#there was a wet patch on my shirt from where i kept sneezing into it

[sapphicsnzs]

spent all of today bringing the collar of my shirt up to sneeze into it

#snz blog #snz kink #snzblr #self obs #wlw snz #allergy snz #my allergies have been so bad the past few days god #there was a wet patch on my shirt from where i kept sneezing into it #i need my allergy meds to kick in soon😭

[spideymarvelws]

Hard Decisions

Prince!Tom Holland x Fem!Reader

Main Masterlist / Add Yourself To My Taglist

A/n : I just really wanted to write a prince!tom fic also i struggled so much trying to figure out a title and summary but im pretty happy with the actual fic Still dont like the tittle tho...

Summary : You take tom out for an escape from his life in royalty, at least that was the plan.

Warnings : Floof, kinda smutty but not really, mentions of violence, war, some cursing here and there

Word Count : 2.8k

...

"That wasn't fair in the slightest and you know it!" Tom shouted as he halted his horse, licking his lips with annoyance.

He was in the middle of his book that his master had assigned him when you burst into his chambers, breathing heavily like his dog after he took her out into the fields. You were dressed in your riding gear, throwing his own smack in his face, the only words falling from your mouth were.

“You, me, stables, now,”

It wasn't totally out of character for you to be so spontaneous, he was used to it by now, so were his guards and everyone in the castle. So much so that they weren’t fazed anymore when you zipped past them in the halls never knowing if you were running to or from something.

None of them were curious enough to ask.

Nevertheless, he was always free for a nice ride through the forests with you. He always enjoyed tagging along and partaking in your little shenanigans around the kingdom. It was a nice break from his responsibilities as prince.

"What isn't fair is that your horse had to deal with your terrible riding," you picked at your nails, smirking at the young prince, "Better than last time thought, only five minutes behind,"

Even if you always beat him.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," He muttered, jumping off his horse, his boots landing with a thud on the floor, "What are we even doing here in the first place?"

"You'll see," you smiled leaning off the tree trunk, "I put Galaxy over there," you pointed towards the brown horse shaking its head, most of its body hidden behind the thick shrubbery, "I'm sure she wouldn't mind some company,"

"Don't know, I feel like he would feel inferior to yours," Tom said, pointing to his horse.

"Don't worry, that logic only applies to you when you’re with me," you chuckled. It was known that you loved teasing him, it shocked him to this day that he still put up with your shit for the past years, putting in so much effort to see you at least once a week.

But you were the only person who kept him up float for the past years. The only person who treated him as an equal despite his blood and title. And he would be a fool if he let that go anytime soon.

Of course you couldn't know that, he could imagine how much embarrassment that would fill his body if you knew about his attraction towards you. He could already picture you brushing his words off as a silly joke and continuing with your day.

He didn't think he could deal with the rejection, to deal with losing you over some feelings.

"So, where are we going?" he said, dusting off his vest, "Or did you just bring me out here to murder me?"

"Trust me if i wanted to murder you, I would've done it a long time ago," you grinned, holding out your hand, “Now come on! The sun won’t be up for too long,”

You dragged him  up though the bushes and trees, maneuvering your way through the forest. He’d never seen you this bubbly before, running and jumping over roots and ducking swiftly under branches all while occasionally  looking back at him with a wide smile that made his heart melt.

“Are we there yet?” he whined, yelping when a branch hit him smack in the face.

“Oh shit,” your hand shot up to your mouth, trying to hide the laughter threatening to erupt from your throat, “Are you alright?”

“Oh yeah, totally,” he said sarcastically, rubbing his nose, trying his best not to sneeze, “like one always is when they get smacked with leaves and wood,”

You bit your lip, moving the branch back up so you could see him clearly, “If it makes you feel better, we’re almost there,”

He sighed, his head falling before picking it back up to look into your eyes, “Alright,” he chuckled when you continued to tug him along.

After a few more seconds of walking, he noticed the sound of water falling in the near distance making him a quirk up a brow. Soon enough you both emerged from the dense forest into a small opening.

His eyes trailed up the small pond, the ripples of the water reflecting the random rays of light passing through the trees hovering ever it like its own roof  As he moved up, he eyed the flow of water running down a layering of rocks like a small fountain. Around it was a mass of shrubbery, green with hints of colour throughout. It felt like he was stepping into a painting his mother painted for him when he was younger.

“It’s beautiful,” he whispered, his eyes taking in every part of the scenery.

“I know, found it when I was sear- playing with Harrison’s sword,”

“You lost his sword?” Tom teased, catching your mess up.

“I found it back, calm your tits,” you uttered, mumbling under your breath, “after having some fun with it,”

“What was that?”

“It was a nice sword alright?”, you laughed, pulling your hand out of his. 

He watched with curious eyes as you approached the lake, stopping as you reached the edge. He felt the instant head rise to his face when your fingers grazed the bottom of your loose skirt, pulling it off your body in one go and throwing it to the side.

He coughed as he looked away when your boots came off next along with the rest of your undergarments leaving you in your underwear and bra. He tried his best to keep his eyes turned down out of respect, but he would be a liar if he wasn't fighting not to raise his head.

“Are you coming?” you said, dipping your toes into the water before fully submerging your both your feet, “Or are you just going to stand there,” 

“I-” Tom blushed, rubbing the back of his neck.

You turned around to face him, hands crossing in front of your chest, staring at him expectedly, “Come on now, before your father figures out your gone,”

“I’m pretty sure he already knows-”

“Then you have no excuse!” you tilted your head to the side, jutting your bottom lip out, “I didn’t bring you out here to just stare at me as I bath,” you raised your eyebrow suggestively, “Unless that’s what you want to do?”

“I-,” he paused, looking back down at the ground in defeat (and to hide his blush at your words). He could never say no to you, “Fine,”

You jumped into the water in glee, shaking your hair purposely for the droplets to fall on his clothes.

He rolled his eyes playfully at your smug smile, unbuttoning his vest and throwing it on a patch of grass. He did the same with his shirt, turning around when he began to shuffle out of his pants. Tom wouldn't deny the fact that he knew his looks, years of fighting and working gave his body a defined shape.

He could feel your eyes burning into his back which gave him the boost of confidence he needed to turn around.

He carefully made his way into the water, hissing at its cold touch. You rolled your eyes at his slow movements, grabbing his legs and pulling him inside. You laughed as his body hit the water, splashing you and the land around the pool.

You giggled as Tom raised his head, shaking it back and forth, his brown locks creating a halo around his head. You pushed more water at his figure, laughing even harder at the look of betrayal on his face.

“You-,” he chuckled, moving his arms in the same manner, sending a wave of water in your direction.

“Oh, Is this war Holland?” 

“You bet your ass Y/l/n,”

You lunged at the brunette, pushing him under the water, your arms wrapping around his neck to keep him down. But it didn't last for long when he quickly broke the surface of the water once more. You wrapped your legs around his waist in a desperate attempt to keep him down, but it was useless given his strength.

When you looked back into his eyes, you finally took in how close you were, faces merely centimetres away from each other. You could feel his hot breath against yours, your wet skin melding with his. Your chest tightened, emotions you tried so hard to keep hidden resurfacing without thought. A glimmer of hope popping in your mind when he didn't pull away instead resting his hands on your waist, keeping you close.

You just didn’t think a prince would reciprocate the feelings for a commoner girl like you.

“Hey,” you whispered, readjusting your arms around his neck.

“Hey,” he whispered back, his eyes darting from your lips back to your eyes.

“i-,” your forehead fell against his, eyes closed as your heavy breaths fell upon his face, “Tommy,”

“Just say the word,” he gulped, “Just say the word, and none of this happened,”

He held his breath when you didn’t respond, his hands loosening from around your waist. He relished in the feeling of your body pressed against his not knowing when it might be the next time you would ever be like this with him after today.

He was a fool to think that you actually liked him in that way, that this wasn't just the spur of the moment but feelings aching to be unraveled at the seams.

“I want this to happen,” you finally muttered, opening your eyes to look directly at him, “I’m just scared what will happen after,” 

Tom let out a shaky breath, looking back and forth between your left and right eye, trying to process your words, “Only one way to find out right?” he managed to say, licking his lips.

You bit the middle of your bottom lip, letting it go with a heavy breath, “Yeah I guess so,”

“Are you sure?” He couldn't help but ask again.

“Just shut up and kiss me for God's sake,”

Tom finally smashed his lips on yours, tasting the fresh water on the surface before moving them along with yours. You tilted your head slightly, deepening the kiss. Even after imagining this moment for so long, losing himself in the thought almost everyday, it could’ve never prepared him for the feeling of your mouth on his.

His hands tightened around your waist, his feet moving slowly along the floor to press you against the nearest rock, wanting to be as close to you as possible, for this to last as long as possible. You fingers moved from his neck to his hair, tugging at the soaked strands making him groan into the kiss.

“Tommy,” you muttered, barely pulling away to utter the words before latching your lips back on his. 

“Yeah,” he smiled, biting your bottom lip as he pulled away fully.

“I-,” you started but was quickly interrupted by a loud bell that began to ring in your ears.

“Fuck, what’s that?” You breathed, whipping your head in the direction of the bell.

Tom replied hesitantly, “Someones attacking the castle,”

“What?” you said in disbelief, detangling your legs from around the prince’s waist, “Who would want to attack the castle?”

“I don’t know,” Tom said with a clenched jaw, despite his attempts to sound calm, the alarmed edge to his words failed to slow your rapid beating heart.

“You don’t know? You’re the prince!”

“Yes! As far as I’m aware we’ve been at peace with everyone for hundreds of years!” 

You took a moment to process his words. Your parents always used to tell you stories of the great war, always bragging that your great grandfather fought the battle that helped peace run through the lands.

The war that ended all wars.

Songs were sung everywhere, children learned about it all the time, hearing the tale of tragedy and loss every day of their loved ones. Hell, even you had the words memorised in your head so that you knew, the people knew that they were safe, that they were free.

The bell high in the castle was only meant to be rung when the crown was under attack. Thousands of questions began to run through your head.

Who would attack?

Why would they right before dawn?

How was anyone not aware of it earlier on?

None of it made sense.

“Come one, we got to go,” Tom gripped both your forearms, letting out a heavy breath. His voice was nothing but a distant sound in the back of your head, bouncing off the walls of your skull.

“I-,” you managed to squeak, your throat starting to close up as your breath became shorter, coming out in little, shaky huffs with deep inhales.

“Y/n, Y/n? Y/n!” tom said hastily, his hands making its way to your face, directing your eyes to his, “Look at me alright? You’re going to be fine. We are going to be fine alright?” his fingers wiped the wet hair sticking to the front of your face, “When we get back to our horses, yeah? I want you to ride far away okay. Do you remember our tree house, right? At the edge of the forest leading into the meadow? I want you to go there alright? Take galaxy with you and hide out there until i come for you,”

You shook your head, squeezing your eyes shut before looking back into his panicked ones, “Wait, What? Tommy, I’m not letting you go in there by yourself!”

