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summonerscenarios · 4 years

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Just because I think it'd be funny, how do you think Gabriel, Bathym, and Hakumen (while hanging with Mc)would react to someone asking for an autograth, and assume they're asking for their autograth, only for the person to pull away with a look of absoluts confusion, and clarify that they want Mc's autograph

Hoooo boy this one is going to be a doozy lmao. I can feel the second hand embarrassment of this situation the whole time I wrote this~

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Gabriel

Spending time with Gabriel in public often means that the two of you get accosted by fans all the time. She’s a well known face in Tokyo as both a lovable idol and overall pop-angel sensation, so running into people begging for autographs, pictures or otherwise is par from the course when it comes to being her friend. Which is exactly why, when the two of you spend a day out shopping together, you’re fully expecting someone to recognize the angel at any moment and swoop in vying for Gabriel’s attention in one way or another.

The two of you had ducked into a clothing store to take a look through some of the items that had caught your eye as you’d walked past, and you were busying yourself viewing the displays as you listened to Gabriel excitedly chatter away when you felt a hand tap your shoulder. Turning to your left, you come face to face with someone you’ve never seen before - they’re bouncing on the balls of their feet and they flash you such an excitable smile that you’d think they’d just won the lottery if they weren’t looking directly at you. Gabriel notices them as well, as she peeks over your shoulder upon noticing you’ve gone quiet and smiles when she sees them talking to you. This person’s all too eager to pull out a small book and a pen, practically brimming with energy as they ask for an autograph - at that you make a noise of realization, immediately assuming that this must be one of Gabriel’s fans, so you excuse yourself and step out of the way so as to not get in the way of their request. Gabriel must have the same idea, as she steps forward to take over and asks about the autograph - she’s used to signing them all the time so she settles into the welcoming professional with ease and you expect it to go off without a hitch.

But then the fan proceeds to look right past Gabriel and over to you, holding up the book and pen and once the confusion wears off you’re taken aback when you realize that they’re actually asking you. It’s easy to see the shock on Gabriel’s face when they dart past her and over to you, and when you shoot her a nervous look, a lot less used to this than she it, you catch her expression startled expression and she lets a pout cross over her face for but a few moments. Even caught off guard, you still take the time to give them your autograph, listening to the fan excitedly ramble about how much they look up to you and how amazing you are as you do so. It’s enough to fluster you a little at being confronted with a barrage of praise from someone who views you so highly, but you’re still incredibly confused on why they would come to you - you’re so used to fans swarming Gabriel, so having a fan of your own and having the tables turned is a weird thought to wrap your head around. The interaction is brief, and you wish them well as they scamper off, brimming with joy and clutching their newly signed book close to their chest as they practically skip away,

You’re still trying to wrap your head over what just happened when you notice Gabriel watching the fan walk away she’s got a perplexed look on her face, brows furrowed in an expression unusually serious for the usually chipper idol. She’s not used to being passed over, especially when it comes to all things fan-based, so you can tell she’s still somewhat baffled, but when you call out her name she brightens up and spins back around to face you, smile on her face as she approaches you and links arms with you. She settles close up against your side, close enough that you’re pretty sure Hati would keel over on the spot if he saw you two, and she comments on how that was fun. You don’t think she’s jealous, but you can tell that the situation made her a bit embarrassed, so when she pulls you along to continue shopping and forget the whole thing you humor her and follow along letting her lead you.

Bathym

Bathym’s got quite the reputation both inside and outside of the Berserker’s guild, and he does his best to cultivate his growing fanbase, thriving off of the the people who adore him and vy for his attention and making no show of hiding that fact. Most of his fans swarm him after tournaments or just outside of the Colosseum, though most of them are usually handled by Andvari since he’s in charge of Bathym’s branding and merchandise. You’ve seen the occasional fan manage to find him and beg for pictures of autographs, so when you spot one hanging around while the two of you are out you don’t really bat an eye at the fact.

The two of you spot the fan approaching, they’ve been skirting around for a little while, clearly nervous about coming over but they seem to have plucked up the courage to come forward. Bathym flashes you a knowing grin and stands up, smoothing out his tail and perfecting his pose before he swaggers over to greet them, and you can already hear the sweet talk he’s gonna butter them up with before it even leaves his mouth as you watch it all unfold. You expect them to stop since he’s approaching them instead, but then they nervously duck right past him and continue walking straight towards you, and you immediately straighten up. Bathym looks flabbergasted when he turns back to you, the first time you’ve seen him genuinely astonished in a while, and you’re sure you look just as surprised when this fan shuffles nervously up to you and hesitantly asks if it’s okay to get an autograph from you, face red as they wait your response. The moment you hear they’re your fan, you just about fall out of your seat, scrambling to balance yourself if you ask if they’re serious.

