**I'm back with another imagine! This one was requested many moons ago and the anon who sent it might have forgotten about it so sorry 😕 but I got the inspiration for it and so I wanted to share it! I'm not so used to writing short format anymore so I feel everything could be a series. Let me know if you'd like this concept to be one! ☺️ And enjoy! ❤️**
Word count: 3675
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Being famous was not as great as people made it up to be. For Pedri, it meant leaving the house was too much sometimes. He had to deal with people following him and even getting in front of his car just to get his attention. He was asked to sign autographs and to take photos every couple of minutes. While he loved his fans, it could be a bit much. Especially when he could tell they were filming him so they could post the video on TikTok for a couple hundred likes. So, one day, he tried to avoid those people by going to a park. He could probably lose them there. There were so many trees and dogs that made it harder to move quickly around the area.
For you, it had been a bit different. Growing up your family wanted to keep you a secret almost. For security reasons…or so they said. So, naturally, you wanted to rebel against them and do the complete opposite. Still, it wasn’t until you turned 18 that you started to show up at official events. And now you were 20, you realised maybe your parents had been right all along. But you weren’t going to tell them that. Of course. So while some paparazzi were chasing you, you spotted a park and thought you could hide there for a bit. Maybe even call your chauffeur so he could pick you up and save you from the vultures.
“Oh! Sorry”.
Pedri turned to look at the girl who was apologising to him. You had bumped into each other and he hit you in the head with his shoulder without meaning to. He hadn’t even seen you there.
“No, I’m the one who’s sorry. Are you alright?”
And then, it happened. You looked up to see his face and you couldn’t believe who it was that you were talking to.
“Oh my God…oh my God”, was all you could say.
“I take it you know who I am”.
“Yeah, who doesn’t?”
Pedri chuckled. “I guess there are some lucky folks out there who don’t. But really, are you ok?”
“Yes, it’s fine. Just more shocked to see you here than anything else”.
Pedri smiled at you and you were trying hard not to swoon. Being hidden from the public eye meant you hadn’t been around a lot of famous people before. Your second cousins were way more used to this and always told you famous people were just normal people. To them…not to you. To you, famous people were…fascinating.
“I was planning on hiding here for a bit”, you said.
“Me too, but I don’t want to ruin your plan so I could leave…”.
Pedri started to look around, getting ready to leave so you stopped him. “You don't know who I am so that makes you good company. Perfect company actually. So you can stay. Also, you got here first”.
“Should I know who you are?”
“I guess not”, you shrugged. Not everyone followed your family. Thankfully.
“Are you a singer?
“Babies cry when I sing”.
“Actress?”
“Nope”.
“Influencer”.
“I only influence how much money there is left in my dad's bank account”.
You thought it was really cute how he concentrated, trying to guess. “Then…a model?”
“No, but I appreciate the compliment”.
“What compliment?”
“If you think I could be a model, then you think I'm pretty”.
“Well”, he started. “I like to invite pretty girls to eat or have a drink so…which one is it going to be?”
“There is an ice cream ban there…if you dare approach it”.
It made you laugh how Pedri looked around the area, making sure no one who could know him was there and then he turned to look at you again.
“What flavour?”
“One ball of coffee and one of vanilla, please”.
“Sounds sophisticated”.
“I guess you’re getting closer to my identity”, you laughed.
“What are you? A princess?”
“Nah, the princesses are my cousins”.
Pedri laughed before going to the ban to get the ice cream. The funny thing about being part of the Royal family was that it was so weird that many thought you were joking when you said that. But you weren’t. Not many people knew your parents but they still were part of the family so…they got attention. And now, you got the attention too.
“Here is your ice cream, your Majesty”.
“Thank you, Golden boy”, you joked back.
“Does that make me royalty too?”
“I guess. Football royalty so less hated than real royalty”.
“Less hated? You clearly aren’t on Twitter”.
No, you weren’t. No amount of therapy would heal you after reading what people wrote about you or your family there.
Sitting down on the grass and eating an ice cream while chatting with Pedri was something that healed your mood. It was so nice to be with someone who didn’t know who you were but that also understood how you felt. Even if he didn’t know it yet.
“There are a lot of kids and parents around now. I feel no one will even look at us while we leave”.
You looked around and agreed with his assessment. “Ok, where should we go?”
“I don’t know. Wanna go walk near the beach? It’s usually where I end up when I go out. It’s not often I do but it’s nice to go there”.
“I like the beach”.
“Where are you from?”
“Well…it’s a funny question that one”, you sighed.
“How so?”
“I was born in The Netherlands, then lived in Madrid for a bit, went to school in Switzerland and Wales and now I’m back in Spain. I go to different cities all the time. I like travelling”.
“Wow, that’s a lot. Was it a boarding school you went to?”
“Yeah”.
“Maybe you are a princess after all”.
You giggled and looked down to hide your blush. Yes, your life sounded very much like that of a princess. Even if about 40 family members needed to die for you to become one for real.
“I love this”, you said, looking around and feeling so…normal.
“Yeah? That’s good”.
Pedri smiled at you and you realised maybe it wasn’t so normal what was going on. Sure, you were on a walk like a normal person but you were walking with a very famous footballer. That didn’t happen every day. At least not to you.
“And I see pizza there. Do you want a slice?”
“I probably shouldn’t…”.
“But Pedri! Today everything is possible! You’re not a football player but just Pedro from Tenerife. And I’m not a princess”.
“What are you then?”, he asked, smirking.
“I’m just a girl standing in front of a boy…asking him to get some pizza”.
The excitement of the crazy afternoon made you lose a bit of the control you usually had and you grabbed Pedri’s arm to take him to the pizza ban. It wasn’t like holding hands but…once the physical contact started, you were both very aware of it. But pretended it was all normal.
After buying the pizza slices, you didn’t wait a second to start eating. You were so hungry and it wasn’t often you got to eat greasy pizza with your hands.
“That burns!”, you complained, opening your mouth and using your hand as a fan.
“Maybe wait a little to eat”.
“I was hungry”, you pouted and that made Pedri stare at your lips.
“You got some sauce on your mouth”.
“I think I have a mirror on my bag…”.