“AND I’M NOT LETTING YOU DIE!” he shouted, trying his best to control his breathing, his distress, his confusion, “I’m not about to lead you into a battle that i know nothing off unarmed!”

“What about you?” you whispered, but loud enough for him to hear, “Do you think I’m okay with you running into battle?”

“I’m the prince, it’s-,” he sighed, “It’s my duty,”

You looked up into his brown eyes, staring into them to find some sort of comfort. You tried to find the joke, something, anything that might tell you that this wasn’t real, all just some sick prank to get you back at disrupting his activities.

But as his pupils dashed back and forth between yours, unable to focus. You knew that you couldn't talk your way out of this one. 

You also knew that you would be of no help in the kingdom in battle but ideas began to pop in your head of how you could help outside the walls

“Alright,” you gulped, “Alright,”

He gave you a quick kiss to the forehead before jumping out of the water. He tossed you his vest as you got out behind him so you could dry your body first. Shuffling around to gather the clothes that were thrown haphazardly in the ground.

Once both of you were fully dressed, Tom grabbed your hand as he led you back to your horse. You ran quickly, trying your best to not let the thoughts consume you but focus on what you needed to do, what you had to do.

Letting go of your hand as you both reached the clearing, he ran to his horse, untying his restraints. You did the same, petting her main in a calming matter, not only for the horse but for you too.

You both froze at the faint sound of a sword slashing some shrubbery followed by some muffled voices.

“Get on your horse,”

“Tom-,”

“Get on your horse now Y/n,”

You quickly mounted Galaxy, grabbing the reins tightly as Tom pulled out a sword from around his waist, keeping it close to his side. 

“When I tell you to go, you go okay?” he said wearily, his head darting in every direction.

“Tommy,” you said quietly, grabbing his face in the palms of your hand when her turned around to face you. You pressed your lips on his one last time, pulling away to rest your forehead against his, this time without the water surrounding you both.

“Stay safe, okay?” you whispered, rubbing your thumb against his cheek.

“I’ll try my best,” he smiled, taking your hand in his, “For you,”

“Over here!” a gruff voice sounded, “I see a horse!”

“Go, Y/n, Now,” Tom said quickly, moving back to his original stance.

With a split second of hesitation, you pulled at your reigns, kicking the horsed side, riding Galaxy away from the kingdom. You cringed at the distant sound of swords clashing and men screaming. What scared you the most was that you didn’t know who they came from.

But you couldn't focus on that right now, you had to find the tree house and from there, figure out what the fuck you were going to do, to help the kingdom.

To help him.

...

Permanent TagList : @jadegill @joyleenl @sarcastic-sunset-7

Tom Holland Taglist : @dummiesshort @seutarose @thenoddingbunny-blog​

#tom holland #tom holland x reader #tom holland x fem!reader #royal!au #royal!tom #prince!tom #prince!tom holland #tom holland x you #tom holland x y/n

[jaskiersvalley]

Oh gosh the omorashi fic it's amazing!!!! Please please please could you do the reverse with Geralt this time. Smut, omorashi and a dash of hurt/comfort is da best. Thx

After a bit of a break from prompts, I am back to slowly trying to clear my askbox (104 prompts. Surely I can manage that....right?). What better prompt to start with than some omo? Under a cut for some naughty content!

Control was the one thing Geralt clung to. When nothing else in his life was going as desired, when destiny was bending him over a barrel and making his its bitch, Geralt tried to seize whatever control he could. Even the smallest of things; what he ate, what he wore, what contracts he took, what he did with his body. Every scrap of control he could, he took and and guarded it fiercely.

Enter Jaskier. He didn’t much care beyond having a good time. If something didn’t go to plan, he wasn’t really put out by it, content to roll with the hand being dealt and reaping the benefits of the unknown. In short, he was much for the happy go lucky kind than Geralt. That wasn’t to say he didn’t like control or understand the need of it. But on the back of that, he also understood the importance of giving up control, even if for just a little while. To hand over the reins to someone trusted and safe. It really did do wonders for the soul. If only Geralt could learn that and trust him.

An opportunity came sooner than expected. It wasn’t even a contract gone wrong. Of all the things to fell a witcher, it was a sneeze. Jaskier saw it happen, otherwise he would have never believed it. One minute Geralt was brushing down Roach, the next he was stifling a sneeze. Whoever thought it a good idea to silence and suppress an almighty witcher sneeze was an idiot. Thus, Geralt was an idiot. His whole body jerked with the sneeze and then froze. Now Jaskier had seen Geralt freeze before for several reasons and he could say, hand on heart that this was the frozen in pain kind of motionlessness. After a couple of long seconds of careful, measured breaths, Geralt seemed to gingerly keep moving. That just wouldn’t do.

“What hurts?” Jaskier called over the stall door.

“Nothing.” A grunted huff of a single word. So obviously something hurt. Rather than argue, Jaskier moved into the stall and watched as Geralt moved. It wasn’t as fluid as usual and his jaw was clenched shut.

“So much of a nothing that it looks like you’re a constipated goose.” When Geralt ignored him, Jaskier made an executive decision and ran a hand down a muscled back. It earned him a silent shudder and not of the good kind. “Now, you’re going to put your brush aside and you’re going to come back to the tavern with me for another night at least.”

The stubborn set of Geralt’s back and jaw had Jaskier pressing down on tight muscles again and getting a pained grunt. Point proven, he plucked the brush from Geralt’s hand and put it to the side. It was all too easy to slip his hand against warm, broad palm and lead Geralt back to the tavern, hand in hand.

“There. Now, let me take care of you. I’m going to strip your shirt off.”

His words were met with resistance, Geralt doing his best to stay in control. It didn’t work though, short of ripping his shirt off, he was stuck. Clucking his tongue, Jaskier stepped forward and eased the idiot out of his shirt.

“Good. I want you to drink. We have to make sure you’re not dehydrated.”

Water skein pressed into Geralt’s hand, he drank rather than argue. It was nice, Jaskier mused, how he knew what battles to pick. When it looked like Geralt would pull away from the skein before it was empty, Jaskier used a hand to tip it back towards his lips.

“All of it darling. I’m looking after you.”

Only when the empty container was passed back to him did Jaskier put it to the side and grabbed some chamomile oil. Guiding Geralt to his front, Jaskier began to massage lightly at the solid wall of muscle before him. Starting off lightly, he assessed the situation, weighed up where the sore bits were.

The thing about massages was that they often elicited a very natural but potentially very embarrassing response. Thankfully, Geralt and Jaskier were far beyond the point of it being anything but a welcome aspect. Sure enough, as Jaskier worked on easing the knots, Geralt began rolling his hips, surreptitiously at first but then without any shame.

“Turn over,” Jaskier purred. His hands were glistening with oil and he gleefully set about rubbing over Geralt’s chest. “I think you should drink a bit more.”

Grumbling at being told what to do, Geralt got up onto his elbow and took another offered drink.

“Need to piss.”

“It’s okay, we’ll take care of that soon. Let me do this for you first.” Once again, Jaskier helped tip the water towards Geralt and he smiled as it was emptied. “So good for me.”

The massage continued and Jaskier spent some happy minutes on the meat of Geralt’s shoulders and biceps. There was something so lovely about having such muscle mass under his hands. Especially when Geralt was rocking up, seeking friction against his trapped, half hard cock. Though the hip rolls became squirms and Geralt’s brows furrowed.

“Jask, need a leak.”

“In a minute. Let me be in charge for a little longer.” He needed Geralt to let go, to give up all his control and float. To let Jaskier worry about everything for a while. Slowly, Jaskier slipped his hands down Geralt’s chest, over his stomach and down to where his bladder had filled out quite nicely. Two whole water skeins was no doubt going to affect anyone, even a witcher. Sure enough, as he pressed down lightly, a small little whine left Geralt. It didn’t deter Jaskier and he pushed his palm against Geralt’s full bladder every now and then before flitting to his sides and thighs.

With each passing minute, Geralt’s squirms got more and more pronounced. And each press of Jaskier’s hand earned a more desperate little noise. It had wilted Geralt’s erection but Jaskier knew it wouldn’t take much to change that.

“Jask.” The desperation in Geralt’s voice was one that had Jaskier shivering in delight. “Please.”

“Let go for me darling. I’ve got you.”

Geralt shook his head, face scrunched up. In retaliation, Jaskier pressed on his bladder more firmly and listened to the half moaned gasp. A tiny wet patch appeared on Geralt’s trousers.

“That’s it darling. You’re so good. Let go for me.” The darker patch grew a little more as Geralt whined. “Please baby. I want to take care of you.”

A moan of defeat as Jaskier pressed down again and the darkness spread. If Jaskier listened, he could hear the stream of piss as it hit the inside of Geralt’s trousers. It was everything he wanted, looking at the blissful relief on Geralt’s face, coupled with his soft sighs and moan, Jaskier was happy. As the stream slowed, he kept pressure on Geralt’s bladder while the other moved to massage over his chest.

“So perfect for me. All this just for me. Thank you my starlight.” It didn’t take more than a few teasing scrapes and pinches to Geralt’s nipples before his cock was filling out again. Moving from pressing on his bladder, Jaskier worked the ties of the trousers open and slipped a hand inside. It was still warm and wet, Geralt’s cock slick with piss. Soon, it would become even more of a mess.

It really didn’t take much work, Jaskier’s hand working over Geralt’s cock while the other hand stayed playing with his chest. Praise dripped easily from his lips and, soon enough, Geralt was arching under his hands with a moan.

Pulling his hand free, Jaskier cheerily wiped it on Geralt’s thigh. They were going to need to wash the trousers anyway.

“You are beautiful. Just stay and catch your breath while I call for a nice warm bath. Your back will definitely thank me for it.”

A few short minutes later, he was back, order of a bath and clean sheets plus mattress put in with the innkeeper. Thankfully, there were no questions asked about why a new one was needed. People knew better than to question a witcher and his companion. Holding Geralt close, Jaskier smiled. Maybe he should have Geralt let go completely more often.

#geraskier #geralt of rivia #Jaskier #hurt/comfort #massage #cw: omorashi #tldr: jaskier has geralt let go completely

[boueibu-valentines]

The one time Yufuin made an effort with his uniform

Creator: @mystofthestars Recipient: @pyrachan Title: The one time Yufuin made an effort with his uniform. Characters/Pairings: En/Akoya Summary: En has never really cared about his school uniform, so why is it so important now to find the button of his jacket, which has suddenly gone lost after the graduation ceremony? Comment: After crying over the OVA, I didn’t want anything to do with the graduation ceremony anymore. But then my recipient wanted some EnAkoya, and I am always complaining that there is basically no EnAkoya in this fandom, and all I came up with was a graduation-related idea… Pyrachan wanted something awkward but cute. This is definitely awkward, I hope it’s also cute! Happy Valentine’s day! :D

____________

There had never been much of a relationship between En and Akoya.

Akoya seemed to get on well enough with Io, Ryuu and the Beppu brothers and, in his own way, he even got along with Yumoto—although the interactions with all of them were mostly bickering, it was that kind of friendly, cozy bickering, which made the Kurotama lively and the club room warmer that it had ever been.

