiss his shoes.

you loathed that guy.

especially since he never left jihyo alone. you understood why he'd taken a liking to her - but god, couldn't he chase some other girl instead? although, you'd feel bad for whomever he ever took an interest in.

so one day in the cafeteria, you in a conversation with jihyo about the latest biology homework, he pushed through the doors and marched his way to your table.

austin pushed you away by the face and sat between you and jihyo, squishing you against the wall. you grumbled in annoyance, but chose to stay silent.

"hey, jih." he flashed his oh, so charming smile at her, stealing your glass of water and taking a sip. "so, you wanna come over to my house after class? i need your help with, uh, chemistry."

his buddies laughed from behind, with you rolling your eyes and miming a gag.

"um." jihyo was evidently uncomfortable. "no, sorry. i have plans with y/n."

"oh." austin spared you a glare before coming back for another attempt with jihyo. "c'mon, this loser? you'd be spending your time better with me. i could make you have fun."

your nose flared. this guy really needs to go. you watched with narrowed eyes as the glass of water in his hand tilted ever so slightly.

jihyo sighed. "no, i'm really sorry-"

austin poured the glass's contents on jihyo, creating a blotch on her blouse that made the white cloth somewhat see-through.

"oops," austin smiled 'innocently, "my hand slipped. c'mon, sweetheart, i have an extra shirt in my locker-"

"hey, man," you fumed, shoving him away from jihyo. "leave her alone."

he scowled at you, because how dare this lowly worm even talk in his direction? "what are you gonna do, huh? cry to mommy? tell the principal? my dad knows a lot of people, you don't want to mess with me-"

"yeah, go tell your daddy you don't have game." you shed your jacket and wrapped it around jihyo protectively, whose eyes darted around in embarrassment.

"don't- what!" austin spluttered. "how dare you assume that! i could date any girl i wanted!"

"yeah, go ahead!" you shouted. "just not this girl!"

"and why not?"

jihyo answered that for you. she tugged you down and planted her lips firmly on yours. she let the kiss linger for a moment before pulling away and glaring at austin. "because i'm taken."

✧ ‧˚₊ ❆ ‧ ₊ ⊹˚✧ ‧˚₊ ❆ ‧ ₊ ⊹˚✧ ‧˚₊ ❆ ‧ ₊ ⊹˚✧

it's true the two of you aren't as close as before, or maybe your friendship had simply changed because of time, but she's a little different now. you don't see each other as often despite living together, due to schedules and shifts that don't align.

which is why you're excited to surprise her with your early return home, just before she left for her night shift at the convenience store.

you stop in front of the elevator once you reach your floor, panting. she can't see you so disheveled, so you attempted to fix yourself.

until you heard voices.

you recognized the voice as jihyo, so you peeked from the corner to see who she was talking to.

"you go home safe, alright?" she says to some man, patting his shoulders. "text me when you're home."

your heart almost stops when she gets on her tiptoes to share a passionate kiss with this man.

you can't tear your eyes away, no matter how much the sight drained all happiness from you. every hope of someday confessing your feelings for her evaporated, as did the excitement of getting to surprise her.

but you didn't have the right to be jealous. even though you and her kiss from time to time, and share a lot of things other 'friends' don't share, you weren't officially together. that doesn't mean it can't hurt, or that you can't feel like you'd been betrayed.

so when the man leaves, you pretend to have just arrived and greet jihyo with a smile you hope she didn't realize was fake. "hey, jih! guess who got released early?"

#isanggayfrog #♫•*¨*•.¸¸♪ writing #twice #twice oneshots #twice imagines #one shots #imagines #jihyo #park jihyo #jihyo x reader #gn!reader #jihyo x gn reader #jihyo x female reader #female!reader #male!reader #jihyo x male reader

[lostarchivesoforpheus]

Hello!! Can I request dan heng on his first date ? Thanks ☺️

Something New

dan heng x gn!reader

summary: to say dan heng was happy to be going out with you would be an understatement. he was practically ecstatic that you actually accepted and reciprocated his feelings for you. however, he had never actually been on a date before, nor did he know much about romance. so, how will dan heng overcome his anxieties and survive his first date?

warnings: possibly ooc(?), dan heng's a lil bit anxious but it's nothing too intense, physical touch (hand holding), mention of food/drinks (ur at a café date)

"Hey! C'mon, hold still already!"

"I've 'held still' for 15 minutes, March. Can you move on from my hair already?" Dan Heng, clearly annoyed, reached to push March 7th's hand away. "Hmph, of course not! I have no idea how you of all people managed to charm someone, but if you want to keep them around, looking good on the first date will definitely help! Now let me just fix this little bit here!" March said matter-of-factly, putting all her focus on making sure another strand of his hair was in the perfect spot. Dan Heng rolled his eyes and said, "You know, if you keep focusing on my hair the entire time, you're going to make me late." "Oh, fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine. I guess your hair looks pretty alright," March stepped back a bit to see if his hair truly was up to standard.

"Alright, Mr. 'Oooh, look at me, i just wanna show up looking half-decent to my first date ever oooooh', your suit's next. And be prepared to sit there eeeeeven longer so that I can make sure that your outfit looks absolutely 100% perfect, alright?" March poked him incessantly and gave him a disappointed look. Dan Heng sighed, but didn't argue.

-

As Dan Heng sat at a table, waiting for you, he couldn't help but feel nervous. First off, he was worried you wouldn't show up (despite the fact that he himself had gotten there 15 minutes early). He was also afraid that you would find him boring, like many others do. Oh, and he was also anxious about-

"Hey! Sorry to keep you waiting," you gave him a small smile as you waved. "Oh, uhm, it's quite alright. I'm just glad you're here," he said sheepishly. Just seeing you made the butterflies in his stomach go crazy. Unfortunately for him, though, his worries remained rooted in the corners of his mind all throughout the evening.

Truly, he loved listening to you speak, but was he responding to you enough? What if you thought that he wasn't actually paying attention to what you were saying? What if-

"Uhh, hey, Dan Heng? Are you okay? You can leave early if you're feeling sick, I don't mind!" Your voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "Ah, sorry. I just.. um... well.." he stuttered and looked down at his drink. "Well? Really, if there's anything wrong, you can tell me. I won't judge," you reached over the table and gently held his hand, the sudden contact making him flustered.

"A- Are you sure it's alri-" "Yes, it's alright, Dan Heng. I don't want you to be unhappy. If there's anything you need, I want to help you with it," you interrupted. Startled, he looked back at you. He was silent, for a few moments, but eventually admitted his worries to you.

"I guess I just.. Well, I guess I was worried you wouldn't actually like me if you got to know me, if that makes sense? I- I don't know, I just.." he sighed and sunk back into his chair. After saying it all out loud, it all sounded silly if he was being honest.

"Oh, that's it?" You giggled a bit before continuing, "It's alright! Honestly, it's completely normal to be anxious about a date! Don't worry though, I love you just the way you are, so don't change yourself just to because you want others to approve of you, okay?" You squeezed his hand and gave him a gentle smile.

At that moment, Dan Heng felt his heart swell, and he smiled more than he had ever smiled before.

At that moment, Dan Heng knew you were perfect.

a/n: hehe attractive men being awkward on first dates go brrr aaaaaa i hope this turned out ok hehe i loved writing this (also personal hc that march will most definitely be a smug little shit when u and dan heng are in a relationship just like giving him advice or helping him get ready for dates but teasing him every time hehehehehe)

thanks for stopping by!

want to submit a request? see my requesting rules here.

taglist: @dan-hengs-wife

want to be tagged? dm me! :]

#fishbubble writes #fanfic #fanfic author #fanfiction #fanfiction author #x reader #honkai star rail x reader #honkai x reader #hsr x reader #honkai #honkai star rail #honkai: star rail #hsr #dan heng #dan heng honkai #dan heng honkai star rail #dan heng hsr #dan heng x reader #HELP I FORGOT TO TAG THIS WHEN I INITIALLY POSTED IT AND THEN IMMEDIATELY FREAKED OUT BC #I SPENT OVER 4 HOURS ON THIS BUT THEN I REALIZED I FORGOT TO TAG IT LMFAO OOPS

[northstarscowboyhat]

How did Starlo and Ceroba begin dating in your AU Would there be any conflict because of Cerobas last marriage ending so tragically?

First off, anon thank you for giving me an excuse to gush about Staroba. They have taken a hold of 95% of my brain. This might be a bit of a ramble, but I will gladly share my thoughts on them!

So before Clover arrives in the Underground, I imagine anything romantic between the both of them was kind of out of the question. I HC Starlo is still pining for Ceroba years later, but he's pretty discreet about it. That's his best friend, and she's recently lost her husband and daughter. He's going to be there for her emotionally, but he's not about to complicate things by pursuing his feelings. I imagine even if he hasn't really moved on from her, he's resigned to the fact that it'll only remain as pining from afar.

Meanwhile, on Ceroba's end, she isn't really thinking about romance. She's very much wallowing in her own grief and misery, so to her, Starlo is the only person she has left in her life, but he's just her best friend. There may be some feelings beginning to build, with living with Starlo and spending so much time with him, but nothing she really actively thinks about. She's too consumed by the terrible situation and struggles she's neck deep in.

It isn't until Clover comes around and chooses to stay in the Underground that things change. I HC that Clover chooses to live with Ceroba after the Pacifist ending. Starlo and the gang cleaned up her house anyways, so why not live in it again and make better memories? Because Ceroba's house is close to the Wild East, Starlo visits a lot, not just for Clover but for Ceroba too. Now that they're both working on their own issues and moving on, becoming healthier people, they're able to properly hang out and emotionally support one another and enjoy each other's company in a way they haven't for a few years. This is where Starlo's feelings really kick into high gear, and it's gotten to the point that everyone in their family and friend group notices.

("Dude, you like, totally wanna marry her," Mooch says, hardly bothering to contain her smug smirk. Starlo yanks on the brim of his hat to conceal his reddening face and begs her to keep her voice down, lest Ceroba hear it from across the bar counter.)

Though Ceroba is a lot more subtle about it, this is where her feelings begin to grow too. She realizes that Starlo has always been there for her, even if his actions weren't always the right ones his intentions have always been focused on doing things for her sake, and that she wants him around, maybe more than just a best friend. It gets to the point that the house feels lonely whenever he leaves from a visit. It probably takes a lot of internal strife and struggle to reconcile with her feelings. Letting another partner into her life after she's mourned her first husband is a massive and frightening step to take, after all. She knows Chujin would want her to be happy and live her life to the fullest after he's gone, but it's still a lot to take in.

I imagine once a few months pass, with encouragement from Starlo's friends ("C'mon boss, Clover calls you Pa and Ceroba Ma, you two are practically already raising them together!"), he tries to confess his feelings to Ceroba. He probably fumbles it a few times; not just because he's still shy and awkward under the sheriff persona, but because he really doesn't want to ruin his relationship with her, nor hurt her after everything she's been through. Ceroba, of course, notices this. Probably after the second or third bumbling attempt of him trying to tell her in privacy how he feels, she gently cuts him off and comes out and says it; she reciprocates his feelings, and she would love to start a new chapter of her life with him.

Thus, they begin dating! Everyone's happy for them, especially Clover and the Feisty Four, who has been privy to all of their subtle and not so subtle flirting and obvious pining. Starlo and Ceroba were already raising Clover together, but now it becomes a lot more overt. After they date for a while, Ceroba invites Starlo to move in so he can spend more time with her and Clover and be a proper family. He does so, gladly - though he probably does shed a tear or two moving out from the house he shared with his posse.

#undertale yellow #north star #ceroba #staroba #starlo uty #ceroba uty #the cowboy hat yodels #Lucky Clover AU #starlo x ceroba #This is cringe but I am free. Hello I'm NSCowboyHat and I will take any excuse to wax poetry about my OTP #Props to you if you read this novel I have so so SO many thoughts about Staroba #They are drenched in tragedy but I need for them to be happy despite it all

[diagonal-queen]

Dazai, chuuya, fyodor n sigma with their teenage daughter coming in their and s/o's and saying that she has a boyfriend and they (bsd characters) literally scream with a "WHAT". 💀

i've prepared for this exact scenario (i watched buddy daddies and cried a lot)

When their daughter tells them she has a boyfriend

♡ characters: Dazai Osamu, Chuuya Nakahara, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Sigma (+ gn!Reader and their daughter)

♡ synopsis: How do these men react upon learning that their teenage daughter has a boyfriend?

♡ cw: Protective dad moments, swearing, mentions of sex and religion, Fyodor is kinda toxic (damn...even dad!Fyo is toxic, friggin' oof)

note: I didn't wanna fall into the overly protective dad trope because it's pretty toxic but...I think I kinda did T-T Apologies for errors and I hope you still enjoy x

Dazai:

He calms down after a second and asks her when she started dating her boyfriend lmao

Dazai is a bit hypocritical. He was a playboy once upon a time himself, but he lowkey isn't too thrilled with the idea of his daughter dating yet

He's just not really looking forward to possibly having to tolerate any rebelliousness that comes from his daughter (especially in favour of some random teenager)

He tells your daughter that she needs to be very careful with dating at her age because teenage boys can be cruel and whatever. But he also gives some good advice about infatuation and romance, and how if it doesn't last then it's not her fault, and stuff like that.

He promises to be nice if she decides to introduce him to her boyfriend one day (she had to nag him a little first lmao)

He also promises to deal with her boyfriend accordingly if he ever breaks her heart, which he'd play off as a joke afterwards but like...c'mon.

He'd be alright though, like he'd ask her (nice) questions about him, how did they meet, what's he like etc. because he does actually feel better when he sees that his daughter is happy :)

Dazai is honestly surprisingly chill about the whole thing despite his initial reaction, but he's ready to be less so if necessary

Chuuya:

This man trusts his daughter to carry out assassinations and infiltrate enemy gangs and shit, but teenage boys are different because they're far more evil

He lowkey starts interrogating her about him ("What's his name? Where does he live? What's he like? When did you start dating? What do his parents do?" and so on)

You have to tell him to give her the benefit of the doubt and that he can't just assume her boyfriend is a prick without any evidence

It's not that he thinks that at all, he's just super protective of her (it's ingrained in him, being a mafioso and all) and he knows teenage boys can be wicked sometimes

It's not like he's gonna kill your daughter's boyfriend if he breaks her heart or anything like that, but he'll definitely have a talk with him (talk = like, screaming at him probably)

You'd need to ease his nerves and remind him that you guys were also in the same spot as your daughter and her boyfriend once. When Chuuya thinks of it that way he's more alright with it

He does apologise to her eventually for kinda freaking out at first and reminds her that he respects her autonomy and stuff, but he also says to come straight to him if her boyfriend even looks at her the wrong way lmao

Chuuya was just surprised is all, but he's doing his best <3

Fyodor:

After his outburst, you and your daughter are just looking at him like...this is the first time you've yelled in your whole life

He apologises for it, and tells her that her news just caught him off-guard (and she's just as surprised as you are), and that he's actually happy for her.

He immediately starts looking into this guy and he'll find out everything about him (including blackmail) to make sure he's good enough for his daughter (Fyodor honesty seems to me the type to protect and spoil his kids a ton)

Fyodor is religious, but he's not like 'no premarital sex' religious, so he's not super strict about her dating boys as a teenager on its own

THAT BEING SAID he is so cautious and will definitely be the father who threatens their daughter's girlfriend. You have to tell him that uhh...it's not cool to threaten a teenager

Her boyfriend would probably honestly be too worried to hurt your daughter after meeting Fyodor because...holy shit, imagine having Fyodor as a father-in-law.

If Fyodor does end up approving of her boyfriend, his mind probably immediately goes to the future and grandchildren and stuff omg (he momentarily forgets that they've been dating for what, like a week? AND THEY'RE KIDS FYODOR)

Overall, he's...exactly how you might expect him to be. Calm on the surface but secretly freaking the fuck out about it.

Sigma:

He's SO worried oh my god. He couldn't handle it if some stupid boy broke his daughter's heart

Like he's actually really happy for his girl because she seems to really like her boyfriend, but he can't shake off his worry. He's not necessarily the most trusting person, y'know?

He kinda forgot that yeah, his child would eventually get to the age where she'd start dating too. He's not ready for it at all and that's why he kinda panicked T-T

It's not really the dating part itself that he minds, it's more a question of who she's dating. He'd be open to meeting his daughter's boyfriend and getting to know him, but if he doesn't like him he probably still wouldn't say anything lol

However, if this boy hurt her, then...ohhhhhh no. We've seen how protective Sigma is of his casino- imagine him having a whole ass kid. He'd let the world burn for her!

Would he kill the boyfriend? ...I honestly don't know man. It's not like Sigma's well-adjusted and knows how to deal with these things

You'd need to remind him that even if she and her boyfriend do break up then it's not the end of the world, and she'll be fine if she has him around when that happens

Sigma's main priority is his daughter's happiness, but he needs a minute to process this news is all

my back hurts so much please manifest my back pain away friends

#bsd #bungo stray dogs #bungou stray dogs #x reader #bsd x reader #bungo stray dogs x reader #bungou stray dogs x reader #fanfic #fanfiction #bsd fanfic #bsd fanfiction #bungo stray dogs fanfiction #bsd dazai #dazai osamu #dazai x reader #bsd dazai x reader #bsd chuuya #chuuya nakahara #chuuya x reader #bsd chuuya x reader #bsd fyodor #fyodor dostoyevsky #fyodor x reader #bsd fyodor x reader #bsd sigma #sigma #sigma x reader #bsd sigma x reader #headcanons #bsd headcanons

[suspiciouslackofclowns]

"I'm liking this angle," Steve lilts.

Billy smirks as he shifts, straddling Steve's hips and flattening his palms against his chest.

"Yeah?"

"Mhmm." Steve rubs his lover's outer thighs. "I just love looking at you."

"God, you're such a flirt. It's making me wanna drag you to bed and put a sock on the door."

"Gross," Max interjects.

Steve chuckles when Billy casts a faux glare at his sister.

"If gay shit makes you uncomfortable, you can leave."

"If gay shit made me uncomfortable, I wouldn't have come over," Max retorts. "I reserve my right to get the icks from hearing you talk about sex stuff."

"Oh, does gay sex gross you out, shitbird?"

"Any sex that you have grosses me out." Max glances up from her homework. "No offense, Steve."

"None taken. Your brother's pretty gross."

Steve whines dramatically when Billy smacks him on the chest.

"So much for romance," Billy tuts.

"Aw, c'mon, I'm just teasing."

Billy sits up and crosses his arms. Pouting silently. Steve slides one of his hands up to his partner's waist and rubs softly from side to side.

"Can I have a kiss?" he coos.

His tone has the blond relaxing, leaning down and complying with the request after a moment. Their bodies are flush. Steve would never say it out loud, but the full weight of his partner on top like this feels comparable to being smothered.

In the best possible way.

Steve hums, smoothing his palms up and wrapping his arms around Billy's lower back. When they part, Billy shifts downward so he can rest his head on Steve's chest.

"Am I crushing you?"

"Never."

"Mm, one of these days we're gonna be cuddling like this and you're gonna die in your sleep because you're too polite."

"Just be sure to put that I died doing what I loved on my headstone."

Billy chuckles and Steve spreads a smile.

"C'mon," Billy says.

He shifts off of Steve and lies on his side, opening his arm. Without the pressure, Steve is able to breathe deeper, and he can see a flush of heat cross Billy's expression when he sucks in a quiet breath.

Without protest, Steve rolls over to face his lover, moving into his chest and relishing in the feeling of strong arms wrapping around him.

"Y'know," Billy begins. He pets Steve's hair and noses a kiss on the top of his head. "If I'm seriously too heavy, it won't hurt my feelings if you tell me to get off. I know we joke about it but I really don't wanna make you uncomfortable."

"I love it, though," he coos.

"I know. I'm just saying."

"You're a big guy, sure, but I can handle you perfectly fine. I'm not scrawny, y'know."

Steve smooths his hand up and down Billy's back. Nuzzles into his chest and breathes in his scent.

"Okay, okay," Billy chuckles. "I just worry about it sometimes is all."

"I don't."

"No?"

"I really like how it feels when you lie on top of me. Like, yeah, you're heavy, but it's like all of my stress is washed out whenever I’m under you, and I'm finally able to relax."

Billy is quiet for a moment. He presses another kiss to Steve's hair and squeezes him.

"Didn't know you felt like that," he coos.

"I thought if I told you, you'd only hear the part about you being heavy and not wanna do it anymore."

"Mm, we can still snuggle like that. Do I need to start giving you stronger hugs, Stevie?"

Steve sighs, closing his eyes.

"I'd like that."

Almost immediately, Billy wraps him up tighter in his arms and hugs him close, pulling an involuntary sound from Steve's lips.

Rather than say anything, Billy just continues cuddling like that. Keeps Steve pressed against him and smudges kisses on the top of his head. At least, he does for a little while. When he finally relaxes his grip, Steve sucks in another quiet breath and sighs deeply, his entire body going limp.

