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#unlike everyone else on the planet
mapileonxputellas · 27 days
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Beckham II: 3 Nerves
The third part is finally here! I hope you enjoy.
Masterlist can be found here.
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9th February 2023
“Breaking news this lunch time, Sarina Weigman had named her squad for the Arnold Clark cup and included in the squad for the first time in nearly 4 years is Y/N Beckham.” England squads weren’t typically breaking news on the main news channels but this was no ordinary squad announcement. “Widely considered as one of the best players on the planet, Beckham has not been including in an England squad since the 2019 World Cup and her return dominated the press conference.”
Squad announcement press conferences are usually comminated by a few stories, the surprise inclusions, the ones who don’t quite make the cut. However when the list was read out it was immediately clear what all the questions would be about today as the eyes of world football turned to Sarina.
“Sarina can you tell us more about Beckham’s inclusion? Why has this decision been taken now after 4 years?”
“I know you’re all probably very interested in that so I’ll try and answer all of your questions. This hasn’t been a simple process for either party, I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t been watching her since I became England manager but it’s not that simple and we had to respect the fact that Y/N did not want to be called up. Over the past few weeks I’ve been working closer with her and we’ve agreed that now is the right time to see if we can make progress.”
“The squad has changed a lot since then but there are still players who would were in the squad in 2019, have you spoken to them about this?”
“I have not, I’d like to think that all players support each other and I know my players well enough to know that they will do all they can to make Y/N feel welcome in this environment both on and off the pitch.”
“Do you have any concerns around her desire to play for England and play for the badge. Will she have lost that fight in the past four years?”
“I can not prove that to you and I guess none of us will know the answer until she plays for England again but I would not pick any player I had those concerns about. I’ve watcher her play a lot for Barcelona and over this past year especially I’ve seen a freedom to her play. I just hope that we can all see that side of her in an England shirt.”
“David, were you shocked when the announcement was made?”
“I mean obviously we spoke about prior to the announcement but when she told me I wasn’t exactly shocked. It just annoyed me that people questioned her mentally because she is so strong now.”
…..
Everyone could tell you were anxious. Since the announcement on Thursday you’d been quieter than usual in training, your usual sweet laughter which your teammates loved had been replaced by a strained giggle and they could see you’d been putting pressure on yourself in every department.
Everything had to be perfect.
In the four days since your decision had been made public you’d received support from all your teammates but you could see they were also worried. Many of them had been here when you joined, they’d seen the aftermath and many of them had been your shoulder to lean on for months after.
Many of them watched on now as you retreated into your room, barely giving a second glance to the games currently taking place in the dining room, a tradition you were a usual member of the night before an away game.
Alexia and Mapi had noticed the changes just like everyone else, the three of you had a strong connection both on and off the pitch. Alexia had become an older sister figure to you and Mapi was your platonic soul mate. They knew your habits unlike anyone else and when the notebook you used for anxious tattoo scribblings had been out the entire journey to Mallorca it was clear your mind was elsewhere.
“You grab the pillows.”
“I’ll grab the blankets.”
The two of them scurried off to their own rooms, finding their entrusted items before meeting back at the door which they knew you would be behind. You wouldn’t have gone outside, your shy nature meant you struggled to have confidence in new cities, preferring to explore with others rather than alone as the sun went down.
Alexia knocked on the door, a moment of panic striking as they thought you weren’t going to answer before the door creaked open. Your wide-eyed figure stood in the crack, still in the tracksuit you’d travelled in rather than pyjamas.
“What’s going on?” The tree of you quite often spent the nights in each other’s hotel rooms, though those meetings were usually pre-planned.
Only you knew from the worried expressions on their faces this wasn’t a call to watch the latest film that had been released. “We’re worried about you.”
“I’m fine.”
You should have known that answer was never going to satisfy them. “Please can we come in.”
It wasn’t even worth trying to persuade them, not really. “Sure.” They couldn’t miss the sigh you let out as the door swung open. “Make yourself comfy.”
In the matter of minutes you’d gone from sprawling over the double bed alone to shuffling between the two players, being welcomed into the arms of Alexia as the three of you shuffled under the duvet.
“We’re worried about you.” MarÍa admitted, smoothing down the hair draped around your face. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing.”
“Are you sure because I bet if we looked in that notepad we’d find more anxious doodles than before. You’ve barely spoken two words to anyone since the news broke out.”
“I read an article-“
“Didn’t I tell you to stop that.” Alexia scolded you. “Those journalists don’t know anything about you.”
“But they don’t know that.” You argued back. “They’ll be reading about how ‘cocky’ I am on and off the pitch, how I flaunt my money, how I think I ‘own the team’.”
“If they believe that then they really have no eyes. Then they’ll see how you’re one of the shiest players on the team, they’ll learn how you could live in mansion but donate so much money to charity, they’ll see how much you work on the team as a whole. You do everything for football and they need to see that.”
“If they don’t love the person they’ll come to know then that’s on them.” Alexia agreed with her.
“Are you sure this isn’t about a certain blonde centre back?” MarÍa teasingly questioned you. “Maybe this isn’t about you being nervous about the articles and more about going into gay panic around Miss Williamson.”
“I told you that in confidence that you’d never bring it up again.” It was true, a few years ago you had confided in the two of them that you used to have a small (very large) crush on Leah at the time.
“And I’m tired of you being the third wheel in our flat, you’ve rejected every opportunity for me to set you up with one of my friends so now I have to think that it’s because you’re still pining for the girl.”
“I’m not pining for anyone, it was a stupid crush which has gone in the four years that I haven’t spoken to the girl.”
“Would you like to speak to her again?” Alexia asked.
“I mean obviously I’m going to have to, she’s the captain of the team.”
“Message her now.”
“No.”
“Why not?” I could only think of a million reasons why I wasn’t about to do that.
“Because like I said, I haven’t spoken to her in nearly four years and it would be weird for me to just message her the night before we see each other again.”
“So lets role play it then, you walk into the hotel tomorrow and she’s there, what are you going to say?” Alexia asked the question you’ve been asking yourself all week.
“Hi.”
Both of them looked like they wanted to tear out both their own and your hair. “Ok you can’t just say that.”
“What else do you want me to say?”
“How are you? Ask her about her life?”
“You want me to speak to the girl for the first time in years and ask her basically how she’s been since we went from speaking every day to unfollowing each other on social media and avoiding any chance of meeting since then.” You needed better friends in situations like this. “I’m not going heavy on our first conversation.”
“You will need to talk about.”
“I know but it’s not just her I need to have that conversation with, I was close with a lot of them and now I’m not. They should be just as involved in that conversation as Leah is.”
“Maybe you could design her a little tattoo, something like ‘I love Y/N’ on her forehead.” MarÍa teased you. “Matches your ‘I love Leah’ on your chest.”
“Shut up, just so you know I’ll never stop cockblocking you and Ingrid, I’ll be round for tea when I get back.”
“Bonnie told me she wants to live with me all the time by the way, said something about her mum abandoning her.”
“Fuck off MarÍa.”
….
The first person to reach out to you wasn’t exactly someone you expected. Mary Earps wasn’t exactly in your friendship group back in 2019, though because she was a part of that squad she was one of the players who you unfollowed in the following unfortunate events. You definitely therefore were not expecting to see her name pop up as you made your way through the airport, heading out to the car which would take you back to your parents’ house before you headed to the team hotel later on in the evening.
@1maryearps: See you later mate, we can’t wait to have you back x
Your emotions were so all over the place that maybe you should have expected this simple message to bring tears to your eyes. Maybe that meant you’d have at least one person on your side tonight.
You spent most of the meal with parents and siblings trying to do anything to avoid the thoughts about what was happening tonight coming back. You spoke to Harper about her homework, Cruze about his latest holiday and Romeo about his girlfriend. Brooklyn could almost sense your nervousness and kept up the conversation, which was all fine until you had to leave.
They knew how big this moment was and each gave you an individual goodbye before you got back into the car. As much as you would have liked to have taken your dad’s offer to drive you, this was all about being normal and being drove by David Beckham didn’t really give off that vibe.
You’d made this drive a million times before, only this time it seemed to take half the time and before you knew it the doors to St George’s Park were in view.
The only person in view was a single man holding a video camera, obviously preparing for the players’ arrivals This was hard and yet you knew this was probably the easiest step, he didn’t know you. You got out from the car, flashing a small smile to the camera as it trained on your every move, making sure to say a thank you to the driver, you turned to head inside.
“How are you feeling Y/N?” The camera man asked.
“Excited.” You couldn’t exactly tell him you were shaking inside. “I can’t wait to be back with this amazing team.”
“Two goals from you today….”
“All thanks to my teammates.” It was only the truth, you were basically set up for both goals by Aitana, you couldn’t do anything but put them in the back of the net.
“Good luck.”
“Thank you very much.”
If you were known for one thing it would be your punctuality, in fact you almost had a fear of being late. Maybe you’d done it on purpose this time to avoid greeting teammates in front of the camera but you were the first here judging by the table in the reception area being full of keys.
“Y/N it’s good to finally meet you in person.” Anja, one of the members of the England management team greeted you. “I hope you’re feeling well.”
“I’m glad to be here,” You settled for that. “I can’t wait to get back on that pitch now.”
“Well we’re glad to have you here. Here’s your key, we’ll meet in the dining area for a quick debrief at 8 and then you’ll have the night to yourself. Training schedules for the week are in your key pack.”
“Thank you.”
This place hadn’t changed one bit, from the entrance all the way up to your rooms you could trace the steps without even looking. You could hear noise out in the corridor but you stayed put, waiting for the clock to tick to 7:50 before making your way downstairs. With it being ten minutes early no one was there but Sarina and the coaching staff. Could this technically count as your first impression to them?
Their eyes trained on you as you entered the room. “Hey, thank you once again.”
“Stop saying thank you, this is all on you.” Sarina instructed, giving you a firm yet welcoming hug, an action which was repeated by the others. “Go and take a seat.”
“Thank-“ Maybe not. “Ok Sarina.”
You didn’t really know what to expect from the others, the squad was definitely a mixture of youth and experience. However even some of the more established players like Alessia and Ella were unknown to you on a personal level.
Thankfully maybe the first ones in were some of the younger players, Jess Park and Ebony Salmon were both the epitome of excitement as they entered the room saying a quick hello to the staff before slightly pausing when they found me sat on the first row.
“Hi.” You knew it was on you to make the effort. “It’s nice to meet you both.”
“Nice to meet you too.” Jess said taking the seat next to me. “You’re killing it at Barcelona.”
“Thank you, I’ve enjoyed watching you play this season. You’ll be an asset at city when you return.” You loved studying young players and watching their development. Jess was no difference in that, plus it helped to build up that connection on the team.
The volume in the room increased as more players entered. Some like Laura Coombs and Katie Zelem gave you a quick smile before taking their seats, other youngsters gave you a quick welcome.
The first real re-introduction you had was when Millie and Rachel entered, your eyes instantly connecting and it was Rachel who led the two of them over. You had always loved the two of them and almost let out a sigh of relief when they both greeted you with hugs, repeating how glad they were to see you. Lucy and Jordan followed suit, the two of them messing about and pulling you into a tight hug before taking their seats.
It was however the final people to enter the room that you were the most nervous about. Maybe you should have been thankful that when Keira, Georgia and Leah entered the room the meeting was about to start and all you could do was send a glancing look their way before Sarina had eyes on her.
She went through the logistics, just like happens every time before she got into the depths of the squad. “It would seem like this is the squad for reintroducing yourself. Laura hasn’t been with us since 2020 and Y/N in 2019. We just want everyone to remember that they’re here for a reason and we all play for England, we’re all a team.”
You blocked everything else out, vaguely scribbling down on your phone some notes about the timings and rooms you were needed in but it was all a bit of a blur. You took your time at the end speaking to some of the other girls, no-one seemed to be making a huge fuss about the situation but the trio had disappeared again and you knew you had to speak to them tonight before this started to interfere with the rest of the camp.
Thankfully you managed to find them, the three of them tucked away in the corner of the dining room, huddled around a laptop playing something in German.
“Hey.” Your voice almost cracked as you broke through the silence. “It’s good to see you all.”
You should have predicted really that Keira and Georgia would be your road in, though the two of them were fierce on the pitch they really were softies off it and you were almost knocked off your feet when they bounded up to you, both their arms wrapping around you in a hug.
“We can’t believe you’re actually here.” Georgia said. “This is just crazy.”
“It’s definitely different.” Leah finally joined in and that was the moment you knew even as she joined in the hug, she was the one who would be the toughest to crack. She wasn’t going to let you in just as easy but the captain part of her probably forced her to not let it show around others. “Glad to have you back on the team.”
“Thank you.”
“Take a seat.” Keira glanced to the free chair next to Leah. “We were just watching Georgia make a fool of herself, want to join?”
“Yeah I’d like that, I’d like that a lot.”
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son1c · 8 months
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shadow from my original shatterspace! this version of shadow was created using wisp dna, but not just any wisp dna--dna from mother wisp herself!
for this facet of shadow, i decided to focus on his heart. callisto is very dependent on the people he loves, much like how a moon is dependent on the planet it orbits... he's also much more open with his love, unlike how shadow keeps it under lock and key.
and of course, every wisp he encounters seems to love him right away. but, unlike everyone else in this shatterspace, he doesn't have a wisp partner. if he were to ever need the help of a wisp, he would simply ask any random one he came across--and they would comply.
(all of the other characters think he's a huge weirdo for this.)
pre-canon, he lives at the ARK-tic research station in deepfreeze domain. then, something happens, and he ends up travelling with a mysterious stranger! to be honest, he's not really sure what happened... but he's determined to figure it out! and since he doesn't know where the research station is located, the stranger suggests joining the wisp races to look for it. what a great idea!
but wait, is he even allowed to join if he IS a wisp?! ref, that doesn't count as a foul, right?
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buckyalpine · 2 years
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Want You
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18+ Minors dni 
Love this. This was literally in the works and then I see this request in the middle of me writing it, chefs kiss.  I love jealously, idk what’s wrong with me but it scratches an itch I cannot describe.
Warnings: FLUFF, pregnancy, Smuuttt (daddy kink, breeding kink,) angst if you squint but honestly not really. 
Word count: 1.6k
The best part is Sharon was so certain Bucky would never chose you. Bucky had a type and it wasn’t you so imagine her surprise when he’s completely smitten by you. And by surprised, I mean complete and utter denial.
She figured it’s just a phase, maybe Bucky is bored, wants to try something new and soon or later, he’ll come to his sense and dump you, it’s just a matter of time.
Except.
The way he is with you is unlike anything else. PDA galore and this is from the man who retches at physical touch.
Bucky’s hands are always on you and the more comfortable het gets, the friskier his touches become. He has you on his lap during movie night, one hand up your shirt, softly stroking your skin. His arms are wrapped around you, cuddling you to his chest like a teddy bear, not giving a shit what movie is on.
All he cares about is cuddling his girl in his arms at all times.
He gets pouty. Sharon nearly loses her shit when she sees how soft he is for you. You can’t even get up and get a drink of water without him trailing behind you or jutting his bottom lip out when you tell him he can stay, you’ll just take a sec.
“But I can come with you”
“Bucky I’m just going to the kitchen”
“I’m coming with you”
His head rests on your shoulder as you make yourself some tea, his eyes closed, arms around you waist, he truly doesn’t ever want to be anywhere else.
And the names. Any girl he’d been with before had only been referred to by name but with you?