When they say they are, and offer you a pen to sign you try to mask your surprise and give them a smile, asking them to take a seat next to you while you signed - it was mostly because having someone hovering over you expectantly felt a bit weird, but they seem to calm down having somewhere to sit, apparently relieved that you’re so welcoming as soon enough they’re talking all about how much they admire what you do, and how cool you are while you write out a small message for them. Soon enough you’ve got everything signed and handed back to them, watching their eyes light up as they spring from their seat and thank you profusely, nervousness turned to happiness by the time you’ve got them sent on their way.

Not even a moment after they’ve left Bathym hums as he approaches, shaking his head as he slides into the now vacant seat beside you and slings an arm across your shoulder. He pouts and comments how it makes sense that such a cute master is going to have fans, soon enough you’ll have a whole fanclub if you really wanted! Then, Bathym flashes you a grin as he adds that it looks like he’s gonna have to keep an eye out for competition from now on, after all, he can’t just let anybody come in and sweep you out from under him~! When you try to wave off his concerns and playfully swat him away he makes a show of feigning hurt though he insists that it’s true~! You just don’t realize it yet. It’s hard to tell if he’s telling the truth, or even how he feels about the whole thing, but that look on his face when that fan first approached you makes you feel as though Bathym was maybe a little envious - then again, it’s hard to tell when it comes to the usually eccentric demon.

Hakumen

Roppongi’s full of people of power, so it makes sense that its hierarchy is governed by such - whether it’s status, wealth or both, the more you have of it, the better. And with Hakumen being at the metaphorical top of the pecking order with the other major Tycoons, catching the eyes of the masses and bringing in the attention of all lucky enough to be in her presence is all par for the course. And by default, that means you often around when these interactions occur, so you’ve seen your fair share of people swarming the fox looking to get into her good books or at least earn some of her favor - it;s both entertaining and a little embarrassing to watch, but Hakumen handles them all well enough, and if she’s not interested in interacting them there’s always plenty of security to usher those ‘fans’ away soon enough.

You’d been invited to the casino, having been seemingly dragged along to view some new addition to the already impressively intimidating building to see how well it will fit, and you’d spent the majority of that time flitting about the pace. You’d exchanged words and shook hands with more unfamiliar faces than you’d like to be around, and you were relieved when Hakumen had shown up in a flurry of pride and energy, turning every eye in her direction. Almost every eye, anyway. You feel better no longer being on your own around unfamiliar faces, and you could see that your attachment to her at the moment clearly stroked her ego as she seemed keen to lead you around, mingling amongst guild members and discussing plans regarding the casino’s build. Most of it went over your head, so you eventually trailed behind to chat with Xolotl who kept watch as his mistress moved around, exchanging pleasantries right up until you caught someone moving out of the corner of your eye.

It was someone you’d never seen before, a guest maybe, and they were approaching Hakumen who stood in front of you so quickly that you were pretty sure that they were going right for her, excitedly yelling something about an autograph as they approached. As the fan got closer, Xolotl made a move to slow them down, but Hakumen, likely wanting to show off, waved him off with a hand and spun around, fully preparing for a slew of praises and things to sign. You’d stepped back a bit to let this all unfold, turning your attention to elsewhere in the casino while you waited for her to finish up, but upon hearing a surprised yelp from Hakumen’s bodyguard your attention abruptly snaps back to the current moment, just in time to nearly get knocked right off of your feet by that very same fan. Amongst their babbling as they cling to your arm you make out ‘autograph’, ‘please’ and ‘biggest fan’ and the pieces gradually begin clicking into place as you look up from the fan to see Hakumen, still frozen in the place she’d been before.

The expression on Hakumen’s face is priceless, you don’t think you’ve seen her quite so frazzled, jealousy practically bubbling under the surface of a facade you can clearly see through. Honestly seeing her like this is kind of amusing, though you don’t know whether it’s because you’ve got someone about five seconds away from jumping into your arms or because she isn’t the center of the fan’s attention. Xolotl looks worriedly between his mistress and you, and the two of you share a look that spells that this fan just hit a nerve without realizing it, so before anything else happens you calm the person down and pat yourself down looking for a pen. You’re fortunate enough to find one in your pocket, and make quick work of signing the autograph and letting them go, returning back to Hakumen’s side with a comment about how you don’t know how she deals with doing that every day. You’re playing into her pride hoping to change the subject, and it does the trick, however the moment you’re back by her side she’s got both hands on your shoulders for the remainder of the guests’ visit, shooting looks at the fan whenever the three of you cross paths and she thinks you aren’t looking.