But before you had time to find it, Pedri used one of his napkins to clean your face. When you looked up at him, you noticed he seemed to have done that without even realising.
“Sorry”.
“No, don’t be. Thank you for not letting me look dirty while we walked”.
“Princesses have to always look perfect”.
“Exactly”, you told him, laughing.
But good things had to come to an end and soon Pedri started to notice people looking at him. That meant it was time to go home.
“I’m sorry. It just…that’s my life”.
“I get it”, you told him, wanting to explain to him how much you actually got it. “It was fun to spend some time with you though”.
“Would you like to do it again?”
“I would. But maybe somewhere more private”.
“Do you have Instagram? So you can follow me and we can talk about meeting”.
That made you pause. You had an official account controlled by people hired by your family but also a private one. So maybe you could use that one to follow him.
“Yeah. I’ll follow you later and send you a message”.
“Cool. See you…soon?”
You nodded, not knowing what to do. Should you hug him? But then all the people ready to surround him showed you that no, a hug wouldn’t be a good idea. So you said goodbye and left.
Pedri was entering the dressing room a couple of days after you met, not really looking at his teammates but at his phone. You two had been texting ever since you separated. And he was constantly checking to see if you had sent him a new message.
“Hello, your Majesty”, said one of Pedri’s teammates and it took him a second to notice he was looking at him.
“Sorry?”
“I just said hi to your Majesty. Would you like us to find a throne for you to sit on?”
“What are you on about?”
“Haven't seen the cover of the magazine yet?”, asked Frenkie.
“I haven't done any covers lately…”.
“The gossip magazine”, pointed out Lamine. “It’s all everyone is talking about”.
“I don’t get it. I haven’t done anything to be in one of those magazines”.
“How about going out with a pretty girl the other day? Paparazzi are everywhere. You should know that by now”.
So people had seen him when he was hanging out with you. Great. You didn’t seem like someone who’d enjoy the attention. But why make such a big deal out of him being seen with someone unknown?
“You also chose the wrong girl to date”.
“I’m not dating her but she's just a normal girl…”.
“Who's related to the Royal family. And here we were worrying about Gavi being the one who could become king”.
“I would have made a great king”, said Gavi, raising his chin proudly.
“You would have made a terrible king”, told him Fermín, shaking his head.
“What do you mean Royal family?”
Pedri was about to start freaking out. You joked about being a princess but…was it not a joke? What? He knew the princesses! Leonor, Sofía, Victoria, …none of them were you. So what the heck was going on?
“She’s like a second or third cousin of the real princesses but the media has been trying to find out everything about her in the last few years”, explained Pau.
“How do you know so much about that?”
“My mum loves the Royals. I live with her and she talks about it”, shrugged the youngster.
The jokes continued but Pedri didn’t care. He just kept thinking about how you had lied to him. And he got it in a way. It couldn’t be easy to be in your position but…you had spent two days talking to each other about a lot of personal stuff. Didn’t you trust him enough to tell him the truth?
When he finished training and picked up his phone again, he saw a text from you saying “I’m sorry”. A part of him wanted to ignore it but you didn’t deserve that kind of treatment despite your lies. So he asked you to meet instead. But you were in Madrid for a couple of days so it’d have to wait. You apologized multiple times and Pedri told you it was ok but…you weren’t so sure.
“What’s wrong?”, asked your cousin Sofía, who was a real princess.
“You saw the magazines, right?”
“Yes. Wanna talk about it?”
“I…we bumped into each other randomly and it was so good to meet someone who didn’t know who I was. You get it, Sof. If someone gets it, it’ll be you”.
“I do. Is he mad at you for lying?”
“Not really”, you said, frowning. “I expected him to be but he seems to understand why I lied. He also gets it”.
“I bet he does. So, what are you going to do?”
“We’ll meet when I get back to Barcelona in a few days”.
Sofía laughed looking at you. “That smile…someone is smitten!”
“How could I not be? Have you seen him? And he’s super nice too, not just handsome. But I fear I’ve ruined it”.
“Don’t be so negative. Let’s just get ready for the match and forget about your Barça boy for a couple of hours”.
It wasn’t a secret that the king of Spain supported Atlético de Madrid and a lot of people suspected his daughter Sofía did as well. However, it was very hard for her to attend matches without people noticing but she had become a bit of a pro at it. And now she was taking you to the match too.
The match was fun and Atleti won so Sofía was very happy. And you didn’t get spotted by anyone…or so you thought.
“Pepi!”, called Ferran when Pedri was entering the dressing room in the morning.
“What?”
“Your princess is a traitor, she doesn't even support you”.
“What are you talking about?”
“She was at the Atleti match yesterday with Princess Sofía. But I bet you can turn her into a Barça fan”.
Ferran’s wink didn’t stop Pedri from feeling so weird about this whole situation. Or more like jealous. What if you had your eye on an Atleti player?
But he could only stare at the photos in the article. After your meeting, he had only the memory of how you looked that day. Your private Instagram only had a handful of photos and a few were of your dogs. The official Instagram only had a few official photos and…even though that was you too, it wasn’t the you Pedri knew. The girl in the photos from the Atleti match was you. Laughing with your cousin and looking so happy.
The article…he didn’t like as much. After the photos of what the press called “a date” were published, they just assumed you were seeing Pedri. So what were you doing watching a rival team? It wasn’t as if you went to see a Real Madrid match, God forbid. But still…shouldn’t you be supporting “your boyfriend”?
“Hi”.
A few days later, you were back in Barcelona and Pedri invited you to have lunch with him. Finding a place where no one would see you was hard, but your family knew a few tricks to achieve that.
“Hey. It’s good to see you again”.
This time, you did hug as a greeting. Even if you had spoken only via texts, it still felt like you knew each other so well now. So a hug seemed like the right thing to do.
“I’m sorry about everything that happened. I just…I don’t know, Pedri. Being with you made me forget who I was for a second and I didn’t think about how this could affect you”.
“It’s ok. You know I get it. It’s the same for me. My every move is overanalysed. Though I guess being a princess is a bit more important”.
“Not this again”, you shook your head, laughing. “I’m not a princess. I’m a nobody, really. But the press was waiting for a moment like this. A scandal or whatever”.