“Good morning my baby”
“I missed you babygirl”
“Come cuddle with me bubba”
“How’s my babydoll”
“Where’s my baby” Sharon saw red the day he was going around looking for you, hardly realizing (nor giving a fuck) he didn’t use your name and just went around asking where his baby was. Everyone thought it was the absolute sweetest thing on the planet, love stuck Bucky, happily wandering looking for his babydoll (who was napping in his Henley on his bed). Sharon strongly disagreed.
All hell nearly breaks loose when she comes back from a temporary transfer. She figured Bucky’s infatuation would have died down by now. So imagine her surprise when she sees…
You were fast asleep on the couch, your back flush against his chest. Bucky nuzzled his face into your neck, his hand softly rubbing your little baby bump under your shirt. He couldn’t stop kissing you, giving you gently little kisses, careful not to wake you up while he caressed your tummy, he thought he was in love before but now it was in over drive.
Sharon considered quitting. Because it only gets worse.
You’re almost always in Bucky’s arms. He’s always carrying you. He won’t let your feet touch the ground, not when you’re having his baby. And fuck, he loves talking about it.
“I’m going to be a dad!”
“You think our baby will have super strength?”
“What do you mean I can’t get them a mini knife set”
He’s doting on you constantly, feeding you, rubbing your feet, kissing each of your toes before massaging up your calves. He never lets you shower alone, he’s always there to help you, making sure you don’t slip. He has you lay down on the soft sheets, grabbing your favourite lotion, his hands working in gentle circles, massaging it into your skin. He kisses your stretch marks, taking his time moisturizing your skin, his hands skimming over the little kicks; he loves feeling his little one move inside.
Sharon had a resignation letter ready (thought not submitted) after Bucky took his shirt off at the gym. He’d been shirtless plenty of times so she knew exactly what he looked like, memorizing every scar, and dip of his skin. So this was fucking new.
Bucky’s fists flew to the punching bag, his chest glistening with sweat, beading down his pecs, right over where he had your name tattooed, another tattoo dedicated to his little baby boy etched on his shoulder.
“Y-you got a tattoo?” She tried to give him a flirty smile, her hand coming to trace over the tattoo, her skin flushing in embarrassment when Bucky took a step back.
“Yeah” Bucky stuck to giving her one word answers, in utter disbelief she was still trying to make a move even after he’d had a baby with you.
“ Nice ink cyborg” Sam smirked, hoping to egg Sharon on, loving the way she angriliy huffed, trying to pretend she didn’t care.
“For my angels” Bucky smiled shyly, his cheeks blushing, this wouldn’t be the only piece he had for you.
Stop here if you just wanted some fluff. Continue if you want some spice.
Oh she doesn’t just over hear it. She saw it. It was her fault tbh.
You stayed back while the team had left for an international conference, leaving the entire compound free for just you and a certain super soldier. Sam’s sister had happily agreed to babysit for the weekend to give you both some alone time. And what a fucking time you had.
After learning Bucky wasn’t going, Sharon had managed to find a way to stay behind, figuring this would be the best time to get him alone, completely unaware that you were still at the compound. She did her makeup, throwing on a sheer dress and foregoing a bra, making her way down stairs…when she heard….the fuck?
The sounds of skin slapping on skin echoed through the hall from the kitchen, pornographic moans bouncing off the walls.
Her lips curled into a smirk, even if Bucky was fucking someone else, it was nice to know he wasn’t as loyal as everyone though. He clearly got bored of you, just waiting for the chance for you to leave before he could feel some type of satisfaction.
She crept down the hall, nearly collapsing, watching the both of you, stark naked, fucking on the kitchen counter. Bucky had thrown off all your clothes, bending you over the island, his palm pressing in between your shoulder blades, against the cold marble.
“Y-you like this, huh baby, you love daddy’s cock filling you up? Smile for the camera mama, lemme see that pretty little face”
Sharon felt light headed, noticing Bucky’s phone propped up, his hand coming to tug your hair, your eyes rolling all the way back. Bucky spanked you, causing you to cry out before coming down to kiss your shoulder, thrusting into you harder.
“Look at how fucked out you are baby, how you gonna handle my cum princess, already so fucking gone” Bucky groaned, his cock throbbing as you moaned, unable to formulate a coherent sentence.
“Gonna put another baby in you mama, fuck, can’t wait to see you pregnant again” Bucky’s balls felt heavy, slapping against your clit with each stroke.
“J-J-ames!” You cried out feeling the band tighten in your belly, your orgasam approaching you hard and fast.
“Mmm say my name doll, say my fucking name” He snarled, pulling his cock out, throwing you over his shoulder, moving to the dining table.
There’s no way…he wouldn’t actually…oh fuck. Sharon didn’t know why she didn’t just leave but she couldn’t look away as Bucky set up his phone again. He carefully crawled on top of you, right in the middle of the table (thank fuck for Stark technology, it was built to withstand just about anything), spreading your legs, slamming into you in a single stroke.
“Kinky little baby, wasn’t this your fantasy princess? For me to fuck you right on the dining table” Bucky let out a dark chuckle, brining your thighs up higher so he could hit a deeper angle. You nearly sobbed, your head thrown back against the table as he slammed into you, his hand cradling your head so you wouldn’t get hurt.
“James I-I’m gonna-
“I know mama, squeeze my cock baby, milk it, take my cum” Bucky moaned, nipping and biting your skin, leaving dark bruises in their wake. “There’s so much cum baby, gonna make such a mess all over the table”
“JAMES” You clawed at his back feeling his hand come down to play with your clit, his pace growing sloppy.
“Babygirl….m’gonna knock you up baby, you want daddy’s cum?”
“Wan’ daddy’s cum Bucky, wan’ it!” You whined and cried out, your walls spasming around him, your legs wrapping tightly around his waist as he started to fill you, his cum leaking out of you, dripping through your folds and onto the table.
“So. Much. Cum mama, its so fucking much” Bucky whimpered, his sensitive cock still throbbing in your silky walls. “Fuck, I love you” He grinned down at you, letting his body relax for a bit, as you played with his hair. He let his phone continue recording, he loved these moments just as much.
The whole compound was a mess. Bucky had spilled his cum into you in the gym, the showers, the balcony, the lab, the elevator, and finally in your room, under the covers, his hips slowly rolling against you, taking his time to savour your body.  
Sharon moves to a different department. But it didn’t help. Imagine her surprise when she sees Bucky’s arms full of babies, a little toddler on his shoulder, sleeping twins in both arms, with you by his side, your hand resting on your little baby bump.
Of course she’s still waiting for the day where he’ll lose interest.
And he never does.
Not on the day you got married.
Not on the day you had your fourth baby.
Not on the day you had your fifth.
Not today.
Not ever.
Please let me know if you want to be added or removed! (also this is an 18+ blog, I can’t tag nameless/ageless blogs)  
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luvrbug · 11 months
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Honkai Star Rail Men ; where do they lie on the pathetic man scale?
includes ; Sampo, Welt, Jing Yuan
A/N ; sorry everyone ive been playing hsr, and it has COMPLETELY captivated me. i will maybe write about one piece more buuuut I cant be too sure :[ i change like the wind sorry guys. also my first time writing in like Months so apologies if this is poopy
Warnings; literally the smallest amount of spice, no allusion to sex. reader is not the trailblazer, Gender neutral reader with 2nd person pronouns
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Sampo Koski
Sampo is such a failboy. it's not even funny. He embodies a pathetic man.
You get word of Sampo scamming someone once again; and to make it even worse, it was the kids that literally saved the entire planet.
So, you sentenced Sampo to a week of sleeping on the couch, which landed you in this unsightly situation.
"Baby, please, you know i didn't really mean to make them do my work," he pleads, grabbing your leg and squishing his face into your stomach. "I had urgent business to attend to somewhere.. else in the mine,"
Sighing, you run your fingers through his hair, scratching lightly at his scalp. Sampo begins to rise, hoping that he's swayed your iron heart, until-
"Two Weeks on the couch,"
"Baby!"
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Welt Yang
Out of all the men on this list, I'd say Welt is the least pathetic man. He has fatherhood skills and absolutely does his half of the chores.
... But he still is completely whipped for you.
Welt has never forgotten an anniversary. Without fail, he brings the biggest boquet of flowers, plans the best date night, and manages to keep your little troop of mischief makers pacified for the night.
So, when this year's anniversary rolls around, and nothing has happened yet, you begin to worry.
Did he want you to plan the events today? Did you miss some subliminal messaging? Are you losing your spark?? Is he-
"Ah, there you are," Welt's voice alone is enough to completely silence any rebellious thoughts running around.
"I was starting to get worried, i wouldn't want your surprise to get cold," You perk up instantly at the mention of a present, quickly gathering the book on and gold quality black tea you'd bought a few weeks prior.
Welt pulls out.. your favorite dessert from your favorite bakery on your homeworld. That is thousands of lightyears away. "I managed to understand enough about this dessert from your stories, and i managed to make something close to it with my powers and a little help from Himeko,"
You practically launch yourself at him, covering his face with kisses. Best anniversary ever.
«────────«⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅»────────»
Jing Yuan
In the middle of the pathetic scale. Proper, courteous, and flirtatious, but also the most pathetic, clingy man ever when you're alone.
It's Saturday morning, the sun is shining, you have a romantic lunch reservation in an hour, and Jing Yuan is refusing to allow you out of bed.
"Honey, we have to get up or we'll miss our reservation. You know how hard it is to get on their waiting list, especially for the lunchtime rush," You whine, attempting to wriggle out of his hold.
Jing Yuan simply squeezes you tighter, making a muffled "hmmph" into your stomach. "Your cooking is better anyway," he mumbles, stretching and yawning not unlike mimi.
You huff, lying back in bed with your eyebrows scrunched. "I'm not going to cook for a week unless you get up and we make it there on time,"
This finally gets Jing Yuan off the bed and rummaging through his closet. "Well, hurry up, we wouldn't want to be late,"
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johnandrasjaqobis · 6 months
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also (I say as if this was preceded by something) I know the pods landed relatively close to each other, at least in the "same side of the planet" sort of way
but Vesta is still Big. it's still a whole planet and there's a reason it's taking everyone such a long time to get to the Demeter
Add onto that the fact that Azi has no way of knowing whether anyone else survived (like it's not super unlikely, that's what escape pods are For, but it's also been months on this place that keeps trying to kill them) for all she knows she won't see another human until she gets to the ship
and then like. pov you're furious and grieving and trying to kill this thing that killed your only friend, your only company on this insane planet
and you cut into this creature's side and just see. your old asshole coworker. just Vibing.
Like what the Actual Fuck
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seleniangnosis · 8 months
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Venus' gift to you ☁️💗
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Pile 1 ---> Pile 2
Pile 3 --> Pile 4
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Hi everyone ☁️💌! I was inspired by e pervious pac series of mine "Conversations with the Planets" , where I channeled the energy of the main planets to get advice for you, and decided ro now do one where I ask what gift are they bestowing upon you in this lifetime.
This is a general reminder to let yourself discard anything that you might not resonate with, and that my pacs are not to replace any professional help or advice. Hope you'll enjoy them ☁️💌. Feedback and reblogs are highly appreciated!
Find my other PACs here 💌
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Pile 1
Hello people of pile one , and welcome to your reading 💌!
Your gift: Wisdom of the Heart
You are a person who has a good , and healthy control of their emotions. You don't let yourself carried away by negative feelings, or fall prey to emotions such as: envy, hatred, revenge. This might show up in situation where you're dealing with difficult people. You don't let what they say affect you, or get the best out of you, because you know it's not worth it. You value your peace of mind, more than coming on top and prove everyone else wrong. Even in situations when you are tested by people who try to get the best of you, the flow of your emotions is balanced, and you are able to manage them, without falling into extremes, or see the other person's point, and get the situation over without becoming " toxic ".
How to utilise your gift to it's highest potential?
Here, I m getting the idea that is more connected to yourself and how you feel inside, rather than the outside world. You are not immune to being hurt, even if you have good control over how you feel. Let people know when they hurt your feelings, confront people when they throw harsh words at you. I believe that you're the type of person who walks away and goes silent, trying to " heal " themselves quietly when they go trough a hurtful confrontation. This is useful sometimes, but people need to be put into their place sometimes. It's not worth to let them always feel like they won , and this can be done trough assertiveness, without verbal violence. The more I look at the cards the more I'm getting the idea that even though you have this amazing ability to work with your emotions, you might be afraid of serious confrontations, so you mostly walk away in difficult situations, without letting what's bothering your heart get out trough your mouth. Walking away from arguments is wise, but people will use this to their advantage, and walk all over you the next time they feel bothered by something.
Pile 2
Hi people of pile two, and welcome to your reading 💌
Your gift: Strength of Character
Actually the first word I heard when I pulled your cards was "audacity ", so congrats on your audacity pile 2! You seem to be a person with a strong character, who's not afraid to stand on their own feet, and put others back into place. If you are shamed, made fun of , even if people might think you're small and not so " threatening ", they soon find out the real you. What I don't see tho, is you being the type of mean / rude person when dealing with different situations. If people are around, you re perceived more as " the bigger person ", someone with confidence and authority, rather than " the meanie " .
I feel like this type of strength is sometimes taking you to a point of loneliness? You might be the person who always relied on themselves for emotional support, you solve your problems on your own , and cut connections with people and / or situations as soon as you see and feel ( for lack of better words) " attacked ". Unlike pile 1 ( read it if you want to better understand what I'm trying to say), you don't seem to sail so smoothly trough your emotions. You're not afraid of endings and cutting ties off with what you deem to be no longer useful, but in this way the cycle just repeats itself.
How to utilise your gift to it's highest potential?
Dont be resentful. Deal actively with misunderstandings, overcome the past, look at things in the direction of optimism and growth. The way you feel, the way others make you feel can tell you a lot about yourself. Challenge that status quo. In case you sometimes find yourself making mistakes, there's nothing wrong with apologising, or recognising that you judged the situation unfairly. Work more with your emotions, and try to understand them, rather than running away from them and say " ah it doesn't matter, it's over now". These thoughts might still be following you around from time to time, and acknowledging that you were too quick to judge isn't a bad thing. Asking someone else for help and advice could be a good idea.
Pile 3
Hi people of pile three, and welcome to your reading 💌
Your gift: Courage of the Heart
In this pile, the message is centered around yourself and how you play a role in the way you make yourself feel and act. You might be / have been a person with a lot of self doubts, irrational fears, a person who was/ is extremely reclusive, and bound to mental escapism tendencies. How is this a gift, you might ask ? Well , the gift is in overcoming your innate / irrational fears and discovering who you actually are. For those who overcomed these self doubts, you're now in a place where your inner world feels richer and stable. These emotions helped you see the real you and realise that you're lucky enough to share your thoughts ( I feel like some of you are/ were the shy, timid type of person) without fearing judgement.
Now, for those who are still trying to overcome what's holding them back, the advice is to use those words, emotions and thoughts you're afraid to, and get used to that part of you. There's nothing wrong with being more impulse and say something quirky, funny out of the blue. Don't overthink that much about other's reactions. You have all the potential to be a confident, brave and cool person, but only if you dare to, and let that side of you out. Take easy steps towards seeing your beauty, charisma and charm!
Pile 4
Hi people of pile four, and welcome to your reading 💌
Your gift: Beauty and openness of the Heart
You seem to be the type of people who, despite the struggles they faced, they kept their hearts open ,and are willing to help others deal with difficulties as well. People might have found a lot of support in you multiple times, or just by talking to you, you interacting with them. You know how's like to go trough what life throws at you sometimes, and are willing to be a pillar of support for others in need as well. I didn't want to jump directly towards financial help and support, but it's possible that some of you have helped others with money or made donations.
How to utilise your gift to it's highest potential?