Toward his Student Council senpai, of course, Akoya showed nothing but respect and affection.

Out of the whole group, En and Atsushi were the ones who could claim less familiarity with the beautiful, long-haired Akoya, and between the two of them, En was the one who never thought the second year would ever take him into consideration.

Atsushi was the ever gentle, sweet yet authoritative senpai, no one could ever not get along with. And he was Kinshiro’s lost and found again best friend, a fact that alone had to gain Akoya’s respect, if not true sympathy. 

En, on the other hand, was the lazy, listless boy, who was essentially everything the old Caerula Adamas had fought against. 

It was all in the past, now, but En had never thought that the well-educated Akoya would ever show him anything behind the respect and politeness due to an older student.

The idea that he and Akoya would never be anything more than schoolmates had, in a sense, been comforting. En had already enough kouhai to take care of.

As the graduation ceremony came closer, he grew more and more convinced that he was happy with the thought of retiring from his duties as a high school senpai (duties which he mostly neglected anyway). 

It was much to his surprise, then, that, on the day of their graduation, Akoya bumped against him when they all were converging to the big room of the ceremony.

It was unexpected enough that Akoya would walk into someone when he usually moved with grace and kept a fair distance from everyone else, but En didn’t have neither the time or energy to give it much thought.

The fight against the buttons monster had just ended, and all of them had their minds still struggling to focus on what laid ahead, behind the doors of the hall.

Akoya himself seemed caught off guard by his close encounter with En, but he effortlessly regained his composure. He shot the taller boy a disdainful glance.

“You could have worn your tie, even if just for today’s ceremony, Yufuin-san,” he reproached him, eyes fixed on the undone collar of En’s shirt.

The older boy shrugged. That kind of remark, at least, was not unusual.

“One should live their last day as a high school student the same way he’s lived the rest of his high school life. I’m a huge fan of coherence.”

 Akoya turned his head away, as if annoyed, but En didn’t miss his snort.

“As you say. Still, I’d button up this jacket at least,” the younger said, and then proceeded to do it for him.

Akoya’s hands were fine and swift, and En ended up with his jacket done before he could even begin to protest. After that, Akoya turned and preceded him inside and En lost him in the crowd.

The rest of the day proceeded quickly, and En lost track of time after Kinshiro’s speech, Wombat’s sudden disappearance, and what followed after.

It was only later that night—after they had tried to figure out where Wombat was, bought the curry for him, gathered at Kurotama to wash away the sweat and the sadness of the day—that he came home and discovered that one of the buttons of his jacket had gone lost.

How ironical, he thought, losing a button after the monster they had just fought that day. He looked at the floor in his room, down the stairs and then in the entrance, but there was no sign of the small object. 

For a moment, he even wondered if it was the monster that had stolen it instead.

Ah well, he told himself, it’s really just a button. Starting from tomorrow, I won’t even need this jacket anymore.

He draped it carefully on the hanger and then tugged at one of the sleeves. Still, it was a pity to lose it after three years of faithful company.

It was En’ first day out of high school and his original plan had involved sleeping until past noon and then perhaps meeting up with Atsushi for a walk downtown. 

Instead, he found himself pacing carefully through Binan High’s garden and yard, retracing his movements from the day before.

 As he walked in front of the entrance, where they had fought the monster, he recalled Akoya fixing his jacket before the ceremony began. Fastidious as he was, the younger boy would have surely noticed a missing button and let him know—probably even scolded him for being so careless to lose it.

To think I wouldn’t have given a single thought about a missing button until twenty-four hours ago, he told himself sourly. Yet, he kept searching.

It was around noon when Akoya found him, lying down on the grass. At first, he thought En was asleep.

A cherry blossom slowly floated down and landed on his nose, and En sneezed himself awake.

Akoya graciously covered his mouth as to not openly laugh at him.

“Of all the third years I know, I thought you were the most unlikely to return here out of nostalgia. Right on the day after your graduation, nonetheless.”

En looked up at Akoya from his supine position. The early spring sun shone through his long, silky hair, and his face was shadowed by his soft locks. Despite that, he could see the hint of a smirk on the boy’s fine features.

“Or perhaps you were too tired to return home last night, and decided this patch of grass would be just as good as your bed.”

En sat up and shook his head, then ran a hand through his hair, disentangling a few petals from the strands.

“You give me too much credit if you think I could really spend the night here. I love sleeping comfortably.”

Akoya knelt down beside him. “I bet you could still manage.”

En shrugged, and the other boy tilted his head on one side.

“So? Don’t tell me you really are too nostalgic to just stay home.”

“I’m just taking a break from what I was doing. Elderly people need to rest often,” he replied stretching his back and arms with a grimace.

“Elderly people should not rest on wet grass, it’s bad for their bones,” Akoya objected, eyebrows raised.

En massaged the low part of his back, then cautiously proceeded to stand.

“Well, perhaps a young man like you would like to help an oldie in his search, then.”

Akoya looked up. “Search?” 

Suddenly, En felt kind of stupid. “Yes, well, I lost one of my jacket’s buttons yesterday. Remember how you fixed it right before the ceremony? It must have fallen off after that, but I can’t seem to find it anymore.”

Akoya’s head lowered as if he was already looking through the grass.

“It might have fallen inside the building, or on the way to Kurotama’s. I already texted Yumoto but he hasn’t found it while cleaning, so I wonder…”

“Of course, you’re aware of the fact that—”

That I won’t wear my Binan High uniform ever again in my life? I’m quite aware of that, yes, En phrased for him in his own mind.

“—it is going to be difficult to find it, after yesterday’s ceremony. The whole school was gathered here.”

“I know. I have time to spare for the task, though.”

Akoya raised an eyebrow at him. It was probably the first time he had heard En speak like that.

In fact, En himself was surprised at his own words.

He expected some kind of sharp remark from the younger student. Instead, Akoya stood up. 

“Let’s keep searching then. Two pairs of eyes are better than one.”

Together, they kept scanning the yard all the way to the stairs that led downward to Kurotama’s. 

Despite his earlier resolution to find the lost button, En’s attention was divided between the ground and his unexpected adjuvant.

Akoya’s eyes carefully scanned the path as they went on. Engrossed as he was in his task, he kept curling a strand of his hair around his index finger, absentmindedly.

He looked like he was taking it more seriously than En.

“If you don’t mind me asking, Yufuin-san,” Akoya turned to catch En as he was staring at him. Akoya swirled away quickly, pretending to check the steps that led down from the school. “Why are you so concerned about your button? I can’t recall you caring about them before. In fact, your uniform could as well be buttonless for all the use you made of them.”

En looked down the staircase. The spring breeze felt fresh against his skin. It brought promises of new beginnings, and also of a very pleasant nap under a tree. Yet he could not give up his search.

“I still had it with me though. It’s simply disappointing that it didn’t make it out of school together with me, I guess.” 

He shrugged, eyes still set to the stairs. It went straight down, among shops and cherry trees. Somewhere below was the entrance to Kurotama’s. 

He stepped down.

“When I’ll look at my uniform in ten years or so, it will still be missing a button, and it won’t be because it was given to a younger student, but simply because it fell down. It’s a waste.”

Under his feet, the stones were already paved with pink petals. If his button was anywhere around there, it was probably covered with them now. 

“You know, it probably has something do to with—” ah, it was awkward to say that out loud “—with not wanting to let go of my uniform just yet. Not that the uniform in itself is important, just, you know.” 

It wasn’t about the uniform, it was about napping in the club room, and scolding Yumoto over eating too much at lunch, and reading manga while Atsushi read books, and hearing Io and Ryuu bickering from above the screens of their phones.

It was about the new friendships they’d made. 

It was about the friends he hadn’t made yet.

Akoya was silent behind him, but En could hear the soft steps as he moved, still searching.

There was a particularly thick pile of petals close to the tips of En’s right shoe, so he knelt down next to it to disperse it with his fingers. A couple of cherry flowers were still whole, and he picked one up.

“Would that be better if one of your younger club-mates were to have it instead?”

En stood up and turned.

Akoya was holding out one hand toward him, the white button resting on his palm.

En blinked. He was positive he had checked that bit of stairs just now. 

“You found it.”

Akoya smirked, looking down at him from above.

In a flash, En replayed the moments before the ceremony in his mind. The crowd of students converging into the room, Akoya walking into him, his quick hands buttoning up his jacket. Could it be….?

“Of course I did. I have an eye for details.” Akoya shrugged and threw his hair back. “So?” He huffed impatiently. 

It was unfair and even a bit presumptuous for En to think a Student Council member would steal a button from his jacket. Even now, the boy was most likely helping him just so he didn’t have someone uselessly lazying around the schoolyard. 

En looked at him. Akoya was glancing sideways as if trying to ignore him. En walked up the steps and suddenly it was him who was looking at Akoya from above. The latter’s eyes darted up and his hand forward, as to prevent En from coming closer.

“I assume you won’t be sewing this back on your uniform, but I believe one of your club-mates would be happy to keep it.”

En picked it up and weighed it up in the palm of his hand, then carefully intertwined the fallen cherry blossom’s stem into the small holes of the button.

“Yumoto, Ryuu, or Io don’t really need this,” he decided. Not after a whole year of fighting weird monsters and green pet aliens. Not after all the afternoons spent in the club room and the evenings at the Kurotama’s. Besides, he had no intention of giving the latter up in the near future.

“But,” he added as he held the intertwined button and flower against Akoya’s hair. The soft pink of the petals really matched the color of his locks. En was certain that they must share the same consistency. “You can keep it as a token of the one time Yufuin made an effort with his uniform, if you please.”

He parodied a small curtsy, raising his hand to offer the gift.

Moments passed, long enough to make En realize he was acting like a complete fool.

Then, with an ill-concealed snort, fresh fingers brushed against his palm and the button was gone. 

He expected to hear it roll down the stairs. Instead, he rose his head in time to see Akoya patting his pocket. The same pink of the petals had appeared on his cheeks now, too.

“It will be duly noted in the annals of the school. The one time Yufuin spent a day looking for a button he would never use, only to give it away to the first person he encountered.”

En combed his hair back and sighed.

“It wasn’t how it went. Yufuin gave it to whom he wanted. There’s a difference.”

As if mirroring him, Akoya curled one strand of hair around his finger.

“Perhaps.”

They stood there in silence for a few more moments. The breeze grew chiller.

En glanced down the stairs, then gestured at Akoya.

“Kurotama’s?”

The boy turned to look at the school as if considering whether his duties there could be postponed until later that evening or not. Eventually, he turned to En with a curt nod of approval, locks of hair half hiding the blooming redness on his cheeks.

“Not a bad proposal.” He brought a hand to caress his face with a dramatic grimace. “My skin is getting all dry in this wind.” And he walked down without waiting for En.

It was not only the first time En and Akoya went to the Kurotama’s on their own but the first time they did something alone together at all.

In fact, En wouldn’t have minded spending some more time outside with him, letting the spring breeze play with their hair, and renewing its promises of new beginnings. 