“Eating pizza in public is very scandalous. I don’t know how your reputation will recover”.
You laughed at Pedri’s joke but also remembered what you had been told. “It’s not so much what I did but who I did it with”.
“Oh…ok”.
When the photos were published, your parents talked to you about all the reasons why you should stay away from Pedri. Before you even had time to say nothing was going on…at least not yet.
“It’s stupid. I told you I’m a nobody. But family connections dictate this or that…I don’t want to date a politician or another royal just because it’s what I’m supposed to do. I don’t have it as bad as my cousins. You know, the real princesses. But still…it’s boring. I want to be able to make my own decisions”.
“You don’t want to date a politician…but would you like to date me?”
Being so annoyed with your family and their restrictions, you didn’t realise Pedri wasn’t stupid and could easily read between the lines.
“You’re better than a politician so…”.
“Look”, said Pedri, grabbing your hand to hold it. “No relationship was going to be easy for me. I knew that. So…this doesn’t scare me”.
“Really? I was actually worried it would”.
“I could see it in your face”.
“Can you read minds now? Is that how you know where to shoot the ball?”
“No, that’s because I’m a generational talent”, joked Pedri, making you laugh. “But I mean it. I’m not scared. Are you?”
“Not as much as I probably should”.
“But…are you an Atleti fan? These are the important conversations we need to have before trying to date”.
“That’s my cousin. I don’t really have a team. So I might let you convince me to become a Barça fan. I already support Spain so…”.
“Even against The Netherlands?”, he asked. Your mum was Dutch so it was a fair question.
“Only if you play for Spain that day”.
And so you both forgot about what people would say, what people would demand from each of you and started to date. There was no need to hide since there were photos of your first date online already. Even if back then you didn’t want to admit it was a date.
Being together compensated for any comments or insults…but Pedri was starting to get a bit tired of his teammates curtsying in front of him and calling him Majesty. They did it with you too, which only made you laugh.
“I told you, guys. I’m not a princess”.
“No. Not officially”, told you Pedri. “But you are my very own princess. My queen even”.
Your blush made everyone laughed. It was so obvious to everyone how in love you both were.
However, the media was going to try to find anything that could make it sound like your lovely love story wasn’t so lovely.
Something your family always had to do was attend charity events. It was probably one of the few things you liked doing, since many of those events raised money for great causes. So when you were invited to one to raise money for cancer research, you said yes immediately. It being organised by the Atlético de Madrid foundation didn’t matter to you. But for the press…it was a different story.
“Hi, it’s nice meeting you”.
You turned to see it was Álvaro Morata, the player who presided the event, saying hello to you.
“Thank you, it’s nice meeting you too”.
“I heard about you and Pedri…sorry if it’s too informal of me to say this”.
“It’s ok, don’t worry”.
“So…you two are really together?”
“Yes”, you said, blushing.
“Good. He’s a good guy. I’ll see you around the Spain matches then”.
“You will”.
Other players were there too and you were introduced to all of them. Mario Hermoso, Marcos Llorente, …they were all very nice to you. But it was a younger player you had to sit next to at your table. One that you hadn’t met before but that introduced himself as Rodrigo Riquelme. However, that wasn’t what his teammates called him.
“Should I call you Rodrigo or Roro?”
“I feel I can’t ask someone of your station to call me such a nickname”.
You laughed seeing the Atleti player blushing. “I don’t mind. I’m not really that important”.
“You are the most important person here”.
“Depends on who you asked”, you shrugged.
It was lovely having someone young to chat with at such an event. You were usually surrounded by old politicians and entrepreneurs who bored you to death with their conversations. So you had a great time…Pedri didn’t have as much fun seeing all the posts on social media talking about how his girlfriend was being too friendly with another player.
He knew it was stupid. You were just chatting with Riquelme. Pedri knew you now and realised that was how you talked to his friends too. That was how you talked to Ferran, for example. It was nothing like how you talked to Pedri.
But still…it wasn’t nice to see so many people doubting your relationship. And, what was worse, insulting you.
“You look unhappy”, you said when you met him again in Barcelona. “Is it because of the articles? Nothing happened with Riquelme. I swear”.
“I know”, he sighed, wrapping his arms around your waist and kissing your forehead. “I just hate how people will try to find any excuse to try and hurt us”.
“We knew it was going to happen…”.
“It’s not nice anyway”.
“But we’re fine?”, you asked, worried.
“We’re fine. I missed you a lot”.
“I know. I missed you too”.
Knowing Pedri trusted you was so important and you felt you needed to prove you were worth that trust. So, even though you knew you were likely to get in trouble, you forgot about protocol and attended his match wearing his shirt.
It wasn’t even the most important match but when it ended, you went as close to the pitch as you could and called Pedri so he could go meet you. Every one of his teammates that walked past curtsied and called you two “your Majesties”. But you didn’t care. You looked around, noticing the cameras were all pointed at you, and kissed Pedri.
“Making sure everyone knows you’re just my princess?”, he whispered.
“Yes. And while we’re at it, everyone can also learn you’re my prince”.
(Your hands were shaking as you left the Defenders House, you were so excited! Today had been buuuuuusy, but none of that mattered now. You waved to the doorman as you left.) "Yup!! I'm running off to meet a friend!"
"Oh? Have fun then, Ramos!"
(You had the biggest grin on your face. You tried not to run through the streets you were so excited; it wouldn't be good if you showed up all sweaty and breathless, take your time! That's the advice Isa would always give!)
(You couldn't believe it, he was actually visiting! Your old buddy! You had half a mind to send him a letter if he didn't show up soon. Change, he must be busy after saving the country and all, so you couldn't really blame him.)
(You passed by the farmers market, still open from yesterday. Didn't you hear about some scuffle that happened there yesterday? You rub your shoulder, it still aches a bit. You guess maybe yesterday was just one of "those days".)
(You wonder, as you make your way through town, is Isa here alone? Or did he show up with the other saviors. You were just told the rumor that he was around, though you don't remember who told you.)
(Should you be concerned about that? Your memory had been spottier than usual.)
(You ignored it. Today was going to be great! You'd meet Isabeau, maybe their friends, and then. . . W-well. Well then they'd be your friends too!)