#Anonymous #tokyo afterschool summoners #housamo #housamo imagine #housamo headcanon #headcanons #imagines #gabriel #housamo gabriel #bathym #housamo bathym #hakumen #housamo hakumen #request #ask

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fantranslatorbychoice · 4 years

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Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi Volume 6 Chapter 4 - Secret Girls' Night-out

T/N: Hi y’all, it’s me again, it took a bit longer because I did my best to beta-as much as I could, but if it’s still wonky, I apologize, it's not like I get paid to do it lol also it's rather challenging when I had to convert my brain waves from Japanese to English to my native language and however those combinations work just to spew all of these out in sufficiently passable English. So I hope you all don't mind stuff like typos or inconsistencies with the tenses srsly even the original text has that and I just literally gave up evening out the tenses, like really apparently it's no biggie to have an entire paragraph in Japanese that both has past and present tenses (they mostly don't have future tenses) but if that happened in English some would just nitpick that shit out. I mean, yeah, for sure when I do editing and get paid for it I would, but if I'm just reading fanfics from writers who don't have English as their native language I just don't give a hoot, as long as the story's good, to heck with grammar, spelling and syntax. Srsly some non-native EN speakers get turned-off or even scared when nitpickers hit on their imperfect spellings or grammar or dictions, srsly honestly just give them a break, they worked hard to learn another language. I felt this even more so when I started learning Nihongo, like srsly as long as a person gets to say what they want to say even if it's not perfect in anyway, then that's more than enough for me. srsly I am forgiving like that. Also this chapter has more notes than usual, especially regarding Nihongo and stuff, so if you don't like it you can always move along lololol Also I gave up, I'm keeping the titles and roles in Japanese i.e. Odanna-sama, Wakadanna-sama, Bantou-san, etc. I'll just stick in more notes instead lol