And if the breeze made pink petals bloom on his warm cheeks as well, it didn’t matter at all. 

#boueibu valentine #boueibu #gero akoya #yufuin en #mystofthestars #pyrachan #fanfic #submission

[reyskyber]

"Are you sure you're not cold" -- from the prompt thing. canonverse???

Anon I am so sorry this took so long!  I hope the wait was worth it!

8. “Are you sure you’re not cold?”

Watching the sunrise on theground wasn’t something Clarke got to do often. She usually ended up working late into the night in her makeshift medbay inside the dropship, meaning she usually slept into the late morning.  

But today was different.  She sat at one of the makeshift platforms onthe East-facing wall of the dropship and pulled her jacket around hertighter.  The heat of the late summer inwhich they landed had dissipated, giving rise to a very chilly autumn, and whatwas making out to be an even colder winter.

After Raven got the radiosworking, the council insisted on sending them weather reports so they couldprepare for the worst the elements had to offer.  Clarke was sceptical at first, themeteorology part of the Ark had been out of use for over fifty years, but theyprovided useful information about any storms that might be headed their way.

One thing they failed to predict,though, was the heavy snow that had landed pretty much overnight.  Clarke realised she should have seen itcoming, the temperature had been slowly dropping for weeks and the rain hadbeen getting heavier.  Still, when shestepped out of her tent on that first day and into almost eight inches of snow,she thought she’d been dreaming.  

When she realised she wasn’t,reality kicked in.  A lot of the otherkids had taken to messing about in the snow, revelling in the newenvironment.  But soon enough, they’dstarted to get sick.  It started off assneezing and fuzzy heads, but soon enough there was a flu spreading around campand Clarke cursed the snow and the cold weather.

It didn’t let up, though.  The flu spread quickly and the quarantine she’dmade failed.  Miraculously, they onlylost two of the hundred to the cold, but they still had half of winter to come.

The sky changed colour first,from a blue black to a light blue, and Clarke felt herself relax.  The clouds that had hung over camp for thelast few weeks were still present, but in the lighting of dawn, they had a pinkunderglow.  Underneath the large clouds,Clarke could see a strip of blue and soon enough, the first rays of sunlightwere shining over the mountain peaks. Clarke let herself take in the view and (not for the first time) wishedshe had something to paint with so she could capture it.  Clarke thought back to the moonrisings thatshe’d seen on the Ark over the years; they were all beautiful, but none of themcould compare to this.

“You shouldn’t be out herealone.”  Came a familiar voice.  Clarke was pulled from her thoughts.  She turned to face the direction of Bellamy’svoice and found him standing at the bottom of the ladder to her right.  She gave him a pointed look.

“God, Bellamy.  You’re such a killjoy,” she teased.  He climbed the ladder to come to stand nextto her.

“I mean it,” he repliedsternly.  He wasn’t looking at her, hewas watching the sunrise and Clarke felt herself smile.  Even Bellamy couldn’t deny the beauty of thesunrise.  

She watched as the low wintersunlight hit his face, making the freckles stand out.  She noticed the way the light made hisusually dark brown eyes come to life, when the light hit them, they became adeep warm brown with flecks of lighter brown in.  She wondered how she would capture thesunlight reflected in his dark curls if she were to draw him.  The thought shook her and she came to a stop.

Where the hell did that come from? She thought and quickly snapped her gaze back to the sunrise, her cheeksheating up slightly.

“Jaha says there’s a bunker notfar from here,” she said to break the silence. She hoped her voice didn’t sound as shaky as it felt.  Out of the corner of her eye she saw Bellamyturn his head towards her but she kept on facing forwards, not trusting hermind not to wander.

“It has, uh, blankets and stuff,”she managed, focussing intently on the treeline.

“Blankets and stuff?”  He asked and she could almost hear the smirkin his voice.  She turned her attentionto him.

“Yes.  Things to get us through winter.”  Her voice sounded slightly more strained thanshe wanted it to, but Bellamy nodded anyway.

“I’ll get my pack,” hereplied.  Clarke nodded and the two ofthem make their way to their tents to gather their things.

“You ready?”  Bellamy asked as they met back at thefirepit.  Or where the firepit used tobe, it was still covered in snow from the previous night.

“Yeah,” Clarke replied, pullingher pack over her shoulders.

“You sure you don’t want a warmerjacket?  It might snow again,” Bellamysaid and Clarke rolled her eyes.

“No, mom, I’m fine, let’s go.” She turned to walk towards the north gate and she heard the crunch inthe snow, meaning Bellamy was following.

“Where did Jaha say this bunkerwas?”  Bellamy asked.  Clarke looked down at the map again andfrowned.

“About twenty miles north,” shesaid with a grimace.  At this rate,they’d make it to the bunker for nightfall, since the days were gettingshorter.  Bellamy groaned in exasperationand she couldn’t help but agree with him.

The air around them got colder asthey carried on walking and Clarke regretted not bringing some kind of jacket –not that she’d admit that to Bellamy (he’d never let her live it down).  She pulled her arms closer around her, tryingto shield her torso form the cold, but the snow under her feet was too slippy,and she ended up keeping her arms out for balance.  

Bellamy was unusually quiet asthey walked – he kept his hand hovered over the handgun tucked into thewaistband of his trousers.  Her andBellamy had come a long way since they’d landed.  Clarke liked to think of them as co-leaders ofthe hundred.  Clarke liked to think shekept a level head and strived for diplomacy, while Bellamy inspired the kids toget work done when it needed to be.

After the meeting with Anya hadgone sour, everyone had been on edge; constantly looking out for grounders inthe trees, trying to keep quiet, and the hunting parties had stopped going outunless it was completely necessary. Leaving camp was dangerous, they’d all agreed, but the bunker hadsupplies, or so Jaha had said.  This tripwas necessary, she told herself, and they both had guns so they’d be fine.

That didn’t stop her worrying,though.  

Bellamy came to a stop at the topof the slope they’d been climbing.  Thelast few steps seemed to take Clarke a lifetime, her calves felt like they wereon fire and every time she moved her feet would squelch and slip in the mixtureof snow and mud.  Bellamy didn’t turnaround and just stood facing away from her. She huffed as she dragged her feet, flinging her arms out to stop fromslipping.

Finally, she made it to the topof the slope and came to a stop next to Bellamy.  She opened her mouth to make a quip about himbeing unhelpful but stopped dead.  Allaround them was blinding white.  Therewere trees off in the distance with a dusting of white, but the immediate landin front of them was flat and covered in untouched snow.

Clarke felt herself smile, thisplace was beautiful.  Like everythingshe’d ever dreamed the ground would be. She watched as wildlife jumped though the treeline across the field and–

She felt a cold and wet slap onthe side of her face.  Clarke whirled tothe left only to see Bellamy trying not to laugh.

“What the fuck?”  She asked as she wiped snow off her cheek.

“Never heard of a snowball fight,Princess?”  He teased.  Clarke frowned, they didn’t have time forthis.  She opened her mouth to argue, butstopped when she saw Bellamy bending down to pick up more snow.

“Bellamy, don’t,” she warned,holding a hand out in front of her as she started to step away from him towardsthe open field.  Bellamy stood up,cupping the snow between his hands and Clarke felt her eyes widen inhorror.  He smirked as he slowly made hisway towards her.  

She watched as his arm wentbackwards and she tried to duck when the snowball came hurtling towardsher.  It hit her shoulder.

“Bellamy!”  She exclaimed as she felt the wet patch onher T shirt spread.

Fuck it, she thought when she saw his smirk.  She reached down and plunged her hands intothe freezing snow.  Ignoring her reflexto pull them out, she started to gather the white powder in her hands andformed a small snowball.

Using her left hand, she aimed asbest she could and watched in glee as the snowball flew across the spacebetween them.  Bellamy tried to dodge buthe was too late, the snowball hit him across the face and Clarke laughed at thesurprised look on his face.

“Oh, you’re on, Princess,” hesaid and Clarke grinned in response, already reaching down to get anothersnowball ready.

Sometime later, they were stoodin the middle of the field, each with a snowball in hand facing eachother.  Their cheeks were flushed fromrunning around and laughing and both their hair was wet from being unable tododge some of the other’s throws. Bellamy edged towards her quickly and she stepped backwards, just out ofarm’s reach.  She watched as Bellamy’sarm flinched but he didn’t throw the snow at her.

Before she could react, he dartedforwards.  She stepped backwards but hewas still moving forwards, his arms came around her middle and soon enough shewas falling into the snow.

Her feet went from under her ashe tackled her around the middle.  Shesaw the treeline go past her and felt the cold cushion of the snow underher.  

“Bellamy!”  She wheezed, winded after the tackle.  He propped himself up on his elbows andlooked down at her, laughing.

She tried to be mad, but hissmile was contagious.  She laughed alongwith him, allowing herself to just be a kid for once.  Out here, in the snow, she wasn’t a leader ora medic, she was just a girl out with a boy having a snowball fight.

Slowly their laughter died down,but Bellamy was still hovering over her. His face was red with the cold, making his freckles stand outagain.  His dark hair was curling aroundhis face where it had gotten wet.  Sheslowly reached up and brushed a curl off his forehead.  

She dropped her hand, suddenlynervous.  Bellamy was staring at herintently, his eyes boring into hers.

“Are you cold?”  He asked. His breath came out in warm puffs around them, and they were so closethat she felt it fan across her cheeks. She thought about it for a moment. Sure, she was wet, and she’d probably catch a cold, but in that moment,she couldn’t bring herself to care.

“I’m fine,” she told him.  He raised an eyebrow but didn’t press itfurther.

Before Clarke could think betterof it, she brought her hand up to the back on his neck and pulled his face downto hers, bringing his lips over hers.

Bellamy was still and Clarkestarted to pull away, clearly, she’d misread the situation.  Clarke opened her mouth to apologise butbefore she could, Bellamy was leaning down and recapturing her lips.  His nose was cold on her cheek, but his mouthwas warm and Clarke felt herself smiling into the kiss, winding her fingersinto his damp curls.  Bellamy sighed andClarke felt content.

When he broke the kiss, he didn’tgo far, pressing his forehead against hers.

“Are you sure you’re notcold?”  He asked and Clarke bit herlip.  The snow around them had melted alittle, making all her back wet.  If shestayed longer she’d regret it.

“Maybe a little,” she told himand he smirked.

“Come on,” he replied, climbingoff her.  Clarke pouted at the loss ofheat, but made to sit up as well.

Bellamy held out his hand for herand she took it, allowing him to help her up.

“Let’s find that bunker,” he saidas he pulled her up.  He didn’t drop herhand as they walked towards the trees and Clarke felt herself smile as theirhike continued.

It took less than two days forher to catch a cold, her sneezes causing Bellamy to wake up beside her.  He groaned and fell back into the furs andblankets of their bed.

“For the record,” he said as shecontinued to sneeze.  “I told you tobring a jacket.”

Clarke groaned before lying backon his chest.  

“Worth it, though,” she said,nestling into his side.  Bellamy grumbledsomething inaudible as he fell back asleep but his arm tightened around herside and Clarke smiled into his chest.