(. . . It, it still felt wrong.)
(Sure, they wont know you changed their memory. And, if they think you're not useless, then there's no way they'll leave you in the dust!)
(But, it still felt wrong.)
(That was something to think about another time. You had this gift, so use it! Oh! This is the place! A two story house, yard in front, it's really nice. You open the gate to the yard and walk to the front door, pausing before knocking. Alright, alright, you got this, you lift up your hand and-)
"Ramos?" (You jump, that voice!) "Is that you?"
(You turn and- oh Change! Isabeau was sitting right there! There was an outdoor table and chair hidden behind some foliage! You didn't even see it! How cute!)
"Isabeau?!?" (You walk over.) "Yeah! It's me!!"
(Isabeau smiles back and waves, he was doing some embroidery it looked like- Embroidery?!? You never would have thought!) "Yeah!! Wow, good to see you again! I heard that you changed and, wow, looks good!!"
"O-oh!" (What?!? You made it so everyone thought you always looked like this! Well, everyone you could touch at least. Guess you missed someone.) "Y-yeah! I was, uh, real nervous about it!"
"Haha!! I was too." (He looks as nervous as you do right now. You guess you did catch him by surprise.) "Take a seat!"
"Dunno if I could carry it home but I'll try." (You respond cheekily, laughing as you sit down. Isa laughs too.) "It's, i-its really good to see you again."
"Y-yeah. . ." (He rubbed his shoulder.) "With the curse and all, if we didn't win. . ."
"Ah but there's no way you wouldn't have! You're the best!" (You say, smiling. You point at the embroidery.) "Whatch'ya doing by the way?"
"O-oh!!" (He looks a bit surprised you asked.) "I-I, uh, wanted to, uh, branch out a bit! And try some, some new things!"
"That's the name of the game isn't it? Changing and trying new things." (You say, smiling. It looked good from your angle.) "Can I see?"
(Now's your chance, you hold out a hand.)
(Isabeau looks at it, then you, then looks away.)
". . . Uh, Isabeau?"
(He bites his lip before responding.) ". . . Can, can we talk about something kinda serious?"
(You take your hand back, not your chance then.) "Oh? What's up?"
"W-well. . ." (He takes a breath.) "We're friends, Ramos, and, and I promise, if you just tell the truth we'll still be friends, ok?"
"H-HUH?!?" (You try to contain your worry. What. What. What does that mean! What?!?) "I-I, I don't-"
"Ramos." (He's looking right at you.) "Please."
(Your heart is beating out of your chest, what. What. What could this be about. Did he find out? Does he know?!? Calm down, calm down. Just promise.)
"I, a-alright, I'll try."
(Isabeau nods, and takes another breath. Finally, he asks,) "Are, are you using Mind craft, Ramos?"
"HUH?!?" (WHAT. WHAT WHAT WHAT. WHAT. HOW. WHAT.)
"I-its alright! W-well, it's not, but, please, just, trust me. Please." (He put his hands up that way he does when he's worried.)
(Don't tell him.)
(You should be truthful, tell him.)
"I-I. . . Y-yeah, maybe, yeah." (Your voice is wavering, quiet. Your tapping on your chair nervously. How.) "How'd, how'dya find out?"
(Isa pauses.) ". . . A-a friend of mine, a good friend, they can restart a day over and over again if, if something bad happens." (He looks away again, he looks afraid.) "T-this morning, they, they nearly died. They've repeated today a couple dozen times a-and, and it's killing them."
(You think you knew where this was going. You didn't respond.)
"Ramos," (He sounds desperate.) "Ramos I, they said you changed my memories, once, and. . ."
"And what." (You say, a bit harsher than you mean.)
"And I don't want to Believe it!" (He turns back to you, he's crying.) "Y-you, you said you wanted to be strong!! B-but, but are strong! Even if you struggled with things, you are SO strong!! You'd keep trying and trying and stay up for hours practicing one thing to get it down! You gave being a defender your all!"
(He thinks you're strong?)
"S-so, they told me you, you wanted to be stronger, like me and, and, you'd change people's memorues to do that, I couldn't believe it but." (He shakes his head.) "I don't want to, but-"
"You, think I'm strong?"
(Your voice is a whisper. He thought you were strong? You? The weakest twig who could barely figure out a slowdown craft a few months ago? You? Who couldn't face how your guardian might look at you after changing?)
(You, who had to hide behind Mind Craft?)
"Yes!! I always have!! Always, always, always!!" (He continued.) "Even if you weren't the best, that was ok! You always tried to do better! And weren't scared off by what was hard!"
"That's not true-"
"It is!!!" (He grips the table.) "I-I, I wish I could have been more like you!"
(What.)
"I, I don't want to just be a big dumb defender guy, Rams, I want people to think I'm smart, and to know I can sew! I want to make clothes! But, I could never tell people that- o-oh, oh crab are you ok?"
(Huh? Oh, oh you're crying, you wipe away your tears. You? He looked up to you?) "T-thats. . . I-I'm ok." (You shake your head.) "I'm, I'm sorry."
"It's, It's ok." (He holds out a hand to you.) "Ramos, listen, I'll help you fix this just, promise, don't forget you're strong. Ok?"
(You look at his hand. What. Why. Why was he being so nice. Over the last few months you had been, been changing people's memories. And he was willing to trust you, just like that?)
"W-why, why are you trusting me."
(He looks at you, his eyes, warm, nice, his mouth quivering just a bit out of worry.) "Because, you're my friend."
(. . . You take his hand.)
(He takes breath, then a second. You take a breath with him. Don't, don't change anything, don't touch his mind. Don't do it.)
(Don't do it.)
(Don't do it.)
"O-ok. I'm sorry." (You finally say.)
"I'm sorry too, for leaving so suddenly."
"Haha, no, that's ok. You had a country to save. It's in the past."
"Exactly! It's in the past!" (You look up, he's smiling again.) "You promise you'll stop?"
"I-I. . ."
(You spent months doing this. You'll just throw it away?)
(Sunk cost fallacy. You were wrong. It's ok.)
"I promise."
(He takes your hand in both of his. You're crying, still.) "See? Not that hard, right?"