"That was nice," he hums.

"Better?"

"Mhmm," Steve sighs. "I love you so much, sweet thing."

"I love you too," Billy chuckles.

He pets Steve's hair. It's quiet for a beat until Max drops her pencil on the coffee table and leans back on her hands.

"Sometimes I wish I could just live here," she says.

Steve rolls over and raises his eyebrows.

"You kinda already do."

"No, I mean like all the time." She looks over at the couple and then back at the coffee table. "Being around my parents is exhausting, and they don't ever let Lucas come around because he's a boy. Not to mention that they don't even like each other, not like you guys do."

Billy props himself up on his elbow and dawns a sympathetic expression.

"You know you're welcome to come over anytime, right? And that it's okay to invite Sinclair," he coos.

"Mhm," Steve adds. "Just let us know, and we're fine with picking you guys up and stuff too."

Max nods to herself. Redness quickly overtakes her complexion and Billy and Steve are quick to sit up when she sniffles.

"It's just so different coming over here. Being around you guys when you talk about going on dates and how much you love each other, even your arguments, is making me realize how shitty things are at home."

Billy slides off of the sofa and sits next to his sister on the floor, reaching around her shoulders and pulling her into his chest. She complies almost immediately, buries her face into his shoulder and takes handfuls of his shirt as tears spill down her cheeks.

He shushes her quietly. Rubs her back and squeezes her tighter. After a few moments, her breath evens out, and she sighs.

Steve joins them on the floor and sets a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Do you want me to talk to Susan about it?" Billy asks softly.

Max nods. Squeezing her eyes shut and sniffling. Billy glances at Steve and the brunet offers a smile.

"Of course," he says.

"I'll talk to her about it tomorrow, then." Billy gives Max one last squeeze before he loosens his grip and she leans back to wipe her eyes. "How about you take a break from homework and we go out to eat somewhere? Would that make you feel better, Squirt?"

Max smiles and nods, giggling when Billy playfully nudges her shoulder with his arm as he stands up.

"You do give really good hugs, by the way," she says.

"Can it and go put your shoes on."

She giggles again and gets up as well, padding into her bedroom and sitting on the bed to lace her sneakers up.

Steve leans into his partner's side and smooths his hand over his chest, tilting his face up to give him a kiss on the cheek.

"You're such a big sweetheart," he croons.

"Mm, you really don't mind? I know I was asking a lot just to have her live here sometimes, but this is like—"

He's cut off by Steve sealing their lips together. It lasts for a beat, and when they part, Steve is smiling fondly at him.

"I'm more than okay with it. I know you're worried about her, and I don't mind her living here with us at all," Steve says. He pats Billy's chest and smirks. "We're probably gonna have to get her noise-cancelling headphones, though. I can't really imagine you succeeding at being quiet."

"Oh my god, gross," Max groans.

Billy scoffs and nods towards the door.

"Go put your bike in the garage, brat, we'll be out in a second."

Max rolls her eyes and trudges to the front door, leaving it open behind her once she goes outside and Billy tsks as he snatches his keys off the hook.

"Wait, does this mean no more couch sex?"

Max runs back up the steps, swinging into the doorframe with a look of horror on her face.

"What? I am never sitting on that couch ever again!"

"Bike. Garage. Now," Billy hisses.

Steve clasps his hand over his mouth and resists the urge to laugh, especially when their sibling banter continues out on the porch. He simply shakes his head and grabs his coat before following them out the door.

-

This will be added to my things from tumblr series on ao3 here shortly under the title Big Brothers if you’re looking to save it on there <3

#harringrove #billy hargrove #steve harrington #max mayfield #max and billy #chubby billy hargrove #autistic!steve harrington #he needs that deep compression real bad #fluff fic #I think Billy is a big ol softie and so does everyone else #it’s canon #I wrote it down #my writing #ficlet

[lunatiqez]

“PICNIC DATES” — Texas McCormick

PAIRING: Texas McCormick x GN!Reader

GENRE: Romance

SUMMARY: Texas decides that your first date should be a picnic date.

WORDCOUNT: 1.8k

A/N: I LOVE TEXAS MCCORMICK!!!! I will say though,, don’t rlly like this fic tbh. Anywho!! Requested by @mictodii and proofread by @lu-vin-it !!

YOU AND TEX HAD BEEN DATING FOR A month. And, this being Tex’s first relationship, he didn’t want to screw anything up. He wanted everything to go perfectly, especially dates.

“Mace, me and Y/N been dating for a month! Can you believe that? One whole month!” Texas exclaims to his brother, his crooked smile showing how proud he was. Mason doesn’t pay much attention, instead he continues on reading the newspaper.

“Yeah? You take ‘em on a date?” He asks.

“A date? Of—“ Tex thinks for a second. “Of course I took them on a date already, c'mon man!”

In reality? Texas McCormick had never taken you on a date, not yet at least. It hadn’t even crossed his mind until then.

“You ain’t a very good liar, Tex.” Mason looks up at his younger brother, a smirk plasterer across his face.

“What’re you talkin’ about? I’ve taken Y/N on a date! Why don’t you believe me?” He pouts slightly.

“Well first off, if you did already you didn’t tell me, and I know you woulda told by now. You’re head over heels for Y/N, so if anything, you’d be braggin’ about it.”

Tex looks away, embarrassed. Mace goes back to reading nonchalantly.

“Well, well just watch! I’ll take them on a date!” Texas says as he stomps off to his room.

The next day, Tex walked up to you in the hallways at school and started a conversation, as always.

“Say, Y/N.” He says after you move on from your most recent topic.

“Yeah? Everything okay?” You ask him.

“How ‘bout we go on a date tonight, huh? For our one month?” He suggests. You smile widely.

“Of course we can! Whatdya wanna do?”

“Uhh,” he thinks for a moment, nervously rubbing his hands on his jeans. “Let’s go on a picnic! Down at that meadow, a little ways away from my house.” You nod and set a specific time— tonight at 8PM.

“Am I bringing the food, or are you?” You ask.

“I could, but—“

“I’ll bring it.” You interrupt him, already knowing that he's going to make up an excuse as to why he can’t bring the food.

“Wha- no, I will! I can do it!” You chuckle in response.

“Alright, but I’m bringing at least somethin’” you say. It was mostly so you don’t feel bad that Tex had to provide everything.

After you finished your painfully boring day at school, you went home. By then, it was about 3:30PM; you had 4 hours and 30 minutes.

Your mom came out of her room, so you decided to ask her now before it was too late.

“Hey, mom!” You said, catching her attention. She looked at you, wondering what was the matter. “Can I go out with Tex tonight? Like, at 8? He wants to take me to a picnic.” She placed her hands on her hips and sighed.

“We won’t be back late, I promise! ‘N dad won’t have to take care of Banjo at all this week, I’ll do it all myself!” You said, trying to convince your mother to let you go.

“You’re supposed to be doin’ that already. She’s your horse.” You shrunk slightly.

There was an awkward silence until your mom broke it by sighing once more.

“Go ahead, but if you ain’t in this house by 10 I’m havin’ your father lock you out, you’ll sleep on the porch.” She rolled her eyes. You chuckled at her remark.

You let a few hours pass, and by now it was 6:30. You decided that you would get ready now, because you wanted to look and feel your best for your first date with your boyfriend. Suddenly, you got an idea to make cookies for Tex.

Cookies were his all time favorite food. Sometimes, you think he loved them more than he loved you. He would always go on about how much he craved cookies, and how his favorite cookies were chocolate chip. So that’s what you made.

You got all of your ingredients in order and began to make the dough. After that was done, you rolled them into small balls and placed them on a sheet. By now, it was getting close to 7, so you popped the cookies in the oven, set the timer for 20 minutes, and went to go get ready.

You hopped in the shower, making sure you used your best smelling body wash. After about 10 minutes, you got out and went to get dressed.

You took a while deciding on what to wear, but ultimately decided on your nicest pair of riding jeans, a navy blue button up, and Tex’s denim jacket that you stole from him a while back.

After you were done, you went to the kitchen and, right on time, the kitchen timer dinged— indicating that the cookies were done baking.

You grabbed an oven mitt and put it on, pulling the cookie sheet out.

The cookies looked delicious. They were a perfect golden brown, and not too hard, but also not too mushy. You smiled proudly and set them on the counter to cool off.

You threw the mitt on the counter next to the cookies and turned the oven off.

Then, you found a wicker basket. After another 10 minutes, the cookies were cooled off and ready to be eaten. So, you took a spatula and after getting them off the cookie sheet, you placed them delicately on a plate from your cupboard and then put the plate in the basket, leaving it on the counter and going to get Banjo ready.

You rushed out to the stable, excited to see your horse.

“Hey, Banjo!” You greeted the animal. She neighed in response.

After giving her some praise, you began to get her ready. You placed her saddle on her and tightened it around her stomach.

“Ready to go see your boyfriend, huh?” You asked her, chuckling at your joke. “Yeah, me too.”

After getting your horse saddled up, you went back inside to grab the basket. Before heading out the door, you grabbed a handful of carrots from your fridge and tossed them in your basket as well.

You went to the stables again, basket in hand, and balanced the food carefully on a thick fence, jumping up onto Banjo. You had her walk to the fence where the food was sitting and grabbed it, holding onto it carefully.

It was getting pretty close to 8, so you had Banjo hurry to Tex’s house, it only being a little ways from your house— since you both had horses, you both had to live out of town, making you essentially faraway neighbors.

Banjo trotted to Tex’s house, making it annoying to hold the basket still.

“You’re so stubborn, Banjo, can’t you just hold still?” You asked her as if she knew what you were saying.

Before you knew it, it was 7:58 and you were entering Tex’s yard. Mace was on the porch talking with Lem, Banjo walked up past the cars and you stopped her.

“Hey, Mace!” You said to him. He stopped his conversation with Lem and stood up to talk to you.

“Hey, Y/N, been a while huh?” He asked you.

“Mhm! Is Tex here?”

“Oooh shit!” Lem said. “Tex got someone? Huh?” You giggled.

“Uh huh,” you said as you subconsciously pet your horse.

“I don’t think we ever met,” Lem says as he walks over to you. “I’m Lem— one of Tex and Mace’s buddies. Bet you already figured that though, huh?” You smiled and nodded.

“I’m Y/N! Y/N Y/L/N.” You introduced yourself. Mason then informed you that Tex was getting Rowdy ready to go right now.

You went out to the back and shouted for your boyfriend.

He then came out of the dark stable on Rowdy, a basket in hand just like you.

“Hey, babe.” He said, his smile widening. “Was gettin’ scared, I didn’t think you’d show up.” You scoffed.

“You really think that low of me, Texas McCormmick?” You asked

“Well, no, I just— Y’know, it was getting near 8! I just thought you forgot or somethin’.” Tex rambled off, making you laugh.

“Let’s go, you got a blanket?” You asked him.”

“Uh huh.”

With that, you said your goodbyes to Lem and Mace and went off to a nearby meadow. On your ride there, Tex took notice of your basket.

“What’s in there?” He asked you, pointing to it.

“Surprise.” You smirked at him. He scoffed.

When you reached your destination, it was nice and quiet, the only sounds being a stream of water and crickets chirping.

The two of you hopped off your horses and Tex laid the quilt out on the ground, making sure it was perfect. To your surprise, he also pulled out 2 candles and a lighter. You giggled when you saw them.

“What??” He asked innocently. “It’s gonna get dark out, we need them!”

When he lit the candles, you sat down with him.

“Did you bring food?” You asked him.

“Course I did, see?” Tex showed you the food he brought.

Grapes, potato chips, and sliced apples. You laughed aloud at the assortment of food. Tex furrowed his eyebrows.

“What’s so funny??” He asked you, confused.

“Nothin, nothin.” You said as you stopped laughing and pulled your basket near you.

“I made us cookies!” Tex’s face lit up and he smiled wider than ever.

“Hell yea! I love cookies!” He cheered as he dug through the basket, throwing the carrots aside.

“Oh yeah, those are for Rowdy and Banjo.”

Tex immediately dug into the cookies, taking about 3 at a time.

“Hey, hey!” You shouted at him. “Geez, save some for me!” He laughed as he bit into his first sweet.

“These are real good, Y/N. Thanks for bringin ‘em.” He thanked you as he laid on his side, propping himself up on his elbow. You mirrored him so that you were facing each other.

“Tex, what made you think of a picnic, out of all things?” You asked out of genuine curiosity.

“I dunno.” He shrugged. “I just thought it would be somethin’ you liked. And of course we had to bring Rowdy and Banjo along.” Texas motioned to the horses as they grazed next to the two of you.

“I see.” You then changed your position so you were laying flat on your back and looking at the stars. Tex followed your eyes and that brought him to the sky, aswell.

“Stars are nice and bright out, huh? No clouds.” He commented. You nodded in silence.

Tex then brought himself to lay with you, placing his head gently on your stomach. You instinctively grabbed his hair and began playing with it. It was nice and silky, his hair was one of your many favorite things about him.

There was a moment of silence before Texas asked you, “How’s this for a first date? Did we do good?”

“I love it, Tex.” You responded softly. “You did good. I love you.” Texas chuckled.

“A lot of people do.” You flicked the side of his head.

“Ow! Cut that out!”

#tex 1982 #tex movie #tex #Texas McCormick #Texas McCormick 1982 #Texas McCormick x reader #Texas McCormick x you #Texas McCormick x y/n #Matt Dillon #Matt Dillon 1982 #Matt Dillon tex #Matt Dillon x reader #Matt Dillon x you #Matt Dillon x y/n #📝 — liv’s requests ★. #📂 — liv’s writings ★.

[writing-house-of-m]

Not It

Wanda Maximoff x Reader

Genre: Fluff

Warnings: None

Word count: 516

Summary: You get injured and want some sympathy

A/N: @vancityfire13 challenged us (@cuinaminute229 @wandsgale and me) to a 'prompt off'.

I don't wanna brag but I got all 5 of the prompts given to me included in this so I feel like I won.

Also shout-out to @therunawaykind who was there to laugh at us provide moral support.

Happy reading!

It happened.

The worst you could have imagined when you began your task today.

On the tip of your finger.

A paper cut.

When you let out a hiss Wanda's head was up to see what happened.

She scoffed when she saw your knitted eyebrows and your finger in your mouth.

"I knew sorting through our paperwork was a bad idea."

"We both agreed this needed to be done." Wanda looks away shaking her head, "It's not the worst thing in the world, stop being a baby."

You crawl past the many towers of folders, booklets and leaflets, careful to not knock any of them over, taking Wanda's attention away again from the folder she is working through, which is on the ground in front of her as you get closer.

"Look at it," you frown and try your best for some sympathy. "Will you make it all better?"

"Eww. No, get away from me. It's covered in your spit."

This time you try your best at a pout, "But I need you to kiss it to mend it back to health."

She just gives you a look. The look. The 'you're being ridiculous' look. So you take matters into your own hands.

You raise yourself to full height on your knees moving your hand closer to her with your finger extended, "Look."

As you lean forward she moves back to get away from you but you don't stop. She falls backwards giving you the chance to crawl on top of her to trap her there.

You hide your face in Wanda's neck, mumbling your sadness, "You really couldn't give me just a little bit of love? I thought you could feel what I'm going through, feel my pain?"

Wanda wants to laugh at your antics but plays along for the moment so she can get this over with.

She sighs and gets you to look at her, bringing her hands to your face.

As she strokes your cheeks she says the words that always bring you comfort, "Baby, you know I feel you, no matter what." Punctuating them with a small kiss on the tip of your nose.

It's all so sweet until Wanda speaks again with two small taps on your cheek, "But I didn't feel any pain from you and right now I feel too much of you on top of me. Get off, you're heavy."

You make no attempt to move, "Wow, and they say romance is dead. Darling." You place a kiss on her forehead, "How did I manage to get you, huh?"

"C'mon. You've had your fun, we've still got a lot left to do," she says, then pushes you to the side so she can sit up.

Neither of you remember the stack of loose papers there. You knock them over as you roll off her, your back landing on the floor with a few sheets still under you.

You both look at the mess that will need re-sorting and then directly at each other.

There is a beat of silence as you hold eye contact, until:

"Not it!"

A/N: For anyone interested, these were the prompts; [“How did I manage to get you.”] ["Get away from me."] ["I feel you, no matter what."] [A paper cut.] [Hiding face in neck.]

#wanda maximoff #wanda x reader #wanda maximoff x reader #wanda maximoff x y/n #wanda maximoff x you #wanda maximoff fluff #fluff #mcu reader insert #self insert fanfiction #fic #not it tag

[sp00kycrumpet]

When Our Paths Cross Again. (Part One)

Pairing: Joel Miller x f!reader

Rating: E

Tags: Soft!Joel; pre-outbeak up till end of Season 1; no use of y/n; sometimes Ellie is the adult in the situation

Warnings: swearing; character death; spoilers (if you haven't watched the series/played the game)

Word count; 7,259 out of 22,020

Will also be posted on my AO3

Notes: This is the first TLOU fic I've finished (I've got a bunch half written) so I hope you enjoy it ㅠ.ㅠ imsonervousomg

"You should ask her out." Joel almost choked on his burger, eyes wide as he stared at his too confident daughter. He swallowed his food and watched her.

"Excuse me?" Sarah just grinned, leaning forward with her elbows on the table like they were sharing a secret.

"The waitress. You keep watchin' her and she does it to you. I've seen enough mushy romance movies to know how this goes. You just gotta make that move!" Joel hushed Sarah as you came over to their table with refills of their drinks. Sarah and Joel were practically regulars at the restaurant; sometimes accompanied by Tommy and you always convinced others to let you wait their table. You insisted it was because Sarah reminded you of your little sister, but in reality it was mainly because of her father. Joel Miller was a handsome man, broad shouldered and warm; and that southern accent melted your heart.

At first Sarah had been shy but the more they came, the more she opened up. She made you Christmas cards and birthday cards once she learned when your birthday was - she even made you a friendship bracelet one year with hers and your initials in beads on it. She presented it with a big grin and showed you hers that matched. She always greeted you with a big smile and a hug. Joel would smile warmly, amused Sarah's best friend was a woman old enough to be her mother. It amused you too but after you learnt Joel was solo parenting, you could sort of understand why Sarah had gotten so attached to you in a sisterly way. He sometimes came alone to get take out for him and Sarah, making small talk with you while waiting for his food. You learnt his favourite movies were the cheesy Curtis and Viper ones, he played guitar and worked as a contractor with Tommy. He played it carefully with you but would sneak little tidbits of information out now and then. You would always greet him with a smile that made his chest feel funny and would sneak your staff discount onto his order. You definitely heard Sarah trying to convince her father to ask you out but pretended not to as you chatted with her about an album she'd recommended to you the week before. You could feel Joel's eyes on you and you eventually turned to him and gave him one of those heartstopping smiles that made his brain turn to mush. Once you left them, Sarah turned to Joel again with a pointed look.

"See!! You get that gross look on your face whenever she smiles at you. C'mon dad, how am I supposed to start datin' if you don't date!" She whined, Joel frowning a little.

"You wanna start datin'?" Now it was Sarah's turn to blush and change the topic quickly. Joel laughed, a rich sound that you heard from your place cleaning a table nearby.

An hour before the end of your early shift a week later, Sarah came in with a look of determination on her face. You put the cloth down you'd been using and headed over.

"Hey Sarah, you okay?" She blinked up at you and a grin pulled instantly over her lips.

"Yes! I was lookin' for you!! You said before that you bake, right?" You laughed a little, surprised by the sudden question.

"Sometimes, yeah. Not to brag but my friends say my raspberry filled cupcakes are the best." Sarah clapped her hands together.

"It's my dad's birthday next week, do…you think you could make him a cupcake? Since I know he'll forget to get a cake." You tilted your head slightly, watching the young girl before you nodded.

"I don't see why not. I'll make one for each of you." Sarah nodded, rummaging in her backpack for her schoolbook. She scribbled down the date and her phone number in case you needed her.

"I'll come by after school on his birthday and pick them up if that's okay? I'll pay you with my allowance." You waved one hand.

"Oh come on, I'm not going to charge you! I enjoy baking and why not for my best friend!" You grinned at her, Sarah gasped and thanked you repeatedly before wrapping you in a tight hug. She darted out of the restaurant when Tommy pulled up outside to pick her up, apparently in on the plan. You just shook your head and got back to work, planning out how you'd make them the best damn cupcakes you'd ever made in your life.

—

Letting himself in the house a little after eight, Joel felt exhaustion pulling at his bones. He could smell the pizza Sarah had ordered for them as he kicked his boots off and padded through to the living room where his daughter sat. Two large pizzas on the coffee table and a giant bottle of cola.

"You're gonna make me fat kiddo." He teased as he eased himself down to sit beside her, leaning to kiss the top of her head. Sarah just waved one hand.