#bellarke #the 100 #fanfic #prompt fills #mywriting #anonymous #asks

[thealfanator]

Dandelion’s Tales ~ Chapter 1

So I sat there like a fool, staring into the slight bursts and fizzles at the bottom of my mug.  Tiny explosions spat back at me like a wild cat.  For what seemed like sheer boredom, I shook the drizzle contents around and around, watching and listening more to the liquid whistling to me.  Sighing, I slowly put down the cup and looked around the tavern; gazing at the dancing women and playing bands.  I tried to hide my dorky, stupid smile at the same time as my slapped my eyes away from the various pairs of tits.  I cleared my throat.

“Dandelion!” she called me from the end of the table.  She startled me like I’d startle myself from the middle of a silent night – in a cold sweat from too many nightmares.  Nightmares such as: “what’ll happen when I run out of ideas for my stories” or “what if I run out of women” or maybe even “what if mead and ale go extinct”.  I chuckled at my stupidity before I realised she was still standing there with her hand out and prodding me for a refill.

“Yes.” I began.  Even I noticed the slur in my voice, however it was subtle.  “Mead. Again.”  I handed over my tankard; for a moment I thought I threw it at her, but I heard no clash on the floor and, frankly, I couldn’t care less.  My dreary, tired eyes and continuous slur of a drunk man carried me on through the night like an irresponsible father.

             So there I was, alone and fiddling with my crimson tuft of clothing, wondering what I’m doing with my pointless, insignificant life. Once again my reactions were skewed and before I knew it, three commoners were sitting opposite me with wide eyes like they were huddling round a campfire.  “What do you want?” I said in an accidently rude way.  I immediately apologised and greeted them with a smile as if I’d just splashed cold water on my face.

“Are you… Master Dandelion? The one who made the Chameleon?” the woman stuttered in an anxious tone.  I permitted her fits of laughter with a nod and smiled again.  The other two men stared excitedly too and I slapped them a nod with my hat.  “Can you tell us one of your stories?”  She asked. Suddenly and almost without my consent, my back stood straight – proud and ready for storytelling.  The slur in my voice vanished and my eyes became brighter.

“Well!  As you asked, of course!  Gladly!  I’ll tell you the story about this time when I met a loyal friend…”

I was wandering on horseback through a fairly green place.  Plants everywhere, overgrown foliage.  There were canvases of embedded greenery which felt almost carefully or strategically placed for view.  The whole area seemed like a painting – and it was pleasant! Splodges of trickling streams echoed around corners and atop rocks.  Trees stood so high you couldn’t even see the Sun!  Fungus and moss hung down and complemented the ivy curtains of the forest. I actually developed a habit for stopping and sucking in the peaceful, fruity air into my nostrils whilst also trying not to choke on the annoying little fly things I came across (to which I waved them away with my hat).  I’m sure that you’re not surprised that I also had a bunch of papers and journals stuffed under my armpit.  Chasms of knowledge cramped in my safe haven!  Anyway, I’m getting off task.  I trotted along with my horse until I came to an equally overgrown, tiny and abandoned village.  I didn’t mean to go there; I simply needed to pass through there to get to another place (to deliver those papers I talked about).  But, as you obviously thought, Curiosity got the better of me.  I dismounted and took tiny steps through the silence whilst clutching my papers.  I suppose they were my defence because I was certainly no swordsman!  I came to a door which was half ajar and, since I thought it was empty, I pushed it slightly to conjure various screams from the hinges. Before I entered, I subconsciously threw a few, short nervous breaths into the building like entering letters through a small slit of a door.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: “Master Dandelion is nervous and cowardly.” I am not a nervous person!  In fact, I’m probably the bravest person you know; I was just taking precautions because I’m a sensible human being!  Next thing I knew however, my caution was chucked down the drain as I sensed a random force at the back of my head as darkness greeted me to the floor.

**

Ow.  That was the first thing I said when I awoke.  My first thoughts consisted of multiple “Where the fuck am I?”s.  The next thoughts were that I realised my ankles were bound to the ceiling and other bloody sacks full of body parts were also on the ceiling with me.  It didn’t take long before blood was throbbing through my head and I immediately started feeling queasy.  I looked around.  Blood painted the walls followed by flies jumping around in enjoyment at the stench. As I’ve said, the blood-bursting sacks reeked.  I tried to plaster my nose with the palms of my bound hands to cover the awful smell but my urge to gag did not deflate.  I struggled, making grunting noises as I flailed to uncuff myself from the tiny, wooden shack in the middle of nowhere.

             Then I realised it wasn’t me that was grunting. I heard something through the slit of the ajar door on the other side of the room.  I figured out by now that that must’ve lead to the outside.  Anywhere was better than this fucking place. Ceasing my efforts, I listened hard. I heard exactly what I thought I heard: grunts of a large, inhuman beast coming from outside this room.  It sounded gigantic as every time the noises stopped, the earth would vibrate like it was taking a large, gulping step.  Outbursts of fiery anticipations made by this fascinating unknown sent shivers up my spine!  I almost wished I had my journals to write about this…

“Hello?” I wailed nervously, “Is anyone there?”  I knew it was wrong – calling for help at something which was obviously a threat – but I’m the stupid bard Dandelion who knew nothing better than the calligraphy at the beginning of words.  As you know now (and unfortunately for me), the snorts of curiosity pulled me into this thing even though I knew it was dangerous.

“Shut it!” came an anonymous whisper from behind me.

“Hello?” I called, surprised.  “Please, help me!  My crimson suit will get horribly ruined…”

“Shut the fuck up.” I heard footsteps crawl around the outside of the building on the patchy, wet mud that I presumed was there.  Suddenly, the creature I had been familiar with once before made groans of agony after clashes of sword smacked rocky substance.  I tried wiggling out of my prison again, but the ropes denied me once more.  I heard wailing, like a stray animal, but I couldn’t tell which one it was; the human or the beast.  Moments of silence pass.

             Suddenly the door smashed open, flooding light and making me sneeze uncontrollably.

“Sorry.  I have terrible allergies to sudden changes in atmosphere!” I apologised.  The whispering “shut it” man didn’t reply but did rip off my ties that bound me upside down – to which I thanked him profusely.  I tried to shake his hands but he barged past me, sheathing his sword heading outside.

“Get on the horse.” He said in a gravelly voice.  We both travelled on the same, brown horse into the green forest once again.  I’m just happy I got out of that blood-painted cell!

**

On the way to my unknown destination, I took a deeper look at my saviour.  Muscly.  He was muscly, and very strong.  He wore no shirt, so his bulky arms and large chest blazed in the Sun.  I traced my eyes down his back (as I rode behind him), and followed his scars like a trail.  He only had one sword; evidently not a Witcher, unfortunately.  However this was an interesting tale, and he was a soon-to-be ally I didn’t know I had at the time…  He wore trousers (thankfully!) but they were incredibly worn down.  He had a thick brown beard, little head-hair, and, from my experience, a deep and quaking voice.  My conclusions led me to believe that he was a warrior.  Simple minded – and uses the sword to make decisions.

             We reached a clearing.  A small patch of dry grass surrounded by boulders.  It looked enclosed; that’s what he thought too. The horse came to a stop.

“So?  Mind telling me your name?” I asked.  He replied with a punch to my stomach and rapid binding to my wrists with tough leather.  He then used the bottom of his boot to kick me to the ground.  “Brilliant!” I coughed, “That’s a great start.”

“You don’t talk unless I tell you to.” He roared.  I opened my mouth again to bribe him but I decided against it.  He, ignoring me of course, started doing his own thing! Tucking into his satchel and withdrawing weapons and sharp tools.  He tried his very best to just simply ignore me – when he wasn’t swatting away the flies which jabbed his sweaty forehead – but ended up giving me a monologue.

             “The creature will be here very soon.” He growled whilst fiddling with the tip of his shiny sword.  I kept my extremely misbehaved vocal chords shut.  “We need to prepare.”  But then he stopped and seemed to think about what he said.  “I need to prepare.” He corrected.  Satisfied that he was all ready for the fight, he wrapped me around a dense tree with reassured ropes.

“Look, I know you don’t trust me…” I began.  “but I’m just a mere bard!  I’m not gonna attack you or… anything.” He wasn’t listening.  I sighed before prodding a leaf with my shoe, but also trying to not get my suit dirty.  I looked at myself and decided it was already too late.  You couldn’t even see the crimson if you tried.

             I then heard it roar.  The massive rocky giant came out from within the trees and shook me terrified with a gaze alone.  I’m sure Geralt had told me that this was a rock troll, but I fear I might have been mistaken (mainly because I wasn’t really listening).  It had a thick, rock-like exterior with a face of what seemed like a hundred mangled tongues glued together into a skull shape.  Oozes of blood protruded between the cracks between its skin when it walked but it looked comfortable with that; as if it was used to pain.  It walked slowly and rhythmically.  My captor and my saviour drew his sword as I wiggled my way around the ropes across my chest – looking for a loose end to squirm out of and help him.  He, throbbing with adrenaline, started to jab the creature but I wasn’t really paying attention to that.  I heard them battle whilst I fiddled with the ropes once again, and again and again.  After what seemed like centuries, I broke through and stood up; looking at the fighting man.  To my fright, he was already bleeding on the forest floor.  But so was the creature.  It moaned up against a tree however it had started developing a plan to get back up again and finish us both.  To my saviour’s protest, I swiftly grabbed his bloody sword from the mud and threw it like a spear to the eye of the troll.  It immediately flopped, the life weeping from it.  It made a final, depressive shout before leaving the world and gifting us silence.

“Dandelion.” I said, “my name is Dandelion.” I swiftly offered him a hand up from the ground. Hoping he’d hurry up because the cuts I’d developed before were hurting, I smiled and chuckled a bit. Reluctantly, he agreed and I helped him up whilst he clutched his wound.

“Dune.  Guess the feeling’s mutual.”

**

So, my new ally, Dune, and I huddled ourselves around the campfire we made that evening; dressing our wounds and eating from the supply of food which he kindly offered me.  I sighed.

“What brings you here?” he asked.  I thought about it for a while and realised my initial goal – to deliver some papers – had officially gone out the window.

“Nothing much I guess.” I replied, “It’s kind of been a long day, mostly forgotten…”

“Tell me about it.” He chuckled before launching himself at a chicken wing and then sucking his fingers to detach the grease.  “Look… Dandelion, you’re welcome to tag along with me for a little while,” he smiled warmly, “I’ll keep you safe.  I mean, I don’t see you as the adventuring type – so I can’t imagine you making it back to wherever you need to go in one piece.”  I smiled again.  I didn’t even need to say ‘thank you’ because he could sense it as my eyes lit up.  I nodded.  Then he continued after getting up and packing his bag.  “We better get moving.  Here, we can travel on horseback to the nearest village and get ourselves organised.”

**

They looked like they’d gone to sleep, tankards in hand.  I finished the first part of my tale (to which I needed a good few top ups of ale), so I was pretty knackered too, but I pushed their floppy arms away and left them at the table – dozing until the morning.  I thought it would be best to sober up for now, then I will happily return to the inn to tell another story.