Do not forget yourself and those close to you. It's good yo offer help, but so is to fill your own cup first. Do not exhaust yourself emotionally, materially and mentally to help anyone who needs it. You might be an emphatic person, or just someone who is deeply affected by seeing pain and hurt in others, and jumping immediately to help them, but doing this constantly will show negative effects upon yourself. You have a lot to give, but your resources will ran out if you keep on using them without a break. Prioritise those people who might really need it, or are close to you. You're much more than the labour you do for others, or the help you give them. Alternatively, you can provide people with advice only, and have them solve their problems by themselves. Never spread yourself too thin.
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dulcesiabits · 7 months
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your attention on me, please!
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summary: despite a spotless academic career, your poor athleticism makes the upcoming school sports day a nightmare. but when you spot the school slacker, nagi seishiro, pull off a crazy feat of flexibility, you think you've found your ticket to success. The one thing you didn't account for, though, is the way nagi wrecks everything you thought you understood.
notes: 7.5k words, fic, author's notes (read for some cultural context too), no blue lock au, fluff, romcom vibes, soccer is called football, this starts before nagi meets reo but covers a canon divergent vers of their meeting
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Everything in the world can be categorized. 
This is something you’ve come to learn in all your years of living on the planet; it’s something you’ve come to expect, even. That there are certain patterns to interactions, that people can be dissected into simple pieces, and the world moves neatly along set routes you can predict. You’ve mapped out a path to success with your knowledge: graduate at the top of your class as student representative, test into a prestigious university, and work for a successful company. 
But there are some people who, despite your best efforts, wreck your neat understanding of the world, strange outliers who are more like aliens rather than fellow residents of the same planet. Nagi Seishiro, a classmate you’ve never paid particular attention to before, is one such example of an alien. Because despite your best efforts, you can’t help but find him incomprehensible. 
Your first meeting with Nagi Seishiro is less of a meeting, and more of a chance encounter. The roof, which is often forbidden to students, is easily accessible once you pick the lock. And because of that, it’s also the one place you can go to relax outside of the view of your classmates.
At least, you used to be the only one who knew the roof was accessible. Because on a balmy day during your second year of high school, you find someone lounging on the flat tiles, a phone raised in front of their face.
You pause, squinting at the intruder. It takes you a few seconds, but eventually you recognize who it is: your classmate, Nagi Seishiro, who’s perpetually napping in class, or pretending to read while he plays video games. 
But he doesn’t look up once from his phone, so you carefully skirt to the opposite corner of where he lies, taking your textbooks out of your bag to study. The next few hours pass in silence, and it’s only when the roof door bangs open that you look up to see Nagi disappearing down the stairs. 
Easy. Simple. Uncomplicated. You two orbit each other for the next few weeks, sharing space on the roof without talking. Maybe it’s because the rooftop has made you aware of his existence, but you start seeing him around school, too. Dawdling in the classroom after school as everyone flies past him, getting reprimanded for overdue library books, or buying bread from the cafeteria long after everyone else has already stolen the best pieces.
Nagi lives in a world of his own and moves along at his own pace, and makes absolutely no effort in anything at all. Your paths will never intersect, because the way he lives is an antithesis to everything you believe in.
But that all changes a few weeks before the school sports meet. Exercise is the one thing you can’t seem to improve in; unlike your grades or your sociability, you simply can’t practice enough to overcome your lack of coordination. But simply giving up isn’t an option; you can’t accept anything less than first place after embarrassing yourself last year. 
On the opposite side of the roof from Nagi Seishiro, where you’re accustomed to studying now, you happen to glance up at the exact moment he trips over his own untied shoelaces and drops his phone… before he sweeps his free foot to catch the falling object and twists his arm to use his hand to push himself back into a standing position, all in the span of a few seconds. 
“That was dangerous,” he mumbles, kicking his phone back into his grasp, but your heart is pounding. You might have found a solution to your sports day problem.
“Nagi Seishiro,” you say, flying across the roof to plant yourself in front of him before he can move back to his usual lounging spot. 
He blinks at you sleepily, as if trying to place your face in his memories. “Who’re you?”
“Your classmate. I saw that stunt just now,” you continue. “You… you’re really athletic.”
“I guess?”
“Help me become a better athlete.” you raise one hand. “I don’t expect you to do it for free, though! I promise I can help you raise your grades in return. The teacher chews you out a lot in class for not paying attention, right? It’d be a good deal!”
His reply is immediate. “Don’t want to.”
“Why not? I mean, if you don’t like the terms of our deal, I could come with something that’s more favorable to you–”
“I don’t care about all of that,” he says bluntly. “It sounds like a lot of work.”
Huh. Huh? You try to maintain a smile, but you feel as if he just threw cold water on your face. “What do you mean, it’s a lot of work?”
“It just sounds like a pain. I don’t want to do it,” he says. He glances down at his phone screen. “Ah. I died. Guess I’ll need to restart that level.”
“Wait!” you say before he can move around you. “It won’t be a lot of work. I just need to know how you pulled off that stunt– I mean, didn’t you practice to get that good?”
“Not really? I just sorta did it. It’s like…” He waves one arm vaguely. “You sorta go fwoosh. And then fwaah.”
“... What?” Was he just naturally gifted, then? You don’t think you’ve seen any of your friends on sports teams act as flexibly as he did.
“If you don’t get it, I can’t explain it,” he says. “Why are you trying so hard? Can’t you ask someone else?”
He didn’t mean it negatively, not with the spacey expression in his eyes and the lack of malice in his tone. Still, a jolt of anger runs down your spine as you grab onto the lapels of his jacket, wrenching him to look down at you. “No. It has to be you. Don’t run away from me, Nagi Seishiro,” you say furiously. “I can’t pull off anything you just did, but I want to get better anyways. So you’re going to help me, because you don’t have a choice. I won’t let you go.”
“... What a pain,” Nagi mumbles. “But it’d be more of a pain to refuse, huh…”
You frown. “What was that?”
“Nothing, boss. But I’m ranking in an event right now, so can we wait until–”
“I’ll help you rank,” you say immediately. “So no more excuses.”
Nagi puts up his hands in surrender. “Okay.”
After your (one-sided) agreement, Nagi starts to stick to you like a burr. Or it might be more accurate to say that you refuse to let him out of your sight, because the second you stop paying him an ounce of attention, he goes back to dozing, gaming or lying around doing nothing.
Sure, your deal was only limited to sports training, but seeing the state of him, you couldn’t just let him be. Seriously, how on earth has he survived until now? He has all the energy and drive of a sloth.
“You need to brush your hair more,” you snap, running a comb through his soft hair as Nagi dozes at his desk. “It’ll get tangled otherwise.”
“Too much work.”
“Everything’s too much work with you. But you know, you only create more work for yourself in the future if you neglect doing basic routines like this now,” you emphasize.
“Is that why you always work so hard?” he says.
“Well, yes. I want to do my best at everything, because I want to be successful. That’s the best path to happiness, you know. Doing your best and achieving great results because of it.”
“Huh.” Nagi takes out a smushed piece of melon bread from his pocket. “You’re weird.”
“You’re the weird one,” you grumble. “Is that the only thing you brought to eat?”
“Yeah.”
You put down the comb, and, rummaging around in your bag, pull out your lunchbox. You slam it down on Nagi’s desk. “Eat half of this. You can’t survive off of just bread.”
“Okay.”
After school, though, is when you hustle Nagi to the nearby park in your gym clothes, ready to start training. Nagi is an unmotivated teacher, but from his limited and vague explanations, you’ve managed to at least work out that you need to be more observant of your limbs, and the space around you. 
At the park, you force him to run laps with you, and go through a few exercise routines you’ve looked up online. By the end of it, you’re panting and sweating, but Nagi looks as unruffled as ever.
“Water,” Nagi says, tapping the side of your head with a water bottle. 
“Thanks,” you mumble, but he’s already messing with his phone again.
“Log on,” he says. “I want to rank again.”
“What? Let’s go for a few more rounds,” you protest.
“But you promised to help me.”
You groan, fishing your phone out of your bag. You weren’t particularly interested in games, but after realizing it incentivized Nagi more than any of your pleading, you’d brushed up on your skills, watched tutorials and practiced strategies, and soon found yourself battling side by side with Nagi in a virtual world during most of your evenings. 
“... You’re good,” Nagi mumbles as your fingers tap across the screen, clearing a row of enemies. 
“That’s because I practice. Okay, done!” You bounce up, stretching your arms. “A few more laps, Nagi. Come on!”
Nagi groans but lethargically raises himself up, and you run around the park until night falls.
You don’t know what to think of your classmate, to be honest. He’s a genius at sports, but he never practices or utilizes his talent. How can he just let it go to waste? Taking the easy route is a foreign concept, and you still can’t quite fit the pieces of Nagi Seishiro into a coherent design. Spacey, unmotivated, lackadaisical… you’d even start keeping spare supplies in your bag because Nagi is always forgetting his notebook at home, or needs to borrow a towel. But despite how pushy you act, he never acts bothered by it. Nor does he mind listening to you, or doing what you say, or following you around, though you thought he would have long thrown in the towel by now.
You’re friends, and you’re fond of him. The idea surprises you when you realize it, but it’s not an unpleasant thought.
The next few weeks fly by in a routine of school, training and home until the day of the anticipated sports meet. You’ve signed up for the relay race, and you jump up and down to keep your energy up. You chatter away with your classmates until the appointed time, all your friends teasing you and trying to pat you on the head. 
Mikage Reo is no such exception, and your oldest friend finds you in the crowd while fighting back a gaggle of fawning admirers. 
You’ve been friends with Reo since middle school. 
Maybe you naturally gravitated towards each other because you’re both always surrounded by people, or because your grades are neck and neck, or because his philosophy in life is similar to yours. The only difference between the two of you is that Mikage Reo is a corporate heir, and you earned a scholarship to attend school. The worst part about being his friend, though, is that you’ve heard whispers of people around school calling the two of you “the school’s flowers,” a nickname you hope never, ever catches on.
“Good luck,” Reo says, flicking your nose. “Don’t trip out there.”
You pat Reo on the shoulder. “Be amazed, Reo. I’m a new and improved athlete.”
He snorts. “Yeah? I’ve heard you dragged some kid into being your personal trainer. You never let up, do you?”
“That’s the only way to succeed, Reo! I have to keep my eyes on the prize!” 
You make your way down to the starting line of the track, but a familiar head of fluffy white hair catches your gaze. You run behind Nagi and poke him in the sides.
“Oof,” he says, but he doesn’t look surprised to see you. “You’re going to run now?”
“Yes. And I’m going to bring us to victory!” You raise your arms. “I’ve practiced hard for this moment, so keep your eyes on me, Nagi.”
A gaggle of boys in red jerseys passing by snicker at your declaration. From the class across from yours, you recall distantly. “Loser,” one of them calls. “Who gets worked up over a school event?”
For once, you see a spark of anger in Nagi’s eyes, an emotion you’ve never seen cross his face before. He frowns, opening his mouth, but you place a hand on his elbow. He relaxes at your touch, glancing lopsidedly at you. 
“Don’t pay them any attention,” you say firmly. “It’s not worth it.”
“... Okay.” But Nagi’s eyes remain narrowed at their retreating backs.
“It’s nice of you to worry, though. Thanks.” His concern is a warmth you carry in your chest all through the race; so he does have emotions other than apathy and faint annoyance. Yet another puzzle piece to the mystery of Nagi Seishiro. 
You get into position, the whistle blows, and the first runners of the race set off. You’re running the last leg of the relay, and your class is already behind when your classmate dashes up to you, slapping the baton in your hands. You sprint, all those weeks of dragging Nagi out to train working their magic as you pass one person… then another… but you’re still too far from the finish line with one person just ahead of you. Your legs pump. Your lungs burn. The wind whips past your face. You won’t make it like this. Reo cheers your name in the distance. And there’s a shock of white hair out of the corner of your eye, and you know he’s watching, the slacker, and he probably doesn’t see what the big deal is if you come in second… Keep going. Keep going… and, in a burst of speed, you strain your legs to the limit as you dash past your last competitor, your foot touching the finish line as your classmates erupt into cheers.
You can hardly process what happens next, your blood still pumping from the race, but you slow to a jog as your classmates swarm you, shouting praise. 
“Great job!” Reo says, and you high five him. 
But your eyes are already searching for Nagi, who sticks out of the crowd like a sore thumb, towering over the majority of your classmates.
“Did you see that?” you ask Nagi as you dash up to him.
“Yeah. You won. Congrats,” he says simply. “All your work paid off.”
“Do you have a different opinion on working hard now, Nagi?” you say, elbowing him in the side. 
“Dunno. Still seems like a lot. But… you looked like you were shining,” he says seriously. “I couldn’t stop watching you.” 
You pretend to cough into your elbow, hiding your warming cheeks. “Thanks. Anyways! You’re up next, right? What did you sign up for? Ping-pong?”
“I asked someone to switch with me,” he says. “I’m playing football now.”
“Foot… ball? Are you sure you can pick up on all the rules in a short amount of time?” you say, surprised. “Why would you do that?”
“Just because.” But the way Nagi avoids your gaze makes you wonder if he’s hiding something. Still, it wouldn’t be fair of you to pry, and the victory is still racing through your blood. 
“All right. I’ll go cheer you on, then.” 
The two of you make your way to the football field, where the rest of the team is warming up. Someone throws Nagi a blue jersey, and you turn to size up the opposing team. They’re wearing red jerseys… and they’re the same boys who had made fun of you, just a few moments ago. You glance at Nagi, but he’s lazily stretching one leg. 
“Good luck,” you say to Nagi.
“Hm. Won’t need it.” For once, you can’t tell if it’s confidence or lethargy in his voice.
The ensuing football game isn’t a game at all. It’s a one-sided slaughter, with Nagi leading the charge. You don’t think you’ve ever seen Nagi move so fast or fluidly. The ball never leaves his side, and the other team can’t even touch him. One goal. Then another. And when it’s clear they can’t do anything to stop him, the enemy team starts frantically swarming Nagi, breaking formation. But not even a pile-up can save them from their fate, because Nagi simply dodges and kicks the ball into the goal in a series of complicated maneuvers that you can barely track with your eyes. 
The timer runs out, and no one can say a word. You start clapping, and like they’ve woken from a daze, your classmates start cheering, a roar so loud you can hear it reverberate in your heart.
“Did you see that? I didn’t realize Nagi could move like that,” one of your classmates murmurs. 
“I know! Where has he been hiding that talent? It’s so unfair!”
On the distant field, you see Nagi talk to one of opposing team members, who turns an ugly color at his words. You make your way down to the swarm of your excited classmates, but Nagi is already scanning the crowd, lazily waving off compliments from the people around him, and his droopy eyes perk up when you approach. 
“What did you say to that boy?” you whisper, and Nagi leans down so you can cup your hand around his ear. “He looked upset.”
“Just told him he shouldn’t be calling other people losers when he doesn’t even know how to play the game right,” Nagi says. “That’s all.”
“Did you…” The sudden thought feels ridiculous and self-centered. And yet, Nagi Seishiro, the guy who hates activity, who hates effort, who never seems to have particularly strong feelings… “Did you do that because of what he said to me?”
Nagi shrugs. “You worked hard for your goal. He shouldn't have said that.”
There’s a strange fluttering in your chest, and you clamp down on it with all your might. You aren’t going to go there. Because it’s absurd, and impossible, and simply doesn’t make any sense. It would ruin your perfectly aligned plans and wreck your understanding of the world. You’re barely even friends with Nagi; why would he go through all of that trouble for you?
Instead, you elbow him, more roughly than you intend to. “Thanks, but I told you it was okay. People say stupid things all the time.”
“But I didn’t like it,” he says firmly. “You shouldn’t have to put up with that.”