"Sometimes we just gotta indulge in the nice stuff!" She grinned, picking up a slice of pizza and taking a bite as she sank comfortably beside him, watching the tv as they ate. She eyed her dad quietly for a moment between slices of pizza before making a comment.

"I mean… if you're worried about your weight then you won't want the super special dessert I got for you." Joel perked one eyebrow.

"Now where'd you get money for all this?" Sarah just grinned, rolling a shoulder. Tommy had funded this little experiment; wanting to help encourage his brother to grow a pair and ask out the waitress he constantly swooned over.

"I got myself a high payin' fancy job. But it's super top secret so I can't tell you what it is." She glanced at Joel and grinned, Joel just nodding.

"Oh good. The mortgage can go in your name now then."

"Nah they'd know I told you and I can't risk that." She nodded solemnly, pausing for dramatic effect before sighing and eating some more pizza. Joel laughed, he loved his daughters insane imagination and made a mental note to thank Tommy for giving her pizza money.

Once the pizza was done, Joel gathered up any leftovers and took them through to the kitchen. Joel placed the slices into a container then turned to open the fridge. There on the shelf at eye level sat a little white box. Curious, he opened it and inside sat two cupcakes with a decent amount of frosting, and a small card. He opened the envelope and couldn't help the little smile that worked over his lips.

Happy birthday Joel! I hope you like raspberry cupcakes~

Beneath that was a phone number written neatly beside your name along with the line "You miss 100% of the shots you don't have take." Joel read it over a few times before he headed back to the living room; cakes in one hand and card in the other.

"Somethin' tells me you had a lot to do with this. My birthday ain't till for another three weeks." Sarah just gave a pretend snore in answer, Joel snorting softly as he moved in to sit down. "Well damn, I guess I better eat both of these then." Immediately Sarah sprung back to life, holding out her hand for the cake. "Explain yourself missy." Sarah huffed a little, watching her dad.

"I just… want you to be happy, dad. I see how you two are around each other, it's like a romance movie. I ain't ever seen you smile the way you do at her. So I accidentally gave her the wrong date for your birthday so that maybe, just maybe, you'd take initiative and just go for it."

"I am happy baby, I have you." Sarah groaned and pushed at his knee with her foot.

"Gross. But, you need more. I know being a single dad is kinda your jam but, think how nice it would be for you to be able to date and be happy and be loved how you deserve." Joel tilted his head a little, watching Sarah.

"Now when did you learn to talk so much like an adult?" He offered over her cupcake, quietly taking a bite of his own as Sarah watched him.

"I really like her dad. I think she would make you happy." Sarah pressed again, Joel glancing at her before he nodded a little.

"I'll call her tomorrow." Sarah grinned excitedly, putting her cupcake aside in favour of wrapping her arms around Joel's neck in a tight hug.

"I was almost about to Parent Trap you, but Uncle Tommy insisted this was better."

—

You never used to keep your phone close by but after your little card to Joel, you couldn't help but keep checking it in case he called. Maybe Sarah was wrong and he wasn't wanting to ask you out despite her insistence when they thought you couldn't hear. Maybe you'd ruined your relationship with one of the best customers by taking such a blind leap. You chewed your lower lip as you peeked into your apron pocket for the millionth time to see if there was anything on your little phone. A few days passed and you figured maybe he wasn't going to call, you felt a little disheartened but decided to not let it ruin your week. You said goodbye to your collegues and headed out after your shift had finished, nuzzling your face into your hoodie with a muffled yawn. You were just turning to head towards the bus stop when you heard your name called, you looked up - expecting to see a coworker holding something you'd forgotten - but there in his usual khaki tshirt and dark jeans stood Joel. A hand raised in a wave and you had to stop yourself swoon as your eyes watched the muscles in his arm shift. You smiled, suddenly nervous as you turned to head back to him.

"Hey stranger, did you have a good birthday?" Joel presses his lips together before he gave a little smile.

"While your cupcakes were incredible, I gotta come clean. Sarah gave you the wrong date on purpose. My birthday is in a couple of weeks. But she has some romance movie script in her head for us." You felt your cheeks flush, Sarah wasn't the only one. You'd wondered many what if scenarios before, how it would feel to have those dark eyes looking at you so fondly, or what his hugs were like, or if his stubble would tickle when he kissed you. You nodded a little, shifting your weight awkwardly on your feet.

"She's so funny." You said softly, fiddling with your backpack strap. Two thirty-something year olds acting like thirteen as neither dared speak up first.

"Her next plan was somethin' to do with Parent Trap." Joel smiled, a sight you'd commit to memory forever. You chuckled, nodding a little.

"Well, I'm glad you liked the cupcakes Joel." You replied, feeling a little silly for your sudden moment of bravery when writing his card. You smiled and turned to head and see if you could still make the bus when his voice reached your ears again.

"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." It seemed strange to hear his voice repeat your words as you froze midstep and turned to face him.

"I'm sorry?" Joel rubbed a hand awkwardly over the back of his neck.

"That's what you said in that card. And the more I thought about it, the more it just made solid sense. I was gonna call but I couldn't risk chickenin' out once you answer." He glanced up at you from under his lashes, a soft look that made you weak at the knees. "So I figured I'd offer a ride home and maybe suggest a walk or somethin'." You smiled, your heart skipping in your chest as you nodded.

"I'd like that." Joel exhaled when you agreed, just as nervous as you felt. He offered his arm and you looped yours through his with a shy smile on your face. He was so warm and smelt good. The walk to his truck was relatively quiet other than some small talk. He even held the door open like a gentleman, making you smile and curtsey before getting into the vehicle.

"So I thought maybe we could head to Lake Travis? Sarah's at school till four then she's going to see our neighbours for a few hours… unless you just wanna go home?" You glanced up at him, was this the first date? Unplanned and a surprise after an early shift. He still wanted to go even if you looked tired, luckily you always got changed at work so you weren't in uniform at least. You eyed him for a moment before you smiled warmly.

"I'd like that. Maybe we can stop by Starbucks and have a coffee and cake?" Joel smiled back at you, butterflies stirring up a storm in your stomach at how it lit up his face. He agreed and headed off in the direction of the lake.

It was a quiet drive, only forty minutes or so, made longer by the Starbucks break and playful argument over Joel paying for both of you. You eventually gave in and vowed to hide $10 somewhere in his truck. You parked up in a spot with a good view of the lake and the two of you climbed into the back of the truck where Joel laid out a blanket to sit on. You smiled softly, it was so simple but so wonderful. You sat there for a good few hours just talking. Learning more about each other and it just made your crush on this gorgeous man all the more stronger.

"Sarah's great, a little too grown up for her age but she's got a good head on her shoulders." Joel smiled softly as he finished his drink then paused, glancing at you. "I've done nothin' but talk about Sarah haven't I?" You chuckled, placing a hand lightly on his arm.

"It's lovely, it shows how much you adore your daughter. She is pretty incredible." You nodded, Joel smiling warmly.

"I know but… you shouldn't really spend hours talkin' about your kid on a date." He wrinkled his nose a little and you paused at the word, a smile slowly spreading over your lips as you glanced down at your cup.

"This is a date?" Joel paused, realising finally what word he'd used before he glanced at you.

"Ah… it was bold of me to assume… I never even asked. I ain't dated since Sarah's mom. Fuck I'm sorry." You chuckled and looked up at him, leaning to press a soft kiss to his cheek.

"No, I like it. Assume away. This is definitely the best kind of first date, relaxed and fun." You nodded, Joel's cheeks flushing slightly at the kiss as you settled beside him again.

"I figure a traditional dinner date might not be your thing since that's what you work around all day, every day. And I had no idea what movies you like so… I figure a drive out to the lake wasn't too far and it's a nice view." You nodded in agreement, looking up at him with a playful grin.

"Yeah, it is." He glanced at you, a little confused before he realised you were openly flirting and he suddenly felt shy. But bold enough to eventually slide an arm around your shoulders and cuddle you against his side when it dropped a little cooler. You could hear his heart beneath your ear as you settled comfortably, it just felt right. That this was exactly where you were supposed to be. The conversation flowed a little more naturally after that, the two of you talking about anything and everything for hours until Joel's phone buzzed and Sarah was calling to make sure he was actually coming home. He apologised and helped you out of the truck bed, riding home you couldn't help the smile on your face. Stealing glances over at Joel, the way the lights bounced off his features and highlighted his skin. You couldn't believe out of everyone, you were the lucky one spending time with this man. He dropped you at home, the truck idling as you gathered your things.

"I had a lot of fun tonight Joel." You said softly as you watched him. Joel smiled, taking your hand in his own and lifting it to gently brush a kiss to your knuckles.

"If you're interested, I'd like to pick you up next week and take you out again? I'll text you what days I'm free." You blushed and nodded.

"I'd love that." Joel smiled, squeezing your hand gently before letting you go. You climbed out of the truck and watched him drive away until the taillights disappeared. You let out an excited squeal and finally headed inside, your head full of Joel and what possibilities the future held.

—

Unfortunately your shifts didn't align with his the following week, but you managed to squeeze in a couple of quick coffee dates together. Sitting in overcrowded cafes for an hour or less, just talking and eventually his fingers would find yours across the table. He was everything you dreamed of, he was caring but cautious. He explained what had happened with Sarah's mother and how that had put him off of dating until you. You shared your own tales of unrequited love and failed dating attempts. His thumb gently ran along yours as you exchanged stories, lamenting at how people were stupid.

"Yeah but… for their stupidness, I got you to myself." You said softly, your bravery getting the better of you. Joel watched you and smiled tenderly, lifting your hands to kiss your knuckles as he did every time you met up. Always the gentlemen, patient and content to take it slow. As you walked out of the cafe with him, Joel checked his phone for a moment.

"It's my birthday on Friday. If you want, you're welcome to come over and join Sarah and me for cake?" You blinked, watching him. If he was inviting you over for his birthday then he must be serious about you. You nodded and smiled.

"I'd like that. I'll bring more cupcakes." Joel smiled fondly at you as he ran his thumb along your knuckles.

"Perfect. I'll see you Friday then." You nodded, your gazes lingering on each other before you let his hand slip from yours. He smiled, then surprised you with a soft kiss to your cheek before he turned to climb into his truck.

Sadly he had to raincheck when there were issues on the job and he wouldn't be home till much later than planned. You text him back a sad emoji but said you understood; maybe you could take him for a belated birthday breakfast on Saturday instead. He agreed to that and said he couldn't wait to see you again. You smiled softly and headed off to your bedroom to put his gift back in the closet until tomorrow.

—

Of course tomorrow never came. You barely remember much of that night anymore, Austin in flames and people panicking. Those things attacking at random and spread more panic. You tried calling Joel a few times, terrified to be alone but the phone lines were down almost instantly. You packed as much as you could carry into an old boyfriends camping backpack and headed out of your apartment. No idea where to go but you couldn't stay here anymore. You thought you caught sight of Joel running past you with Sarah in his arms, but as you turned to call out to him, he was gone. Scared and alone, you decided you'd try to head out of town and try to make it as far away as possible.

That was twenty years ago now, those little dates with Joel were a thing of the past. Austin was a no-go and you found yourself in Kansas City after crossing paths with a man named Henry and his brother, Sam. They were scared and alone, Sam barely five. As you settled into life in Kansas, Sam taught you sign language while you taught him the joy of comics and enjoying the little things. Henry only trusted you to babysit Sam if he had to go out for work. Kathleen never gave a damn about anyone except her own mission in life.

Henry woke you up in the middle of the night, climbing in through your bedroom window. You sat up, staring at him.

"Jesus Christ Henry, you can't do that! I have a gun on the nightstand." The boy stood there, fear his eyes and blood on his shirt. "Henry…what happened?" Henry swallowed and looked down at his hands.

"I had to… Fedra had the chemo drug to save Sam but they needed something from me. Brian." He muttered, his eyes wild as he watched you. You took him gently by the hands and lead him into the bathroom to help clean him up.

"I would have done the same thing if it were my sister." You said softly, making sure he was clean and uninjured before you took him through to your spare room where Sam's hospital bed was set up. Henry quickly snapped into big brother mode and gave Sam the drugs, reading the poorly printed instructions and hoping it'll help. You helped them as best you could while Kathleen prowled the streets like a bloodthirsty demon, demanding anyone give up Henry and Sam. You found a doctor who could help Sam while hiding them, considering Kathleen was starting to eye you as well. You packed them both a bunch of food and promised to keep Kathleen off their tracks as long as possible.

You didn't know how much time had passed, but somehow Kathleen still trusted and never suspected you. You were careful and never told anyone a thing. You felt your blood run cold when your radio crackled to life and she said Henry had killed again and was on the move. You sighed heavily and followed her to the attic you knew they were hiding in, silently relieved when they were gone. Kathleen was angry, she almost sent you flying down the stairs as she barged past to continue looking for them. People were dying and suddenly everyone realised someone else was here too, and they didn't know a thing that was going on. Kathleen heard whispers through the radios about sightings of Henry and Sam. She gathered everyone together and headed towards the suburbs on the edge of town, the only way out. You headed out early, wanting to catch a headstart and warn Henry. You were quick and light on your feet as you moved through the streets, scanning for any sign of them - or Kathleen. You caught a glint from a window and knew it was one of Kathleen's snipers camping out, an older man named George. You let yourself into the house, walking up the stairs and placing a hand on the old mans shoulder.

"Jesus I coulda shot you. What you doing here?" You sighed, pretending to be as wound up as everyone else.

"I heard Henry and Sam were headed this way with two others. I'm gonna set up my rifle next door but I wanted to see how you're doing after that scuffle the other day." The old man shrugged, tapping his bad leg with the butt of his gun.

"It's just a bruise, looked worse than it is. You're a good woman, thank you for checking in." You nodded and smiled, squeezing his shoulder again as you shouldered your rifle to head out. You heard the man mutter under his breath about a damn distraction before firing. You spun around and heard voices from outside. Two male and one young female. You knew Henrys voice like the back of your hand but before you could react, the radio had been called. You cursed under your breath and moved into the next bedroom, hoping you could get their attention or try to help them get away. Using the sight on the gun, you searched for Henry on the street, catching a blur of a man heading towards the house you're in; you moved back to where he'd come from and finally saw them. Henry and Sam, plus a girl. They looked pretty much unharmed from what you could see, you were trying to figure out how to warn them when you heard the stairs creaking behind you as George shot again. You held your breath and slid down into the shadows as the figure of a man appeared and headed into the room next to yours. He spoke softly with George, you strained to hear what was said but a gunshot made you jump. You fell backwards and smacked your head against the windowsill; you cursed under your breath then slapped a hand over your mouth as the footsteps suddenly turned to you. The muzzle of a gun entered the room first, followed by it's owner. Dark eyes scanned the room before landing on you, you squinted a little in the dim light and raised your gun; aimed perfectly at his throat. His gun slowly lowered as you finally see each other.

"No fucking way." You breathe, Joel Miller stared at you in bewilderment before a noise from the other room pulled his attention away. It was George's radio, Kathleen was asking for information and Joel ran back through. You pushed yourself up, rubbing a hand over the back of your head as you turned to look out of the window as you see Kathleen and her brainwashed army tracking down Henry and the kids. You couldn't hear them properly but before you could even try to figure anything out, the ground behind them collapsed and opened up, hundreds of infected clambouring out and making quick work of everyone on the floor. You cursed under your breath and steadied yourself before starting to pick some of them off; doing your best to keep Henry and Sam safe between shooting any that may stray towards the house. Pops from the next room told you Joel was doing the same. You held your breath as you watched Henry and Sam clambour underneath a car for safety, you shot a few infected that approached them before turning your attention to the main horde. Fear ran up your spine at the sight of the huge bloated mass literally ripping people apart like paper. You'd heard rumours of such a monster but just assumed it was urban legend. You fired at it a few times before figuring it was a waste of ammo and turned your attention back to Henry and Sam, watching as the young girl made a bee-line for them and dragged them out from their spot before all three bolted for the house. You heard Joel approach your room again, lingering in the doorway for a split second before nodding his head towards the stairs in a silent request to come with him. You dropped the rifle and pulled the glock from your hip holster before following him closely.

Once outside, he called to the trio and gestured for them to come this way. Sams eyes went wide as he saw you, a moment of childish joy at a familiar face as he ran past you towards the backyard. Kathleen seemingly appeared from nowhere, yelling at Henry. Everyone saw the infected child creeping up behind her but no one made a move to alert her or stop it. Even as it pounced and dragged her to the floor. Joel glanced at you before turning to follow the others. You stepped closer, aimed then fired two shots. One at the infected and one at Kathleen. She as a nightmare alive, you couldn't stomach facing her as one of those things. You holstered your gun and sprinted after the group.

"This way!" You called out, leading them out through the gate at the back of the garden that would be their final break for freedom.

Once out of the cul-de-sac and into relative safety, Sam wrapped his arms around you and hugged you so tightly you could have sworn he'd leave an imprint of his face on your stomach. You smiled warmly at the boy, signing to him that you told him you'd see him again. He smiled and adjusted his bag before running off to catch up with the girl. You turned to face Henry, trapping him in a hug as well.

"That could have gone so wrong…" He muttered, walking beside you as Joel walked behind as look out. You nodded, pushing your hands into your jacket pockets.

"I know but I knew you'd make it. I stuck close to Kathleen so I always knew any info she did on you. When I heard you were headed this way, I knew I had to do something. There's a motel about two miles down this road, I cleared it last month as a precaution." Henry nodded.

"Thank you." He said softly, glancing over his shoulder at Joel before everyone walked in relative silence, the only words were directions that you gave.

At the motel, you led the way to the one room you knew was still habitable. Digging out a pack you'd stashed behind a broken vending machine that had a little food in it and some bottles of water. In the room, you shared them out.

"It's not much but it'll do till morning." You nodded, handing Joel a bottle. He watched you quietly before taking it, the girl throwing a curious glance at the man given he barely took his eyes off of you. Once everyone had eaten a little, the kids went into the bedroom to read comics while the three of you sat in the living room.

"So how'd you two know each other?" You asked, glancing between Joel and Henry. Joel shrugged a shoulder.

"I woke up yesterday to Sam holding a gun in my face." He muttered, Henry rolling his eyes as you stared at him.

"Unloaded. We just… had to be sure they weren't with Kathleen. Joel really didn't want to go together but Ellie and Sam helped convince him otherwise." Henry smiled softly, his gaze wandering to the two in the bedroom. The three of you talked quietly for a bit, Henry getting up eventually to tell Sam it was time to sleep. Once the bedroom door closed, Henry took his place in one of the chairs. Joel caught your eye and inclined his head towards the front door.

"Hey Henry, we're just going to step out for a moment. You'll be okay?" Henry nodded, sinking comfortably into his seat.

"I'll probably be asleep before you get back anyway." He mumbled, folding his arms over his chest as he gave in to the tiredness. You smiled, squeezing his shoulder as you passed him and moved to the door where Joel waited.

Outside the room, the two of you stood silently for a brief moment before Joel surprised you by wrapping you up in the tightest hug. You held him close, all those old memories and feelings bubbling to the surface.

"I can't believe of all the people I run into, it's you." He said softly as he finally stepped back. He looked older and tired but he still looked as handsome as the last time you'd seen it.

"Me either. I often wondered what happened to you." You replied, your eyes never leaving his face. "The grey suits you." You smiled, lifting a hand to gently brush your fingers through his mess of curls. The two of you fell quiet after a moment, leaning against the railings of the balcony walkway.

"Where's Sarah? And Tommy?" You asked, Joel's jaw tensing slightly as his eyes fell to his hands on the metal.

"Tommy's somewhere in Wyoming. That's where we're headed next." He nodded, taking a steady breath. "I lost Sarah." You felt your heart ache, for both Joel and the loss of Sarah.

"Oh Joel… I'm so sorry." You said, placing a hand against his forearm. He watched your fingers against his skin before his gaze moved to the parking lot below.

"Sometimes I feel selfishly glad she didn't have to see the shitstorm the world turned into. But mostly I just miss her." You nodded a little in understanding.

"When did it happen?" Joel shifted his weight on his feet, moving to stand up properly and stretch his back.

"Outbreak day. We were tryin' to escape Austin. The car flipped and we had to move on foot. I was carryin' her cause she hurt her ankle in the crash and some fuckin' powertrip soldier shot at us. She died in my arms." He muttered, flexing his fingers a little. You nodded a little, you'd seen it before. Fedra were scum and it only took a soldier on a bad day to ruin people's lives.

"I'm so sorry Joel. I can't imagine how that must feel." He exhaled slowly and nodded, folding his arms loosely over his chest.

"I can't believe of all people I find you though." He muttered, glancing at you as you resumed leaning against the railings.