Hello!  I’m so glad to be back.  I love writing stories based on the Witcher and I hope you enjoy this one just as much as you did the others.  I upload chapters every Monday so stay tuned!  Please leave me feedback if you have something you would like to discuss with me, and I hope you have a good week :)

#dandelion's #tales #dandelion #dune #chapter #one #fanfiction #witcher #rise #of #the #white #wolf #assassin #kings #wild #hunt #written #fiction

[todobaku-shoukat]

Date

AO3: http://archiveofourown.org/works/11043168/chapters/24669144

Part 3 (End)

They heard that the Ferris Wheel was a staple of all amusement park dates, but the park’s Ferris Wheel wasn’t even a wheel. The attraction was managed by gravity manipulators who allowed users to float as if they were in space. The retainers also functioned as a sensor that only allowed users to move in designated areas for safety purposes. Bakugou questioned how it related to the more traditional Ferris Wheel. He trusted it about as much as he did the rollercoaster, which was not at all. So the Ferris Wheel was out.

 Basically, Bakugou did not trust any ride where he was suspended mid-air, which meant that the Centrifuge ride and the Viking were out too. Bumper Cars, Spinning Tea Cups, and the Carousel were too juvenile. There were only little kids there. So they were out too. They didn’t want to see the 4D theatre either, not really trusting the illusionists working there.

 In the end, they were only left with the River Raft ride. The people who have been through the ride were barely wet, and Bakugou knew how to swim. Hence, it was deemed safe.

 After the kiss (peck), Bakugou had blushed furiously and they had become awkward again. Todoroki was confused. How do other couples do it? However, things were not as tense as before and they chattered about school as they waited.

 Bakugou had left for the toilet halfway as they still had quite a while more to wait. Todoroki took the opportunity to research about kissing and kissing during the first date. It was barely helpful, but at least Todoroki has an idea about how to kiss.

 When they finally went on the ride, Bakugou realised that he was the most unlucky person on Earth. He was the only one who’s shirt got soaked through. He suspected that one of the operators had a vendetta against him. Todoroki called him silly, and got a slap on the arm in return.

 Bakugou grumbled and cursed under his breath as he stalked over to the toilet to dry himself. He removed his shirt to wring it dry, giving Todoroki an eyeful of his well-toned body.

 “Stop fucking leering at me, you fucking perv!” Bakugou growled, swinging his shirt towards Todoroki. Todoroki narrowly avoided it.

 “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Who’s leering?” Todoroki replied with a straight face, blinking innocently.

 “I am. Nice body you have there, pretty boy.” A gruff voice appeared behind them. The man had a well-built body and a head well over Todoroki. He was staring openly at Bakugou, smirking lecherously.

 Bakugou snarled, hands curled and ready to pounce. Todoroki immediately moved over to cover Bakugou’s body, holding back the other while glaring hostilely at the intruder.

 “Fucking move, you fucking half-and-half shithead! I’m going to fucking kill him!” Bakugou snapped, pushing against Todoroki.

 “I don’t doubt you can but it wouldn’t do to get into trouble. You can’t be the number one hero if you get sued for assault.” Todoroki reasoned, phrasing his words carefully to avoid angering Bakugou even more.

 “Fine,” Bakugou grumbled.

 “Ha! Scared?” The man mocked.

 “Ignore him. He’s not worth your time. You’re on a date with me. Pay attention only to me.” Todoroki said seriously, taking off his shirt to put it over Bakugou. “If he doesn’t leave us alone, I’ll press the panic button.”

 The panic button was another function of the retainer. It captured the identity of everyone around the individual and sent guards there. The man understood the threat, mumbling that he was not interested in a couple of ugly-ass kids before leaving.

 Bakugou made to return Todoroki’s shirt but he began to sneeze. Todoroki melted. Bakugou sounded like a little kitten. Todoroki then insisted that Bakugou kept his shirt on first. Catching a cold would mean missing classes, and Recovery Girl didn’t heal simple colds. Bakugou kept the shirt on begrudgingly as they continue to dry Bakugou’s shirt using the hand-dryer.

 Todoroki took the opportunity to stand close to Bakugou, saying that it would be warmer if they shared body heat. Bakugou would have called bullshit on that, but he was grateful for Todoroki’s shirt. He did feel rather cold after being doused in cold water. So he allowed Todoroki to press against his back. It made his cheeks flush, which was pretty effective in bringing up his temperature.

 When they were done and in their own shirts again, they decided to head towards the arcade games. There weren’t any other attractions that “attracted” them after all. They found that they were both great at the arcade games, and it soon grew into a competition to out-impress each other.

 They were evenly matched in the basketball machine, shooting games and strength tester machine, and they shyly avoided the love tester machine. Todoroki was a little more graceful at Dance Dance Revolution, having had to learn to dance properly. But Bakugou didn't lag behind in terms of his body coordination. Todoroki had been a little better at the claw machines, but Bakugou had him beat in racing games.

 They ended up winning a lot of prizes.

 “This one reminds me of you,” Todoroki teased, holding up a kitten phone strap with spiky creamy fur.

 “Huh?!” Bakugou growled, eyes narrowing at the offending object.

 “And this one is me,” Todoroki continued, holding up another kitten phone strap with smooth white fur and a brown spot over its left eye. “I want you to keep this one.”

 “Huh? Why would I?” Bakugou grumbled.

 “Please?” Todoroki pleaded, eyes sincere and earnest. Bakugou sighed and accepted the gift, putting it on his phone.

 Todoroki smiled, putting his own phone strap on. He wanted to tease Bakugou that they now had matching phone straps, but decided against it. He didn’t want Bakugou to remove it.

 They then headed to the centre area for the night parade. It was a flashy display put on by a large group of people with various different quirks. A bunch of large platforms floated forward. There was a man dressed in black at the front of the first platform. He bowed and introduced the parade.

 “Welcome everybody, to the spectacular one-of-a-kind Quirk Parade! I am MC Marvel and I am your host for tonight! Let me introduce my aide, Neon Glow!” The man’s voice boomed around the amusement park, calling for everyone’s attention.

 Beside him, a young woman with neon glowing skin appeared. She dragged a hand across the man’s shirt, making it glow. She then gave a curtsy before taking out a neon green hose. She pointed it at the platform behind, spraying shimmering silver-white liquid. The liquid landed and illuminated a huge patch of flower buds.

 “Our first presenter is Green Finger! I tell him that his name is no fun but he says it is very informational. And I say to him that my name is too! Hahaha!”

 From among the flower buds, a man rose. He had miniature pink flowers weaved into his soft lavender hair and pale white skin. He raised a clenched fist, strong muscles flexing in his tight white suit. As he slowly uncurled his fingers, the flowers around him began to bloom.

 “Joining Green Finger is the World Wind Wonders! You should never try to out-argue them, for they never run out of breath!”

 A pair of women appeared behind Green Finger, holding hands. They had matching twin pigtails and a devious smirk on their faces. Putting their heads to the flowers, they take a deep breath and blew. The sweet floral aroma permeated the air as luminescent flower petals danced in the wind.

 Bakugou shivered from the cold breeze. He hated feeling cold. Sensing Bakugou’s discomfort, Todoroki sneaked closer and placed an arm around his shoulders. Bakugou did not say a word, but leant into Todoroki’s embrace, greedily revelling in the other’s warmth.

 “Here, we have Charge Lightyear! I try to tell him that it sounds way too much like Buzz Lightyear but that’s the guy’s idol!”

 A man dressed in a silver suit stood in front of MC Marvel and lifted his arms. Above him, lightning cracked the sky in a radial array, lighting it a rich indigo. And from the centre of the array, a young woman descended.

 “And, now, we have the star of the show, Floating Feather!”

 The woman had long flowing silver hair and large luxurious white wings that enveloped her entire body. Slowly, she spread her wings. Glitter fell from her wings, twinkling like stars in the night sky. She started to dance, spinning and leaping across the sky. Then, fireflies began to twirl around her.

 “Joining Floating Feather is The Whisperer who can communicate with fireflies! Please put your hands together to applaud this astounding display!”

 The applause was thunderous. The viewers were in awe, watching as Floating Feather whirled in the moonlight. When she was done, she landed among the flowers and disappeared behind them. The fireflies continued to perform. It was clear that they were the equivalent of traditional fireworks as the fireflies flew high into the air before descending like they were falling embers.

 Todoroki remembered reading that fireworks were a good time to kiss. Glancing around, he saw that many couples were indeed kissing. Rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand, Todoroki wondered if he should ask Bakugou for another kiss. As if he could hear Todoroki’s thoughts, Bakugou turned to stare into his eyes.

 “What are you waiting for? The queen to write you an order in blood?” Bakugou grumbled, cheeks turning pink.

 Todoroki smirked, “The only queen whose order I care about is you.”

 Bakugou’s cheeks turned a deeper shade of red. He opened his mouth, ready to throw a curse when Todoroki dived in to kiss him.

 It was clear that Todoroki wasn’t the only one who searched about kissing during their toilet breaks. But research can only get you so far. The kiss was wet and messy and really quite horrifying to look at. But it didn’t matter. At that point in time, it was only the two of them in the world.

 The date had been terrible at the start, Todoroki thought to himself. But it did get better. Much better. At least he got to kiss Bakugou thrice. (One kiss and two pecks.)

 Then, Bakugou bit his tongue and Todoroki wondered how they could up their kissing skills.

#todobaku #fanfic #future verse #todoroki shouto #bakugou katsuki #bnha #ABCs of Todobaku

[natepatfics]

Light in the Darkness [Supernatural AU! Natepat]

The rain was biting and cold against the boy’s skin. His mop of inky black hair rested in his face, his eyes much the same color, flecked with silver. He shivered, pulling his hoodie closer to himself, sniffling. There was no doubt he was sick, the cold air turning his cheeks and the tip of his nose a rosey pink.

He couldn’t have been more then ten years old, abandoned and alone. He was so cold and hungry, his breath coming out in foggy clouds that curled into the street lamps as he trecked down. What was wrong with him? What had he done wrong? He whined at the sharp stabbing pain in his stomach, though no one would hear. He was battered and bruised, fang-like teeth digging into his bottom lip.

He just wanted food and somewhere warm to stay. That’s all he could ask for. All that he could get would be a musty gas station, trying to steal a stale protein bar. Of course, he was unskilled and it wasn’t hard to catch him. Though it wouldn’t be by the person at the counter. It would be by a man twice the boy’s height.

His eyes gleamed a bright crimson, his hair inky like the boy before him. The boy whimpered, eyes wide. What was this guy going to do to him? Was he going to turn him in to clerk at the counter? The boy whimpered as the man held out his hand and imminently retrieved the bar he’d managed to snatch from his pocket, shakily placing it in his open palm.

The man noticed his sliced, scratched and bloody fingers, head tilted to the side. “Where are your parents, little one?” His voice was soft and smooth, leaving a wave of confusing relaxation to wash over the child. He bowed his head, whimpering. “I-I’ve been banished, s-sir.” “Banished you say? From your own family?” At the boy’s nod, the man frowned.