Who is this guy? Did an alien abduct the real Nagi Seishiro and replace him mid-game? It’s hard to look at him, all of a sudden, so you glance down at your shoes instead, trying to calm the pounding of your heart.
The next day, Nagi Seishiro is the talk of the school. His one-sided destruction during sports day gets passed around in whispers and rumors, and a few of your classmates now tell him good morning when he walks through the door. Still, his attitude and manner is enough to put most of them off… all but your friend, Mikage Reo.
“Play football with me!” 
It’s a declaration made when you and Nagi are walking through the halls after school, Reo skirting to a stop just in front of you. He strides up to Nagi, his eyes shining in the golden afternoon sunlight.
“Don’t wanna,” Nagi says immediately.
“Why not? You have the talent, the genius… we could take the world by storm. You… could become the best player in Japan… no, the best player in the world! Be my football partner!” Reo says effusively.
Nagi glances at you. “I already have a partner.”
The term “partner” trills down your spine, but you hold up your hands at Reo’s crestfallen look. “Our deal was only for the sports meet. We’re not really partners anymore.” 
Did Nagi look disappointed, or was it just a trick of the light? Either way, he shoves his hands in his pockets. “I still don’t want to.”
“Why not?” Reo demands.
“It sounds boring.”
“He thinks everything is too much work,” you say, and Reo throws you a stare that screams “how did you even convince him to work with you?” You grimace in response.
“Come on, Nagi Seishiro. I’ll show you a whole new world. It won’t be boring for even a second. Play football with me!” Reo tries again, but Nagi only stares at him silently. 
Nagi glances at you again (why does he keep looking at you?) and Reo, ever observant, throws his pleading in your direction. 
“Please convince Nagi for me,” Reo begs. “He’ll listen to you.”
“What– I don’t–”
“We’re friends,” Reo wheedles. “Come on.”
Well. It wasn’t as if you wanted Nagi to go back to his old slacker ways, and maybe spending time with Reo would open up Nagi’s narrow world, just a bit more. “Nagi, why don’t you try it? You did really well at the sports meet. It’d be a waste to do nothing with your talent.”
“... Is football fun?” Nagi asks.
“Really fun!” Reo replies.
“And… it’s something that people have to try hard at?”
“Most people! You might be able to skate by without even practicing, though, since you’re a genius,” Reo says. “Not that I’m going to let you slack on the field, or off it.”
“Huh… no wonder the two of you get along…” he mutters, before turning the full force of his attention on you. “Is working hard, and doing your best at something… is it really that fun?”
“Huh? Well, yeah! I want to be the best I can be, and winning the relay race felt really good,” you say. “Didn’t you feel anything when you won the football match?”
“Dunno, but… hm…” You can see the rusty gears turning in his head. “I’ll go with you,” Nagi says finally to Reo. “I’ll try joining your team… but…” He points at you. “They have to come with me.” 
“Huh? I’m not even good at sports,” you say defensively. “I have too much on my plate to–”
“Deal!” Reo interjects. “They can come to all our practices and games, even if they don’t join the team! Don’t go back on your word, Nagi Seishiro.”
And to your utter bafflement, you find yourself attending Nagi and Reo’s football games. Nagi, whose attitude you’re just starting to crack, suddenly turns back to an utter alien. Why did you have to attend their practices? Nagi seems content just to have you there, and Reo calls you a “lucky charm,” because apparently Nagi is more motivated when you’re around. 
Sure, you pick up on enough of the terminology and mechanics of the game to bounce strategies with Reo, but you doubt you really need to be there when they have a seasoned coach. Why had Nagi really accepted Reo’s offer, too? So many mysteries surrounded him.
When you ask, Nagi only says vaguely that he accepted Reo’s offer because “he wants to learn what it means to try his best” and you have to be here because “he needs you around.” And then he failed to elaborate when you pressed him.
Truly, Nagi’s behavior doesn’t fit with anyone you’ve ever met before. How can you start to untangle the threads of his random whims? It’s impossible… which is why it leads to odd moments, like during the latest football game Reo organized.
“Nagi, what are you doing?”
Reo's exasperated voice rings out across the field. And, with the screen flashing a score of 5-0 overhead, and curious audience members staring at you and Nagi at the bench below, you can't help but find yourself echoing his sentiments. The star of your school's most recent football match is standing right in front of you, bent at a 90 degree angle so he's looking straight at the ground, his fluffy hair shoved right in front of your face.
“Nagi, what are you doing?” you say, hands still clasped together mid-clap.
“I won the game,” he says matter-of-factly.
“You did! Congratulations!”
But Nagi still doesn't move. In the distance, Reo raises his eyebrows at you, and you shrug your shoulders helplessly. Nagi, with his alien tendencies, is incomprehensible at this moment. As soon as Nagi had scored the winning shot and the timer counted to zero, he dodged all his cheering teammates and made a beeline straight to where you were sitting, bending into a strange position. And he’s been like this for the past three minutes, without any explanation. 
“I won the game,” he repeats.
“I know. I was watching.”
“So you should compliment me,” Nagi says patiently, as if he were explaining a math equation to a small child.
“Huh? But I did,” you protest. “I congratulated you.”
“You should compliment me,” he says again.
This conversation could run around in circles all day. Your eyes drift to Nagi's hair, white strands sticking up in all directions. It's always messy because the only time a comb touched his head was when you were the one using it to brush his hair. Then it hits you out of the blue. No way. Did he want you to…? There’s only one way to find out.
Your hand sinks into his hair as you pat him on the head. It's just as soft as it looks, if not a bit sweaty from exercise. One pat, two pats, and then you quickly extract your hand before you lose yourself in the addicting feeling of stroking his hair. “You did a good job, Nagi. I'm proud of you.”
Nagi finally looks up, satisfied, even if the expression on his face doesn't change a bit. He tilts his head when he sees you shaking your hand slightly. “What are you doing?”
"You're sweaty," you inform him. "Next time, you only get head pats if you take a shower first."
A frown grows across Nagi's face before he drops his chin on the top of your head, arms wrapping around you and draping himself over you as if he had no strength left in his body. You shriek at the sudden, sweaty contact, nose crushed right against his jersey.
“Nagi! Cut it out!”
“Don't wanna. Too much work.”
“And it's not too much work to lean on me like this?” you ask, voice muffled from being pressed against his body.
His arms tighten around you. “Nope.”
"Nagi, you're suffocating them," Reo says, his voice startling close. He must have moved across the field while you were caught up with Nagi.
“They're okay,” Nagi says.
“No, he's right. I can’t breathe right now,” you say dryly.
Nagi loosens his grip around you, but his chin still rests on your head.
“Nagi, we need to talk about our next game,” Reo says expectantly.
“Don't wanna.”
Reo shoots you a pleading glance from around Nagi’s back. “Nagi, go with Reo to talk about your next game,” you order.
“Do I have to?” Nagi shuffles back just enough for you to see his unhappy expression, your head finally freed from his touch.
“Yes,” you and Reo both say at the same time.
“Fine,” he replies. Reo, triumphant, grabs Nagi's arm before he can make a sudden dash, and mouths a thank you before hauling Nagi away. Nagi, for his part, throws you forlorn glances as Reo drags him away, but you only wave at him, smiling.
When the two of them are gone and most of the audience has dispersed, only you and the chilly autumn sunshine remain. The wind, which hadn't been quite so cold before, is strong enough to make you pull your coat tighter around yourself.
Nagi Seishiro is the human equivalent to one of the world’s unsolvable math equations. Though the formula looks simple in theory, there’s simply no way of understanding it– or understanding him. His lackadaisical method of communication doesn’t make it any easier, either. You can’t tell if he’s genuinely obtuse, or if he doesn’t notice that other people can’t track his thought process without communication– or maybe he thinks it’s too much of a bother to try.
But you’re used to his strangeness, though– or at least, you thought you were used to it, until your classmates approached you with wide eyes and giggly whispers one day, asking if the rumors were true. 
“You’re dating Nagi?” they’d asked. “The guy who’s winning all our school’s football games?”
“What?” you hissed. “Who told you that?”
“Nagi himself,” one of the girls said excitedly. “I heard someone ask him why he’s been hanging out with you so much, and he said that was because he’s your partner! Is it true? Are you two dating?”
“It’s not,” you said firmly. “It really isn’t!” you added when the girls looked at you doubtfully. Your heart sank, because if these girls were approaching you, then that’d meant the rumors had spread around the entire school already. If there’s one thing your classmates liked to do, it was gossip.
That’s how you end up dragging Nagi to the roof after school, running up the empty staircase and through streaks of lazy sunshine until you’re back where it all started, the space you onced shared like two planets orbiting the same sun, never interacting.
Now, standing across from the culprit of all the rumors, you tilt your head at Nagi, who tilts his head in the same direction as a response. His sleepy eyes bore into your own, tracking your movements like a puppy.
“Nagi, have you been telling people I’m your partner?”
“Yeah.”
“Why are you doing that?”
“Because it’s true,” he says. 
“But…! People have been saying we’re dating!”
Nagi tilts his head. “Oh. It was too much of a pain to correct them. I said we were partners, and then they started giggling, saying stuff like ‘I knew it! They’re dating!’ and left before I could say anything else. Is it bad that they think we’re dating?”
“It is! Because it’s not true at all!”  
“We study together and game together ,” he says. “And help each other out. And spend all our time together. So aren’t we partners?”
“Well… this and that are two different things… Being someone’s romantic partner and being someone’s platonic partner are… they’re not the same. I’m just saying, you only date someone you like romantically!”
“Oh. Well, I like you,” he says simply. “So then it’s okay for us to date.”
You feel like someone has just shot you into outer space without a map, and you’re floating around, trying to get your bearings without gravity for the first time. “Huh?”
“I like you,” he repeats. “So, then it’s okay for people to think we’re dating, right? Oh. We could start dating for real, and then that would also clear up the rumors.”
Dating… Dating Nagi? He looks satisfied, nodding to himself as if he’s figured out a particularly complicated equation, but you’re more lost than ever. Romance? Love? Those thoughts have never even crossed your mind. You figured you’d get to them eventually, but the most important thing in your life was success. You weren’t ready yet! You don’t have a plan prepared! Besides, why would he like you? When did feelings have time to grow? If anything, shouldn’t Nagi be annoyed with you for interrupting his peaceful lifestyle?
You can’t map this situation at all. You have no previous references to draw back on other than the girls and boys who asked Reo out throughout the years. Romance should be simple, you’d thought as Reo chased his admirers off. Romance should be simple, and easy, something you can chart and track and understand. There should be a formula to it, just like everything else in life.
“I don’t have time to date,” you say. “I have to focus on my priorities, like… like getting into a good university.”
Nagi shrugs. “Oh. We can date when we’re in university, then.”
“But…!”
“Do you not like me?” he asks seriously.
You open your mouth, but you can’t think of any of a proper rebuttal. You should just say no, but… did you really not like Nagi? Not at all? Not when he went along with your plans, defended you during sports day, wanted you at all his games, and told you he liked you, no games, no pretense, no calculations?
“... I can’t answer that,” you say lamely. 
“Then take your time,” he says.
“But…”
“I like you,” he says. “But if you don’t like me or you don’t want to date, then I’m okay with just being by your side.”
Why couldn’t such a simple answer ever come so easily to you, like it does to Nagi? “It’s weird,” you say quietly, looking down at your feet, “It’s weird not understanding my feelings. I want to understand everything. I wish it were easy.”
“But isn’t it tiring thinking so hard all the time? Sometimes, you can’t think through something. You just have to deal with it,” Nagi says slowly. “But… I like the part of you that tries hard and wants to do everything you can.”
Maybe it’s the sunlight, or the bright blue sky behind him, but Nagi is so brilliant your eyes are drawn to him. Is this what he meant, back during sports day, about shining so brightly he couldn’t look away?
“Stop telling people we’re dating, though,” you grumble.
“Yes, boss.”
Mikage Reo, someone you once thought was your friend, is laughing at you. He’s laughing at you, and everytime you think he’s stopped, he takes one look at you and bursts out laughing again. Mercifully, at least, there’s no one in the classroom to witness your humiliation.
“You really think you could make a plan for your love life, like how you plan for classes?” he snickers. “You know, relationships are a lot more complicated than you give them credit for.”
“Hey! In most cases, there is a set pattern to romance.”
“A pattern? Set by who?” Reo asks, raising his eyebrows. 
“Well… in the books I’ve read… and video games I’ve played… I think there’s a common–”
“From stories! Not from real people? Do you know real life is different from books?” Reo cuts in. “Emotions don’t operate on a cut and dry principle.”
“But there is rationality behind emotions,” you argue. “The way people react to certain situations, according to their personality and environment, and–”
“You’re a nerd,” Reo says bluntly. “You can’t predict everything, you know.”
“I can try,” you say blithely, but Reo rolls his eyes. 
“Poor Nagi,” Reo says with a sigh. “This is what happens when he actually tries hard at something!”
“Poor me. I can’t believe he started telling people we were dating without asking me first,” you grumble, and Reo starts laughing again. 
“The two of you are hilarious,” he says, wiping away the tears forming in his eyes. “I haven’t laughed so hard in ages.”
“At least someone is enjoying this.”
 Reo pats you on the back. “But don’t you think you’re underestimating Nagi?”
“What do you mean?” 
“You keep trying to quantify him, but are you really listening to what he’s saying?” Reo asks. “Can’t you just accept that there are some things you won’t understand?”
“But–”
“Do you really not know how you feel about him?” Reo presses. “Don’t string him along. Reject him, or go out with him, but you can’t make him wait to sort out your feelings forever.”
“I know! I know that. But…” You scuff at the floor with your shoe. Reo is right, as loath as you are to admit it. It’s not fair to Nagi to make him wait. And… maybe Nagi isn’t the alien here. Maybe you are, because you’ve tried so hard to turn everything into precise data points so you can understand the human beings around you and the planet you inhabit. Maybe that’s your only option to stave off the fear and the vulnerability the complete randomness of the universe creates.
“I’m not trying to be a jerk to you,” Reo says, placing a hand on your shoulder. “I don’t want you to get hurt either, you know. But you can’t keep running forever.”
“I’m not running,” you say.
Reo hums, but then nods to himself, as if coming to a decision. “Do you know why Nagi joined the football team?”
“Because we pestered him into joining?” you grumble.
“No. He told me it’s because he wanted to be more like you.”
“Like me…?”
“He admires you for having goals,” Reo says simply. “For always trying your best. And he wants to understand what it’s like to care so much about something. He wants to learn how to understand you, which is amazing, don’t you think? He doesn’t really seem like the guy who’s ever put much effort into anything before.”
He joined because he admired you? You feel a strange heat in your chest. Nagi, who’s trying to understand something. And you, who has to stop trying to understand everything. What a strange pair you make.
Reo smiles slightly, but you can’t help but find it unbearably smug, the meddler. Why did he have to say the right words to send your thoughts spiraling? “Why don’t you try looking at this from a different angle? What sort of guys do you like?” Reo says abruptly.
“Successful and rich guys,” you say automatically.
“You like successful and rich guys?” Nagi says, and both you and Reo whirl around at the sudden intrusion into your classroom. How much has he heard? You’re panicking as Nagi raises a hand in greeting, but he suddenly frowns. Oh no. Oh no– but he promptly marches over and snatches Reo’s hand off your shoulder, patting off imaginary specks of dust.
“Petty…” Reo mutters, but neither of you acknowledge him.
“What are you doing here?” you say.
“I wanted to see you,” Nagi replies.
You kick Reo’s leg just as he starts shooting you self-satisfied glances. Reo winces, then lightly jabs you in the ribs with his elbow.
“Don’t hit them,” Nagi says to Reo.