"Me either. I thought I saw you on outbreak day but… everything was so chaotic and loud that I didn't think to call out. I…did what I could to survive. Kept moving then I ended up here. Kathleen took me in, I befriended a few people like Henry and Sam. But over the years… Kathleen changed and she became more of a dictator. When her brother was killed she just lost it… I did what I could to help them without her knowing but it was so risky. But I wasn't about to let them get killed. They're good boys." You nodded, leaning to rest your chin against your forearms as you watched the horizon. Joel hummed quietly, glancing back at the door before facing you again.

"That uh, that girl in there. That's Ellie. She's… she's immune." You blinked, staring at him.

"Joel… what? How?" He shrugged, rubbing his palm against his jaw .

"I don't know how it works. I've seen it with my own eyes. She got bit and nothin', it healed like it was just a papercut. I'm takin' her to Wyoming to try and find Tommy. Then off to the Fireflies hospital cause they say they can make a cure from her." He paused a moment, watching you as you tried to work it all out and if he was just following a lie. "You're welcome to come with us?" You lifted your head to look at him, studying his face before nodding.

"I'd like that. The five of us would make a good team." You smiled a little, muffling a yawn into your shoulder before standing up straight. Joel nodded, glancing around then shifted his gaze back to you. Quiet fell and the two of you just watched each other for a moment.

"I missed you." You said softly, your eyes on the broken watch around Joel's wrist. He was quiet, you worried if it was too bold to say so soon. But instead he just reached out a hand to pull you close, his arms wrapped tightly around your shoulders as he rest his chin against the top of your head. You sighed quietly and nuzzled into him, snaking your arms underneath his jacket to feel his warmth against you. You could hear his heart beating and the way his muscles shifted as he breathed, it instantly took you back to that evening by the lake. He was real and alive. Your eyes closed as you breathed him in, savouring this moment in the back of your mind.

"I missed you too." He eventually replied, his voice soft as you leaned back to look up at him. He looked even more guarded than he had when you first met, you wondered what he'd had to deal with to survive this long.

"C'mon. We got a long way to go tomorrow." You hummed in agreement and followed him back into the room. Henry was already asleep, his chin resting against his chest as he snored softly. Joel handed you Ellie's sleeping bag before getting himself comfortable on the floor with his own bag. You smiled softly and spread it out to sleep on before draping your jacket over yourself as a makeshift blanket. In the darkness of the room, your gaze slowly drifted to Joel and found warm comfort in his relaxed face as he slowly drifted off to sleep.

—

Morning came too quickly and with a loud yell as Ellie came tumbling out of the bedroom with Sam on top of her, snarling and gnashing his teeth. Everyone woke up with a start as Ellie yelled for Joel for help, you sprang to your feet with your eyes wide as Joel went for his gun. Sam had turned. Fear rooted you to the spot as you watched, Henry firing off a shot and yelling at Joel didn't even pull your eyes away from the kids as you quickly grabbed your own pistol from the table behind you. Before you could react, Henry fired. Sam fell off of Ellie and lay still. The silence in the room was thick as Henry stared at the body of his brother, wide scared eyes moved from Sam to everyone else in the room.

"What did I do?" He gasped, breathing heavily as Joel edged closer and gently tried to coax him to hand the gun over. Henry's eyes moved to you, filled with pain and sadness as he lifted the gun to his own head. You jumped and tried to cover Ellie's eyes out of instinct as the shot rang out. Ellie whimpered, fists tight on your shirt as she stared at the chaos in the room as Henry slumped to the floor.

No one said a word as you and Joel set about wrapping them both up in the sheets off the beds, Ellie gathering everyone's belongings together. You took a private moment in the bathroom to sob into a towel, in less than twenty four hours you'd been reunited with Joel but lost two friends. No one commented on the obvious wetness of your cheeks or redness of your eyes as you headed out, carefully taking Henry and Sam to the two graves Joel had dug. Still no one spoke, just worked silently to bury the brothers. You watched as Ellie placed Sam's board on his grave with 'I'm sorry' written on it. She quietly asked which way they were going and Joel nodded with his head, Ellie slowly heading off that way. You stood beside Joel, staring at the two mounds of dirt as you brushed the dirt off your jeans.

"You okay?" Joel asked softly, you glanced at him resisting the urge to bite that it was a stupid question and instead just shrugged. He nodded, not pushing anymore as Ellie called out to you both. You grabbed your bags and headed out after her, everyone lost in their own private thoughts for a while.

It wasn't until you stopped for a break that the silence was broken.

"Did you tell her?" Ellie asked, her eyes flicking from Joel to you then back again. Joel nodded and Ellie sighed softly. "And we can trust her? Just because she got us out of the city?" Joel frowned a little, swallowing his food.

"I knew her back in Texas. I've known her for a while. We can trust her." He mumbled, Ellie eyeing you a little before she leaned back against the tree she sat under.

"I know trust is hard to come by around here, but you have my word that you can trust me. Or at least I hope I can earn your trust." Ellie pursed her lips a little before twisting around and digging in her bag for a moment, you and Joel exchanging curious glances as she eventually turned back around. She was quiet for a brief moment before she fixed you with a serious look.

"I once heard a joke about amnesia... But I forget how it goes." You stared at her for a moment, noticing the muscles in her face twitch as she tried to not smile. Only to lose that battle when you burst out laughing, Ellie grinning as Joel rolled his eyes and shoved his thermos back into his bag.

"I swear, you're just pickin' the worst ones out now."

"She laughed!! Fuck you I'm funny." She puffed her chest up, proud someone finally laughed at the stupid puns she spent hours trying to memorise.

—

Travelling was tiring and slowly getting colder, but Ellie would keep asking random questions or poke at Joel for information. Eventually turning to ask you things when he kept up his apparent normal scowling silence.

"Was he this grumpy when you knew him in Texas?" She whispered to you during a break when Joel wandered off to check the area. You chuckled and shook your head.

"If he was, I never saw it. He was quiet like this but… he smiled a lot and when he did talk, he would get really passionate about certain things." You nodded, glancing at Ellie as she tried to picture it.

"How did you know him?" You debated it for a second before giving a half truth.

"I was a waitress at a restaurant he used to come to a lot. When you have regulars, you tend to get to know them to a degree. Joel and I were… pretty close." You smiled softly, thinking back to your little coffee dates. It seemed like a dream now. Ellie narrowed her eyes for a moment before pulling a face.

"Ew. You like him." You blinked and looked at her, opening your mouth to retaliate when the crunch of snow behind you signalled Joel's return.

"What?" He said, both you and Ellie watching him before Ellie shrugged and carried on along the road.

"Just seeing if she'll answer my questions since you don't like to talk." She commented, you just smiled at Joel and shrugged a little. Joel shook his head and followed the girl. This Joel was quieter, he barely smiled and you never heard him laugh. The new world changed him, losing his daughter no doubt did the most to do that. But behind the walls he'd built up around himself, you knew old Joel was still in there. You could see it in the way he quietly looked after Ellie, the way he would put himself in front of you both, the way you would sometimes catch him watching you. Something in his eyes sometimes would have you wondering if he still had the same feelings towards you but was too scarred from years of loss to pick that thread up again. You promised yourself you wouldn't make things awkward by bringing it up. Ellie slowly warmed up to you, telling her puns when things were quiet for too long or asking you about things she'd never seen or experienced, or her favourite topic was poking fun at Joel and what she dubbed his "asshole voice".

(Part Two)

#joel miller x reader #pedro pascal #the last of us #joel miller #ellie williams #tlou fic #fluff I guess #joel tlou #joel x reader #no use of y/n

[underaverageheight]

Only if You Watch

LMH x gn!reader smut - do not interact if you are a minor !! not really proofread

warning(s): mentions of fake blood & hanging (y/n recalls a memory) sub!minho x dom!reader, fingering, exhibitionism (i think? idk im new to this), cussing please let me know if i missed anything

a/n: this is my first smut piece so idrk what i'm doing tbh but again, let me know if i missed anything and as always, feedback is always helpful and i truly appreciate it since it's my motivation to keep writing! message me, reblog with feedback...anything i wanna know your guys' thoughts &lt;3

prompt: "go fuck yourself" x "only if you watch"

you hated minho. at least, that's what you thought until you realized you'd love nothing more than for minho to break under your control. to hear those whines and whimpers, for those stupid little remarks and smirks to leave his face in an instant.

constantly, minho would be poking fun, doing everything possible to get under your skin. you tolerated it because chan's your best friend and you wouldn't want to make it awkward that one of his best friends can't stand the another.

today was movie night, at minho's. you were picked up by chan and really only went because of him anyways. you didn't care about whose house it is because chan's your best friend and partner in crime, you couldn't ditch him.

"welcome in guys, just about to do popcorn but the both of you can go ahead and get comfy on the couch. pick a movie," his innocent smile was all fake. you knew it since he began to tease you for unnamed reasons.

"thanks, c'mon y/n, minho has lots of movies," led over to the couch, you realized chan wasn't lying, he really did have a lot of movies. you sat with chan, sorting the movies. you were pretty open to most things except horror. when you were young, you came home to fake blood all over the house, one of your older brothers chasing you while masked and dripping in blood. your other brother, however, was waiting for you in the hallway, pretending to have been hung. you were traumatized, to say the least. you never forgave them for that and now you could never watch horror movies.

you heard the popcorn popping away as you read the back of a movie. then you heard the faint buzzing of a phone. "ah shoot. i'm so sorry guys, hannah just flew in a lot earlier than expected so i have to go pick her up and take her home. it'll be too late to come back, so enjoy the movie guys!"

"drive safe channie"

"bye hyung" minho's voice rang from the kitchen as he stepped out with the bowl of popcorn. setting down the bowl, he saw the movie you were holding and gave you a look, "romance? really? you could've picked horror, look at this wonderful stack of movies right here," he pat the growing stack of horror movies.

"um i just picked this one up and for your information, i hate horror. i don't understand why people watch this shit." you snapped at him, glaring slightly.

"never letting you pick a movie ever again," he muttered under his breath. with a sigh, he began to eat the popcorn.

"oh okay. you know what? go fuck yourself minho," you have always had a short temper, minho always knowing how to piss you off. but this only fuels your desire to break him.

he scoffed and looked at you with a slight smirk. "only if you watch,"

you were taken by surprise, your demeanor changing as you yank him towards his bedroom. "show me then." all signs of his cockiness drained from his face. he stuttered, clearly at a loss for words since his remark was meant to be a joke. not anymore.

"show me pretty boy. unless you want to call this off. just say the word and i'm out of here and this never happened." you leaned against his dresser, as he sat on the edge of his bed.

"i- i'll...i'll show you." his ears flared a bright red, even in the darkness of his room only lit by the fading sunset. minho was hard as he began to undress. he faced away from you, embarrassed when he was completely naked on his bed.

"go ahead and fuck yourself pretty bunny. i never knew you'd be like this considering all the annoying remarks you say. your cockiness is something to hide behind." you had began to look around his room, inspecting the little trinkets on his desk. while you were talking, he prepped himself and slowly began to finger himself. he was face down, his other arm muffling the soft moans that he let slip. being silent was the last shred of dignity he had.

"hngh," you froze, turning around to the sight of minho silently falling apart on his own fingers and softly rutting into the sheets.

"what was that? let me hear you," you crossed your arms, watching him remove his arm.

"n-nothing." you scoffed as you stepped toward the edge of the bed, pushing his fingers in even farther. a guttural moan erupted from his throat as his thighs began to tremble.

"pretty boy, was that nothing? if that was nothing, let me show you something," you stuck your fingers into his mouth as he sucked on them before switching his fingers with yours. with the angle you had, you reached the places that made him see stars. his back arched, his hips lifting off the bed as they slowly moved with your rhythm.

minho was panting, not wanting to give into the pleasure. "this? i can take this,"

"says the one fucking back onto my fingers," you increased your pace, causing him to moan again. you went deeper, feeling for his prostate. you knew you hit the right place when his hips froze and minho whined faintly. amused, you fingered him faster and deeper, abusing his prostate as his began to shake and whine.

"t-too much. feels g-good. c-can't-" he whined, making you go faster. oh this sight is one you'll never forget.

"you can take it. touch yourself. go ahead," you whispered into his ear as you moved his hand to his leaking cock. he started rutting into his hand quickly, to match the speed of your fingers. "good boy. show me what you got," he was whimpering now as he was approaching his high.

"g-gonna-" minho's eyes rolled back, his cum dripping off his fingers and onto the sheets below. you fingered him slowly through his high until he collapsed onto his bed.

"y'know i think you're okay, though you seem to hate me." you cleaned him up, wiping his sweat with a damp towel.

"i... i don't hate you, i'm just bad at expressing myself" minho muttered after his breathing was back to normal.

"bad? nah that was fucking terrible," you chuckled softly, rubbing circles on his back.

Masterlist

#i had no idea how to end this #first time doing this #underaverageheight #stray kids #skz #skz imagines #스트레이키즈 #lee know #lee know x reader #lee minho x reader #skz smut #lee know smut #lee minho smut #minho smut #smut skz #stray kids smut #sub!minho #sorry this was long

[simsstuph]

Billay: You've been spending a lot of time with Owen lately. Ya'll gettin' on better?

Delilah smiled at the thought of him as she swirled her feet in the pool: Yeah, it's going really good.. Kinda scary feeling so much for a person.

Billay: Oh honey, that's how we know we're alive darlin'. Ain't nothin' wrong with a good ole romance.

Delilah shrugged: In other news, Van comes home for the summer soon! Are you excited?

Billay smiled: I can't wait! I've missed him tons. Ain't prom comin' up?

Delilah kicked the water: Doubt it, there's nobody I wanna go with other than Owen and let's face it.. He didn't even go to his own prom last year, doubtful he'll take me to mine.

Billay: Girl you really are a debbie downer. We gotta work on that.

Delilah chuckled. Fig had just opened the pool so the water was still ice cold. Delilah's text message alert went off, her face lit up as soon as she opened it.

Billay: What's got ya smilin' like that?

Delilah: Owen's taking me on a date tonight, this little restaurant we met up at the first time we talked after everything.

Billay smiled: In the words of my idol, Shania Twain.. Let's go girls.

Delilah rolled her eyes.

Billay: I ain't kiddin', let's go raid my closet, getcha lookin' real honky tonk hot up in here.

Delilah: I dunno...

Billay got up and held her hand out for Delilah to grab: I don't wanna hear your bitchin', c'mon now.

#becomingdelilah #ts4 #thesims4 #sims4 #thesims #sims #sims4story #ts4stories

[roxannarambles]

Title: Picnic in Paradise

Ship: Nemona x Juliana

Tags: Pokemon battles, fluff, flirting, pre-romance, action/adventure, 2nd Person POV/Present Tense

Warning Tags: some cursing (english and spanish), blood/injury

Wordcount: 17k

Notes: Set during postgame/has major spoilers for the main story

You're busy making sandwiches and packing a picnic basket in your dorm. Nemona is sitting on your bed watching because the last time she tried to make something in the kitchen, she baked a cake with 2 cups of vanilla extract instead of 2 teaspoons, so she's a bit wary of cooking now.

It doesn't matter, of course; you're happy to pack a picnic. You've promised Nemona you're going to take her on a very special trip somewhere this afternoon to catch pokemon. She's very excited and can hardly sit still, asking you questions about where you're going, but you keep insisting it's a surprise. However, you can only repeat that it's a surprise for so long.

"Gimme a hint at least??"

"Hmmm . . . there are very, very strong pokemon there."

She swings her feet with glee and it's the cutest thing you've ever seen.

"Aw, right! Is it Colonnade Hollow? I hear there's a lot of dragons there."

"Nope."

"Hmm. . . Casseroya Lake?"

"Nope!"

"Huh. Well . . . I know there are some pretty tough water types if you swim far enough out to sea . . ." 

You giggle and say she's never going to guess.

"Okay, give me another clue then!"

You think a moment, then say,

"It's absolutely gorgeous there."

She clasps her hands together.

"Oh, it's gotta be one of the Ten Sights of Paldea then! The Leaking Tower? No, Fury Falls!"

Grinning, you finish bagging up the fruit and tucking it into the basket.

"Nope! You should just give up and let it be a surprise, Nemona."

She balls her hands into fists and stamps the floor lightly,

"Arghhh! C'mon, you just wanna torture me! Pleeeease, Jules? What if I need to pack something special, you know, like a jacket or something? You gotta tell me where it is, it's just practical!"

You decide to put Nemona out of her misery, because it was clear she wasn't going to let up anytime soon.

"All right, all right. If I tell you, you gotta promise to stay cool, though, okay? This is our little secret."

She seems confused about what exactly you mean, but she quickly and loudly agrees,

"Our secret, yeah, of course!" You hold a finger to your mouth.

"Shhh!"

She nods and repeats quietly,

"Our secret."

You glance around a moment, as if expecting there to be someone else lurking in your dorm room-- though with Penny's penchant for spy equipment, it's not an entirely unfounded concern--then come closer to Nemona.

"Okay, so the place we're going to is . . ."

You hesitate, and she watches you with intense expectation. You lean in close to her, just for dramatic effect, and whisper,

"Area Zero."

Nemona gasps, her eyes gone wide. Quickly, she asks,

"R-really? Can we do that? Isn't it still off-limits to everyone unless you have official business there?"

"Well that's where the secret part comes in," you say, amused. Nemona grins, looking both thrilled and uncertain at once.

"Oh my gosh Juliana I had no idea you were such a rebel."

You giggle. The truth is you aren't, not normally, but you know exactly how badly Nemona wants to return to the place, as she talks about it pretty much all the time with such a wistful gleam in her eye. And you were willing to do just about anything to make it happen for her.

Even if it meant bending a few rules.

"Well, the whole place wouldn't even still be there if we hadn't gone down and stopped the Time Machine, right? The shields would have eventually failed and Paldea would have been completely overrun with a massive population of ancient pokemon. So, I mean, we kinda earned a little extra trip down there, don't you think?"

Nervously, she drums her fingers on her knees.

"I . . . guess so?"

You decide to stop pussyfooting around and just be blunt about it with her.

"Okay, look. The truth is I don't think they want us down there because we're students, so they're technically responsible for our safety, yadda yadda, but the place isn't exactly well-watched. Like, at all. Nobody's gonna see us if we sneak in for a few hours. And I get the sense that Clavell and everyone else wouldn't exactly be that ticked off even if they did somehow find out. We are two of the very select few of people in Paldea who are actually more than capable of handling ourselves down there."

You clearly were winning Nemona over, not that you'd expected it to be particularly difficult. She nods and says,

"Yeah, that's true." You go back to the kitchen to finish up packing the picnic basket. As you do, you add on,

"Anyhow, we'll have Koraidon with us and can always bail if we run into any problems. Though with the Time Machine shut down, I expect the population down there has stabilized, since no new pokes are being pulled in."

Honestly, you were almost as eager as Nemona was to see Area Zero again. The time you spent down there had been incredibly rushed and tinged with anxiety over what Arven was going through. But even then, the glimpses you had caught of that hidden garden paradise were spellbinding. You knew Penny had no desire to return, and Arven understandably didn't want to go anywhere near it again. But to you and Nemona, the thrill of adventure was such an alluring siren song.

When you glance up again, Nemona has that familiar gleam in her eye, and she looks as amped up as a Pawmot mid-battle. She doesn't have to say anything more-- you already know-- but she says it all the same.

"All right, I'm in. Let's do it!"

Once you finish carefully packing the picnic and your backpack for the trip, the two of you walk to the outskirts of Mesagoza. It's a beautiful spring day, sunny and warm, with just a few fluffy clouds in the sky and a slight breeze. It's going to be perfect, you realize. You give your Koraidon the picnic basket and he grabs it by the handle in his mouth, like the bestest boy he is, and then you both hop onboard, with you in front and Nemona tucked behind you. You encourage Koraidon to hit the throttle, and then you're off, galloping through Paldea like a couple of trainers on a mission. The thrill of dashing along at top speed on Koraidon honestly never gets old; you love the press of speed against your body, the blur of scenery flying by, the way Nemona cackles in glee and holds onto you so tightly.

When you take an unexpected turn and veer away from the main path, Nemona asks you about it, but you say that you know a shortcut. Koraidon crosses the river in one mighty bound, then goes straight for the curve of the mountainside. You grin, excited and nervous at once, hoping your shortcut would work out all right. Koraidon kind of had a heavier load than usual, but he was pretty good at adapting.

"Hold on tight!" you shout, before the pokemon leaps and digs his claws into the earth, clambering straight up the mountainside. Nemona yelps in surprise and clings tightly to you as you both go vertical, bouncing roughly back and forth as Koraidon bounds and climbs. It was honestly a pretty rough ride whenever you took a mountain like this, and that's why you normally didn't; but you were far too eager to spend a solid hour following the flat paths before reaching your destination. You had plans today, darn it.

Luckily, Koraidon is an absolute beast and he scales the mountain like it's almost nothing. He doesn't even drop your picnic basket. (You make a mental note to give him extra treats later on)

As you reach the summit, you don't even slow down, instead shouting to Koraidon,

"Let's fly, Scarlet! Yip yip!"