“And why might that be, child?” “Because I’m w…Wed-Wed…L-Locked?” The man chuckled softly as the boy stumbled out the probably confusing and forgin word. “You were born in wedlock, little one?” The term sounded familiar enough to the boy and he nodded, huddling into his soaked hoodie, wincing at the flaring pain in his shoulder.

The man looked the child over, his nose twitching. The boy smelled of wet dog with an undertone of cinnamon vanilla, looking pitiful as a lost puppy. “Come with me, child.” The boy did as he was told, struggling to keep pace with him. The man returned the protine bar to it’s shelf and led the child out of the gas station into the freezing rain, taking the trench coat he was wearing off and draping it around the boy. It sheilded him in warmth, wrapping him in a comforting scent of clover.

The walk took about ten minutes, both of the creatures silent. The boy kept peering up at the stranger, wondering where they were going. Was this man going to hurt him? He was tense, ready to run. But, the man simply led him to a nice three-story town home, leading him inside. Warmth wrapped around him as they entered, the front hall bright.

The man gently took the trench coat from the boy, as well as his soaking hoodie. “Take the hall to your right, little one. I’ll wake the boys up and introduce you.” The child didn’t question the soft command, just padded to a living room area dressed with Victorian furniture. He fidgeted with the hem of his ripped up black shirt as he sat on the couch.

A few moments later, the creaking of floorboards made the boy’s sensitive ears pricked up and he turned his head towards the doorway which he entered from. Three boys about his age poked their heads in, sleepily rubbing at their eyes –well, eye for the boy who had a thick white eye patch over his left eye, hiding it from view– like they had just been woken up. They blinked at him, watching as the boy shrunk back into the couch. What was happening?

The man that had ushered the smaller child here stepped up behind the boys, holding a pair of what appeared to be fresh clothes. “Boys, I believe it is rude to stare, yes? As well as not introducing ourselves?” The three nodded in unison and shuffled into the room. A boy with bed ruffled mess of brunette hair padded up to the stranger, smiling and yawning cutely. “H-hello, new friend! I’m Matt.” He pointed behind him. “That’s Mark and Sean.”

“Jack.” The green haired boy with the eye patch snapped, arms crossed over his little chest. The redheaded boy hugged himself, sleepy eyes on the raven-haired boy. “Who’re you?” Matt asked softly. The smallest boy remained silent, again pulling at the fabric of his shirt. “Is he broken?” Mark popped up, in question to the boy’s silence.

“Mark!” The man gasped. “He’s not broken, he’s probably just very shy!” The redheaded boy bowed his head shamefully. “S-Sorry…” Matt’s eyes focused on the cuts and burises that covered the boy’s friged arms, frowning. “You’re hurt.” He stated, as if that wasn’t already painfully obvious. “C'mon! I’ll patch you up.” He held out a small hand, which the raven-haired boy took with shaking fingers, allowing himself to be pulled off the couch.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to do it, Matthew?” The brunette nodded, a look of adorable determination on his features. “I’m sure, I’ve got it!” He led the stranger boy to the bathroom, closing the door behind him. “Sit on the edge of the tub.” He ordered gently and the boy nodded, doing as he was told. Matt stood on his toes, balancing himself on the edge of the counter to reach a First Aid kit that was tucked away in what appeared to be a supply closet near the door.

When he turned back to the boy, he was looking down at his shoes, which were dirty and battered, a small hand cradling his left shoulder. Matt frowned, noticing the boy’s pain. Well now, that wouldn’t do, would it? He slipped back over, gently pulling the boy’s hand away from his shoulder, only to see sticky blood staining his fingers. “This might sound weird, but can you take your shirt off? I wanna look at your shoulder.” The silent boy nodded, doing as he was told.

Matt manuvered behind him, little eyebrows furrowed in concentration as he looked down at the boy’s shoulder. It looked like someone had taken a knife and painfully carved an Outsider mark or banishment mark into his skin, deep enough that he knew it would scar over. “Oh… Oh, that’s gonna hurt to clean…” He muttered. He felt so bad for this kid. He couldn’t have been any older then himself. Sure, his parents abandoned him when he was a baby, but even still, he grew up under the care of Master Ambrose.

This kid looked like he’d been through hell. The boy sneezed and coughed, shuddering and whimpering like a small pup. He had to be so sick from being out in the rain! “Sh, it’s okay.” Matt soothed and smiled. “You’re okay now! Master Ambrose will take care of you! He’s a really good caretaker!” The brunette chattered happily as he cleaned the boy up, putting a large square of gauze over the mark on his shoulder. When he finished, he nodded, satisfied with his work. “There! All done!”

The silent boy smiled softly and nodded, pushing himself off of the tub. “Th-Thank you…” He muttered weakly. Matt nodded. “Of course!” There was a moment of silence while the brunette returned the med kit to it’s proper place before a soft voice from behind him. “I-I’m Nate, by th-the way.” He turned back to him and smiled. “It’s nice to meet you, Nate!” He grinned. “We’ll be best friends, yeah?” The raven-haired boy smiled and nodded. “Yeah.”

____

Nate rolled his neck, looking down at the agility coarse before him. Crisp forest air whiped past him, alive with scents of pine, musty leaves and small creatures such as squirrels and rabbits. But, he wasn’t worried about that at the moment. At the moment, he was worried about beating Matt’s time on this stupid coarse. He knew he could do it. He just had to concentrate.

A loud crack filled the air, followed by Mark’s cursing. Nate looked over, eyebrow raised. Sean had much the same reaction, small rocks floating around him, his left eye –or the septic eye, as he, Matt and Mark called it because it looked septic green where the white of his eye should be, the iris glowing bright blue– glowing brightly. “Ya have horrible reaction time, Mark.” He called out.

The redhaired teen glared at the Irish boy, holding the side of his head. “Fuck you, man! You’re throwing damn rocks at my head!” Nate chuckled and shook his head. This was his life since he’d been taken in at ten years old. All four of the boys were supernatural. Each of them had a set of powers that they possessed. For example, Sean had the ability of psychokinesis, which he used to his advantage to dick with literally everyone. His powers had to do with his mind.

Mark and Matt, they were elementals. Mark had the ability to bend and control fire, while Matt was more of a jack of all trades, master of none. And Nate, while he didn’t have any powers such as these, he was a warewolf. He could shift and change into the wolf-like creature twice his size, priding himself in his speed and reflexes. Matt stood at the other end of the course, grinning and waving. “C'mon, Natey-kins! See if you can beat me!”

Nate snorted. “Don’t you Natey-kins me, Matthew!” He called back, chuckling. “Well, c'mon then, slow poke!” The raven-haired teen laughed and took off sprinting, ducking and dodging with grace and ease. He went into tunnel vision, his only target being the makeshift finish line at the end. This was their training, no matter how much they would try to turn it into a game.

The crimson eyed man that played as their caretaker, Master Ambrose as Nate had been taught, wanted them in top physical and mental condition, seeing the world was dripping with Familiars, demon-like creatures that were bent on the destruction of the entire human population. Of course, they were controlled by a darker force, but, for the moment, the four of them were more worried about protecting the humans, the delusional, silly beings they were.

Nate pitched himself over the last wall and skidded to a stop in front of Matt, panting. “How was that?” He asked, running a hand through his hair. The brunette, however, wasn’t paying attention to what the slightly taller male in front of him was saying. He was hypnotized by his movements, entranced by the way his messy raven hair would fall, shading over his left eye. He could get lost in those ebony and silver flecked eyes for hours, the way they would catch the light, gleaming with confidence.

Nate raised an eyebrow, waving a hand in front if Matt’s face. “Uh, Matty? You’re gonna drown yourself in drool if you aren’t careful.” Matt gave an ‘eep’ of a noise, his hand flying up to his mouth to check to see if he was actually drooling. Much to his relief, he wasn’t. “Uh… S-Sorry.” He muttered. “Yeah. Th-that was a good run.” Nate smiled and nodded. “Cool. Did I beat your time?”

“Well… Ya see, I wasn’t exactly… Timing you.” Nate’s eyes narrowed. “What?” “I… Er, spaced out?” The raven-haired male huffed, dropping his head and rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Alright, I’ll do it again. But you better record me, Matthew, or so help me God, I’ll hurt you.” Matt put his hands up. “Message read loud and clear, boss.”

Matt watched him saunter away, swallowing heavily. What was wrong with him? Nate was his friend! And yet, he couldn’t help staring at him… Imagining what it would be like to actually be with him romantically… He shook his head, sighing. It’s never going to happen, Matthew. Stop thinking about it!

_____

Matt cried out as he was shoved against the cold locker behind him. He hated high school. Absolutely. Fucking. Hated it. Not the learning or the gain of knowledge, but the people that attended the school. The bully who pinned him grinned, one hand by his head, the other on his hip.

“Well well well, if it isn’t the pretty boy. Where ya been, sweetheart? We missed you in class.” Matt swallowed heavily, looking over the bully’s shoulder to see three of his burly and ugly friends smirking. “I-I was in the l-library getting books for B-Biology.“ “The nerd’s cute when he’s scared.” One of the bully’s friends commented, looking Matt up and down like he was a piece of meat.

“That he is.” The bully chuckled, the hand on Matt’s hip sliding down to his thigh, causing him to jerk and jump. “H-Hey, watch it!” He yelped, eyes wide. What the hell was going to happen to him?! “Aw, nervous love? Maybe we should go to the janitor’s closet for somewhere more… Private?” The bully had leaned down near Matt’s ear, his voice low. Matt chuckled nervously. “I-I really do need to get to class…”

“What’s one class?” Matt flinched and closed his eyes at the feeling of lips on his neck, only to hear a low growling flooding the halls. What the hell? The bully raised his head and looked behind him, Matt cracking his eyes open. A wolf-like creature stalked down the hall, lips drawn in a snarl, silver eyes glowing brightly, snapping with anger. Matt immidently recognized the animal, letting a sigh of relief pass his lips.

“Dude, what the fuck is that thing?!” Goon number one screeched. “I don’t fucking know! Is it going to attack us?!” Goon number two asked, looking back at the bully. He looked like he was going to piss himself. “I-I don’t fuckin’ know!” Matt wanted to laugh at their stupidity, but instead, he simply smirked. “I would release me if you don’t want your jugular ripped out.” He stated, seemingly the only calm one of the entire situation.

“Is that thing yours?!” Matt frowned. “He’s not a thing.” The brunette’s eyes drifted up to meet the bright silver orbs peering at him through the mess of midnight black fur. “I really would back down, though. He’s got some pretty sharp fangs and claws.” As if to note what Matt said, the wolf-like creature snapped at the air, another snarl reverberating. All four of the boys squealed like little pigs, releasing Matt and running for their lives. The wolf-creature was right on their heels, growling and snapping, making it seem like it was really out to get them.