“Huh? But they kicked me first!”
Nagi shrugs. “That’s okay.” 
“I don’t like this double standard. You’re ganging up on me,” Reo accuses.
“That’s your problem,” you tell Reo loftily.
Nagi calls your name softly. “Are you free on the weekend?”
“Yes. Oh, did you want to study for the history test together?” you ask, grateful for a change in subject.
“Test?” 
“... I’ll be there on Sunday afternoon.”
“Okay, boss,” Nagi says.
With nothing left to discuss, you all start your separate paths home. Reo flashes you one last thumbs up before the three of you part. “Good luck!” he calls. 
“Thanks,” you say. Because like it or not, this weekend is going to be the first time you’re alone with Nagi after his confession. 
On the weekend, you take the subway to Nagi’s house. The ride is only twenty minutes, but you spend the entire time leaning your forehead against the cool glass of the window, scenery flashing by in a muted blur. What’s going to happen? You haven’t even responded to Nagi’s confession yet, and your heart drums nervously in your chest. 
But Nagi’s house, you discover, is surprisingly ordinary. When you ring the doorbell, it takes a few seconds for him to amble down, wrinkled clothes and sloppy hair revealing that he just crawled out of bed.
“Welcome,” he says, and leans over as you run your fingers through his hair, causing the strands to spike up. Soft and silky, despite the fact he puts zero effort into its maintenance. 
“Do you even know what I’m here for?”
“... To game?”
“To study!” you correct, shooing him back inside. You take off your shoes at the entryway, changing into house slippers, and the two of you settle down in the living room. There’s only a couch, a low table and a rug, and a television set in the corner. It’s sparse but clean, so it’s possible Nagi has to hire someone to clean his house, because you doubt he does it on his own.
You pile your textbooks on the table, folding your legs underneath yourself as you flip through your notes. “So… did you study for the test next week?”
“We have a test?” Nagi says, picking up your pencil case.
You slap his hand. “Yes! In history. Did you forget already? I just told you last Friday!”
“You were going to come over, so… I was too excited. I forgot.”
“Am I just supposed to remember everything for you? You need to take initiative,” you say, exasperated, ignoring the fluttering in your chest. So he’d been excited to see you? No, those sorts of thoughts were irrelevant. “Look through the textbook. I marked everything I thought might be on the test.” You slide the book to Nagi, who dutifully picks it up before immediately lying on his side.
“Sit up. You’ll get a headache,” you say, and Nagi slides back into a cross-legged position, resting the book on his lap.
It’s quiet except for the scratching of your pencil and the rustle of pages. When you glance at Nagi to check his process, he’s diligently looking through the textbook, absorbed into reading each section you carefully marked. He’s oblivious to the emotional turmoil that you’re experiencing just by sitting across a table from him; how had you been able to act so casually before? Now, you’re hyper-aware of his presence, his soft sighs, his loose posture, the eyelashes shading across his cheeks.
Out of the blue, Nagi speaks. “You said I can ask you if I have any questions, right?”
You hum, tracing your finger down the text you highlighted. “Yes. Got a question about a passage?”
“No.”
“Then what is it?”
“Can I tell you that you’re cute?”
“That’s… that’s not related to studying,” you try to scold, but your voice is weak even to your own ears.
“Sorry. But I didn’t know if I was allowed to tell you or not,” Nagi says.
“I…” You try to stand, try to find an excuse to leave the room for a second, but your legs have fallen asleep from being in the same cramped position for so long. You stumble, and Nagi, moving faster than you’ve ever seen him, is by your side in a heartbeat.
“Are you okay?” he says, and his concerned face is hovering inches from your own. Somehow, you ended up sliding on the floor, Nagi’s arms caging you in on both sides. Your face is on fire, and somehow, you still have a tight grip on your notes. You nod, but he doesn’t move away. Instead, his eyes linger on your lips.
“Is it okay if I kiss you?” Nagi says. He leans in closer, and you squeak, raising your notes to block his lips. His eyes are earnest, gaze fixed solely on you, like you’re the only person in his world.
“Well… that’s not…”
“I can wait for you,” he says quietly, “But you told me not to run away from you. So don’t run away from me, either.” 
Your cheeks are burning. There’s no more excuses left. You had already run out of them, long ago. “You can. But I’ve never kissed anyone before,” you murmur. “Reo is the one with all the experience–”
“Call me by my first name,” Nagi interrupts.
“What?”
“You call Reo by his first name,” he says. “Call me by mine, too. It’s not fair, otherwise.”
“That’s so childish!”
“I’m not moving until you do,” Nagi says stubbornly.
“Fine.” You take a breath. “S… Seishiro. Is that better?”
“Yeah.” His hands grip your wrists gently, the touch sending shockwaves through your entire nervous system.
The notebook flutters to the floor as Nagi leans in to kiss you. Like everything he does seriously, it brims with an intensity that steals your breath away. He tastes sweet, like the candy he snacks on, and you cup his face, pulling him closer. 
When you break apart, Nagi rests his forehead against yours. “It’s a lot of work,” he says, “but I’m thinking of playing football professionally.”
“Really? Wow! You have the talent to pull it off,” you say. “Reo finally convinced you to go pro?”
“You said you liked successful guys,” Nagi says simply. “So I have to work hard to be successful.”
“I did! But Seishiro…” You kiss him again, because he’s just so cute, and murmur against his lips, “Forget about my type. The only guy I like is you.”
836 notes · View notes
stubz · 3 months
Text
late shift
Shuttle for Mars is departing now. Please keep hands, feet, tails, and other appendages clear of the yellow line.
‘Nice, finally get off work on time for once! Man is it empty, way less busy than the 5:45 one…
Are they sleeping? Please tell me they’re sleeping…’
“Snnrk…”
‘Oh good they are, oooh lots of empty seats next to them! Nice.’
The young human sits across the large figure and looks around.
‘Wonder why everyone else is sitting so far away from this guy? He’s not that much scarier than a Alteauh…OH! He’s an Orc! An actual Orc, oh this is so cool! Wait. Calm down, control yourself. Orc’s are people too, not some exotic animal in a zoo….he’s sooo cool looking tho!’
The human smiles and takes out their headphones and listens to some music and take in the view they see through the shuttle’s windows. From time to time they peek at the orc, can’t helping themselves from people-watching him.
Like what most humans imagined, he was huge. Easily more than 7 feet tall, with large calloused hands bigger than their head. He had large tusks but unlike the stereotypes he was well trimmed with well relatively kept hair. It would have neater had there not been dust in it. The orc wore dirty cloths and work boots. Beside them what looked like a tool box and bag.
‘Must be a construction worker or works in a trade’ they mused
‘Poor guy, he’s gotta be exhausted to sleep here. At least he gets to go home now.’
The shuttle shakes and with it so does the sleeping giant. Rocking side to side.
'That's not good.' They nervously slide off their headphones.
The turbulence increases until the sleeping orc leans too far and starts fall face first off his seat.
“OH SHIT!” Diving to their knees they manage to catch his head and shoulders.
“Mm?”
“You okay?” Damn he's heavy!
“Mmm…sorry.” Rubbing the sleep from his eyes he slowly got back into his seat, the turbulence now gone.
“No worries, I just didn’t want you to hit your head.”
“Heh, wouldn't be the first time I’ve done it.”
after rubbing his eyes a bit more and a crack of the neck he looks at them, brain finally working to some degree.
“…wait. You caught me?”
“Uh-huh”
“But you’re so small! Are you hurt?”
“You're not the first sleeping giant I’ve caught. I’m alright.”
“I am so sorry for that. I just finished working a 12 hour shift fixing the 1st and 3rd engine rooms and couldn’t help myself from dozing off.”
They whistle. “12 hours? No wonder you’re tired! If I were you I’d be in a coma.”
“Ah but surely you have a difficult job yourself. How else would you be able to catch me?”
“No, nothing like yours! I just work at a youngling centre.”
“The one on the ship?”
“That’s the one.”
“...YOUR ONE OF THE BRAVE WARRIORS WHO RISKED THEIR LIVES TO PROTECT THE CHILDREN??!”
“…you’ve heard of us?”
“Every orc and warrior worth their blade knows of your valiant deeds!! Tell me, what is your name??”
“Kim, uh and you are?”
“Fenrir. It is truly an honor to meet someone of your bravery and intelligence."
"Likewise! I've heard that the orc species are a true warrior race."
For the rest of the trip the two talked. Kim sharing how her and Max built such a safe room in the centre, which lead to the two realizing how similar each other's planets are.
"You have wind whirlpools as well? I thought they only existed on Bantor!"
"Well we call them hurricanes and tornadoes but yeah. Do you guys have hail?"
"Not where I grew up but nearby farther up they get a week or two of light hail showers during the fall. What about animals? Do you have reptiles bigger than an adult with large teeth and live in rivers? We call them darthrang."
"Oh we call them crocodiles!"
"Amazing! To think that your species live in a world much like mine!"
When the shuttle finally reached it's destination the two went their separate ways. A few days later they meet again, this time on the later shuttle. They sit and talk and create a routine of sorts where they became each others travelling companion for the trip to Mars.
One day however, Fenrir stopped coming. The human was saddened as she enjoyed his company but was soon surprised when seeing him at the centre.
"Kim! I've been transferred to stay on the ship so I won't be taking the shuttle to Mars anymore."
"Oh...well, as you know I only go home at the end of the week so maybe we can hang out now. Like eat lunch together or have a drink after work...or something like that!"
"Actually we'll be seeing each other everyday now. But if you don't get sick of me then yes, lets each lunch together."
"Great! But why will I be seeing you everyday?"
"Because after telling my family about you and the centre they've enrolled my nieces and nephews and younger siblings here...and I offered to drop them off and pick them up."
It was then that Kim noticed the dozen of orc children hiding behind Fenrir. The tallest and what looked the eldest of them stepped forward.
"Hello, I am Athea, uncle Fenrir said your one of the ones who saved the centre."
"Yes, my name is Kim. It's great to meet you AtheaaAA!" The orc girl pulled the human into a tight hug, lifting the adult woman off of her feet.
"Thank you for saving Nova." she mumbled into her chest.
'Ah, the Captain's daughter' Kim thought. "I was just doing what any teacher would do."
After a moment the human was put down and lead the children into the centre. The day went well. Fenrir's young family members were quickly won over by the humans, first with the saving of the centre, then with how they understood how wonderful their planet was rather than terrifying or deadly.
They were also greatly intrigued by how such a small species could survive in a planet that was thought to only be habitable to orcs.
"How can you carry us?" asked Thor, one of Fenrir's youngest brothers. "We're much bigger than a human child."
"Yeah but your not bigger than my cousins who are teenagers. Also just last month I had like 10 kids climbing on me. Two were tighalaxes."
"Your joking!"
...
"It that tumpon?!"
"Hm? We call it maafe, but it's also known as peanut stew, do you want some? It doesn't have any meat in it though."
"Guys Max has tumpon!! Can you tell Fenrir where we can buy the ingredients?"
"Of course. Finally I'll finish what gran gave me without having to gain 10 pounds."
And thus the first day ended on a high note! Now if only Kim could figure out why the children looked at her and nodded while talking to Fenrir...
So this based off of a post by @llamagoddessofficial about humans meeting actual space orcs. Sadly I can't find the actual post. but yeah, here u go, space orc and human meet cute
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homunculus-argument · 5 months
Text
A neat trick for avoiding arguments: Get better at guessing what people mean through multiple hypothesis elimination!
If you find yourself in arguments a lot, particularly the types where someone says something, you tell them that they're completely wrong, and it turns out that they were talking about something completely different than what you thought that they were saying, you unfortunately cannot force everyone else on the planet to speak more clearly. But what you can do is get better at guessing what they're triyng to say!
Every time someone says something that sounds completely wrong, try this: Come up with three different interpretations of what they might be trying to say (and only one of the three is your first guess), and then look back to the earlier conversation for clues of which interpretation might be the the most correct one. Let's try an example sentence:
"Bears aren't the main threat you should be worrying about when hiking in Poland. You are statistically more likely to get killed by a dog attack than by a bear."
Now, let's come up with three different interpretations:
This person is saying that bears are more safe to keep as pets than dogs. You are always safe in the presence of a wild bear.
This person is claiming that there are turbo dangerous killer dogs roaming in the woods in Poland and they can and will kill you.
The odds of getting killed by a random dog are low, but never zero. This person is pointing out that the odds of getting killed by a random bear are even lower than that.
And once you have three different interpretations available, look at what the rest of the conversation has been about this far. Were they talking about what animals are the safest to keep as pets? No, they were talking about potential dangers in the wilderness. So that eliminates interpretation #1. So that leaves us with options two and three. And while I, personally, would opt to assume that the speaker is not a complete moron, and automatically assume that the most likely interpretation is the one that isn't idiotic.
But the neat thing is, if you aren't sure, you can always ask them! If you can, try to word it politely. Like this: "Do you mean that there are killer dogs in the woods in Poland, or did you choose dog attacks as a random statistical comparison, in order to highlight how unlikely bear attacks truly are?" The answer might surprise you! And if they did, in fact, mean the idiotic thing you thought they said, you're now free to shred them to bits with no further hesitation! Just remember:
Always ask before you attack.
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anonymous-dentist · 5 months
Text
Day Seven - Soulmates
-
Soulmates, as everyone knows, share each other's pain. Bruises, scrapes, broken bones. Fevers, infections. Anything, everything. Nothing physical is left behind, just. Pain.
Roier kinda thinks it's all bullshit. There's all sorts of philosophy attached to it, like the idea that sharing pain is supposed to bring you and your soulmate together, but that idea doesn't really matter when you don't even know who your soulmate is. It's just pain for the sake of pain, and it's absolutely ridiculous, and he kinda hates it.
...But maybe Roier is biased, just a little. His soulmate, whoever they are, is either the most accident-prone person on the planet, or they've been a soldier since Roier was still in middle school. After years and years of constant aches and pains and bruises and fucking stab wounds right through the stomach and gunshots fired through the shoulder and the throat, Roier's tired.
Roier doesn't hate his soulmate. He probably loves them, actually; he started working out in middle school just so he could grow up into a strong enough man to be able to protect his soulmate the way they deserved. He just also thinks it's kind of bullshit that he and his soulmate have to share this much without not knowing who each other is.
"It's just kind of ridiculous, you know?" he asks.
"I guess," Cellbit hesitantly agrees.
Cellbit, unlike Roier, seems pretty into the whole soulmate thing. He doesn't think he has one, but he likes the idea of people being able to find someone special just for them that they can love and who will love them back. Sharing pain, to Cellbit, is the same as sharing a warm cup of coffee on a cold winter's morning: it's just something that people who love each other do.
Roier sighs, but he doesn't say anything else, mostly because he's decided he kinda likes Cellbit and he doesn't want to lose him before he can work up the nerve to ask him over for, like. Dinner. Or sex.
Tonight, they're side-by-side in sleeping bags on the deck of their newly-claimed Base Guapita. The kids are asleep inside, and Cellbit's hands are rough and red from an afternoon spent putting up the communications tower. He's half asleep, but Roier is wide awake and staring at the stars and trying to connect them into something meaningful.
Cellbit is... nice. He's nice. Him and Roier got off on the wrong foot, and he kinda super needs to shower more often, but he's sweet, and he has a cute smile when he deigns to show it. His eyes are breathtaking. His hands are big. His arms are covered in too many scars to count, and so is what little of his chest and neck he shows beneath his button-up and vest.
(Roier remembers waking up screaming a week or so ago and immediately checking his arms to make sure he wasn't the one getting fucking shredded with- with something. Bobby ran downstairs to check on him, and he got to the bottom floor just in time to watch Roier pass out as his soulmate died and had to respawn.