He leaps, straight into the vast, foggy void below, unfurling his mighty wings; and as you glide peacefully over the Great Crater of Paldea, Nemona laughs and squeezes you against her.

"The best shortcut ever! You're amazing, Jules."

Your heart skips at the praise; you always get such a fuzzy feeling and a stupid smile when she says nice things about you, but you try to ignore it so you can focus on not flying straight into a wall or anything. You carefully aim Koraidon, squinting at the land below, trying to recall the landing spot you'd used the last time. The strange fog that shrouded the crater is dense and impossible to see through at first, but as you descend, the world below snaps back into focus. You're able to recognize things before too long, and you guide Koraidon to a nice, wide stretch of land to touch down on.

And then you're here again. You dismount from Scarlet and Nemona scrambles down as well, positively beaming. The two of you just take it in for a moment.

There's such a strange feeling to this place. It isn't something you can easily put to words. It feels . . . eerie, almost; the air sort of has this heavy feeling to it. Maybe because it's more humid down here? No, that isn't it. Yes, it's definitely more humid down here, but that isn't the cause of the strange feeling. The whole place, it feels so . . . foreign. The way the sun shines down so brightly from the dense fog above you, perhaps. The way the air almost seems to shimmer with some sort of power. The feeling of . . . some kind of energy, buzzing, like it's at a frequency tickling just below your ability to hear.

Something like that. Maybe it has something to do with all the weird crystals down here. Or all the ancient pokemon, perhaps.

You realize Nemona had sprinted ahead of you and you rush to catch up to her, not wanting to lose sight of her. You find her at the edge of the cliff you landed on, pressed right up against the old, rusted chain link fence as she looked out at the magnificent vista below. You come up beside and join her.

"I can't believe we're back," she says, her voice low and hushed, as if speaking too loud would disturb the peace of this place. She turns and looks to you, and you feel your heart stutter in your chest; it must be something about the lighting here, the way the air sparkles or something, because you've never seen her eyes look so stunning before, like honeyed gold. She's smiling like you've given her the best gift in the universe by bringing her back here.

You cough, desperately trying to ignore your mushy internal thoughts.

"Y-yeah! I mean, that view, it's, it's crazy!"

You aren't wrong, of course. The place is gorgeous. The land here seems to curve and twist downwards into a huge spiral, perhaps due to how the meteor disturbed the earth long ago. It's incredibly lush and green, thick with meadows speckled in wildflowers and trees, and huge waterfalls dropping down into the earth like lacy, sparkling curtains of water and light.

Despite all that, your focus isn't really drawn to the amazing scenery, but rather, your best friend overflowing with excitement.

Nemona grabs your hand and exclaims,

"C'mon, I can't wait any longer! Let's go exploring."

You laugh as she pulls you along, and you head down the grassy path, deeper into Area Zero, with Scarlet following close behind you.

For a while, the three of you just enjoy some hiking through the verdant landscape. Unlike your previous trip here, you're free to take your time now, and you can investigate whatever tickles your fancy. You pass by herds of curious Girafirag and some Raichus, and then find a swarm of Venomoth and Frosmoth enjoying the wildflowers. Further into the field is a whole group of Jumpluff and some Floettes, drifting along on the warm spring breeze. The path curves downward and past a small waterfall, which Scarlet happily stomps through, and then just past that, you run into your first ancient pokemon of the day.

They are several of the strange-looking Jigglypuff. For the most part, they look like the blobby fairy you are already familiar with, but they have long, flowing manes of pink hair that look a lot like ponytails; they also have larger, wilder-looking eyes and little fangs. When they catch sight of you, they bristle and let loose some ear-piercing shrieks.

"Hello again!" Nemona calls, waving at them, as if their shrieks were just a friendly greeting. Outloud, she muses,

"Y'know, they kind of freaked me out the last time, but they don't seem so bad now. I think they actually might be way cuter than normal Jigglypuff!"

You laugh.

"You have interesting ideas on what's cute."

Nemona snorts and nudges you with her shoulder, teasing,

"Says the girl who gushes over every weird bug she finds."

"Bug types are adorable!" you protest, hurrying to keep pace with Nemona and out of the path of the angry fairies. Nemona grins back at you, saying,

"They are. And I love that you made me realize that, 'cause I didn't used to think so, but I do now. Oh! There's more of them. Wow, there's so many!"

You pass by more of the ancient Jigglypuff, which are gathered under some trees, their huge, yellow eyes glaring at you as you walk by. You try to remember what Arven had called them, before. He said he'd gotten the names out of his mom's old Scarlet book.

"Scream Tails, I think Arven called them? It's definitely descriptive, I guess."

"Yeah, it suits them. Oh, Jules, look!"

Just a little further up the path, Nemona spots one of the strange, enormous Volcaronas. You perk up in excitement.

"Ooh! Let's get a closer look!"

Of course, you don't need to tell Nemona twice. You both hurry ahead and draw closer to the huge insect, watching it crawl onto a rock.

It holds its pair of wings closed up tight, which seems so strange to you, compared to a normal Volcarona. You aren't sure if it can even fly with them, to be honest. It's possible the creature is too heavy to be supported by its wings; it certainly looks far bulkier than modern Volcarona.

Of course, even stranger than its wings is the fact that the bug has a spiky green tail and almost lizardlike feet. It goes against everything you know about bug types. 

Nemona asks,

"What did Arven call these?"

You pause a moment to recall.

"Slither Wing, I think."

She nods.

"Right. I never had the chance to fight one the last time, but I remember you said the Sada AI had one? Was it strong?"

You think back to your battle that day and wince.

"Well, at the time, I thought it was a Bug/Fire type, so I sent my Klawf in, but it packed quite a punch with Low Sweep. And my Rock moves didn't seem to be doing supereffective damage, so I suspect it's a Fighting type, weirdly enough."

Nemona's eyes widen.

"Whoa. A Fighting/Bug? That's so cool!"

"Yeah, I know, it's really rare."

Nemona groans.

"Urggh! Coming here is so much fun but it also kind of sucks. I want to catch one so bad!"

You glance to her.

"So why don't we?"

She frowns.

"Because we'd get found out! I'm pretty sure people would notice if we started using super funky pokemon from the stone ages."

You cross your arms and give her a sneaky smile, saying,

"Yeah, but if we caught them and only used them to battle each other down here . . ."

Nemona thinks about this for a second. Then she grabs you by the shoulders, gushing,

"Oh my gosh you're a genius Jules! We can have our own private Paradox Tier down here!"

You laugh and tell her fondly,

"I wasn't gonna bring you here and not let you catch anything. I promised last time I'd help you improve your pokeball throws, right? I'm keeping that promise."

Delighted, she turns back to the Slither Wing.

"Perfect! I wanna start with this guy. I wanna see what he can do!"

You consider things a moment. "Hmm. Let's start with something a little easier, for practice. Then we'll work our way up to him."

She gives a self-conscious grin.

"Ah, yeah, you're probably right. Okay, lead the way, sensei!"

You both hike a bit further into Area Zero, locating a nice, wide open space with a herd of Girafirag. They seem like the best species to practice on down here; pokemon that are too small would be tricky to catch, and so would anything flying, but you also don't want a pokemon that is too dangerous or too skittish. Girafirag seem to fit the bill.

Next, you ask Nemona to throw a pokeball just to show you how she normally does it. After she demonstrates for you several times, you hum,

"Mmmhm. Okay, yeah. I can see the issue. Well, it looks like several things at once. Right, let's start with the basics, then."

"The basics?" she asks, a little bit of anxiety in her eyes. As confident as Nemona normally is, you know she tends to feel a little self-conscious about her throwing skills.

You nod.

"Yeah. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll pick things up fast. A lot of people end up struggling a bit with throwing pokeballs. It's just because their throwing habits from when they were kids tend to stick with 'em, you know?"

She nods, looking a little more at ease with your reassurance.

"Yeah, that does sorta sound like me."

You come close to her and pull out a pokeball, getting into throwing position.

"Ok, so, start by standing like this. Your feet should be this far apart, the same width as your shoulders, see? And your hips and shoulders should be aligned."

Nemona studies you and then imitates your position.

"Ok, check!"

You tell her,

"Good. Stay relaxed, though, bend your knees a little. Yeah. Just a natural stance, good."

You hold your pokeball up and say,

"Next, let's make sure you're holding the ball correctly. You need to hold it with these three fingers."

Nemona laughs a little, asking,

"Wait, really? I can't just hold it like this?"

You check how she's holding her pokeball and shake your head.

"Nah, that's not as effective. I know it seems kinda weird and it might feel a bit funny at first, but this'll make it so much easier once you get used to it."

She gazes intently at your hand and tries to imitate your grip.

"Okay, like this?"

You turn your wrist and show her,

"These two curled behind. Middle finger here, index here. Hold it out here in your fingertips."

She frowns, shifting the ball in her hand.

"It doesn't feel very stable that way, though?"

You pocket your own pokeball and reach out, taking the ball from her.

"Sorry, it's kind of hard to explain verbally. Here."

You take her right hand in both your own hands; she's wearing the black and pink fingerless glove that she usually does, but from the way it feels, you can tell it shouldn't interfere with her throwing. You gingerly turn her hand palm-up and move her fingers into position.

"These two, they're going to stabilize the ball, that's what it rests against. And you want to hold it here, all along here. It's not in your palm at all."

Absent-mindedly, you let your thumb stroke along her long fingers, idly thinking how pretty her hands were. Trying to shake off the brief distraction, you tip your chin up a bit to look her in the eye and ask,

"Um, make sense?"

It's only then you realize just how close you're standing together, hardly a breath apart. Nemona looks at you, but her gaze, which is usually so perfectly steadfast, suddenly seems strangely hesitant. You can't help but notice that her cheeks seem a bit pinker than usual. After a pause, she answers,

"O-oh. Yeah. I, y-yeah, I get it now."

Still holding her hand, you realize you're feeling a tad warm, all of a sudden. You give a nervous laugh and fumble to grab the pokeball back from your pocket.

"R-right, so. Um. Here. Give it a try."

You shift a half-step back to put a bit more space between you two and watch as she slots the ball into position in her hand. She asks,

"Is that okay?"

She turns her wrist for you to inspect her grip, and you beam at her, saying,

"Yeah! That's perfect! Just like that, you got it."

She grins, buoyed by your enthusiasm.

"Great! Do I get to actually throw the darn thing now?"

You laugh.

"Yeah, I think you're ready. Okay, so here's how you throw."

You back off a few paces to make space and swing your arm in a neat arc, demonstrating a few times.

"Here's the wind up, and then, zoom!"

She imitates the motion, and you have her repeat it several more times.

"Good, but you don't want your arm to go too straight. Your elbow should bend a little."

She adapts quickly to your feedback and soon has the basic motion down. You next spend some time directing her on how to step forward during the throw and move her hips, then you work on improving her wrist motion. It takes a little while, since there's a lot of things to focus on simultaneously when they're all put together. But Nemona is attentive and patient, not to mention highly motivated.

After she's done enough practice and seems to have the motions mostly down, you say,

"Okay! I think we're ready to give it a try on some actual pokemon."

Nemona snatches up a pokeball and eagerly follows you back over to the herd of Girafirag. She looks so excited, almost like a kid who is about to catch her very first pokemon, and you find it terribly endearing.

"So we're not gonna try and weaken them, right? Since I'm just practicing my throws."

You nod.

"Yep. Just choose a target and give it a shot."

"Heheheh, okay. Let's see . . ."

You watch as she seems to pick out one of the stragglers in the herd, then cautiously approaches. The tail of the Girafirag perks up and gazes at her warily, before the Girafirag's main head turns to look at her too. Nemona settles into position and aims. Then, she winds up and takes a shot--

The ball sails cleanly through the air and bops the Girafirag on the forehead, pulling into the ball. Nemona immediately leaps into the air and cheers,

"YEAH!! Did you see, Jules? How was that? That looked so much better than my usual throws!"

You laugh as she bounds back to you and you tell her,

"That was fantastic! Great work, my dear student."

She giggles,

"Thanks!"

You hand her another pokeball.

"Here, let's keep going. We should practice until you get used to it."

She goes to throw another ball at the Girafirag while you study her form.

"Good, good. But remember to keep your wrist loose."

"Yeah, okay."

She throws another, this time the ball sailing way past her target. She mutters,

"Whoops, heh heh, kinda overshot there."

Even though it had missed her target, it had been an awfully impressive throw otherwise.

"Dang, Nemona! You've got a heck of an arm on you. You're definitely gonna be great at long-distance catches."

She glances back at you, looking quite pleased with the praise. She asks,

"You really think so?"

You nod,

"Yeah, here, back up a bit, let's see how far you can go."

You have her practice hitting the Girafirag from further and further away, and it doesn't take Nemona long to start hitting her targets consistently. Once she gets used to flicking her wrist at the apex of the throw, she's able to put even more power behind it. You're proud at how quickly she's picking it up, although you're not surprised. Once Nemona put her mind to something, she usually excelled at it.

It seems like she's really enjoying pushing the limits of how far she can throw and eventually asks you to join in, so you both start hucking balls at the Girafirag, turning it into a contest. Although you have more experience and your aim is sharper, she absolutely bests you on throwing distance when compared to your noodly arm.

You watch as she squints, going for another long throw, narrating it as she does so;

"Aaaand . . . there's the windup . . . and the pitch . . . BAM!"

The ball rockets through the air with almost frightening velocity, striking the ground and missing a fleeing Girafirag, but not by very much.

"Yeah! Okay, that missed, but came pretty darn close. This is so much more fun now that I know what I'm doing!"

You laugh, pleased to see her so happy and doing so well.

"You really are improving so fast. Once you're used to aiming you're gonna be a monster."

Nemona flashes you a grin, answering,

"Well, it helps that I have an amazing teacher."

She tosses another ball; you both should probably stop soon, since the herd of Girafirag are starting to grow rather annoyed with your practice session, but you suppose a few more minutes won't hurt.

"Your stance is getting a bit sloppy. Make sure to move with the throw."

"Yeah! Okay."

She tries again, but her motion is still a bit stiff. You come up behind her and tap her hips with your fingertips, saying,

"Here, move from here. We start like this and then swing with the throw, right?"

"O-oh. Haha. Right."

You settle your palms on her hips and gently coax her body with your hands, showing the motion,

"Here, like this, straight, and then swing! Twist the hips."

She giggles as you twist her hips, twisting your own body along with her; her ponytail flutters into your face and you think she smells slightly of vanilla.

"Okay," she says, her tone light and amused. You suddenly feel startled at your own boldness, like your brain has only just now kicked in-- oh god you needed to stop doingthings like this-- and you quickly pull your hands away from her.

"Uh, y-yeah. So. Yeah! Um. Try that out."

You back off to give her enough space. She pauses for a bit, positioning herself, and then steps into the throw very nicely, the pokeball gliding through the air and striking a dawdling Girafirag, before popping back open again to release the cranky creature. You praise,

"Yeah! Just like that, exactly!"

She turns to you with a pleased little smile.

"I think I'm getting the hang of it, sensei."

There's something so playful in her eyes. Ignoring the little flutter in your chest, you nod and say,

"I, ah, I agree! In fact, I think we can call this lesson complete. You've passed the exam with flying colors!"

She pumps a fist, looking as thrilled as if she'd passed an actual exam at school.

"Yeah! Thanks for all the help, Juliana. Seriously, this is gonna make things so much easier for me."

You smile at her fondly.

"Of course, Nemona. Anytime."

You hear irritated noises from the nearby Girafirag and your focus is reluctantly drawn away from Nemona.

"Ah. We . . . might wanna give these guys some space now. I think if we annoy them any longer they might try to trample us to death."

Nemona frowns, answering,

"Oh, right. Hm, I hope they're okay."

As you two leave the herd behind, you say,

"I'm sure they'll be okay now that they have a chance to rest from our onslaught."

She chuckles, saying,

"Yeah, it's the ancient pokemon that gotta worry about us now."

You notice she's rubbing her right wrist with one hand, an unconscious movement you've seen her do before a lot, so normally you'd think nothing of it; however, in the moment it brings a concern to mind. Reluctantly, you ask,

"Hey, um . . . Nemona? We didn't practice for too long, did we? I don't want you to get hurt or anything."

She looks confused for a moment and you gesture awkwardly to her gloved hand.

"Oh! That. No, I'm fine. Just a habit of mine to rub it like that, heh. I'm good, though, it's, it's usually only an issue when it's flaring up."

"Oh," you say, relieved to hear it. Honestly, you've been curious about it before, but it had always seemed sort of rude to pry. She doesn't seem too uncomfortable, though, and after a moment, she volunteers more information, probably sensing your curiosity.

"It's an autoimmune joint problem. Y'know, when your body gets confused and attacks itself?  It makes me tired sometimes, too."

You think back to the times she spoke of Naranja Academy's stairs with such trepidation, and then to all those other little moments she needed to rest when you were out and about, and suddenly you feel a bit stupid.

"Oh. Man. I . . . dunno why I didn't realize that was a chronic issue. Jeez. I'm sorry."

She laughs and shrugs it off,

"Nah, don't worry about it. I don't ever talk about it, there's no reason you'd know."

You reply,

"Yeah, but still . . ."

You pause, both of you quiet a moment. You venture to ask,

"How bad does it get?"

She glances away. It seems like the topic is not her favorite to dwell on, but after a bit, she answers lightly with a shrug.

"It's a pretty mild case, compared to other people. I'm on medication that helps. Doesn't cure it or anything, but it helps control it."

"I see."

You think for a moment, digesting this new information. Quite frankly, you've always admired Nemona's raw enthusiasm and energy, and now knowing she maintained that while also having health issues just made you admire her even more. But you don't want to say it, because you're worried it might come off sounding condescending somehow.

Eventually, while the two of you hike along, you tell her,

"Well, if you're ever having a flare-up and need a break or anything, you can always tell me, ok? Your health's your own business of course, but. You don't have to push yourself for me, is what I mean. You never need to."

It's a bit awkward and hard to explain, but she seems to understand your intent just fine. Smiling gently, she says,

"Sure. Thanks, Jules."

You feel another spike of affection, honored that she's comfortable enough to share this kind of stuff with you. Then something gleams in Nemona's eye, and you glance ahead to see what she's spotted. It's a small group of Slither Wings, crawling among the wildflowers.

You grin, turning to ask,

"Ready to put our lesson to good use?"

She nods, as eager as ever.

Over the next hour, the two of you hunt down and capture ancient Pokemon for your collection. The Slither Wings and Scream Tails are abundant and are the easiest to find and subdue. You have to travel a bit more to find the ancient forms of Amoongus and Magneton, but it doesn't take too long. The last ones are the hardest, and you must venture all the way into the beginnings of the cave system before you can find Great Tusks and Flutter Manes, but once you do locate them, the feeling is quite victorious. The only ancient Pokemon you're aware of that you're missing is the terrifying version of Salamence that the Sada AI had referred to as "Roaring Moon." However, since you both have collected a team of six Paradox Pokemon, you decide to stop your catching session for now. You could spend some other day hunting down the illusive Dragon; for now, you both were eager to spend time with your new partners and see what they could do.

Despite the fact that the ancient pokemon are undeniably very aggressive and harder to tame when compared to a typical wild-caught pokemon, they warm up to you faster than you expect. It seems food is a common language that any pokemon understands, and after some treats and coaxing, you both are able to win over your new friends. For the most part. There are still some occasional hiccups, and you're bitten a few times by the Brute Bonnet (it seems meaner than the others), but for the most part they behave surprisingly well. Well enough for a practice battle, in fact.

Nemona is absolutely pumped for your first battle together with the ancient pokemon, and you both settle on some basic rules beforehand. First, no training past a level cap; you both should be on equal footing here. Second, no items during battle or held items. It would take too long to sort those out, everything would just be simpler and quicker without them for now.

Third, you agree to no move limits. Any TMs you happen to have on hand are fair game, if you manage to teach them in time. You both have thirty minutes to go off somewhere and prepare, and then you'll meet up for the fight.

Those thirty minutes are sheer chaos as you rush to consider the move sets of all your team members and your strategy. The thing about this fight is you know Nemona's exact team-makeup and all its weak points, but so does she. It's kind of weird trying to prepare for that, because in a way it's almost too much information. You scribble notes on a pad of paper (you always had it in your bag; Nemona teased you for being a "boomer" and not using a Notepad on your phone instead, but your typing was always kinda slow and pencils were just easier). Your notes are pretty messy but at least you have a rough outline on your strategies.

Then it's time to battle. Nemona wants the battle to take place somewhere cool, so you guys wander around for a bit before finding a truly aesthetic location: a shallow pool of water that eventually meets up with the cliff face, dropping into a magnificent waterfall that flows down into the deep pit of the cave system. It's gorgeous to look at, and surrounded by soft grasses and trees, Gogoats grazing placidly and Buizel frolicking in the water.