(You nod.) "It's, it's still blinding scary."
(Isabeau looks up a bit, surprised?) "Wh- say that again?"
(You blink up at him, confused.) "Blinding scary?"
"Yeah! How'd you know that word? 'Blinding.'" (He's perked up, wait, you remember that face, Isa was figuring something out.)
"Oh! Y-yeah, my guardian said it all the time, dunno what it means, just picked it up." (You tilt your head.) "Why?"
"Well, It's complicated- oh! Right! What about your broche! The wish one?"
(You tilt your head.) "My, oh!" (You take your hand back and undo your bandana. Your emblem, you didn't go anywhere without it now.) "I got it from someone I met!"
(Didn't you promise to keep it secret?)
(So what. You can't lie to him.)
"Someone?" (Isa tilts his head.) "Someone gave it to you?"
(You nod excitedly.) "Yeah!! He said that it was, it was. . ."
(Ow. You shake your head. He said, he said. . .)
(What is going on.)
(You need, you need to find his friend. You need to find them. The one who turns back time.)
(You wont remember. It's fine, It'll be like nothing ever happened! And it'll even make your guardian happy, right?)
"What's going on?? Ramos! Buddy!" (Isa ran over to you, he was about to grab your shoulder. You quickly back away, stumbling over.)
"N-no! No I, d-don't- I-" (You smell mint.) "I don't, can't, think-"
"-op! You need to rest!"
(A girls voice, no, it was that housemaiden. You turn to look. The door to the house was open, she, her name was Mirabelle, was there, trying to get someone back inside.)
(White cloak, white hair, white pointy hat-)
(That's the one. Go touch them, Ramos.)
"NO!!!" (You grip your head- no! Wait! Not the head! You tug at the stupid crabbing star around your neck. This stupid! Blinding thing!!!)
"You." (The person in white was walking at you, murder in their eyes, knife in their hand. They looked, they looked terrifying.)
"L-loop! Wait! It's, I'm not effected! It's fine! They're-" (Isa was sticking up for you, even now.)
(Go on, Ramos. Touch them. All you need to do, one touch.)
"No, no no no!!!!" (You tug hard at the star, it hurts, you're going to bleed. You're starting to cry.) "I, I don't want to!! I don't want to hurt them!!"
(It wont hurt, you know it wont.)
"SHUT UP!"
(You can barely see through the tears, you're feeling numb. You're feeling sick. You're lightheaded. The smell of mint, it's sickly, it's unbearable!)
"JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!!!"
(. . .)
(You're yelling at nothing. You're yelling at, at something, not, here. You need, to, to. . .)
(You smell burning.)
"Gems alive. . ."
(There's others. Tall lady. Lady with hammer, one with a pan. And. Mirabelle. A-and-)
"Wh, what is. . ."
(Your vision is, it's, you can barely see, barely think. The smell of mint, burning mint. They looks so distant.)
"Ramos!?!"
(Isabeau. You're sorry. You're so, so sorry. You just, you just-)
Woww thank you for the accident fic I was one of the fans who asked for it 😄 maybe it was not fun for you as much as other but I really enjoyed it (guess I'm a huge fan of those kind unexpected drama and sacrifice lol) Tbh, I don't want to bore you, or mess your schedule and attention but I can't help myself! Well, ok, I admit I'm a drama-addict and love to read other's reactions to it. Sorry for insisting!!
So it's just a tiny request, it really doesn't have to a fic-long as usual (if you want to write that way of course it's way better for me lol) I'm just curious about how would Isiah feel and think when he found out about the accident. I understand that this kind of trauma can be healed easily for wolves and not a concern, and Hex&Arnie got through it well, but it could be worse, right? Idk maybe Arnie would feel stressed about it afterwards and worry about Hex even though he's already healed. He might also blame himself for what happened as he was driving? Anyways, would you consider write another part stress sick Arnie and caretaker Isiah?
-🛼
I mean, this is fitting, since Arnie doesn't get stress sick, but he gets stress migraines. And we didn't have him with Isaiah as caretaker for a while...here you go🥰🤗
Stress migraine
Arnie really wanted to have fun today.
Hector was sleeping third day in a row already, tyring to get his shadow back up after all the healing. Nobody really knew, since Hector wouldn't want the pack to know and refused to call anyone.
Arnie understood. It was usually just the two of them, when something bad happened to either. Hector never let himself or Arnie find out if they had other people they could trust.
But now they had someone like that back. Someone they could call.
Other thing was that there wasn't really much to tell. Hector was fine, the car was getting fixed, Arnie wasn't hurt very much. What was he supposed to make a scene for, when there was no proof something even happened?
He caught himself looking for the little wound in his hair in the mirror just to make sure he didn't dream the whole accident up.
They had a scheduled meeting with Isaiah on Saturday though and Arnie figured it was a good opportunity as any to get out and distract himself.
He wanted to stop waking up to the fear he was back at the car or keep checking Hector every 30 minutes like he would start coughing blood out of his sleep all of sudden.
No, this was good.
Isaiah took him on a tour around Vienna. He said it was a scandal Arnie didn't get to see the center yet and that he didn't know all the sights by memory now.
Isaiah definitely did. They took Tram D around the main ring of the first district. Many important things were all after each other, parliament, city hall, the two giant museums of natural history and art history right across each other, the giant theater, the Butterfly House...
Isaiah refused to take a car, when everything was so well-connected and they spend the day on foot, from one park to another, one big street to another.
Isaiah seemed to have a thought out plan of switching between greenery and impressive buildings, talking all about the style of architecture, how many times they were rebuild, who famous lived there.
Arnie was so overwhelmed with all the information he stopped putting it together halfway through. He took comfort from just Isaiah's relaxed mood, his zealous voice and ardent expression.
Everything was all good with the world again. One could believe it, listening to him.
Somewhere around midday they went to get lunch near the Schonenbrun castle and gardens, Isaiah treating him to schnitzel and cake for good measure. He never let Arnie pay for anything when they were together.
"I have the same inheritance as you do," Arnie objectdd as he took a sip from his cold brew coffee.