The day after that, Roier idly watched as Cellbit and Felps argued in the corner of his garden. He couldn't catch much of what they were saying, but the scars on Cellbit's arms were new, maybe.
Maybe...)
In the end, it's Cellbit who continues the conversation:
"If I do have a soulmate," he murmurs, voice slurred from exhaustion and muffled slightly by his pillow, "I kind of feel bad for them."
"Mm?"
Absently, Cellbit rolls onto his back, his arms falling on top of the sleeping bag's outer layer. One hand brushes along the largest of the opposite arm's scars.
Ah.
"Nah, it's probably fine," Roier says. He adjusts himself so that he's laying on his side facing Cellbit with his hand propping his head up. "Aren't you the guy who thinks sharing pain is romantic and stuff?"
"It isn't romantic," Cellbit scoffs. "It's pain. Nobody should have to go through it."
"Or maybe nobody should have to go through it alone. Isn't that what all this soulmate shit is about?"
Cellbit glances at him out of the corner of his eye. "I thought you didn't believe in soulmates."
"What?" Roier gasps, dramatically offended. "No! Of course I do! I just don't get all that philosophical stuff. Like, what's the point of sharing pain if you don't know who you're sharing with, you know?"
"Because it's what people who love each other do."
Roier snaps with a grin. "There you go! You and your soulmate love each other, so you want to share each other's pain. Right?"
Cellbit hums, "Or maybe he just wants to stop it."
Oh. "'He'? Do you-"
Cellbit cuts him off with a shake of the head: "No, I don't. I just know he would be a he. I'm not, ah..."
Oh, shit.
Roier knows Cellbit well enough by now to know when he doesn't want to elaborate on something, so he offers a cheerful, "Cool!", before going quiet again.
Then:
"I hope you find him, man," Roier says. He sits up and pats Cellbit on the shoulder with a smaller, more genuine smile. "I know he's out there."
Cellbit watches him warily. "I'm not even sure if he exists."
"Nah, he does. And I'd better get to be your best man, okay? If not, I'm stealing your husband."
Cellbit snorts quietly, lips quirking up into a half-smile. "Of course, guapito."
"Good." Roier nods, and he settles back into his sleeping bag. His bones, as usual, are aching. His hands burn, and he doesn't know what the hell his soulmate has been up to today, but he's going to make them start wearing gloves when he finds them.
He flops onto his opposite side, and then he screeches as his arm impales itself on the pointy end of an exposed screw.
"Chinga su madre-" he swears, scrambling out of his sleeping bag to dig up the hammer he and Cellbit were using earlier when they were renovating the airship.
Cellbit sits up, eyes wide. "Guapito? What happened?"
Roier slams his hammer into the screw in response with an irritated, pained, "Fucking nail got me in the arm, what the fuck?"
He turns his attention back to the floorboards, turning his sleeping bag over to inspect the rest of the floor for any loose nails.
(He does not notice Cellbit's face pale as he raises a shaky hand to his own arm, right where the screw had hit Roier. He looks from Roier's bleeding arm to his own, and a faint, excited, surprised, terrified smile crosses his face, and a blush paints itself across his nose and cheeks, and he has to cover his mouth to keep himself from letting out the happiest little squeal possible.)
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yurinaa-world · 4 months
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hi, welt jing yuan blade dan heng with a bronya (hi3) teen reader?
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Characters: Welt Yang, Jing Yuan, Blade, and Dan Heng platonic! x Female Reader
Synopsis: reader that's like bronya from Honkai Impact 3rd
Warnings: Fluff and spelling mistakes,
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𝒲𝑒𝓁𝓉 𝓎𝒶𝓃𝑔
It gives you the childhood you’ve never had; even if you can’t feel anything, it’s never too late, even if you say you can’t be saved. It gets you things to build your machine that you've been working on for months.
He also gets you to leave your room and come and join everyone on the new planet you just arrived on, using the excuse that you could find the parts you need, as well as inspiration for upgrades. In reality, he just wants you to go out and have some fun with everyone else.
𝒥𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒴𝓊𝒶𝓃
You’re cold like ice compared to anyone else, which reminds him of his old master, but unlike her, you're just a child influenced by the world's most corrupt and sick minds, left scarred forever and unfixable when cracked into. A child fit for war but doesn’t view you like that at all.
He finds your little insults to him quite hilarious. It seems that you and Fu Xuan are quite similar in the way you talk to him and how you view him, but he finds you very adorable whenever you do it, with his child giving him sas without hesitation.
𝐵𝓁𝒶𝒹𝑒
You do it whenever someone asks you to make a machine for them. You get it done in a day or less, when it usually takes three days or more. You don’t bother talking to him, and he doesn’t bother wasting his time on you; it was like that for a long while.
You started to get closer whenever Kafka sent him to request something from you, and he’d have to wait there for you to finish whenever he was asked, and you gave him some candy, saying maybe that could fix his nasty expression; it’s very sweet. He hated it, but he always took it because you gave it to him.
𝒟𝒶𝓃 𝐻𝑒𝓃𝑔
He’s quiet like you, but you’re cold, you're completely emotionally stunned, and you're unable to say anything with emotion or with heart. Maybe that’s one of the reasons most people don’t like to approach you.
You weren’t that bad, though. Mess with March whenever she touches the machines in your room, and it’s pretty funny to watch as you mess with her and make her regret calling her an idiot.
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if you liked this, consider tipping me on ko-fi! it'd mean a lot!
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caligvlasaqvarivm · 16 days
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was in the process of starting writing an eridan centric no sburb au and the more i write the more i’m like goddamnit pale erikar is happening without me even trying you’ve 100% gotten me invested
YEAH. Even if you just go purely by canon, their personalities just wind up meshing so well.
Like how Karkat gives Eridan special treatment and is extra nice to him because he knows how rough it is to be in Eridan's thinkpan.
Or how Eridan is willing to immediately shelve his own problems whenever he hears that Karkat isn't doing well emotionally and basically demands to give him emotional support.
Or how Karkat lies to Vriska that nobody listens to him talk about quadrant stuff when we've seen them talk to each other and we know they gossip about that shit all the time.
Or how Eridan is basically the only person who's ever succeeded in getting Karkat to calm the fuck down, by virtue of his incredible obtuseness, like, he doesn't even need to try.
Or how Karkat makes a bunch of death threats to Eridan and Eridan takes it as "ironic repartee," meaning that Karkat's usual problem with mixed signals is not a problem to Eridan, because Eridan is honestly just happy for the attention.
Or how they're so in sync with each other that Karkat telling Past!Eridan that their pact is over led to Eridan assuming they have a pact, and Past!Karkat hears about it and just rolls with it, because apparently it makes sense that they have a pact or something with a caveat that they be nice to each other. Of course.
Or how they talk so often that Feferi outright laments how it leaves Eridan with nothing left to talk to her about.
Or how, even before he knows that Karkat is a mutant, Karkat is still one of his best friends, and their relationship doesn't change after Eridan finds out - in fact, unlike Vriska or Equius or Gamzee, who make comments about his blood color (Gamzee calls him a punchline blooded motherfucker), Eridan never even bothers to mention it. (Because he doesn't actually give a shit about the hemocaste, it's basically all performative).
Or how Eridan knows Karkat well enough to know that Gamzee's advice to just be chill and w/e doesn't work for Karkat.
Or how Karkat's response to Gamzee going murderous is "oh god oh fuck oh man oh fuck" and his message to Past!Gamzee is "get out of here, this barely even concerns you," but his response to Eridan going murderous is a very personal "fuck you, BACKSTABBER, HOW COULD YOU???"
Or how Karkat has a double-v typo once and there's a point where Eridan drops his double-letters and yells at Feferi in capslock 👉👈
And that's all JUST CANON. That's all stuff we've SEEN them do. If you start making some extrapolations, there's so much more.
Karkat's dream has always been to become a threshecutioner - a member of the Empress's strongest troops - seeking to find some sort of acceptance within the society that outcasted him if he could prove his worth that way. However, Karkat's the weakest fighter on the team, and given that Eridan's pissed off angels scared everybody else off his planet, it's likely he's one of the best fighters, if not THE best. Combined with his noble status, Eridan was on the fast track to, if not becoming a threshecutioner, then otherwise achieving some great rank or prestige within the Condesce's army. (Even Dualscar, laughable as he was, was still Mindfang's superior).
Karkat would think Eridan is badass.
Meanwhile, Eridan's problems nearly all stem from the pressure he feels to live up to the expectations on his shoulders, as a highblood, as the orphaner, as the person keeping his friends alive, and as a sea dweller. His is a world of constant anxiety and anguish, not helped by his innate troll/highblood volatility and his own knowledge of how dangerous he is. And Karkat is their self-described "fearless leader," who will happily tell everyone what to do.
Eridan would be relieved that the pressure is off his shoulders.
Karkat's had to live in fear for his life for nearly all of it; when Eridan got added to the group chat, Karkat was probably fucking terrified, especially when Feferi got added right after. Like, oh, fuck, it's a sea dweller (noted as being so hostile that even GAMZEE is nervous about being by the water for too long), oh fuck, he knows the heir apparent, oh fuck, he's an insane murderer.
And then... the sea dweller respects his authority. The sea dweller takes him completely seriously, once he gets past all the slurs and talk of genocide, which the sea dweller obviously doesn't actually mean (Eridan's contradictions are REALLY obvious, which is part of why nobody else takes him seriously). The sea dweller doesn't give a shit WHAT his blood color is.
Like, I think Karkat finds a weird sense of safety in having a violet-blood friend that he can make death threats to. Their last memo together implies that such "ironic repartee" is completely normal for the two of them, and I personally like the idea that Karkat at one point took issue with one of the insane shitty things that Eridan likes to say, went off on a classic Karkat Rant, and then went "oh wait. shit. fuck. im so dead," only for Eridan to completely laugh it off and treat it like casual joking around.
And Eridan just craves attention, positive or negative. He desperately wants people to take him seriously and care about him. Kanaya, Vriska, and Feferi don't, because frankly, they don't really get why he's got so many problems - they're all privileged and they like it! - and Terezi is like "yikes. wow. glad that's not my problem," while Gamzee just tells him to chill out (he can't, that's his entire issue) and Equius avoids (void joke ha ha) him. He doesn't really talk to the lowbloods, but given he doesn't express any casteist anti-lowblood sentiment specifically until he's mad at Sollux (and has totally caste-neutral opinions on Sollux before that), it's not even because he doesn't like lowbloods; one has to assume he's got a different reason for avoiding them - like his canonical guilt over all the murders, or an extrapolation of his general anxieties in that he doesn't like talking to people who are going to be dead before he's even 1/100 of a way through his own life, or that the lowbloods tend to avoid him because... yknow, -gestures to all of Eridan-.
But he always had plausible deniability when it came to Karkat, because Karkat was always anonblood; even if he assumes Karkat's an "assblood," he had no way to know for sure 'til he found out Karkat was an off-spec. And Karkat DOES take him seriously, or at least more seriously than anybody else, by a longshot. He's even willing to outright tell Eridan that it's not Eridan's fault Nepeta doesn't reciprocate his feelings. WHO ELSE WOULD DO SUCH A THING???
And on that topic is pity. They both extend to each other a pity that they don't really afford anyone else, and Karkat - with his uncanny romantic acumen - outright says that pity is the driving force for all non-pitch relationships. Because he's the only person who even acknowledges that Eridan's probelms are PROBLEMS, it's clear he feels pity for Eridan's utterly fried thinkpan. Meanwhile, Eridan seems to recognize how sensitive Karkat really is, IMMEDIATELY putting everything else on pause to try to provide Karkat emotional support whenever it's brought up that Karkat is sad.
Eridan never extends this kind of consideration toward anyone else, too busy grandstanding and putting on the Big Bad Sea Dweller act; Karkat never even extends this much sympathy to Gamzee, never once bothering to understand his religion, or comment on his shitty lusus or crisis of faith. Even when he tries to cheer Terezi up, it's not really with outright sympathy - he tries to build up how awesome he thinks she is, or take on the blame for the situation. But with Eridan, he just goes, yeah, okay, shut up. I know it's tough being you.
I think it's also pretty notable that although Eridan comments about how HYPOTHETICALLY Future!Karkat can't reject him because he's not Eridan's Current!Karkat, he has never actually hit on Karkat in any quadrant, as far as we've seen. And I'm even willing to believe that he never has - when he met Karkat, his pale and pitch quadrants were filled, and he was always pining after Feferi in flushed; it probably never even crossed his mind to see Karkat as a viable dating partner, and I think he likes their unofficial moirallegiance friendship exactly the aay it is - when he thinks Karkat is hitting on him pitchwise, his reaction isn't "yes let's date," it's a surprised "whoa, coming on kinda strong, there."
And just. Just. The way that Karkat took Eridan's murder spree so fucking personally, especially compared to Gamzee in the same memo. You BACKSTABBER. I HATE you (not enough to not talk to you for an extended period of time but still). How COULD you. I thought you loved her...
Like. Man. I think it would require a third party to point it out in order to get them together - Karkat seems to be kind of embarrassed by how often he talks to Eridan (because it's, y'know, ERIDAN), and has convinced himself that Eridan is SUCH a pathetic dumbass that OF COURSE it would never work out between them (keep telling yourself that, buddy, you're the one who started thinking about that in a conversation where Eridan literally was not hitting on you), and Eridan is, uh, a dumbass.
But even that's kind of tricky, because Karkat's mixed signals make their friendship read as weirdly pitch-coded (I don't think you're normally supposed to threaten death upon your moirail and call them slurs), and also, nobody really wants to imagine Eridan being in a happy, loving relationship. You run into this problem sometimes even in real life.
But he's kind of basically in one?????
Literally, society if Eridan and Karkat made it official -
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carionto · 5 months
Text
Blot out the Sun
It's hard to comprehend the true scale of Human engineering. Even if you see one of their capital ships as it gets bigger on approach and does not stop getting bigger until you can no longer see one end to the other. It's like trying to grasp how large a city is - you've been on the street level and you've seen it from a bird's eye view, but that never gives you an idea of how precisely big it is. It just is.
Which presents a unique problem, because unlike practically everyone else in the Galaxy, ALL human space ships (and even most space stations) are capable and often prefer to land directly on planets instead of shuttling. When there is an atmosphere, the sheer displacement of one such vessel can cause days worth of chaotic weather patterns and even seismic activity should they decide to land. As in proper land land, as in - landing struts skyscrapers touching the physical ground.
The simple act of a Dreadnought coming to a halt above the surface of a populated planet is considered an act of war.
Suffice to say, nearly everyone has banned Human ships with a displacement of over 200'000 tons from landing, and nothing over 2.5 million tons can even enter the upper atmosphere layers of their planets at all.
Given how chaotic Earth's weather is already, (and the things they're willing to do to it) Humans don't have much problem with that.
It is quite a spectacular event, however, when on a sunny day, all of a sudden a huge form begins to take shape far above the few clouds there are. Millions of tiny lights blinking away on this gigantic dark metal body. Hobbyist astronomers and enthusiast engineers all look through their telescopes, identifying individual markings, hatches, docking ports, weapons, anything and everything of note and not.
Then it flares up.
A fireball streaming gently down towards your world. It is already as big as the sun in the sky, and nearly as bright, but you know it is dozens of kilometers away still.
The heat from the breaking sequence dies down. A shadow begins to loom along the horizon. Slowly, ominously. Still so far away, yet it dwarfs and snuffs out whatever cloud coverage there was, the heat pushing the water along the sides of the behemoth and further up.
The wind is picking up. It's getting warmer.
And darker.
It was day time, now it is beneath the belly of the beast time.