The water is so shallow and tranquil here that you can easily walk into it without even getting your shoes too wet, so you both walk out into the middle of the water pool to stage your fight. The Gogoats and other nearby Pokemon all seem to pause and watch in curiosity; it feels like there's an audience for this unique occasion in Pokemon battling history.

"All set?" Nemona asks, grinning at you from the other side of the water pool. Behind her, the water roars into a waterfall that dips into the shimmering void of the caverns.

You smile and nod.

She reaches down to her pockets to grab her first pokeball, and with a fling, sends out her lead. You do the same, and your pokemon drops to the ground with a small splash.

You've both sent out your Slither Wings, and laugh at the coincidence.

"All right, battle of the bugs, let's go!" You point and shout your command to your new partner,

"Okay, Spike, Flare Blitz!"

Nemona's eyes widen and she issues a command to her own pokemon.

"Slither Wing, use--"

She doesn't get a chance to even finish, as your new pokemon is especially feisty. It cloaks itself in a shroud of flames and goes barreling after its opponent immediately, just breaking into a dead run and charging. Nemona yelps in surprise and her pokemon tries to dodge, but it hardly has the time to even blink before your pokemon crashes into it in a furious fireball. Not that bugs actually blinked.

Nemona crosses her arms, commenting mildly,

"Starting off strong, eh?"

You grin proudly. Her Slither Wing is a dazed mess on the watery ground, and you call for your pokemon to return to your side of the battlefield.

"Good job, Spike! Let's get ready for the next one."

However, you make a mistake. You shouldn't have been so confidant.

Because Nemona's pokemon, despite looking absolutely crushed, still hasn't fainted. You see it struggle on its fluffy little legs, and Nemona helps it back up to its feet. She pets its head, cooing to it,

"Good boy, there you go! Such a good boy. You took that like a champ."

"How . . . how is it still going?" you ask, in disbelief. You hit it with a Flare Blitz, for pete's sake.

Nemona points, ordering her pokemon.

"Slither Wing. Acrobatics!"

You watch as it twitches its tail and then charges, splashing through the water, running faster and faster, until it's only a blur.

"Oh--"

It strikes your pokemon like a bolt from the blue, crashing into it, then turning faster than the eye could detect and smacking into it, again and again. The attack is devastating. But of course, Slither Wing was four times weak to Flying. Not to mention the Flare Blitz recoil.

"Damn," you say as Spike faints and you return it to its ball.

"I wish I had an Acrobatics TM on hand."

You really thought the Flare Blitz would have been enough, but oh well.

"They definitely built these pokes to be tough," she says, as her Slither Wing waddles back over to her, looking quite exhausted. You consider your options a moment, then smile. Choosing a ball, you toss it.

"ChompyMcBiteyFace, go!"

Your Brute Bonnet materializes and Nemona chokes on a laugh.

"Jules, what kind of name is that?"

You stick a tongue out.

"Hey, at least I named mine!"

She huffed,

"I was busy thinking of strategy, not names!"

Well, that was a valid point, you supposed. You sigh, "All right, well. Whatever."

You lean down and whisper your command to the vicious-looking mushroom creature.

"Ok McBitey, Sucker Punch!"

The pokemon readies itself. You look to your opponent eagerly.

Nemona raises a brow, then holds up a pokeball.

"C'mon Slither Wing, that's enough."

You watch as her pokemon returns and say,

"Aaaw . . ."

"Jules, that Sucker Punch was totally obvious, it's not like Brute Bonnet is gonna outspeed."

You sigh,

"Okay, I guess that's true. Can't blame a girl for trying."

You watch as Nemona ponders for a moment, then selects another pokeball.

"Great Tusk, go!" The purple and pink elephant appears on the battlefield, and quickly turns to glare in the direction of your pokemon with its beady, yellow eyes. Nemona mutters an order to her pokemon, and then she gazes across the field at you, looking eager and expectant.

You consider what Nemona's likely next move is. Brute Bonnet has very decent defenses, so she'll have to hit it pretty hard. Of the available options to Great Tusk, it seems most likely it will use its supereffective STAB, so a fighting move. The best it has at this level naturally is Brick Break, but you're betting she taught it Close Combat.

You realize you have the opportunity for a great prediction. Grabbing the empty pokeball, you order your McBiteyFace to return. Then you toss another ball.

"Okay, Fluttershy!" The strange, ethereal ghost materializes, ready to face its opponent. You wait, hoping you've guessed right. From across the battlefield, Nemona nods, telling her pokemon,

"Go!"

The creature charges, crashing through the pool of water and swinging its tusks at your Flutter Mane violently, back and forth, again and again, whipping itself into a frenzy. But its efforts are entirely fruitless. The attacks simply phase straight through the ghost, harmlessly.

You're feeling pretty smug about your successful prediction as Great Tusk meekly returns to its master's side, looking very frustrated about its futile attacks. You call out lightly,

"Okay, so the Sucker Punch was obvious, but you didn't see that one coming, eh?"

She doesn't respond to your teasing the way you expect; oddly, she doesn't seem bothered in the least by it. In an even tone, she answers simply,

"Yeah, guess not!"

There's a funny feeling prickling at your neck. Nemona isn't smiling or anything; her expression is neutral, but you can sense something is off. She's holding something back, at least, that much is for sure.

Ugh, since when did Nemona start learning how to keep a poker face?

You turn to your Flutter Mane. Well, regardless, Nemona's next course of action is pretty clear. She'll have to switch out now; she knows Flutter Mane can outspeed and wipe out Great Tusk with a single Dazzling Gleam. But that's also what gives you the perfect opportunity, and a chance to possibly sweep the entire game.

You lean in and quietly murmur your command to the wispy purple ghost;

"Calm Mind."

Then you look to see what your opponent will do. You know even if Nemona does have Tusk stay in and attack for some weird reason, your Flutter Mane can survive one hit from most of the moves in its arsenal. Maybe not a steel move, but you're pretty sure Nemona doesn't have any Steel TMs in her bag. You're feeling pretty confidant.

But when you catch Nemona's gaze, your confidence quickly wavers. There's something gleaming in her eye, something terribly excited, and all her efforts to keep a straight face are quickly melting away as you watch.

Oh, no, what have you missed?

Nemona points and shouts her orders to her Great Tusk:

"Stomping Tantrum!"

Your Flutter Mane closes her eyes and begins to glow from the effects of Calm Mind, and you struggle to recall which move Stomping Tantrum is. It isn't as bad as Earthquake, but wasn't there something weird about it? Something to do with--

The enraged pokemon tears into your Flutter Mane, trumpeting and stamping so hard into the ground that chunks of earth go flying in its wake. The ghost crumples like a wet paper towel.

Ah. Right. The power of Stomping Tantrum doubles if the pokemon's previous move failed. You remember now.

You sigh, realizing your mistake. You should be annoyed, but Nemona is bouncing in glee and it's impossible to be annoyed with a sight like that.

"How'd you know I'd Calm Mind, though?" you call. You had to teach that move with a TM.

Nemona just crosses her arms, grinning, and says, "You always go for the setup, Jules."

You grumble at that. Guess you needed to switch things up a little.

Honestly, after losing such an important pokemon-- you consider Flutter Mane to be the crux of your team-- you don't feel like your chances are great, but you're still going to give it your best shot. You send out your Scream Tail next to try and handle the Great Tusk. Lucky for you, you get an attack drop with your first Play Rough. Scream Tail can tank the Earthquakes long enough to take the Great Tusk out, which is a good start.

However, your Scream Tail's weakened after all that, and Nemona switches her Flutter Mane in to easily finish it off. You decide to send out your Sandy Shocks next; you know its Heavy Slam can destroy Flutter Mane. Of course, Nemona knows as well, and she switches to her own Sandy Shocks. It's the second time you both have the same species facing off against each other, and once again, you get lucky and outspeed, destroying her Sandy Shocks with an Earth Power. Nemona demands to know why the heck your pokemon are always outspeeding hers, and you joke it's because she can only catch the slow pokemon.

"Oh, I'm getting youfor that," she threatens, grabbing up her next pokeball.

She sends out Brute Bonnet. You tease her she's gonna get you with literally the slowest Paradox Pokemon there is. As fun as it is to joke around, though, it's actually kind of an awkward pokemon for your team to take on. Your own Brute Bonnet doesn't have the coverage moves for it, and you don't fancy the thought of sending your Great Tusk out to take the incoming grass move. But if you leave Sandy Shocks in, it will be toast too. Not to mention Sandy Shocks doesn't have any decent moves for touching Brute. As many weaknesses as the Grass/Dark type has, Sandy Shocks has quite a shallow move pool for coverage and can't exploit those weaknesses.

You spend several minutes puzzling over it, until a possible solution finally occurs to you. You aren't sure if it will work, but maybe, just maybe . . .

Screw it, it's worth a try.

You reach into your bag, pulling out the charged Tera Orb. You and Nemona had already stepped away a bit further from the battle than usual, the moment you'd decided to send Sandy Shocks out, for safety reasons. It really wasn't a good plan to stand in a pool of water while electric pokemon were on the field, after all. However, after considering things, you call out to Nemona.

"Um, we might wanna step even further back. This might get a bit intense."

You both get a little more distance, and then, you fling your Tera Orb as hard as you can.

Watching the Terastilization process is always a treat, but down here in Area Zero, it seems even more dramatic than usual, the energy flowing not just from your Tera Orb but from the air all around you. Your Sandy Shocks crystallizes into an Electric Tera type, and its power seems to pulse from within, glittering and bright. The incoming Giga Drain does minimal damage, thanks to its now pure Electric typing. Of course, you still don't have any moves that are stellar against Brute Bonnet, but it no longer had any moves that were great against your poke, either. It was a war of attrition, now.

To give yourself the best chances, you start off with Electric Terrain. Nemona orders her Bonnet to Thrash, and you wince as the hit connects with your pokemon. You hope Sandy Shocks can last long enough. You issue your order-- Thunder. When the sparkly, Terastallize-powered bolt of lightning comes crashing down on the Bonnet, the resisted attack still doesn't seem to hit anywhere near hard as you'd like, despite all the buffs. This is gonna take a while.

However, lady luck is smiling upon you, it seems, because during the next turn, the Brute Bonnet lets out a shrill cry and struggles to move. It seems the Thunder has immediately struck it with paralysis. Yes!

And then you find even greater luck; when the Bonnet manages to move the next turn, it stumbles and falls, exhausted from the confusing effects of Thrash and the paralysis combined. You're able to clear it out with three Thunders. The method is a bit crude, but it gets the job done in the end.

And then, Nemonafinally makes a major mistake. She sends out her Flutter Mane. It's obvious she expects to clear out your injured Sandy Shocks with just one hit. And it very nearly does. 

. . . but it doesn't quite. Your Sandy Shocks is able to hit her Flutter Mane with a Thunder before going down the next turn. It does a huge amount of damage. Suddenly, you're full of hope. You might actually be able to win this one. You send out your own Brute Bonnet.

Nemona switches to her Scream Tail, taking a hit from your Bonnet's Payback. The next turn, her Scream Tail uses Play Rough and Nemona gets a little of her own luck-- a critical hit. Well, at least the luck had evened out, you suppose. Your second Payback weakens the Scream Tail a fair bit, and at this point, both pokemon are looking pretty worn down.

You have to keep Bonnet alive. It's your win condition. It can finish off the rest of Nemona's team with its Sucker Punch. She of course knows that, though. And you only have four Sucker Punches left to use. She might try to stall you out.

You think for a bit, then decide to switch to Great Tusk. On the same turn, she switches to her Slither Wing. She goes for Acrobatics, but afterward, her Slither Wing falls to your Earthquake. She brings her Flutter Mane in next, and can easily finish off your Great Tusk.

You bring your final pokemon back in, your weakened Brute Bonnet. You have to Sucker Punch.

She swaps out to her Scream Tail, wasting one of your Sucker Punches. You're down to three. The next turn, she must try to attack, because your Bonnet finishes her Scream Tail off.

Two.

She lets her final pokemon back out onto the field. You think you have this in the bag. You tell your Bonnet to Sucker Punch again.

She reveals she has a setup move. She has her Flutter Mane use Calm Mind.

One.

The battle has ended up being ridiculously close. And now, you both are staring each other down fiercely, trying to read the others' mind. Now that electric pokemon moves are no longer a risk, you've both returned to standing in the shallow pool of water your pokemon were using as a battle arena; it made for a rather aesthetically-pleasing backdrop for such an intense moment.

You have two choices; Sucker Punch, or a non-priority attack. If she tries to Calm Mind again and stall out your Sucker Punch, you can use Payback and win. If she tries to attack you, you can use Sucker Punch and win.

It's an absurdly difficult mind game. You aren't exactly a huge fan of really deep mind games-- they feel like they twist your brain into knots-- but Nemona looks like she's having the time of her life. Her eyes are fiery and her grin looks practically giddy; she can't even hold still, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"What's it gonna be, Jules? Sucker or no Sucker?"

You groan. Maybe if you can get her to talk, it'll help.

"I dunno, mi tesoro. What move do you want me to do?"

She laughs. Outloud, she muses,

"Hmmm, you're probably thinking I'll switch it up and just attack this turn, so you'll Sucker Punch. But I've probably already decided that's what you'd wanna do. So maybe I'll Calm Mind again, and you should Payback. But then again, maybe I've predicted that you've predicted my prediction and--"

"NEMONA, STOP."

She giggles, and you decide to just pick something because it isn't worth this headache. You lean down to your Brute Bonnet, who is looking rather impatient with all this waiting. Quietly, you mutter to him,

"Okay, ChompyMcBiteyFace. It's all up to you now. I want you to use . . . Payback."

When you lean back up, Nemona asks,

"You ready?!"

You nod, trying to look confidant. It's important, because pokemon can pick up on a trainer's nervousness. You give McBitey a trusting smile.

Nemona gestures dramatically and shouts to her Flutter Mane,

"Okay Flutter Mane, GO!"

You shout for your Brute Bonnet to do the same. The little grass pokemon charges with a scream, splashing across the battlefield, leaping at the ghost with all its primal might. Your heart is in your throat as you watch, holding your breath.

There's a bright, almost blinding flash, as Flutter Mane uses its Dazzling Gleam, striking the Brute Bonnet down instantly. He collapses into the pool of water with a splash and a tiny groan. Your heart aches at the sight for a moment, disappointed at your loss and his.

But then, Nemona gives a delighted squeal of joy, and she jumps up and down, splashing in the water, shouting,

"Yeah yeah yeah yeah!!! Flutter Mane, great job! Oh my god Jules, my heart was racing so fast, I had no idea which move you were gonna use, I thought for sure I'd picked wrong!"

And you can't possibly remain feeling disappointed, because that fight was actually superfun and it came right down to the wire and also, good god, as much as you loved how excited Nemona got when she lost to you, when she won sometimes it felt even better. She rushes up to you and grabs you by the shoulders and you laugh; she's splashing water on you but you don't even care.

With her dorky big smile, she tells you,

"Good game, girl!"

You grin and tell her,

"Yeah, thought I had you for a second there, but you're getting better at that poker face. Or just confusing me too much to predict you."

She taps her head with a finger and intones,

"Never let 'em know your next move."

"Pshhh. Getting tips from Arven's playstyle."

Nemona guffaws.

"Aw, now c'mon, he's gotten a lot better lately, actually!"

"Yeah you're right, that was a low blow. Don't tell him I said it."

Nemona takes her pokeball and returns her Flutter Mane to its ball, and you do the same with your fainted Brute Bonnet. After you finish healing up your team, she eyes you excitedly and asks,

"So, ready for round two?"

You laugh. Of course that's the first thing she asks. You blurt out,

"Anyone ever tell you that you're like a Mudsdale?"

She tilts her head, smiling but confused.

"Uh?"

You point finger guns at her, saying,

"'Cos damn girl, you got stamina."

Before it even finishes leaving your mouth you already hate yourself, dear god, somebody shove you into a pokeball so you can hide. It doesn't matter, Nemona laughs at your stupid joke, she is such a merciful friend. You awkwardly add on,

". . . but seriously, I'm kinda starved, I think we should break for lunch."

You glance around to try and spot your giant lizard motorbike friend, which usually isn't too hard to do. He is pretty huge and bright red. You quickly see that he's snoozing under the shade of a nearby tree, having grown bored of watching the battle, it seemed.

Nemona nods, saying,

"Hm, yeah actually that's a good call. I didn't even notice how hungry I was."

Lucky for you two, you packed a very nice picnic lunch. You both retreat to the shade of the tree with Scarlet and settle down on the nice, soft grass. It's such a scenic location that it almost feels ridiculous, like out of a storybook. You can watch the huge waterfall flowing down into the inky blackness of the sparkling caves deep below, and the Gogoats are still grazing nearby in the fields. The trunk of the tree you're sitting under is encrusted in beautiful crystals, which have dozens of shiny faucets that sparkle a rainbow of colors. It's perfect.

You set out all your picnic goodies onto the grass, but Scarlet keeps shoving his face into everything, so you give him a few treats to snack on and then return him to his ball. Then you and Nemona enjoy the bocadillos you packed, soon ending up in conversation about various things; how classes are going, the hijinks that Team Star has been up to lately, the gym leader gossip you've heard about from your art professor, etc. Nemona tells you about these videos online she's been watching of the gym leader battles from Galar and gushes over how their battle format is truly the best one of all the regions, and then she speaks longingly of how she wants to visit there. You both spend some time scheming over when you might make a trip out there together. Then the conversation drifts to various other topics.

". . . okay, and get this. I ran into Professor Raifort in the library the other day, y'know, and she was telling me more about those stories of the Treasures of Ruin she was so obsessed with. And how these ancient treasures were cursed with the collective total of humanity's sins or whatever, and they became these terrifying pokemon that brought destruction and misery in their wake, wherever they roamed, right? She said they were sealed away in some shrines across Paldea with really powerful magic or something."

"Dang. Is it just a legend or . . .?"

You shrug.

"I dunno, you know how myths are, people make the wildest crap up but half the time they end up being right 'cos pokemon are just that weird."

"True."

"Anyway, after she told me all this, she was talking about how she found the supposed locations of these shrines, and these magical stake thingies that need to be located and pulled outta the ground, and then she just . . . flat out told me to go see if I could find them all and pull the stakes out and unleash these ancient, uber powerful cursed pokemon of evil on modern Paldea. Just for funsies and because she thought it'd be cool, and like, what do you even say to that? I mean, holy crap, dude. Talk about unhinged."

"Whoa."

"Yeah. I thought about maybe telling somebody? Like Director Clavell or something? I mean, encouraging students to unleash ancient evils is probably against some rule, right? But I wasn't sure if she was serious or not. It's always hard to tell with her."

"Yeah, that's . . . that's pretty crazy Jules. I knew she was pretty passionate about the history of the Paldean Empire, but that does seem to be taking things a bit far."

"Right?"

Nemona looks thoughtful for a moment, and then adds on quietly,

"Although . . ."

You raise a brow.

"Although what?"

A sneaky little smile overcomes her features, and she admits,

"I mean . . . it would be kiiiinda cool . . ."

"Oh my god Nemona."

"What? You can't deny it, you have to feel at least the tiniest bit curious, right?"

"Nemona, I'm not opening Pandora's Box and destroying modern civilization because seeing a super strong legendary pokemon would be cool!!"

She laughs, pointing out,

"You don't know it would destroy civilization though, you said yourself how much people make stuff up and exaggerate! They might just be really strong pokemon that are perfectly catchable!"

"Yeah, maybe! But also maybe they will kill all the crops, boil the seas, bring about the ten plagues, curse my family and my entire lineage for the next twenty generations or whatever."

Nemona sighs, looking much like a child being told they can't eat ice cream for dinner.

"Yeahhhh . . . I guess you're right."

You finish up your sandwich and grab a section of sliced orange from your bag while Nemona looks lost in thought, dreaming of terrifying legendary pokemon. After a pause, she says,

"Although you do still have that Master Ball Director Clavell gave you, right?"

You hesitate, thinking about the supremely expensive pokeball that was currently stashed in your dresser drawer back at your dorm. She kinda did have a point . . .

You quickly shake your head, sputtering,

"Gah! No! C'mon, Nemona, stop, we shouldn't tempt fate!"

Nemona laughs again.

"All right, all right."

Trying to change the subject, you carry on,

"Anyway, I've been talking too much. I don't think you've even told me yet how your classes are going right now."

You two share several classes but you know she has a few that are different from yours. She answers your question breezily.

"Oh, pffft, well there's not much to report there. Other than my French midterm, there's nothing I'm worried about. It's not like Mr. Jacq's paper has me worried, haha. It's the same exact material as last semester."

You frown, confused.

"Wait . . . you had his class last semester?"

Nemona looks briefly caught out, as if she let slip something she didn't mean to. Reluctantly she answers,

"Uh, heh, well, y-yeah."

Whoa. It's hard to imagine Nemona actually flunking a class, especially if it has anything to do with pokemon. She must have had a rough semester.