Isaiah smiled. "Yeah, but we will start this talk once you make your own. Rich or not, there is nothing like earning your own money for the first time. Your effort, you decision."
"So you want to pay for everything with what you earn?"
"The assistance job I got at the uni pays well. I also helped out with a city planning project last year that had very good funding."
Arnie leaned back in the chair. "That's cool. What about your whole wolf helping activities? Hector says you get called to things all around the city. Do you get any pay from that?"
Isaiah took a spoonful of his chocolate lava cake. "No, I don't do that for money. I like helping out."
"You shouldn't be doing that for free though, when it takes so much of your time. Or is it the contacts and favours you gather that way?"
"Isn't it worthwhile and helpful when you can give people things without having them pay for it?"
"Yeah sure, but that's sustainable if you actually use all the money you were born with. If you were born with it." He was getting the impression Isaaih didn't like relying on anything that came from their father. "Besides, don't people take skills and advice more seriously if they have to pay for it? If you give it for free, they might not take any interest at all. It's a way to show them something is valuable."
"What exactly would I call it? Hello, I have experience that your shadow is entirely manageable with the right kind of training, but your pack doesn't seem to know, so come and listen to me?" Isaiah shook his head. Way to insult the pack and trivialise the wolf's problems.
"You have expert training from leading packs of the West. If you wanted to make that systematically accessible through courses or stuff, I think people would find it easer to find you. You could even prevent most of the problems the packs and human authorities call you to."
Isaiah chuckled. "You aren't the first one to suggest something like that. Matthew said something similar. Even Seline said I could make it a job. I don't know. I like working in the academic environment as well."
"It's not like you would have to choose between one or the other. Plus academic jobs are pretty instable I hear."
"You didn't even start uni yet and you are hearing about uni conditions?"
Arnie shrugged. "Lots of protests about the Mittelbau and the time constrained chain contracts around lately." Apprently 80% of the academic workforce that didn't have safe professor status worked under conditioned contracts, always afraid if they were going to be prolonged or not and if they wouldn't have to move to another town just to get a job they specilized in.
"It's impressive you can understand it. You still thinking about law school?"
"Yep." Hector was very careful about not mentioning it too much so Arnie wouldn't feel pressured, but he knew Hector would find it useful. Even wolves had to respect the law.
And Arnie would love to feel a bit more powerful around them.
"You are still studying it too?"
"Additional classes and courses, yeah. It's not my main subject, but it's useful in practice."
Arnie hummed, satisfied with the prognosis of that. He wanted to know useful important stuff.
They talked some more about law and different teaching styles of different faculties.
Everything was going well, except the sun was becoming a bit too much and Arnie's temples were starting to pulse.
Why now? He finally relaxed, finally forgot about what happened at home...
His stomach flipped at the reminder. He was pleasantly full just a minute ago, but now it felt like too much.
They paid and strolled around the gardens, when Arnie said: "Let's sit in the shade for a bit?"
Isaiah gave him a puzzled look that they barely got up and Arnie wanted to sit down already, but complied.
For such a historical sight, there were lots of people chilling on the benches in the shadows. Lots of trees planted for that purpose aside all the magnificently styled flowers everywhere.
"It's really hot today," Arnie said, tugging at the collar of his buttonup. Short sleveed, but still.
"There is a good ice cream stand nearby. I'll get you some." Isaiah patted him on the back as he left.
Arnie slumped back on the bench, relieved to be out of sight for a bit. He didn't want to ruin the tour that Isaiah planned out so carefully, but his head was positively pounding.
He didn't get a headache after the accident. That was weird in hindsight. Usually, when something stressful like that happened, he would absolutely get one.
He must have been too worried for Hector to let himself relax enough for it to set in. Veins must have finally opened from their tense contraction, and that's what made it painful.
Cold sweat was gathering at the back of his neck. His right temple felt like someone was putting a drill to it, while the other was held in a crushing grip.
The sunlight was so blinding, even though he was in a nice shade. He felt goosebumps on his arms, as his lovely lunch churned inside him.
Arnie leaned forward, planting his elbows on his knees as he swallowed heavily against the saliva pooling in his mouth.
His stomach let out an angry whine, cramping up. Arnie hid his face in his hands, taking quick shallow breaths. Not now, not now, not now.
He groaned as his lunch roiled inside him, sniffling. There weren't many people around him in particular but this was still a public space. Beautiful gardens under a tree with a view of the castle, no less.
A burp snuck its way past his lips. His upper lip was covered in sweat now too. He could taste the salt as he licked his lips.
Arnie knew from experience it would only make him more miserable to fight it. The pain in his temples pulsed in synch with his heartbeat.
When he looked up from his hands, the sunlight pierced his eyes even stronger. The pain in his left temple spiked and Arnie heaved, pulling his feet more apart.
He swallowed the first retch down, but the second almost made him choke. Letting his head hang between his knees, he burped, the third wave bringing up the cake and the cold coffee onto the ground.
His brain was buzzing in his skull, so he kept his eyes closed, completely giving in to the sensations. Another wave of puke landed between his feet. Arnie only hoped his shoes wouldn't get dirty.
"Aww kiddo. What happened to you?" He felt Isaiah's cold hand against his nape. Isaiah discarded the two scones of ice cream on the ground at the sight of him, sitting down gently next to him.
That's when another wave of yellow brown puke found its way up, tasting of the potato salad and meat. Arnie groaned, back arching as he vomited up the longest stream yet.
Isaiah held his shoulder to steady him, rubbing up and down. "What happened? Did you feel sick suddenly? Or before? Is it the sun?"
Arnie burped emptily, spitting at the pool between his feat. The smell was making him nauseous still.
"I thought we took enough breaks in the shade. Maybe I miscalculated. You are sweating all over."
Arnie sniffled, his nose running. He kept his eyes closed still, the pounding in his head worse whenever the tried to open his eyes. He tilted towards Isaiah's voice blindly.
Isaiah obediently filled in the spot, letting Arnie lean against his shoulder. "Shhhhh. All good now. We will cool you down and you will feel better in no time."
Arnie sniffled again, curling into Isaiah's clean cologne, probably leaving a trail of snot behind. "Head hurtsss."
"I know, buddy, I know."
"...wanna go home."