It comes to a halt, only one kilometer above the ground, two hundred and twenty meters from the tip of the tallest building. You can barely see the edge of the horizon - it is just a thin strip of hazy blue, everything else is metallic darkness illuminated by the lights from the city and the massive ship itself.
Then they descend. Hundreds of small ships, all uniform in core design, yet individually decorated and no two are truly alike. Troop transports. They land everywhere.
In unison, the landing bays open and out step the soldiers.
In their off duty clothing with bags and backpacks and suitcases.
It's mandatory leave and we're in Neo Las Vegas, and the city paid to put on a show like no other. Have fun boys and girls, the night will never end!
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twisted-dreamscape · 4 months
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Twisted Wonderland
Reader with Magic from Another World
One of my favourite concepts to play around with in Twisted Wonderland is the idea that by their world’s standards the prefect doesn’t have magic, but comes from a world with a different magic system—I can be a bit lenient with how some systems work more than others. For example:
Winx (Believix, ‘cause it’s a magic for fairies in places where people do not believe in magic-in this case it’s the specific brand of magic the prefect uses)
No one believed you. Your rounded ears and distinctly human eyes and teeth did nothing to help your case—forget your apparent lack of magical capabilities. It was no surprise that not a single person believed you when you claimed to be a fairy. You found that for some reason, you were unable to transform in this world, which made it impossible to prove you were a fairy if you were entirely unable to transform into one. But you remained determined, and what abilities you retained outside of your core transformation, namely visions of people’s past and visions of the great seven, helped you carve a different place in this world regardless. Through your efforts, insights and general willingness to help others, enough people started to believe there was at least something more to you.
It’s in a moment of crisis, when your selflessness sees you placing yourself in harm's way, taking a risk that was not asked of you and leaving the boy you protected racked with guilt.
While the others were fighting back the Titan Earth, another phantom charged at Epel from the shadows. There was no room for the others to act, but you could. You raised the weapon you swiped before descending into Tartarus and slashed and stabbed at the creature, but it held your weapon in its fading body while another went careening into you, knocking your little scuffle over the edge.
The seniors could only listen on as you fell, the phantom before them leaving no room for distraction. When the Titan was pushed back, it was already too late.
“You said you were a fairy, you said you could fly, you said you were a better flier than me. Then, fly!” Epel stood rooted to the spot where you stood, but despite what they saw, he, Rook and Vil wanted to believe you were something more, something that could survive that hit, survive that fall and the Titan that followed; it was then that you were able to unlock your Believix wings.
It was a whole new form you had never encountered in your dimension, but you once heard of fairies from Alfea that restored magic in a long separated planet. It felt good to access your magic again, even though you may never reach Enchantix as long as you were stuck here, you were still happy you could help out your friends—it also felt good to prove everyone else wrong.
With your newly gained powers you were able to participate in classes like your other classmates, but only when transformed, unlike at home, which was…an experience. Flight class was especially interesting since you didn’t particularly need a broom, even less so if you wanted to fly quickly. Application of lessons weren’t exactly a one-to-one application but they inspired you to try things you had yet to study in your home dimension. Maybe with practice you could one day be strong enough to open a way between your worlds.
Fairy Tail (It’s funnier if the prefect is some form of Dragon-slayer)
“HOW DARE YOU!” Sebek immediately placed himself between you and Malleus, although more troubling was the way Silver followed his lead; but even worse yet was the look of hurt that settled on your friend’s face. It was one thing to title yourself a dragon slayer, but to withhold this fact and sneak your way into his good graces…evil. You were ecstatic when you learned your friend was a dragon—‘a kindred spirit’ you thought—so you eagerly revealed what you are.
Malleus was silent and Sebek was anything but, chastising your horrid character, while Silver hoped you would change your ways. You hurriedly explain what a 1st generation dragon slayer is in your world—a human trained in the ways of a dragon—and that you were in fact raised by said dragon! And Malleus was now also ecstatic! Although Sebek was still wary, Malleus needed to know everything about you and your draconic parentage! He’s surprised by how limited your magic is compared to his, but just as surprised that you can eat the element you’re limited to! He consoles you over the disappearance of your parental figure and welcomes you as family.
The age old question of your guild has been answered, “Do fairies have tails?” Yes, some. You marvel at Malleus’ when he shows you his beautiful tail. He’s a fairy, but a Dragon-fairy, he’s everything you ever wanted to meet. Your friendship has further deepened now that you’ve learned this and now he wants to know more about your guild as well.
You are able to learn magic like your classmates, but you don’t have a need for a mage stone, in fact, you don’t really ‘get’ them. Some hold magic like lacrima, but the more common ones seem to be glorified filters.
*Crystal Dragon slayer
Ruggie also takes a particular interest in you, chiefly your ability to consume ANY crystal, including something as common as glass—however this interest quickly wanes when he realizes you can’t teach him to do the same; that doesn’t stop him from trading your lunch set for a washed soda bottle. While you are interested in the crystals that Grim has been eating, even you find that there’s something gross about the murky stones, despite his tantalizing descriptions. That’s all fine to him, he wasn’t gonna share anyway.
Ojamajo Doremi
The P.E uniform for Night Raven College was a practical jumpsuit. The students took pride in styling it in a way that best suited them, even you were fortunate enough to find an older iteration, in the attic of Ramshackle dorm, that you wore like your friend’s. It was comfortable enough, when you got to wear it—that is, outside of flight lessons.
You always made an effort to transform before class, in the empty locker room, behind some bushes, anywhere but the open field, but some days, you were late. Some days you were laughed at by every single classmate as you rushed to pull on your monochrome costume before the song ended. But they could eat your sparkly dust.
Some time had passed since you received your crystal ball and returned your witch to her true form. You were crossing over from the human world to visit her when you woke up…here.
You were a full fledged witch, and your magic proficiency was at least greater than that of the average third year, but there was SO MUCH you didn’t know about this world. Surprisingly, attending this school was exactly what you needed to gain that knowledge, so while you’re still not sorted into an official dorm, you remain as something of an interdimensional student.
In light of your advanced skill level, you and Grim are not a single student, but he is still accepted as your sole dorm mate—given that you keep watch over him.
With your fairy beside you, you wonder if he could possibly be the same if he’s not a cat—a fairy without a witch that transformed into this direbeast.
Mew Mew Power (Seismic Cymbals)
You entered their world with nothing but their ceremonial robes and your power pendant. It was your only treasure and only link to your world, but there was no need for it as a janitor, right?
You kept it close regardless, nearly activating it when a wild tanuki began rampaging and again when a certain red headed jerk instigated a chase that would have been much easier when transformed—but you resisted. In the end, it was only when the monster of the magic stone mine began swinging its pickaxe that you took your stand. You held off as long as possible, even uniting your ragtag group into a fairly solid plan, but when the monster finally shook off the cauldrons, you transformed and pulled Deuce out of the way, and with the monster far enough away from the cave, you summoned your seismic cymbals and collapsed it into a crevice you opened beneath it. For the most part, teamwork did win the day, and you are still dubbed a beast tamer, but your magicless status was mostly revoked.
As you are unable to actually cast spells you are still unable to participate in most magical lessons and require Grim to cover that aspect of your grade, however, in very specific instances you are able to transform and flaunt your stuff.
From then on, the nature of your species comes into question, as a person who occasionally exhibits beast man traits on occasion, even outside of your transformation.
Persona (a blend to incorporate more features)
*It’s kind of funny how neatly the concept of Overblots connect with Shadow Selves
You were raised in a facility that studied pscience and how shadows and personas manifested and affected the world around it. You have an encyclopedic knowledge on past events where students much like you, were faced with extremely traumatic experiences and forced to take on very adult responsibilities. Despite this, your concept of reality feels distorted when you first call upon your persona in this world. In one sense, it’s reassuring to have access to your persona in this foreign space, but concerning if it’s based on similar rules to that of Tartarus or the TV world—who knows how twisted this world REALLY is and how much time you have!
Under what conditions were you brought here, and why have none of the Overblot victims been able to call upon their Phantoms as Personas after they’ve reverted? They’re basically shadows, right? It seems there’s more to it than you first believed, maybe when the Styx facilities are operational again you can study this power of yours in relation to the victims they kidnapped—with their permission.
As a student, you’re able to display some ‘magic’ by switching between personas. You share many of the same elements and even display some ‘new’ ones that have an effect akin to that of a unique magic. Your healing capabilities are immaculate and you’re one of the greatest talents in the school, but when you overdo it, you are prone to passing out, so be wary.
*Conversely
Despite being able to call upon your persona in this plain, it seems none of your peers can perceive it. Malleus and Lilia seem to be able to sense a separate, but connected presence beside you and Leona claims to smell something that is not quite human, but that’s as far as it goes.
Many are shocked by the grand feats of ‘magic’ that you can utilise without a wand or accumulating blot! But you can’t help but recall the Dark mirrors claim, “Soundless. Colourless. Shapeless. Utterly vacant.” A Joker by any other name.
*Anti-Shadow Suppression Unit (Like Aigis)
“Woah! You’re ANCIENT!”
“Brother!”
“But her design is so MID!”
You’re a robot designed to look human, but in so many areas it's obvious you’re not human, unlike Ortho, whose more techy features are intentional, yours stemmed from an inability to properly hide all your ‘additional’ features. Maybe it’s because you’re not human, but Idia is quick to get up close to you, poking and prodding, practically ready to tear you apart, but unlike Ortho (at the time), you have free will and quickly shut down his behavior. You have such a strong personality because initial tests of models before you emphasized the necessity when designing a weapon like you to have a powerful persona.
At the beginning, you found yourself actively distancing yourself from Ortho, who you felt was imitating being human, unlike you, and you wanted to avoid being compared to him as much as possible. And yet, you find yourself drawn to the Shroud brothers; the elder one somehow being more comfortable around you than he would be with a human and the younger one being fascinated in meeting another ‘person’ like him—it is your interactions that spark his sense of self.
As you grow to trust them, you do allow Idia to run some updates on you, after you analyze the changes to be made. You find your processing power to be faster and more precise, he even improves on your orgia mode, allowing you more control—if only slightly. Besides your robotic existence, Idia finds himself bonding with you over your predetermined futures. As the heir of Styx his role in life has already been decided for the sake of others, while your entire existence was designed to fight these ‘shadows’ for the sake of others. Neither of you are particularly interested in changing this reality, but rather living as best you can within its confines. You tell him about the shows and video games in your world, especially the best series ‘Featherman’ a major loss for this world not having it—at least you guys can watch the episodes you ‘recorded’.
When Ortho finally gains his ‘heart’ you two become the best of friends! You want to know everything about him and are more eager to share how your own awakening came to be. It’s a strange experience for him, but a welcome one and you’re happy to help him in these times.
Skullgirls
They are extremely concerned! What do you mean you have a parasite? Are you okay? Do you need antibiotics or something? You quickly explain that’s not what you take for parasites and that it’s not that type of parasite. You introduce your friends to a creature that’s attached itself to you and further elaborate that it’s technically not harmful to you—right now. Those who do hear your little aside simply overlook that detail. You explain that it’s not an especially uncommon phenomenon.
With the aid of your parasite you mostly take on the role of support in battles, in order to avoid harming the sentient attackers. Your parasite is POWERFUL, a little too powerful to attack a person—save for restraining or tossing them—if you want to see them walking again, so you refrain. It’s an ancient figure that bonds well with Lilia for some reason and attracts the intrigue of the octotrio—especially Azul for…reasons.
Are they crazy? Genies? An entire festival dedicated to wish making? You are horrified by the prospect of so many being brought up on the idea of consequence free wishes. You give them a brief history of the skull heart (A heart…of bones? Shut up Ace), where you were raised, no one would even dream of using it, at least not out loud, on account of the generations of horrors suffered by the land and people. You have regular discussions with Professor Trein and Riddle on the Heart and the wars fought for it and because of it. Azul on the other hand is more interested in the details of the wishes and their fallouts, you can only hope he doesn’t use it as a guide—he reminds you of the Medici mafia. For the first time, you find yourself giving some attention to the wishes you silenced long ago.
Bayonetta
“So…you’re naked?”
You explain that your hair is your clothing. Ace claps back that could be said for most people, but they’re still naked—the school requires that you wear the uniforms provided to classes. In the end, you get a top hat and solidify that nudity and a statement piece is the dorm uniform of the Ramshackle dorm.
You have yet to perform a traditional Umbra Witch summons, apart from the fact it would be way too embarrassing, you understand that you’re still young and not ready to put your schoolmates or your eternal soul on the table because Leona doesn’t wanna play nice with the other kids. You are however quite adept at the summons written about in school texts, the cost is lower and open to a little personal flair.
Meanwhile, your weapon handling is undeniably masterful! Beanfest would have been in the bag if your blaster hadn’t stalled at the last second! Lilia is so amazed by your versatility that he gifts you one of his old weapons from his armory—just keep this a secret between you two.
You auditioned for the VDC, on your own, but your moves were a bit…mature for a school performance (Beauté 100 points!). But, as manager your insight has greater value, you help Deuce and Epel loosen up and introduce some…’flexibility’ to their movements.
Shugo Chara
‘All kids hold an egg in their souls, the egg of our hearts, our would-be selves, yet unseen.’
You were able to see them, but yours had never manifested one in your world—your heart’s egg. Because of your special vision you were an unofficial guardian, so you were privy to some information on them, but you had always craved the impact that having your own would have on your life.
It’s shortly after Riddle’s Overblot that you and Grim awake to an egg with the silhouette of a crow on it in your bed! Grim has NO idea what it is, and leaps from the bed! He is a dire beast and it’s your job to teach him about human things, so you kindly explain it, meanwhile in your mind, of course a house warden would understand it! After everything you had seen them do, this should not be new! You eagerly show it off to all your new friends…only for them to be just as bewildered as Grim! Ace even teases you about having painted an egg for such a lame prank, Deuce bombards you with questions and observes like one would a newborn child, while Riddle quickly searches for medical references—maybe you're actually fae! The fae scentiment is one that also intrigues your horned friend after you show him your egg, he even graciously offers to supply it with magic in your place!
Your chara doesn’t reveal itself until after you defeat Azul. It’s so cute in its little feather cape and hoodie—a mysterious look for such a sweet thing. Oddly enough, EVERYONE in the school can see your chara—you were kind of hoping to play some invisible tricks, but this is okay too—you wonder if it’s a magic thing.
Your chara is so observant, calm and collected. It likes to help people, so there are times when it strays leagues from you in an effort to do so! Azul initially liked it because many enjoyed seeing the adorable little creature—which was great for business, AND FREE! But, over a series of chats, he found that he maybe, sorta, kinda appreciated its understanding and kindness, and he would maybe, sorta, kinda punish anyone who would bring it harm—a sentiment shared by many others.
You can’t help but feel that your coming here was undoubtedly the impetus for this growth.
Your chara change is a broach with what appears to be a mage stone similar to the one Grim has, but decorated with raven feathers. You find that in those times when you ‘change’, you embody the essence of maturity, your insight increases too and you just…get it.
It’s during the Vil’s overblot that you awaken to your chara transformation. Your midnight wings are functional and your black and gold outfit is reminiscent of an opulence not unlike that of the ceremonial robes or even the fairest queen—this extravagant display only further angers Vil. You hold a key blade or key wand and mirror shield in your arms that are sufficient for your amateur level. You’re still new to it, but together you’re able to talk Vil down and support the rest of the NRC Tribe in knocking him back to his senses.
By the time Styx attacks, you have some control over your transformation and the powers that come with it, but you’re still not on the level of the housewardens or even the third years, and like the others, you fall.