Moments later, however, Nate padded down the hall, his eyes still a shining silver, grinning like a madman. Matt was doubled over laughing, running a hand through his hair. “That was amazing, Nate.” Named teen chuckled. “That was fun.” He strode over to the smaller teen, looking him up and down. “You okay?” “Perfect. Thanks for the save.“ Nate gave a dimpled grin and nodded. “Of course.”

Truth was, no one ever touched Matt and got away with it. Absolutely no one. Nate was always there at the perfect moment to throw himself in front of the brunette, snarling and snapping. In short, the raven-haired teen was very possessive. Of his family, that is, and especially of Matt.

Later that day, however, both teens we’re set on the couch in the living room while Master Ambrose paced angerily in front of them. “Nathan, you know we do not use our powers in front of humans!” “But Matt needed help!” The raven haired teen argued. “So you decide to shift and scare half of the school?!” “They were trying to rape me!” Matt squeaked. He hated being scolded, and he normally never spoke out, but Nate was being bashed for helping him.

“Those are broad allegations, Matthew.” “I saw it!” Nate intervened. “They had him pinned to the locker and everything!” “Even so,” Master Ambrose interrupted. “You did not have to use your powers to help him.“ Nate had opened his mouth to argue, but the crimson eyed creature held a hand up. “No more arguments. Nathan, you’re picking up everyone’s chores for the next two weeks.”

“That’s not fair!” Matt stated. “Keep that up, Matthew, and you’ll be joining him.” Nate gently squeezed Matt’s knee, giving a small shake of his head to tell him to drop it. The brunette fell silent, sighing. Nate stuck up for him all the time, no matter what it was. He was greatful, to be honest. The brunette sighed softly and nodded, lowering his head.

Later that night, Nate was sweeping the kitchen, sighing softly, headphones over his ears. He didn’t care about taking everyone else’s chores. He saved Matt, and that’s all that mattered. He felt his headphones being lifted off of his ears and looked back to see Matt, sheepishly smiling. “Hey.” He muttered softly. “Hey.” Nate responded with a soft grin. “Need any help?”

“Nah, I’m good. I’m almost done, anyway.” Matt sighed and nodded. “Okay. Uh, thanks. For… Y'know, sticking up for me.” The raven-haired teen nodded. “Of course.” The two stood in comfortable silence for a moment, Nate’s eyes scanning Matt over. He looked… Absolutely beautiful. Dressed in a simple white shirt and running shirts, his brunette hair was a bit of a mess, oak eyes glimmering with intelligence. Matt shyly looked up at Nate, a blush creeping onto his cheeks. Was Nate… Checking him out?

Matt cleared his throat, making the raven haired teen jump. “You okay, Nate?” The brunette asked softly. The larger teen nodded, swallowing heavily, a pink blush creeping onto his cheeks. “G-Great. N-never… Heh, never better.” Matt nodded, scratching the back of his neck. “I-I’m gonna go upstairs. Finish up my Chemistry homework.” Nate chuckled. “Sounds like a plan. If you could grab my calculus sheet from my bag, that would be great.”

The brunette nodded and sucked in a breath, quickly hugging Nate. The scent of cinnamon and vanilla was comforting to him. Nate almost dropped the broom he was holding, yipping in surprise. “Really. Thank you, Nate.” The taller teen smiled softly and leaned the broom against the counter, arms wrapping around Matt’s somewhat smaller frame. “It wasn’t a problem, Matt. I’ll always protect you, no matter what.”

_____

Nate sucked in a breath. He had to tell him. He had to tell Matt how he felt. He’d given himself a few months to mull over his feelings, and finally decided he liked the brunette teen romantically. He could do this. The raven-haired teen padded down the hall, noticing the light to Matt’s room was on and his door was cracked open. Everyone else was asleep, which made it strange that Matt was still awake. Nate was just naturally nocturnal, so it wasn’t odd for him to be awake until two or three in the morning.

Nate eased the door open, peaking in. Matt was sitting on the bed, a bowl of water in front of him. The raven-haired teen leaned against the door frame, smiling and watching Matt as he would cup a handful of water in his hands and then pull and shape the liquid into beautiful figures and such like it was clay. Nate could’ve stood there watching him for hours. It was cute the way Matt would concentrate, bottom lip between his teeth, eyebrows scrunched up.

Instead, he cleared his throat, making Matt jump, the water, which he’d been shaping into a rose, falling back into the bowl with a splash. “N-Nate!” “Heh… Hey, Matty. Sorry to startle you.” He chuckled, padding into the room. “O-Oh no. You’re fine. What'cha need?” He took the bowl, setting it on the bedside table. Nate took it’s place, legs crossed as he watched the brunette dry his hands on his shorts.

“Well, I don’t necessarily need anything. I j-just wanted to… Tell you something. I-It’s okay if you don’t agree! I just… Have to get this out.” Matt frowned, raising an eyebrow. “Uh… Okay?” Nate sucked in a breath, his cheeks dusted bright pink. “Okay. I… God, that’s going to sound so stupid! I just–” Matt pressed his hand to Nate’s mouth, smiling softly. The sweet smell of ocean water and sea air rolled off of his skin, his oak eyes soft. “How about you just show me what you’re trying to say?”

Nate turned an even deeper shade of red, but nodded, lithe fingers gently wrappig around Matt’s wrist. He pulled his hand away from his mouth and leaned down, pressing their lips together. Matt gave a noise of startled surprise before pressing back, his own face as red as Nate’s, his eyes fluttering shut. Both teens relaxed, Matt allowing Nate to push him down on the bed, fingers tangling in the messy swoop of inky black hair. When they pulled away for air, both of them broke into a fit of giggles, Nate’s forehead resting against Matt’s.

“That’s what I wanted to tell you. That I love you, you beautiful dork.” He muttered. Matt grinned. “Aw, how romantic, Natey-kins. I love you, too.” He teased gently before leaning up and kissing him again, fingers moving from his hair to rest against the slightly larger teen’s neck. Nate complied to the kiss, still grinning.

His fingers crept up Matt’s shirt, fingertips ghosting his skin, causing the brunette to shiver. His own fingers slid down, pulling at the seam of Nate’s shirt, indicating he wanted it off. Nate pulled back from the kiss, worming his shirt off, looking down at Matt with a shy grin. The brunette smiled back, his fingertips reaching up for the Outsider mark carved into Nate’s shoulder, grazing over the paper white scars that made up the mark.

He watched the raven-haired teen shiver slightly, feeling his muscles twitch. Nate was stunningly beautiful, with his skin sunkissed. From the intense physical training all four boys went through, there was no fat on any of them, leaving Nate lean and built, in apt physical shape. “Heh, enjoying the view, beautiful?” Nate teased softly, making Matt blush. “M-Maybe…”

Nate leaned back down, pressing soft kisses to Matt’s jaw. “I don’t see why. You’re the stunning one here.” The brunette turned bright red, whining as he covered his face. “Sh-Shut up!” “You can’t run from the truth, Matty. You’re gorgeous, little rose.” “Naaaaaate!” “Guess what else?” “… What?” “I love you.” “I love you, too, dork.”

____

“Mark! Watch your flank!” Sean screamed as a Familiar sprung at him. Mark cursed, an ark of fire following the pattern of his arm. The Familiar screeched when struck by the fanning flames, stumbling back. It was a grotesque being with twisted facial features, black ooze dripping from it’s eyes and mouth, sizzling against the forest floor like acid as it dripped down it’s gray leathery skin.

Clawed hands sliced blindly at the air, trying to turn the redhead attacking it to shreads. Nate had his own problems, surrounded on all sides by three of the ugly demon creatures. The creatures hissed and Nate snarled, springing at one of the creatures, shifting into the large wolf-like creature in midair. Sharp fangs ripped out the creature’s throat in one swift movement.

Sean and Matt had doubled up, tag teaming a horde of demons that surrounded them, Matt using the tree roots like ropes to trap them while Sean impaled them with mini boulders. Each one of the boys had their own rhythm, tying their skills together to become effective fighting machines. Just like they were taught. The fight was over in the span of minuets, the entire camp empty. Or, so they thought. Nate shifted back to human, panting and combing a hand through his hair.

“Everyone alright?” He asked. The other three nodded, out of breath, a little battered, but still alive. The raven-haired male nodded, only for his ears to prick up at the crack of a tree branch. Before he could react, a Familiar sprung up, tackling Matt to the ground, a hord of others flooding from the trees to surround them. It was a planned ambush. The demons they’d killed we’re simply cannon fodder! “Fuck!” Sean declared, hands out in front of himself.

A weak sheild pulsed around him, Mark and Nate. “This won’t hold long!” The Irish male stated, grunting like it was physically paining him to keep the shield up. Nate, however, was focused on the five demons swarming Matt. “Help!” The brunette screamed, tree roots and rocks being cut down and dodged faster then he could raise defense. Nate’s eyes glowed. No one touched his beloved and got away with it!

Ignoring Mark and Sean’s screams of protest, he surged out of the shield, shifting and plowing through the mass of Familiars, snarling, snapping and tearing them to shreads. Matt gave a panicked yell, a cold blade pressed to his throat. He squeezed his eyes shut, whimpering. This was it. This is how he died. And yet, he wouldn’t be decapitated, or brutally stabbed. No biting pain of an icy blade would come, instead a familiar snarl would fill the air above him. The pressure on his chest was ripped off at lightning speed, allowing him the chance to breathe.

Before he could sit up, he heard a pained yelp and head a sickening crack. He looked up just in time to see a Familiar’s head fall from Nate’s bloody maw and the wolf collapsed in the middle of a ring of dead demons. Nate shifted back, hand pressed to his side, cursing under his breath as he tried to force himself to his knees. “Nate!” Matt yelled, pushing himself up and skittering over to him, falling to his knees at his side. “Oh my God, are you okay?!”

“Ah… Ha, fuck.” The raven-haired male groaned, blood dripping between his fingers. The larger male before Matt looked exhausted, and he could imagine why. He tore a whole horde of Familiars, just to save him. “Hey, sh sh.” Matt managed to roll Nate onto his back, resting his head in his lap while Mark and Sean rushed over, Mark tugging a medical kit from the pack he’d dragged along. “Just breathe, Nate.”

Named male whined, closing his eyes, his chest rising and falling in a jagged pattern. He was so tired, he could feel the painful burn of exhaustion pulling at him, setting fire to his entire body. Mark set to work cleaning the slash wound on Nate’s side, which was pretty deep, carefully stitching it closed and bandaging it up when he finished. “There…” The redhead muttered, sighing softly as he returned his supplies to the med kit and then to his bag.

“Ya doin’ alright, lad?” Sean muttered while Matt combed his fingers through Nate’s hair. Nate chuckled weakly and held up a thumbs up, his breathing still evening out. Matt smiled weakly. “Y-You’re such an idiot.” He leaned down and kissed Nate’s forehead, muttering against his skin, “But, you’re my idiot.” “Ew, get a room, fags.” Mark teased with a laugh, both Matt and Nate looking up at him with small smiles. “Shut the hell up, Red.” Nate muttered, then for emphasis, pulled Matt into a loving kiss. He promised to protect Matt, and that’s exactly what he planned to do, no matter what.