Isaiah nodded over his head. "I'll call a taxi. We can go to my place too..."
Arnie shook his head. "Home." He wanted his own bed, his curtains, his medicine, though it would probably take a bit for his stomach to settle enough for it.
Isaiah was quite as they waited, only wrapping his arm around Arnie and helping him up when the taxi came. It was more or less a blurr for Arnie, who was glad Isaiah took over so eagerly, masterfully, despite not even knowing what was wrong.
As they sat in the back of the car, Arnie buried his face in Isaiah's chest, trying to muffle the sounds and light as much as possible.
"You will be okay. Just breathe."
"I'm sorry I ruined the trip."
"You didn't, you didn't. Should have chosen a later hour. With this heat-"
"Not the heat," Arnie sighed. "Migraine."
Isaiah tensed underneath him. "I'm sorry, what?"
"Miragine. It's fine. Not...not your fault."
"Since when do you get migraines?" Isaiah said in a strangled voice.
"Since I was 12? Or 13? Something like that." He moaned quietly as the car took a turn and jostled him.
Isaiah tighed his grip around his torso. They sat in silence for a while before he spoke again. "How often do you get them?"
Isaiah's hand went up his arm, gently sneaking into his sweaty hair. When Arnie leaned into the touch, Isaiah started rubbing at his temples gently.
"What triggered it this time?" Isaiah asked softly.
The car jostled them again, making them both jump up and down on their seats. Arnie tensed up, then buried his face against Isaiah's neck with a moan.
Isaiah held him as tight as he could without making it painful. Arnie fought against the growing pressure behind his eyes, lips pressed together.
"Arnie?"
Isaiah's voice was so soft and concerned in his ear it got the tears spilling down Arnie's cheeks. "I-it's nothing. Nothing really happened. We-we just-" He sobbed quietly.
"Shhhhh."
"We-we were in a car accident with Hex. Three days ago." He felt the coldness wash over them as the car came into the underground parking place of their apartment complex. Arnie blinked, leaning back, blinking his eyes open in relief at the darkness.
He looked at Isaiah with teary eyes. "I-I was driving and it wasn't my- but Hex, he- protected me and got super hurt and, and he is fine now..."
Isaiah watched him carefully, green eyes of the same shade meeting his. They seemed to have a glow in the dark from how intensity he focused on Arnie.
"But I was really scared, you know? And it's stupid to be upset about it, cause nothing h-happened-"
"It's not stupid. It was scary and horrible, no matter the outcome. I'm sorry that happened."
"B-but I shouldn't be upset, right? Cause we are fine, we are both fine-" His breath hitched with another sob as another tear ran down his cheek. Some part of his brain wondered how the taxi driver didn't say a thing, waiting for Arnie to cry his eyes out on his backseat.
Isaiah brushed some sweaty blond hair away from Arnie's forehead. "And that's important that you are both healthy and okay. But it makes perfect sense you are upset too. You are allowed to get scared and worried."
Arnie's face twisted with another sob as Isaiah petted his hair gently, carefully watching him for any signs it was making the headache worse. But the pressure was really going down as Arnie let the emotion go, through words and tears.
"We didn't have to go out today if you were upset," Isaiah said.
"I wanted to see you though. And we had it scheduled..." so it was the best opportunity.
"If you called me, I would have come. We don't have to just meet when it's 'scheduled' or when you need help with something serious, you know?" Isaiah was still combing Arnie's hair away, when he started to look through his pockets with their other hand, manifesting a paper towel out of nowhere. "Here."
Arnie wiped his face and carefully blew his nose.
"I want to know when something happens in your lives. Good or bad, big or small," Isaiah said, no trace of repearoach in his voice, though he sounded firm. "I want to be in the picture."
Arnie felt better hearing it somehow. It was like a permission to call him, even when the trouble wasn't real. Even if it was just Arnie wanting to talk.
The younger boy took a shaky breath, offering Isaiah a shy smile.
[A sad violin song plays over an image of a sad hamster]
Pac: This doesn't have anything to do with me – I wear a blue sweatshirt, you're crazy, this mouse doesn't even have a sweatshirt, this hamster! [Reading chat] Am I a depressed hamster?
[ Transcript continued ↓ ]*
–
Pac: Actually– that's fine! I embrace that idea – of course I'm going to be depressed, are you crazy? [He hits his desk, then starts counting off people on his fingers] Fit is gone, Richarlyson is gone, Ramon is gone, Bagi and Empanada who were always there when we were there are also gone, I haven't seen them! It's just me and Tubbo, and sometimes Philza shows up.
Pac: I lost Chume Labs, I lost the Favela, I lost Murder Mystery, I lost Ilha Chume Labs, it's crazy! Look at how much I've lost, and I've gained nothing! Of course I'm going to be depressed, are you crazy?! How am I supposed to be happy?!
Pac: [Reading chat] "You have us Pac," that's true, thank you. No, that's true, sorry.
* NOTE: Please note that this is an incomplete transcript, as I was primarily relying on Aypierre's translation mod at the time and if I am not confident of the translation, I do not include it. As always, please feel free to add on translations or message me corrections.
ok I am in fact using this as an excuse to make a long post about this thank you thank you asjksdjfaljdf
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Interpreting Yuri as asexual is my very very favorite type of headcanon, which is one that 1. is compellingly coded in the source material (even if that wasn't the creator's intent), 2. is thematically relevant to what the piece of media is Trying To Do as a whole, and 3. just means a lot to me, personally, because I said so.
Coded in the source material
Yuri’s short program is “eros”, aka desire (you can interpret what “eros” means in various ways, but YOI itself explicitly refers to sexual love, at least in the English translations). Yuri struggles with this. Hard. He can’t come up with an answer when asked what eros means to him. His big revelatory moment about desire is that it’s how he feels about wanting to eat his favorite food (omg… boy). Even as the season goes on and the way he views the Eros program changes, the program doesn’t ever really embody the idea of eros as sexuality or romance (which was how the other characters expect him to interpret it) but rather as a desire to keep Victor in his life.
Like look. I’m obviously not going to say that the creator intended any kind of ace subtext to be there. I kind of doubt it was her intent. But goddamn is the subtext there.