You tell her,

"Eh, I've had a class I had to repeat before, there's no need to feel bad or anything."

Nemona smiles sheepishly at you.

"Well, I uh, I didn't really . . . need to repeat it, I got top marks and everything, I just . . . wanted to?"

Your confusion only deepens.

"But if it's the same exact material, then . . . why?"

Her eyes shift away. She answers cryptically,

"Well, I needed to fill out my credits for this semester to remain a student full-time."

You're still not getting it. Maybe Naranja Academy had some weird rules? You came from Unova, so you weren't super familiar with Universities here.

"Okay, but shouldn't there be enough classes for that without you repeating any?"

Nemona fiddles with an orange skin from the slice she's already eaten. With a self-conscious smile, she admits quietly,

"There's not many classes left I haven't had at least once by now."

You stare at her. "Uh??"

She sighs, briefly burying her face in her hands, then looks back up at you.

"Okay, so. I only have like two core required classes left to graduate. I could finish up anytime I want, really. I've been intentionally taking things really slow, padding out my semesters with a bunch of electives and sometimes even repeating classes."

"Okay . . . but why?"

She leans back against the crystal-encrusted trunk of the tree you're sitting under. Heaving another sigh, she says,

"Mmm. I dunno. I guess mostly because . . . I had no idea what I wanted to actually do once I finished school, you know? When I became a Champion a few semesters back, things felt . . . kinda empty after that. My professors and La Primera, they all encouraged me to pursue a career as a Gym Leader or an Elite or whatever, of course. Sounds perfect, right? But I wasn't actually sure if I'd enjoy it. Gym Leaders have to deal with a ton of inexperienced trainers, you know? And while I do enjoy mentoring trainers, it's maybe not what I want to spend all my time doing?"

She pauses, before continuing,

"I really craved a challenge. Like, a really, truly good challenge. I wanted somebody who would push me to my absolute limits and make me strive to be even better. I knew there had to be someone or something out there who'd do that for me. Or at least . . . I hoped so? So. I . . . was kinda just spinning my wheels for a while at school, trying to find something that would satisfy that wish, I guess."

You ponder that. It's definitely something you can relate to. You also struggle with knowing exactly what you want to do with your life after you finish school. But it's honestly surprising to hear Nemona had felt the same. To you, it always seemed like she had everything figured out in her life.

Your friend nudges your shoulder and gives you a little smile.

"And after I met you, well. I finally got to fulfill that wish. I'd found my best friend and rival for life, someone who could meet me at exactly where I was and push me to be even greater. And I made other amazing friends this semester, too, and had so many incredible experiences. God, it makes me so glad I waited. It feels like the pieces are starting to come together, finally. I'm still not exactly sure yet what I wanna do in the future, but . . ."

She trails off. Glancing around at the idyllic scenery, she grins and jokes,

"Well in this exact moment, I kinda just wanna stay forever down here in super cool ancient pokemon paradise with you."

"Oh," you say, your face heating up. Returning to her train of thought, she concludes,

"But, yeah, I decided I'm going to pad out my remaining semesters long enough so I can graduate at the same time you do. And then we can finish together."

She says it so simply, like it's a logical, easy thing to do, but you're overwhelmed with emotion. She wants to wait for you. She's this incredibly talented trainer and person who could probably go anywhere and do anything in life, because she has the drive and the skill, but she doesn't want to do it unless you're there with her.

You emit a little squeaky noise, trying to push through the thoughts tangling up in your brain.

"N-nemona that's . . . I don't know what to say, that's . . . th-thank you? That's so incredibly sweet and. You don't have to do that--"

She takes your hand and gives it a squeeze, her smile dazzling as she tells you softly,

"Of course I don't have to. I want to."

You're certain that you're bright red by now, and you desperately try to get the language centers of your brain working again.

"I-I-I, uhh, I-- t-thank you, Nemona."

She giggles, clearly endeared by how flustered you are.

"No, thank you. Seriously. You've done so much for me. You've been such an incredible friend and rival. And you're always so sweet and so generous. Like, look at all this! You brought me out here and arranged all this, too. Taught me how to throw pokeballs, packed this amazing lunch-- I don't think I've mentioned yet, those bocadillos were phenomenal? You been taking lessons from Arven or something?"

You glance away, confessing,

"W-well, I, kinda asked him to let me borrow some Herba Mystica from him for today . . ."

Nemona gives a little gasp.

"Really? That explains it. But jeez, Jules, why'd you go through all that much trouble? I would have been fine with just some plain 'ol ham sandwiches or whatever!"

"I wanted today to be special," you say, firmly. She deserves something special. She deserves super amazing trips and all the fun stuff. That's why.

You . . . also possibly have a few ulterior motives tucked away in the back of your mind that have to do with making it feel sorta kinda possibly like a date, but you aren't gonna say that part outloud.

"Well, you definitely succeeded there," she say, and oh, the expression she has was going to melt your heart to goop, a blobby little happy puddle of Goomy. Your thoughts stop working for a bit, but you have a vague sense that you're forgetting something. Something . . . to do with today's plans?

"Dessert!" you suddenly blurt. At Nemona's startled expression, you add,

"Sorry, heh, I, I got something special from Cortondo's pastry shop!"

She looks immediately eager.

"Ooh, really?"

You dip into the picnic basket and pull out the paper-wrapped goodies that had been tucked in the far back.

"Bizcocho de Limón," you say, handing her one.

"Made with their special olive oil. I haven't tried it yet but Katy was going on and on about how much better the olive oil was when compared to using butter."

Nemona unwraps the paper, not wasting any time and biting into the soft lemon cake.

"Nmmmhhh," she groans, not leaving any ambiguity about whether it was a hit or not.

"I'm going to assume that means you like it," you chuckle. She swallows the bite and gives you a grin.

"This really is the perfect day."

Her nose is dusted with the powdered sugar from the cake and you can't keep a straight face, sniggering.

"What?"

"You got a 'lil somethin' . . ."

You reach out and gingerly try to brush the sugar off, but it's only smudging it around, and halfway through the act you end up getting lost in her eyes. All those sappy thoughts you'd been trying so hard to suppress are back, and your heart kicks up speed.

She's gazing at you, with the sweetest of smiles, and she's not looking away. You think perhaps you've stopped breathing. Almost imperceptibly, you start lean closer; or perhaps she leans closer to you? Time seems to slow down to a crawl.

There's a strange sort of growling noise from behind you. You notice it, but only vaguely, and in the moment you don't really stop to think about it.

The next moment, all is chaos.

Something enormous erupts, almost as if it was from the very ground you were sitting on, crashing between you and Nemona-- you hear a loud, splintering crunch that you only later realized was the sound of your picnic basket being crushed-- and your arm is caught up in the motion, a sharp, white-hot pain of your skin being torn. You barely have enough time to gasp for breath and try to process what was right beside you: the body of some kind of creature, bright green and purple, four limbs that are long and sinewy, and claws. Big, curved, purple claws.

At this point you have processed your most imperative task:

Run.

You struggle to clamber to your feet, Nemona doing the same, and start to run. A quick glance back and you see enough to realize the pokemon looks like some kind of giant cat, like a lion or something. It's briefly hampered, apparently struggling to shake the shredded remains of the picnic basket off its face--

Oh. Its teeth. Those massive, curved purple thorns on its face are teeth. Like some kind of saber tooth tiger.

You utter a curse and keep running. The pokemon spits out the last bits of picnic basket and starts to pursue you, quickly picking up a loping run. Its strides are long and you know it will catch up to you soon. You needed your pokemon.

You glance back again, trying to spot where your bag ended up in all the chaos. You can't see it anywhere, but you see Nemona's bag, sprawled open in the dirt near the tree you'd been under, its contents spilled all over. You couldn't get to it, the tiger was closing in on you.

You trip during your frantic search for your bag, tumbling painfully to the ground. Your heart drops to your stomach. You twist and try to get up, but it's too late. The pokemon is a mere few feet away now, snarling, approaching you in a stalk. Its eyes are hot pink, its pupils narrowed into slits; its ears are flattened and it's bearing wickedly-curved purple teeth.

Your pulse is pounding in your ears, and once again, time seems to slow to a crawl.

"¡Oye! Get away from her, you tonto del culo!"

You glance up. Nemona isn't far away, but it's clear she didn't have the time to recover her pokeballs and she looks terrified for you. You realize you're probably going to die. You try to think of something meaningful to say in the moment, but your mind is utterly blank.

Nemona reaches down and picks up a rock, before shouting again and chucking it with all her might at the creature. The rock beans the tiger right across the head, hard. It gives an outraged scream, quickly turning to face her.

"Yeah, that's right! Leave her alone, come get me, cabrón!"

You're horrified. You cry out,

"Nemona, it's going to kill you!"

She ignores you, still taunting the tiger and sidling slowly to the right, trying to lead it away. It's stalking up to her and you don't know what to do, all you know is you can't stand by and watch your best friend get disemboweled right before your eyes. You're about to charge forward, but in the split-second before you do, Nemona suddenly dives to the ground. You think it's just a last-ditch effort to evade the beast, but then you see her throw something she's recovered from the ground. 

There's a familiar sound, and a pokeball bursts open. Her Great Tusk materializes.

You want to sob in relief. Nemona shouts,

"Tusk, Close Combat!"

The precious moments when the tiger is distracted with Great Tusk do not go to waste. Your friend immediately climbs to her feet and darts away, going through the mess of her bag to locate where her other pokeballs had rolled away to. You want to rush to help, but first you need to give the pokemon a wide berth to avoid getting caught in the crossfire.

As you run, the Great Tusk charges into the saber tooth tiger with all its might, trying to tear into it with its tusks. The tiger is surprisingly resilient, though, and strangely doesn't seem to take much damage from such a powerful move. It retaliates, biting down on Great Tusk's soft underside, sinking its purple fangs deep. The elephant gives a pained shriek.

Fortunately, Nemona has recovered another pokeball, because Tusk faints almost immediately after that. She shouts, "Uh, go!" and flings it, obviously not sure which pokemon it is.

Her Scream Tail immerges, and you think to yourself that it's a stroke of luck. Scream Tail was pretty bulky, so it should last at least a little while. Nemona orders it to use Play Rough. By now, you've been able to move around the battling pokemon and reach Nemona. You want to hug her, but you know now was Not The Time, so you just call out tersely to her.

"Nemona."

She looks up, then rushes to you. She pushes a few pokeballs into your shaking hands.

"H-here. I'll look for the rest. I don't know where your bag went, I think it might have gone over the cliff, so hopefully my team'll be enough."

As she runs off your attention is drawn back to the battle; it seemed Scream Tail's Play Rough hardly did anything. The tiger swipes at the puffy pink fairy with its long claws, and Scream Tail seems to deflate like a balloon. You realize the clawmarks embedded deep into Scream Tail are oozing with a purple liquid. You mutter,

"Oh, shit, right. It's a poison type."

Grass/Poison, from the looks of it; its limbs, which had seemed so muscular and sinewy, seemed to in fact be made of entwined vines, and its fluffy fur is embedded with dark leaf patterns. Its ears are large and triangular and they extend down to its face almost like a mask, in a way that reminded you a little of Meowscarada.

In fact . . . as it narrowed its pink eyes and glared at you, you realized it looked a lot like Meowscarada. A really jacked, beastly, saber-tooth tiger version of one, at least.

Scream Tail's fainted form returned to its pokeball, and you threw another. Flutter Mane appeared, graceful and serene even during such a terrible situation. You tried to think of what moves it might have that would be useful. You weren't gonna mess around with any Calm Minds, you needed to get some damage off.

"Uh, Mystical Fire?" you try, and Nemona's Flutter Mane responds to the command. It turns and descends upon the tiger, creating a huge curtain of flames to crash down upon it. You watch in relief as the tiger flinches from the attack, the flames singing its leafy fur and limbs-- finally, some actual damage. You shout for Flutter Mane to use Mystical Fire again, but the tiger leaps into the air and slashes the ghost with its claws before it can react. There's a crisp, sharp noise, the familiar sound of a pokemon landing a critical hit, and Flutter Mane goes down.

Damn. This thing was tearing through Nemona's team like it was nothing. You throw your other pokeball, sending Brute Bonnet out to face its fearsome opponent. You're not sure of its full moveset, and you shout,

"Brute Bonnet, just hit it as hard as you can, give everything you've got!"

The feisty mushroom pokemon turns and rushes headlong into battle. As fast as it can, anyway. The top running speed on its little legs wasn't exactly the greatest. The tiger chomps down on Brute Bonnet before it can do anything, and you cringe in sympathy. Bonnet counterattacks as hard as it can, flailing back and forth as it uses Thrash. The tiger roars in anger and slashes at it, and then down it goes, as fast as all the others.

What level was this beast? You feel a cold sense of dread creep in, pondering that question. All you'd been able to do so far was buy a little time. You flinch in pain and rub your arm, feeling a sticky wetness, and glance down. Oh right, you'd been injured in the initial attack; your arm was still a bit torn up and bleeding, although at least the cuts didn't seem to be too deep.

You look back up when you hear the tiger growl, and, oh crap, you're out of pokemon to throw at it. That's not good.

Fortunately, Nemona returns once more to rescue you, right on time. It seems she had to wander all over to recover her supplies, because she's on the opposite side of the angry tiger as you are. She has her bag, though, and a pokeball in hand. Brightly, she calls,

"All right Sandy Shocks, let's go!"

The weird, primitive form of Magneton lands on the ground, its parts spinning and whirring. It's hard to believe your lives might depend on this goofy-looking pile of magnets. You call out to Nemona,

"I think it's Grass/Poison, it has some kind of biting move and a poison move-- Cross Poison? Poison Jab? Not sure, that's all I really know! It's KOing most things in just one hit!"

"All right," she calls back, not looking discouraged by this report. Pointing to her pokemon, she orders,

"Let's even things out a bit. Sandy Shocks, hit 'em with Thunder Wave!" The little collective of metallic creatures spin and point their magnets, building up energy, walking along the ground in a strange wiggly gait; then they fire a weak beam of electricity, zapping the growling tiger. You feel relieved that the beast finally has a status condition on it. Hopefully it would slow it down.

"Now, Earth Power!" Nemona commanded, as the tiger turned to face its new opponent. You could see Sandy Shocks building up energy for the special attack, the power building between its three heads; before it can get the attack off, though, the tiger lunges, and it bites down hard on the primary head. It certainly doesn't seem like biting is something that would work on a creature made of metal, but the metal of Sandy Shocks must be different, somehow-- it was a Ground type, after all, not Steel. There's a gross crunching sound and the three heads vibrate and shriek, their eyes rolling around wildly, and it seems to take massive damage. Your brain struggles to figure out why-- what move was it using? Ice Fang? Surely you'd see the ice, then?

Despite the damage, Sandy Shocks does not perish immediately, and it manages to finish powering up its move; the ground around it and the tiger distorts and shifts and shakes violently, before bursting open with the attack, lava boiling out. The tiger seems to take a really solid hit, but Sandy Shocks does faint from the aftermath.

Nervously, you call to Nemona,

"Uh, how many pokes do you have left?

Like you, she had brought some of her usual partners on this trip as well, not just her new Paradox team. You hoped she had managed to recover those too. Nemona pulled out a pokeball from her pocket and gave you a weak smile. She said,

"Um . . ."

You curse under your breath.

"Seriously?"

She shouts back, "I think some rolled off the cliff along with yours. Look, it's fine, we can make this work!"

You're not so sure about that, from the looks of things. But Nemona throws the ball, sending out her last pokemon-- Slither Wing. Sounding full of confidence, she commands,

"Okay, Slither Wing! If this is Grass/Poison, let's go for an Acrobatics!" The ancient bug pokemon flaps its wings and dashes towards the tiger, preparing to strike. Before it can hit, though, the tiger slashes at it viciously, ugly purple streaks of poison marring its fuzzy body. Fortunately, this doesn't bring the bug to a stop; Slither Wing counterattacks, slamming into the tiger again and again at intense speeds, ruthlessly. You watch with hope gleaming in your eyes.

When Slither Wing is finished with its assault, the tiger looks very bruised and worn down. Giving a strangled cry, it bites into Slither Wing's hide, trying to stop its attacker. Slither Wing flaps its wings furiously and struggles in the tiger's grip. It looks as though the bite isn't doing too much damage, but the poison is slowing Slither Wing down by now.

"I don't suppose you have any heals left?" you tensely call to your friend.

She shakes her head. Ah. That's . . . not the best. Nemona hasn't given up, though.

"Let's give him a taste of his own medicine, Slither Wing! Leech Life!"

 You watch as Slither Wing battles to wriggle free from the tiger, stirred by Nemona's commands. It somehow manages to slip free from its jaws, then it turns and latches its buggy mandibles onto the tiger's neck. The tiger roars and jerks, but it seems paralysis is finally slowing the monster down. Slither Wing drains some of its lifeforce, feeding itself. It's obvious Nemona hopes to preserve the longevity of her last pokemon this way, in lieu of any potions.

"Good work, Slither Wing! Let's go for another Acrobatics now!"

The ancient moth releases its foe, looking a little rejuvenated, despite all the poisoned scratches on its body. You start to think Slither Wing may actually have a chance of winning this. It seemed it was a very stubborn bug.

The moth prepares its next attack, backing up a little so it can get a running start against its foe. Judging by how tired the tiger looks, you're guessing this could very well be the finishing blow of the match.

Slither Wing charges, emitting its strange, gurgling cry, wings flapping furiously. You can't look away, and hope this will finally be it . . .

. . . but it isn't. Despite the paralysis, the tiger is able to rouse itself once more. And before Slither Wing can strike, the tiger lashes out with an attack. But this time, it was a new attack. There's a dusty white cloud of smoke that's whipped up from the action, and the tiger leaps up and smacks Slither Wing around with its paws, over and over, without even using its claws in the process. The move looks very familiar.

Oh, no. Play Rough.

After the tiger is finished batting the moth around, it's clear the poor thing has fainted. The pokemon dissolves into energy, returning once more to Nemona's pokeball. You can't believe it.

"Son of a-- this thing is nigh invincible!" you shout, disgusted. Even after all that, it was still going!

The tiger's magenta eyes dart to you when you shout. The pupils narrow to slits and it growls.

"Oh, for fuck's sake--"

Battered, beaten, and paralyzed, the saber tooth tiger from hell is stalking towards you, still with pure malice and rage shining in its beady eyes.

Trying to keep your voice calm, you call out,

"Uhhhh, Nemona? You sure you don't have any pokemon left?"

You can see she's digging through her bag, but she looks frantic. You can hear her muttering,

"No, no, no, no!"

You start to back away, wondering if there's anything nearby you could run to. Some rocks, some trees. This thing could probably climb trees twice as fast as you. It was no use.

The tiger is bearing its purple fangs at you, and they're dripping in poison. You suppose they'll soon be clamping down on your neck.

You hear Nemona suddenly cry out.

"Wait! Wait, yes! Oh my god, Jules, hold on! I'll save you, I've been training for this moment!"

You're confused at first, because she pulls out a pokeball, and you thought she'd run out of pokemon. But then it hit you; she has an empty pokeball. Oh, of course. Why didn't you think of that sooner?

You watch as she carefully takes aim at the distracted tiger. She has a perfect back shot from her position. She takes a calming breath, then swings her arm, stepping smoothly into the throw, and sends the ball soaring. You watch the nice, clean arc of the ball sailing towards the tiger, flying, and then--

The ball thwacks a rock right behind the tiger with a loud crack, shooting off into a random direction. You hear your friend's high-pitched shout,

"Oh, jodete! Oh, shit!"

If the situation wasn't so dire, it would have been funny, honestly. But as it was, the tiger quickly turns around, angered at having things flung at it, apparently. It snarls and begins stalking towards Nemona instead.

"Nemona, look out!"

She was busy grabbing a second ball. To your horror, the tiger is stalking faster. Much faster.

"It's OK I got it, hold on--"

She's taking aim with the ball. The tiger crouches, performing a little butt wiggle that looked remarkably similar to when your Purrloin was about to pounce on its toy. Oh, oh no. No, no, no!

You break into a dead run towards them, not sure what to do, but you have to do something.

The tiger roars, leaping, paws outstretched, at the same time Nemona stumbles and falls backwards, flinging her pokeball, screaming,

"AAAAAAA!!" A bright flash of light and the tiger dissolves into a puddle of energy, which is sucked into the pokeball. The ball drops to the ground, its center button lit red.

 You both stop perfectly still and stare, breathlessly, as the ball wiggles.

Once. Twice.

Thrice.

You wait. The seconds feel like ages.

And then, in the stillness of the air, there's a tiny but unmistakable 'click.'

For a short while, neither of you speak, and instead just stare dumbly at the pokeball on the ground. Nemona had landed on her butt on the ground, and so she sat there, eyes wide, catching her breath, staring. Eventually, her eyes lift up to yours.