When the gate to the underworld is under siege you discover that your key can be used to buff and debuff. For some of the weaker phantoms, you’re able to dissipate their lingering negative emotions, erasing them entirely, while for the stronger ones you boost the potency of your friends’ spells.
Splatoon (Octoling, because Azul)
The first thing they noticed was your eyes, and your pupils' infinity shape. It's not until you remove your hood that they REALLY realize you are NOT human—nice tentacles, I guess. At first, it’s kinda weird to the humans, fae and beastmen, but the merfolk, they are fascinated! Especially Azul.
You describe yourself as an octoling—a descendant of ancient octopuses. You are NOT a mermaid, you are entirely unable to participate in Book 3 as is, but he is interested in you all the same. Before the dorm, you have something else to offer Azul. You are insanely fashionable and your voice is immaculate—and he wants control over it all. You offer your performing services to him should you miss the deadline, but you have a much more valuable skill you ‘failed’ to mention.
After having successfully booted you and your crew, Azul notices paint (ink?) in his office! It’s made such a mess! It’s gotten everywhere! All the way up to the vault!
The moment he opens the vault…you leap from the ink, grab a stack of contracts and jump back in! He is stunned for a moment, and even after he comes to his senses he has no idea how to explain what he needs the staff to do. And then you’re gone.
Through certain occurrences, Azul still overblots. You’re able to relate to him after what the Octolings had been through, and what they had done. You reassure him that things were on a positive trajectory when you left and tell him his tentacles are pretty.
Hunter x Hunter (Nen, Specialist)
You have a distinct presence to you that just can’t really be defined. There are times when the simple act of you turning causes aggressors to flee and other times where you're almost imperceptible—even to Rook! You introduce yourself as a hunter, presenting your license with great enthusiasm and the man is smitten! In his eyes, you’re a beauty like no other! As a hunter himself, he wants to know everything about you and everything about the test you underwent to attain that license! He is one of the select students who seem to be unconsciously manipulating Nen.
Another person who has a significant interest in you is Lilia, when you first exited your coffin you made sure everyone in the vicinity knew to stay far from you; your Ren surged forth before you even stepped out, just enough to warn those in the room, unfortunately Lilia was in the room. You were VERY lucky that nothing came of it in that moment, or rather you both were. However, since that occurrence, he’s had his eye on you. From time to time you can feel him exerting a little Ren himself, but someone as cute and kindly as him wouldn’t bring his sweet underclass man and ward’s first friend harm right…RIGHT!?
Initially it came as a shock that magic wasn’t at all related to Nen, but a different practice altogether. So, there are still limits to what you can do in this school for aspiring mages, but not many. In fact, there are some feats that you perform that have people questioning your species!
You explain that your Nen ability could be likened to that of their unique magic. Yours is known as True Heart’s Reflection, it allows you to peer into impactful moments of your target’s past with the caveat that the detail of the visions are directly linked with how greatly they weigh on the target in the moment (every flashback and vignette/story moments that are referenced but the prefect technically wasn’t there for).
I feel like there’s still more that could be done with this, but that’s for another day or even another writer 🤗
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Text
DP x MCU crossover
Sometime after Howard and Maria Stark’s death, Hydra decides to try and make a clone of Tony Stark, that’s infused with Super Soldier serum. They were hoping to get a super smart super soldier that they could control.
And thus Danny was born.
At some point when he’s like 2 or 3 one of the Hydra agents whose been his handler since he was born grows a conscious after witnessing the most recent experiment the other scientists in the lab put Danny through. They take Danny and run away from the lab. They don’t get away clean tho, they had to fight their way out of the lab and they were injured in the process. They wind up in Amity Park with baby Danny and come across the Fenton Parents. They hand Danny over to them and tell them to protect and look after the kid. And then they die.
The Fenton parents adopt Danny and raise him as their own. Danny grows up not knowing he’s adopted or that he’s a clone and a super soldier. The ghost portal accident happens when he’s 14 like cannon. The reason he survived and only half died is because of the super soldier serum in his blood.
Eventually, after the whole events of the Danny Phantom series has passed (minus Phantom Planet because fuck that horrible ending to the series). Danny, after defeating Pariah Dark, is now the king of the ghost zone. He still doesn’t realize he’s a clone of Tony Stark. Despite the fact that he looks exactly like a 17 year old version of the man!!!
And then New York happens. A portal opens up in the skies above New York, and aliens come pouring out of it! You bet your ass Danny hightailed it over to New York to help out the group of heroes that were trying to stop the aliens. He’s super hyped to fight aliens!!! He’s just having a blast zooming through the skies of New York, around skyscrapers, throwing punches and ecto-blasts at aliens, helping out the other heroes.
Meanwhile every time he helps one of the Avengers they all double take when they finally get a look at his face. Cause like yes this floating glowing child has glowing green eyes and Snow White hair, but the rest of his face looks like a very young Tony Stark. After each encounter with the boy the different Avengers call Tony over the coms to ask his status and to reassure themselves that Tony hadn’t been de-aged and given super powers mid battle.
Tony is the last one of them that meets Danny. He’s super annoyed at the fact everyone keeps calling him over the coms to ask his status. Like yeah he’s not a super soldier and doesn’t have powers, but neither does Romanoff or Barton!!! And unlike them he has his own super suit to protect him. So why is everyone calling in to check on him?!!!
And then finally Danny comes zooming around a building chasing after Loki’s chariot, shouting sarcastic quips at the god, while firing green blasts from his fists. And Tony just kind of blue screens for a minute. Jarvis has to take over piloting the suit for a minute while Tony reboots. He’s def got the surprised Pikachu face going on. Finally he reboots but Danny’s already flown off to deal with something else.
The battle comes to an end, the portal closes, the world is safe, and all the Avengers all head towards Stark tower. Danny sees them and where they’re headed and decides to meet them there. He’s been the only super hero around for a while and he wants to actually properly interact with these new hero’s!
Imagine his shock when he actually finally comes face to face with Tony Stark and finally realizes how much he looks like the man. He starts panicking thinking his mom had an affair with the man 17 years ago and just passed him off as Jack Fenton’s son.
Absolute chaos ensues as assumptions are made. DNA tests happen. They realize that no he is not Tony’s kid, he’s Tony’s clone. More assumptions are made. No body is having a good time.
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witchofthesouls · 3 months
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Mtmte Rung crushing hard on cybertronian reader, reader is a long forgotten deity that used to be Primus (Rung)'s amica. He love them for a looooooong time and just fall harder each second but he still struggle to confess, Poor dude.
So... my take on how gods love, anyone? Be warned, this will hurt.
Warning: Implied torture and massive death toll by divine rage
There are three certainties that Rung carries with him:
1. He hails from the Pious Pools.
2. You and him, no matter the distance, are inseparable.
3. You are his "darling," and he is "old friend."
_______
If Rung can be described in one word, then mechs would ask, "Who?"
Mechs would struggle for a while, trying to recall a Ring, Wrong, Rang, Wong... and then remember a quiet mech.
Forgettable.
If anyone would ask Rung himself, then he would reply with a crisp, no need for another thought, "Consistent."
Not only he had survived Age after Age, Prime after Prime. Rung had survived coups, hostile takeovers, and purges. He had walked away from crashes and assassinations that destroyed everyone and everything else in the vicinity.
Dented. Bruised. And in several cases, headless. But alive. Spark too stubborn to snuff out.
Consistent.
"Do you remember?" You ask him. Unlike himself where he never had an urge to change his frame -not his color, his alt-mode, or his spectacles- you have the frame of a submarine. This time.
You take so many faces and frames that he had stopped counting after the thirtieth official model ship he built, but he knows the rhythm and feel of your presence. It draws him like a Titan to a rich vein of Energon and mineral mines.
"Remember what?" Rung asks, tone mild and pleasant as this is an old, established game between you and him.
You hum and his spark shivers. It wants. It yearns. It-
(-aches to be cradled by lapping waves and gentle currents, it remembers how you played with volcanic vents with teasing, crushing pressure. And how between you and him, it heralded a new brilliant era to a desolate, lonely planet.)
-flutters that he holds his breath, even after all these vorns, when you lean down, spinal struts clicking to maximum allowance to nuzzle the top of his helm.
"What we were before, old friend," your words vibrate his circuitry as your bulk covers his frame. You're both burning and freezing and he enjoys the strange phenomena no other way.
"You mean when you fished me from that pool?" He says into the plating over your spark. The gesture is highly intimate to this day's standards, but you and he have been together since that morning when he splashed and sputtered his way out of hot springs.
Rung likes the word 'consistent' because it implies he's always in tune with you in one way or another.
_______
This is another certainty that Rung keeps unspoken and thus a secret to everyone else:
He loves you.
He had loved you since he laid his blurry sight upon your frigate-frame in Pious Pools.
In a far kinder, more understanding world, he would proclaim you Conjunx.
But the world at the time was dangerous and decreed all those that went to the sea and air unable to form marital spark bonds, in case of an emergency that would cause the other half to drop dead from the backlash.
For all his fascination with the sea, he never felt the urge to venture into it. Preferring to soak in the pools or stand at the shoreline.
You, on the other hand, were made for it. You sail into the horizon and delve into the depths, and you return with gifts for him: wonderful rocks and sea glass, delicate shells, samples of faraway delicacies, and memories. You and Rung would sit side-by-side, cables inside each other's data ports as he gently cruises through the memories of your time as you study the oceanic wildlife from the massive land-skippers to the gentle phantom lights to colorful reefs with ever-changing hues depending on the species living in their protective hauls.
And Rung would never allow himself to chain you, so he keeps it to himself.
It's one moment after a different age where everything and everyone must be categorized that he tentatively raises the idea of you and him being recognized as Amica.
You said 'yes' as a handsome Seeker in Crystal City. You and he returned to meet again in Pious Pools to complete the records. You're back in that frigate frame that's no longer in production, coated in rust and salt, oily barnacles stuck on your plates. Dangerously close to obsolete.
You're as beautiful as always.
_______
Once after a game, you asked him to go with you. Where he doesn't know, but-
"If I went with you," he asks, voice rasping as he listens to the sounds of crashing waves and gulls calling inside your chassis. "Would you let me go?"
Your smile is a secretive thing. Hungry and soft, he can hear a chasm inside you opening up, water rushing like a rapid fall, and he tastes salt and oil on his glossa.
"Do I ever allow anything to escape my grasp?" You chuckle, rich and deep as the endless estuaries of the coastal regions, optics holding the reflection of both distant stars and abysmal vents and he sees the faint images of countless mechs and femmes running upon ghost ships.
________
Rung doesn't go.
He cannot bring himself to regret as he has a life on land, but he stands on the shoreline to watch you sail away or sink into the waves.
________
Rung enjoys models that come with bottles. Not only an excellent way to store his ship models, but he also enjoys a piece of Pious Pools folklore. He whispers a message into the glass and throws it into an available spring or the sea.
When he travels on starships, he fills a sink to the brim and sinks the bottle into it.
It disappears.
He gets a piece of shell or sea glass in return.
(The ships are made of the metal of Cybertron and he feels at ease upon them. You always disliked traveling into spaces without the sea, so traveling into space, although an ocean in and of itself, is not something you felt compelled for.)
________
"Call me," you murmur into his throat, and he burns and freezes with every word and you lap up the condensation in quick darts of your glossa. "And I shall come, old friend."
"I'll keep it in mind, darling." He replies with good cheer and tilts his neck and you follow his quiet allowance. You never complained about how grit and slit could be found in his seams and crevices, how he tastes so conflicting between sweet oil, rich minerals, laden clay, and heavy metals.
Pleasure and yearning wash over him as you make your way downward, exploring every inch of his frame as if you had the chance before, suckling and lapping every bit of him. You croon as he wraps his thighs over your head, your appetite is voracious as always as you put your tendency to burn and freeze to other lovely applications.
In the distance, lanterns dot the skyline and act as a stand-in for the stars themselves. You hold his hand and he squeezes it firmly, cracking the thick shell of salt-crust and old sandy mud.
He lifts your hand to his mouth and bites off a piece of that shell to swallow, and your expression melts his plating and sends his spark to flare as a supernova.
______
When Rung falls into Functionists' care, he does remember and he refuses to call you.
He couldn't bear witness if you fell as well.
______
Outside, you howl and turn squalls into devastating tempests and typhoons across the planet. Rung's plating cracks in the dry, sterile air as Energon oozes through the crusting repairs; and earthquakes shake each city-state down to the foundations as you seethe and seep deeper and deeper enough to break apart villages and hamlets, islands and coasts. Rung starves just as you starved countless (millions, billions, more as no one could even measure the astronomical impact it had on an ecological scale as the terrain warps and potential hot spots died before igniting).
You disrupt all chains of transportation across land, air, and sea. Waves ate all cargo ships and submarines. Paved roads that held for millennia after millennia crumble under landslides and tsunamis, turning safe zones into dangerous sinkholes and flashfloods consuming all in its path. Aerials, no matter the speed, protection, or formation, disappear without a trace as wind and water take them all. Not even mining and space operations were safe as you, with tireless, endless cruelty, had patiently worked to collapse Cybertron's mantle and claim all those lost sparks with every brutal drop and trickle.
By drowning, by suffocation, by famine, by frost, by so many ways to die that terrified souls had believed that Unicron did not come from above but below.
And you feasted on their fear and suffering, raging on their audacity to give tributes to a benevolent Primus when they were the ones that trapped him away from you!
How dare they?! How dare they?! How dare they?!
(In your dream, he pleads for them and you cannot forgive them for destroying the one that loved these fickle mortals. Your warmer, steadier half is missing, and you went mad and savage in your grief. Merciless and indiscriminate with your violent destruction as you allowed him to convince you to walk as a mech rather than remain interconnected to all yet distant.)
Eventually, this period, with its immense deprivation, widespread turmoil, and massive extinction toll across all waves of life was hailed to be the Age of Wrath.
________
They deem him an ornament -a pretty yet unfunctionless bauble, except the label itself- and he's freed.
Rung must walk on his own as he no longer qualifies for their dubious 'care', and no one looks when he crawls outside.
One guard unkindly kicks his back as he stops on the steps, too exhausted and unable to move, even when the paved ground taunts him by several yards.
The pede disappears.
"Follow me, old friend." It's a plea and a demand, and he says nothing when you scoop him up, infinitely patient and gentle, and he silently cries from the overwhelming, nostalgic scent of salt and sulfur with underlying rust and the texture of gritty plating pressing on his face.
He's submerged in a pool and he can't recall where a hot spring has opened nearby (or did that much time have passed already?), and he sighs at the rushing sting into his old wounds. He's placed in a carved nook and you remain before him. Rung is cradled by earth, set deep into it, and water flows around him.
You don't press your hard into him, but enough that when you croon, it vibrates into him, and he cries because it's a strange, haunting melody that taunted his dreams since the beginning of his scattered, faraway memories.
And it always begins with you.
(He loves you.
He has loved you since the beginning when there were only two that split in half. One went away, and the other stayed. The half that remained divided further to keep itself company in the all-consuming loneliness.
And the nameless currents of the sea sang to a desolate Primus before anything else walked upon the planet.)
________
"Do you remember?"
"Remember what?"
"What we were before, old friend?"
"When you fished me out, darling?"
________
Rung carves out a message upon a moon, and it isn't just for the remaining crew of the Lost Light who will forget him.
'Darling,' he calls out, and he pulls upon the tides of Cybertron from the gravity of Luna-1.
'Old friend,' you respond, following him in an endless dance, and spell out in the numerous dialects of 'I love you' with icebergs and the phantom lights of various creatures during mating seasons, all the languages you and he had learned since the beginning.
(The ignited hotspot from Luna-1 go to Cybertron, and many of them will settle by the coasts, fascinated by the new phenomena.)
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