2. Thematic relevance
The central theme throughout YOI is “love”, and especially loving people in a way that inspires you both to be your best selves: Yuri learning that the people in his life truly love and support him; Victor finding someone who makes him feel joy about skating again.
Like, Yuri’s whole skating theme for the Grand Prix is literally about him exploring what love looks like to him, even when it takes a form that other people don’t totally understand. Viewing all this through a lens of him being ace is really compelling. It adds depth to the idea of learning how to express the way you feel love even when it looks different than what other people expect. I think it’s a really delicious layer that adds even more nuance to what the show is getting at.
Besides, it’s an interesting way of viewing the criticism of the show that occurred for it not being 100% explicit about them being a couple (aka people getting mad because the kiss in ep 7 is blocked by Victor’s arm lmaooo). Like, ok, did you see the ending scene of ep 9? Did you see ep 10??? They definitely, definitely love each other, in whatever way that means for them. Their relationship takes a form that’s pretty different than the other way people in the show are going about romantic relationships, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t real for them. That is very much in line with the main themes of the show.
3. Means a lot to me
In the final scene of the penultimate episode, Yuri tells Victor that they should end their coaching relationship after the Grand Prix ends. This is because he thinks he’s holding Victor back, that Victor would be happier being free to go back to skating on his own instead of being Yuri’s coach. When I watched this (and, I’ll be honest, this is completely me projecting here) I REALLY interpreted this as an ace thing. I think it’s pretty easy to internalize the idea when you’re asexual that you just won’t be… enough, for other people. In my case I ended up a strong impulse to self-sabotage relationships because I would rather be the one to end things than to let someone else tell me that who I am as a person is fundamentally lacking. Yuri destroying a connection he desperately wants because he thinks there’s something about him that is holding Victor back from a life he’d be truly happy with? Oh yeah. I can fucking relate to that.
Also: YOI came out in 2016, which was the absolute peak of hostility to ace people I was seeing on this site. It was bad here. At the same time Tumblr was going wild over this show. Everyone was watching it. Seeing a whole site of people absolutely adore a character I very deeply in my heart believed to be ace? Extremely vindicating.
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In conclusion Yuri is asexual because it is fun and interesting that way, and also because of this:
does anyone else want to stick these two in the same room together or is that just me... i simply think they are adjacent in vibes... (+a bonus thing???)
get u a fictional guy that makes you feel like this... seeing these guys just evoke a Similar Kind of Brain Chemical and Response. Help Me.
also have bonus yosuke doodle featuring the same brushes used here...! from january 23rd, lol.
TBH the best case scenarios in my mind for Fit's lore ending on Thursday are either:
Madagio has mercy. They know what it's like to lose everyone they love, and seeing what's happening on Quesadilla Island is just a reminder of everything they loved and lost. Madagio releases Fit, and he reunites with Pac e Mike and Richarlyson, and they're all able to leave Quesadilla Island.
Or:
Madagio and Fit destroy the Federation together. Fit goes full 2B2T mode and there's nothing left of the Federation once they're finished. Madagio and Fit finally have their revenge. (And then maybe Fit can reunite with Pac + all his loved ones and they escape the Island, or reclaim the island for their own since the Federation no longer has any power over them).
Bonus: A very unlikely but "Wouldn't it be fun?" scenario would be Pac and Mike flying down on a fully-grown dragon Richas and rescuing Fit from Vacuus Island and they fly away and live happily ever after.
after the years of people jumping on activism like its a trend and then leaving it behind after a few weeks i am so fucking tired. like not to be cynical but like i see SO many people talking about palestine and saving lives but like be so fucking real are you gonna forget all about this in a few months? like how ppl ditched BLM after it gained traction in 2020? like how so fucking MANY OF YOU have stopped wearing a mask despite the pandemic still happening? you could be saving lives right in your own town instead of posting tiktoks that might not even help
i'm not saying you need to dedicate your lives to activism forever and ever but you do need to at least change Something to make yourself and the world better. i will always be listening to black voices, jewish voices, disabled voices, any groups that need to be heard, and trying to change my behavior for the better. like idk after seeing this happen time and time again a LOT of this shit seems so so fake. like there's so many bad things in the world and i know you cannot dedicate your all to every single problem ever forever and i don't want people spreading themselves too thin or burning themselves out but like please don't just stop giving a shit when it's not "popular" or getting you views or pats on the back anymore.
not replying to that post bc im sure op already has a shit ton of ppl in their replies/tags saying this but like. dead doesn't mean "no one knows shit about it" dead means "no one uses it colloquially (and as a result we don't still have the knowledge of nuance and phonology of the language that a native speaker possesses bc we have no more native speakers)"
like old english is a dead language. it's the basis for the english we use today and the basis of many poetic forms and has influenced the the lexicons etc of modern english along w many other languages. but it's a dead language. native speakers of old english simply don't exist; we don't know what it would really sound like being spoken by a native speaker and we don't have native speaker intuitions about semantic or syntactic content. it's dead. same thing w latin and every other language ppl classify as "dead." like yeah, sanskrit is hugely influential on a ton of diff languages and serves as their basis but it's also still ... a dead language. bc there are no more native speakers or ppl who speak it as a primary language!! which is the definition!! of a dead language!!! before you try and argue with the wording and definition of an established term consider ... that it has a meaning that is not purely "well it means what it sounds like haha dead language = not used ever and no one knows anything about it" to call a language "dead" has actual meaning!!!!! beyond that!!!!
my albino kribensis died tonight :( I'm still looking into it, I'll put like test details and stuff in the tags, I'm so at a loss....i found him probably minutes within death because i check on them so often. was going around saying goodnight to tanks before lights out and found him. super super bummed. it was barely more than a week but i really liked him...
Heartbreaking: This German almost died bc they had to manually select Germany as their location on a German-language website, bc the default was Switzerland or Austria bc that's where the company is from
there IS a temptation to send my mother images of men having sex that I’ve drawn because I think it would honestly answer a lot of questions she has about me. but I say this while simultaneously feeling embarrassed about telling her my plans to make two guys roommates in a story. genuinely have no idea why the latter is embarrassing and why the former isn’t...