You take a shuddering breath when she meets your eyes, suddenly overwhelmed, your throat tightening as you rasp out,

"Oh my god Nemona I was gonna be so mad if you got yourself killed for me."

You rush up to her, helping to pull her to her feet, and she's smiling and laughing, what was wrong with her, how could she be laughing? You pull her into a fierce hug, the unshed tears stinging your eyes. Nemona's voice is muffled against you as she says,

"I'm so sorry, I thought that was gonna be heroic as heck, with me swinging in to save you and I just end up being a total dweeb and missing!"

You quickly pull back so you can face her and demand,

"Why are you apologizing?! That was heroic, that was the most heroic crap I've ever seen! You ran up to a beast like that and threw a freaking rock at it like it was nothing! And then everything else? I didn't even think to try and catch it because my brain had blanked out so much! I would have been dead without you!" After your outburst, Nemona smiles a bit bashfully and answers,

"Heh, well I guess it wasn't bad. I'd do it again, y'know."

You stare at her. Your heart's still pounding from almost having a tiger maul you to death-- or almost mauling Nemona to death instead. You feel a little sick.

"This is all my fault," you realize aloud. Sounding concerned, Nemona asks,

"What do you mean?"

You look at her and say emphatically,

"All of this. Oh, god. I was such an idiot. I just wanted this to be a perfect day for us. Planned it all out so carefully. But I should have taken the risks more seriously. You could have died. I-I . . . I'm so sorry. N-nemona, I . . ."

The tears are running down your face as you speak, and she reaches for you, saying,

"Hey, hey, hold on now, Jules."

When she touches you, you give a tiny sob, and she pulls you into a hug.

"Shh-shh, hey . . . take it easy, okay?"

You break down, crying into her shoulder while she soothes you, soft words of comfort as she rubs little circles into your back. You always thought Nemona was like an electric-type, so bubbly and energetic; but now you think she must be made of pure steel, to walk away from all that still smiling.

Her voice is gentle as she tells you,

"We're okay, it all worked out. Don't be so hard on yourself, all right?"

You try and utter a protest, but it comes out all whimpered and nonsensical against her. She continues,

"Look, I can't say that was my favorite encounter with a pokemon just now, but I certainly don't blame you for it. Every trainer knows there are risks to going outside and seeking out pokemon. That's just part of the deal."

You suck in a breath and finally get out,

"Y-yeah but-- I-- I was the one who convinced you to come down here--"

She interrupts gently and says,

"I wanted to. I'm gonna be real honest with you, Juliana, if you hadn't invited me down here, I would have snuck in alone sooner or later. I had been planning to for a while now."

You choke a laugh and say,

"Nemona!"

"I know, I know. I don't always make the best decisions. But I'm telling the truth. It's actually pretty good that you came down here with me, because I probably would have ended up as cat food without your help. Okay, more like definitely. I wouldn't have nailed that second pokeball throw, at any rate."

You pull back from the hug and try to wipe your face on your sleeve without it getting too gross. You tell her,

"Please promise me you won't do that anymore, just go off on your own like that. I care about you too much. Tell someone, tell me at least."

At first it looks like she might object to your request, but then she seems to consider it more seriously. After a moment, she smiles softly, answering,

"Okay. Okay, I promise. If I get the itch to go do something stupid, we can do it together. Or reconsider the plan, if it's way too wild."

You hug her again, saying,

"Okay. Thank you. I promise I'll do the same. And we'll be a little more careful next time about trips to forbidden zones full of ancient unseen horrors."

Nemona laughs.

"Okay. Fair enough."

After a few moments, you add quietly,

"I'm still sorry our day got ruined like that, though."

She answers you breezily. 

"Pffft! Are you kidding me? This was still the best day I've ever had."

You lean back a little from the hug, still holding onto her, and say in exasperation,

"Nemona--"

But when you see her eyes, you realize she isn't kidding. She isn't kidding in the slightest.

"What? Everything was amazing. The trip out here, the gorgeous views, the hiking, teaching me to catch like a pro, the battling? Just hanging out and talking? And that picnic, oh, man! It was perfect, Jules."

You laugh, completely at a loss for words, at first. Eventually, you shake your head, saying in a fond tone,

"You really are something else, Nemona."

She chuckles and answers confidently,

"As if you don't feel the same. I know you had just as much fun today."

You snort another laugh, but then pause to consider it. Now that the imminent danger is over with, and Nemona is safe and sound in your arms, well. The terrifying ordeal doesn't seem so bad, anymore. You think back over the entire course of your day with her.

Quietly, thoughtfully, you muse,

"Yeah. I guess you're right. It really was perfect."

Nemona grins, saying,

"Yeah! Exactly."

After a beat, her smile turns into something playful. You both have still been in a half-embrace, and she slides her hands down your arms a little more, tugging you just a bit closer to her.

"My only regret is that mean tiger didn't let us finish dessert."

You blink and it feels like your insides turn in a dizzy little flip-flop. After a nervous giggle, you manage to reply,

"Don't worry. I'll buy you more next time we're in Cortondo."

Looking very pleased, she says,

"I'm gonna hold you to that."

You nod,

"Please do."

There's a few moments of silence, and Nemona still has not let you go, and your thoughts are just buzzing happy static, and you begin to wonder if perhaps you should try to--

"Oh! Uh, gosh, let me get my first aid kit out for your arm. Jeez, I forgot about that," Nemona says, and you're so confused at first, until your lagging brain finally remembers that yes, your arm did kind of get a bit torn up and bloody. You feel briefly and irrationally angry about your stupid arm being distracting. Stupid tiger.

"Also I guess we'd better get to work finding the rest of our pokeballs," Nemona adds as she digs through her bag. You blink.

"Oh. Yeah. Ooof."

You're not looking forward to it. If your bag really did drop off the cliff, it could be . . . damn near anywhere down there in the massive cave system below you.

"Hey," Nemona says, pulling you from your thoughts. You look to her. Gently, she tells you,

"Don't worry. We'll find them. We've got the scariest tiger around to help us out, right?"

You chuckle weakly, then reach down to pick up the pokeball from the ground.

"Yeah, that's true."

Nemona helps you clean off the dried blood and disinfect your wounds and then dress them properly. Fortunately, it seems you just scraped your arm up on the ground in the madness, and the tiger hadn't actually gotten its claws into you. If it had, you'd probably be much worse off, considering how toxic that beast was. When you're finished, you two begin your search for your lost items. First, though, you hand Nemona the tiger's pokeball. When she gives you a curious look, you say,

"Well, you caught it, right? He's technically yours. Or she."

She laughs.

"I guess so! I'll have to think of a proper name."

"Hmm. Maybe something like 'Hellcat?'"

Nemona agrees the name sounds perfect.

After a quick confirmation that your supplies are nowhere nearby, you both begin your descent to the Area Zero caves. It's definitely unnerving to be traveling around without a proper pokemon team as backup, but Nemona did find a single revive buried in the recesses of her bag, and you spotted and gathered a good pile of berries along the way. So you weren't completely and totally helpless. Obviously, if your searches end up being fruitless, you'll need to hail a taxi (Nemona still had her cell phone) and get help. An unappealing scenario, since you're pretty sure Director Clavell was going to be pretty upset.

However, something amazing happens. Maybe it was to balance out all your foul luck with the tiger attack. You and Nemona have barely even entered the mouth of the cave when you hear a familiar draconic trill echoing through the space. Then Scarlet is bounding right up to you, your bag hanging from his mouth by the strap. You're stunned at first. Scarlet drops your bag in front of you and starts licking your face, looking extremely happy that he found you.

"Didn't you return him to his pokeball? I don't understand," Nemona says, petting the giant dragon. You pick up your bag. It looks a bit beat up, but otherwise is intact. You look through it, and find all of your pokeballs and stuff are in there.

"Well. He knows how to come out of his pokeball on his own," you think outloud.

"He does?"

"Yeah. He used to do it all the time when Arven made sandwiches. He must have sensed something was wrong, when my bag fell off the cliff."

"Wow. What a smart boy!" Nemona praised, rubbing under the dragon's chin as he cooed happily.

"When it fell, my stuff probably went all over, I had my bag zipped open. It looks like he went around and put all my stuff back into the bag," you say, noticing how some of the potion bottles looked as though they'd burst open and a few other things were roughed up. It must have taken him a while. Dang, Scarlet really was the bestest boy in the world.

"And I have no idea where the bag fell, but it could have been anywhere in these caves-- Scarlet probably had to wander for a while to find his way out! He probably remembered how to get around from before. Oh, man, Nemona, look!"

There were extra pokeballs in your bag. A quick check near the button showed that they had Nemona's engraving on them.

"He found your pokeballs too! Oh, my god, I was so worried, and he did everything for us."

You immediately hug the feathery dragon, giving him a kiss.

"You're a hero, Scarlet! Man, you are getting so many treats for this."

You and Nemona check all your pokeballs to confirm that everyone is accounted for and safe.

And then, it's surprisingly easy after that. You both decide it's probably enough adventure for one day, climb aboard your dragon, and stroll your way out of there without a care in the world.

By the time you've made it back to Mesagoza, the sun is setting on the horizon, and you're starting to feel a little worn down from the day's activities. You and Nemona decide to stop at a food vendor and grab some badly-needed dinner. You eat at a table in the main plaza (Scarlet with his own kebab as well), inhaling the food and talking about ancient pokemon, mostly just your wild speculations about the past and what the Professor Sada AI had found there. When you're finished, you two ride Scarlet up the rest of the stairs and then return to Naranja Academy.

It's really only when you start walking through the halls of the school that exhaustion truly starts to catch up to you, and when it hits you, it hits hard. You had run around a ridiculous amount today and had some pretty intense moments, so it only made sense, really. You can see Nemona's as tired as you are. No longer running on pure adrenaline and now after a heavy meal, it was a pleasant but full-bodied sort of exhaustion. You both chatter about silly subjects as you pass through the halls of the dorm building. Nemona tells you about last year when the school had Slowpoke Races, and from her dramatic re-enactments, it sounded like it had been an amazing thing to witness. Or Nemona was just really good at telling a story. You suspected the latter.

And before you know it, you've reached Nemona's dorm room. You have both already agreed it was time to just get some rest, but there still is a disappointed pang in your chest when realizing you now had to part. Nemona gets the key from her bag and then turns to you, hugging you and moaning dramatically,

"Juliaaaanaaa . . . I'll miss yoooou . . ."

You giggle and say,

"I'm going to see you again tomorrow."

Muffled against you, she says,

"Oh. Right. Well. Okay then."

You laugh again. She releases you and grins.

"Still. This . . . this was literally the best adventure I've ever had. So . . . thank you for inviting me."

"Of course," you say. She looks so happy, and your heart feels light as air.

"And I . . . hope we get to have another adventure like that really soon. Maybe minus the scary pokemon trying to eat us thing, but you know what I mean," she says. You nod your head.

"Absolutely."

Nemona continues to hang there, looking reluctant to actually enter her room. She's gazing at you in a way that makes your knees feel weak. Which is pretty much just always. For the thousandth time, you think about telling her, finally telling her about your massive crush on her. Just say it. Just ask her if . . .

"Well," she finally states, awkwardly,

"Um . . . goodnight!"

You feel like you've just missed your chance at something really important, and your heart lurches in your chest as she unlocks her door.

"W-wait, Nemona."

She turns.

"Hm?"

She looks at you, and your thoughts are screaming. Say it. Say it. Just say it.

"N-nevermind," you mumble, like the world's biggest coward.

She chuckles and squeezes your shoulder.

"Get some rest, Jules. We're both pretty out of it by now, I think."

You nod, rasping,

"Yeah."

When you get back to your dorm, you don't really feel like thinking anymore. You take a long shower and make some chamomile tea and climb into bed, to scroll mindlessly through social media for a while and give yourself a chance to wind down for the evening. It doesn't take long for the drowsiness to settle in, but you delay actually shutting your lights off. Despite all your efforts, your thoughts are still churning, keeping you awake. Time gets away from you. Eventually you realize it's getting really late, so you plug your phone in with a sigh and turn out your lights.

A few minutes later, your phone buzzes with a text. You check it.

It's from Nemona.

hey I've been thinking, I'd like to give you Hellcat

Your brow furrows and you gaze at the text for a second before typing out a reply.

Why?

You watch the little elipses flash as she composes her message.

well I never would have caught them without your help! it could be my thank-you gift :) for everything.

You sit there, thinking. Or trying to think, anyway. Exhaustion has started to erode your ability to do so. And you're still feeling pretty disappinted at yourself from chickening out earlier when talking to her.

Suddenly struck with inspiration, you type out,

how about we share them? we both worked together to catch them, so it makes sense.

After a brief pause she responds quickly.

omg jules

you're so smart. that's perfect.

we can raise them together <3 <3

well mayne not 'raise'

more like 'tame' haha but you know whati mean

it's probably a two-person job anyway tbh lol

Deciding you need to be a little more honest about your feelings, you respond to her,

yeah, exactly.

plus its a good excuse to spend more time w you

After a few beats, her message pops up.

haha what?? you dont need any excuses jules, you know you're always welcome at zona nemona

You type out your response quickly.

yeah. well. yeah thats true.

guess i still look for excuses

my mind's kinda been in the nemona zone 24/7 lately

ahaha

You stop and stare at what you just sent, and the regret is instantanoues. Not that honest, not that honest! Oh, god.Maybe she wouldn't notice?

Nemoma's reply is short:

24/7?

You want to scream. You try to compose a reply. How do you backpeddle on something like that? Maybe you should just come clean? No, this was a terrible way to do it. But, it's better then nothing. Still, maybe you should--

You're still trying to compose a reply when Nemona texts,

that's a lot!

Your fingers hover over the keyboard, your sentence only half-complete: I was just

Thirty seconds or so later, she texts,

i don't think even my mind is in the nemona zone 24/7 and im nemona, haha

You feel like it's getting harder to breathe.

jules

are you still there

Okay, for god's sake, just say something! Anything! You erase your old message and start again.

sorry

sorry I

I just mean I've been really enjoying spending time with you and I think about you a lot and. sorry if that came out sounding weird.

Ok, that salvaged it. Possibly. You hoped.

A minute later, your friend replies,

no, dont worry, it wasnt weird

I've been really enjoying our time together too

and

I think about you a lot too!

almost as much as pokemon battling, haha

Your heart skips at her final message. It was possible she was just joking around, but it didn't seem like it. It . . . really didn't seem like it.

You type out:

wow. that's like probably the biggest compliment I think you could give me

Nemona replies right away.

asfhgk

cmon jules

if that's what you think, well

be prepared, cos I'm gonna give even bigger ones in the future ;)

Okay, you weren't sure before, but now it seemed pretty clear, this was not a drill, Nemona was genuinely flirting with you. Right? Yes??

Your heart picking up speed, you tell yourself: okay, okay, don't mess this up. be cool. You carefully compose your next messages.

oh? I'll be sure to prepare myself

but I also gotta be sure to live up to the hype

I could start by taking you back to Cortondo for more Bizcocho de Limón

so there aren't any more rude interruptions

we could sit at the watchtower nearby

it's kinda crowded in town, but it's nice and peaceful at the tower

You sit and wait in tense anticipation.

sounds good to me

i look forward to it <3

..and I'm sure you'll live up to the hype :3c

You get a big stupid grin, feeling triumphant. She continues,

g'night for now, jules

see you tomorrow

Laying there in bed, with the glow of the phone lighting up your smile, you answer her.

gnight, mi tesoro

#pokemon #fanfic #nemona x juliana #juliana x nemona #julinemo #nemona #nemona pokemon #pokemon s/v #pokemon scar/vio #juliana #here we goooo #mystuff #julinemo fanfic #terajules

[cronenfag]

"choose violence" asks: 3, 8, 9, 10, 13, 23?

(homestuck spoilers btw)

3. screenshot or description of the worst take you've seen on tumblr?

i don't wanna give a screenshot cuz i'll feel mean (i know for a fact i can find it but again i don't wanna be mean) but it was that every single human ship in homestuck is creepy and incestuous because mom lalonde and dad egbert had a brief romance. sigh.

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about?

nepeta wasn't done dirty by the writing and i don't know why i've seen so many people say this. she was written to be a fun side character and was written off like one, nothing about how she died was really a disservice to her because she was never that important of a character to begin with y'know what i mean? sure it may be sad that she died but c'mon man it's homestuck ofc she's gonna die. also just nepeta in general, sometimes i wish people would quiet down about her.

9. worst part of canon?

aside from like. problematic things. all of the loose ends, especially at the end, are so.. ough... like homestuck is built on these characters and their relationships and at act 7 we don't get much satisfying closer? like the most we got to the alpha kids figuring their shit out was when they were on the quest beds (favorite scene for them hands down btw). so many things were started and then the writing just. got lazy, use the retcon for a famous example. it's just introducing conflicts and going "lol you figure it out"

10. worst part of fanon?

there's def worse things in the older fandom but currently people who act like there's no bigotry in homestuck or people who take the fandom discourse so seriously... think that dav‌ek‌at-s‌uc‌ks person (fandom discourse-wise). i'm not in the fandom much outside of the tumblr bubble and occasionally silly youtube things so i haven't had as many bad experiences with the modern fandom as other people i think, there's probably so much discourse i have never heard of.

13. worst blorboficiation?

june because people are soo weird about her being trans. i made a similar to this with a different focus but people portray her way different from how they'd portray cis egbert, i can't for the life of me put this phenomenon into words. changing a characters whole personality the moment you draw or write them trans rubs me the wrong way. let june exist without making her dumb and overly bubbly just bc she's a girl.

23. ship you've unwillingly come around to?

idk if this is unpopular, rosejade. no hate to people who like it, i just don't think i'll ever like them romantically. I READ THIS WRONG SORRY!! IGNORE!!

#ty :3 #asks

[spaceratprodigy]

Let's hear about that Pride & Prejudice AU bestie 💖🧡

Anyone that's known me for a long time knows that no matter what, I will find a way to make a Pride & Prejudice AU with OCs 😤

This particular iteration is my favorite tho! This time around we have crafted a P&P AU focused on Faith and Rhea ( @captastra ) meeting and falling in love with Max and Felix 👀

I have admittedly been very slow getting around to it, but it has genuinely been one of the biggest things I have been wanting to work on for months. But, you know how it is, not having the time to dedicate to this project was a big factor and it's probably gonna be even longer until I get to it now that I'm moving out and have to get a new desk and set up my workspace.

And, truthfully, I am very very excited about this one and I really want to take my time and put the love into it!! It is 100% absolutely one of the highest things on my to-do list and it's never stopped rotating in my brain.

ANYWAY ON TO WHAT I HAVE PLANNED

Sooooo, I have 4 small illustrations so far that I really want to make :]

Nothing super massive and extravagant right now, just a set I haven't been able to get out of my mind regarding different interactions!

The more fleshed out concepts I have are for a Faith and Rhea interaction and a Max and Felix interaction. Both separate but meant to mirror each other!

For Faith and Rhea I was thinking about them late at night, soft lighting, maybe they're laying in bed together, but they're very excitedly talking about the lads they met and how dashing they are and what the interactions they had with them were like and whether or not some feelings had been sparked, etc etc.

For Max and Felix, the conversation is the same but about the gals! I have a vague idea of the setting I want to draw them in, but I haven't fully decided yet. I really like the idea of Felix head over heels for Rhea and asking Max for advice on how to approach her again. I feel like he just really doesn't want to mess this one up 🥺 I also like the idea of Felix pestering Max on his thoughts about Faith, and Max being very avoidant, not wanting to answer, but also not being able to hide that people noticed he couldn't take his eyes off of her 😌💅

The other two drawings I want to make are obviously some lil Faith/Max and Rhea/Felix illustrations 💖💕 but I haven't fully decided what I want to go with for those! I have a few ideas, but those I really want to discuss and plan out privately 🤭 definitely super excited to work on those!!

And let's be honest.. I kind of want to make even more with P&P AU, but small steps lmao don't want to overwhelm myself. It's always gonna be there to come back to! No promises that I'll dabble in trying to write out some things more eloquently, it's just so much easier for me to express my ideas through visuals! Plus I just really love drawing romance things 😩

There's so many interactions we can explore! But even more exciting! I want to explore different outfits for them because I mean c'mon they are all going to look SO darling!

I think I said so in private but I'm still bouncing back and forth between wanting a strict period setting or if I wanna be loosey goosey and incorporate some space themes to the designs and environments. Both just sound so very fun to me to get to work with.

Okay maybe I should stop now because I think I will just want to keep rambling about P&P AU things 😭

Anywayssss 💅 go show @captastra some love!! So wonderful, delightful, creative, and an absolutely brilliant writer 💖💕

Thank you for letting me incorporate Rhea and Felix into this AU, you already know how excited I am to bring them to life 🥰

#long post #sorry I just really really love p&p au and it's been on the back burner for so long now 😭 #faith and max #rhea and felix #💖💕💖💕