Also if you like this translation, you can heart it, share the link, reblog, I just respectfully ask that DO NOT REPOST ELSEWHERE. This is my contribution to the scant English content of this fandom, and I worked really hard to finish this thing, it’s not like I just copy-pasted everything. I even had to build the kanji in Jisho one by one. Try it and you’ll see what I mean.You can rave about this, rant about this, but if possible please link back to this page. If you’re unsure how to do that, just copy the web address of this page. If you’re on a blogsite just insert the web address as a hyperlink as a link back to here. Honestly if this light novel was officially-published in English, I wouldn’t even be doing this right now... And if it did, I’d take this offline to support the publishers and Yuuma-sensei. Creators support creators, is what I believe in. As previously-mentioned in earlier chapters, if you stumbled upon this one, the two seasons of the anime covered volumes 1-5, so other than the extra details, you didn’t miss much stuff. OK, with all of that out of the way, here's Chapter 4 now. P116 "Th... These are... The Southern Lands' cultured Japanese amberjack**... A bundle of Kiseki beef.. And there are so many other local products from the Southern Lands too. Ah, there's even the coconut oil that I always wanted!" So many extravagant ingredients have been hauled into Yugao, and I was flabbergasted by them all. There were also so many cans of various contents as well as dried fish and other products stuffed inside. Canned tuna and other canned stuff were considered as high-end products in Kakuriyo, and I am very grateful. Ginji-san and the Daruma gang from the kitchens delivered a box packed with so many ingredients to Yugao, and we had no idea why. "Well, the Dog said that these are their repayment to our kindness. It's because a while ago, Ranmaru came to Tenjin-ya." "Really, Ranmaru from Orio-ya?" "Hatori-san also came too, with him." In some way, Ginji-san's mood was good. For a while now, his nine fluffy tails were wagging from left to right. "It's from our head accountant Byakuya-san, Aoi-san's rewards for your achievement, and for Tenjin-ya's cooperative business venture and all sorts of other demands that were deemed justifiable, and because they wanted to give other things as a way of expressing their gratitude, they brought in many other souvenirs and products as well. They also exchanged with us various other information." T/N: This is related to tuna fish, but don't ask me how they cultured it. Probably in the open sea, like in sea cages. Yes, that's a thing, and yeah I was also in the fishing industry at some point in time, if you're wondering. Also if you're wondering why I rarely use "you" in the dialogues of the translations, it's because in polite Japanese conversations, instead of saying ANATA or OMAE= you, one's name is mentioned instead. In the original text, when people are talking to each other, rather than say "you" they say the other person's name or occupation + san instead i.e. bengoshi-san= lawyer san, Ginji-san, or if it's a username because they don't like using their true names- USERNAME-san. Because using "you" in any way, shape or form in conversations is deemed rude AF. So the next time you chat with Japanese people, please remember to address them by their name, or occupation, unless you've established rapport with them. I forgot to put this explanation in my earlier posts, but it's one of the most important stuff I learned in my Japanese classes, the Japanese folk won't care so much on grammar but more on being polite and taking care of remembering social status stratification aka just be polite by using polite terms. I actually experienced this first hand after chatting with some of them, they just told me not to use Google translate and just chat with them with whatever I know. They're very grateful when people could talk to them in their native tongue, especially when the honorifics are used. This note's long AF but I did say that I'm gonna drag you all with me in this whole learning Nihongo thing, and I'm doing just that. P117 "That friendly Ranmaru did that? Doesn't he hate Tenjin-ya?" "Hee hee. Well, don't take this too seriously, OK?" Even though saying it that way, I imagined that Ranmaru's horrible words and demeanour were probably due to his circumstances. Orio-ya sees Tenjin-ya as its rival, it's hard to imagine them having an image of humbly bringing over souvenirs. And the business dealings, I wonder what those are...? "Oh that, Ranmaru saw that you had a strong sense of duty. He wanted to particularly express his gratitude to Aoi-san." And thereupon, these ingredients from the Southern Lands. Stuff I rarely get hold of, especially something like that one round amberjack, and I unconsciously grinned. "Even so, if the circumstances allowed, he would have stopped by and said it himself** ..." "It was before Aoi-san's business hours, and Ranmaru is also busy it seems, so he had to go back immediately. Even I wanted to take our time since I thought it was fine, but it can't be helped... Because Ranmaru is the Southern Lands' Hachiyo." "Ha ha. Then what happens next is that if it's possible, Ginji-san will go to Orio-ya, won't he? Nothing's stopping you two from visiting each other now?" "Aoi-san...." Up until recently, Ginji-san and Ranmaru's long sibling feud previously ended sometime ago, and the long-standing so-called inn rivalry and clash between Orio-ya and Tenjin-ya has been cut. T/N: aisatsu=挨拶=greeting, introducing one's self, improving relations by dropping by every now and then, can also mean like popping up to say hi or whatnot. I don't know how to directly translate it since aisatsu has more of a sense of how a supervisor pops up in the work place or a teacher suddenly appears in a class just to check, it's not as informal as a neighbor dropping by the house just to have idle chitchat. Hweh. P118 But after the ceremony, the changed relationship between the two has been noticeable. "Oh, that, I see. Someday soon, I will take a break and go visit him too." "Yeah, I agree, that's great. Oh, I wonder if everyone's doing well... Hatori-san and Tokihiko-san, Hideyoshi and Nene, the cute twin chefs.. And Nobunaga." "It seems that everyone's doing fine. The twins Kai-san and Mei-san, Orio-ya profoundly realized that they're really suited to be chefs, and everyone seems to cheer them on, Hatori-san was still the same as ever, but sometimes he returns to Shumonzan. He says that he bickers with Matsuba-sama as always, but one way or another they've become in good terms with each other." Ginji-san asked Ranmaru, and he told things about Orio-ya's management staff. I see, everyone in each of their own way have been doing their best to move on forward. "Oh, and somehow Hideyoshi-san and Nene-san seems to have been engaged." "Whaaat? Why that fast?" Wait a minute. Hideyoshi knew that Nene-chan has decided, that she likes Ranmaru, wasn't it? But that's what Hideyoshi said... My astonished face must have looked funny, and Ginji-san turned away his face and giggled. "It's surely shocking, isn't it? Why, it's amazing, Hideyoshi was especially honest and manly. P119 I simply cannot..." Ginji-san let out a tiny laugh again. What is it about his old haunting grounds, being delighted at the many changes in Orio-ya? At any rate, I was surprised with Hideyoshi and Nene's engagement. Firstly, congratulations Hideyoshi. You thought that your unrequited love has been going on for so long, it was outside your thoughts early on, but now your love bore its fruit. I'm glad, as I'm rooting for you on from the sides. What the heck, behind my back, how did they get involved in that, that was surprisingly an unusual story, if I meet Nene this time I need to get information from her. "But the when the trustworthy Waka-danna** and Waka-Okami** get married, Orio-ya will surely become peaceful, and Ranmaru will also be pleased. Certainly after the marriage, their organization will grow even stronger. He'll get exhausted if it's just Ranmaru holding everything together." "Isn't Tenjin-ya also reasonably solid?" "I guess, although the position for Waka-Okami easily changes. Originally the person in that position is supposed to only resign once, but right now Kikuno-san has temporarily retired as the Young Mistress and supposed to come back. However, there have been circumstances in her family, and she immediately relinquished her seat as the Waka-Okami." "Ehh, like that?" After showing my disbelief, Ginji-san sadly nodded.

T/N: Waka-danna=young master, Waka-Okami=young mistress P120 "If it comes to that, when a new Waka-Okami doesn't hold the position for very long, we can say that there's a gifted person in Tenjin-ya, and it's only a little issue.** Likewise, during that matter with Orio-ya, we in the management staff really wanted the former Waka-Okami O-ryo san to come back and give it another go. Her abilities are very outstanding." "Even I too... I was shocked to see O-ryo completely doing her job well. Even Nene, one way or another admires her so much." "Yes, I agree. But, oh well... O-ryo-san returning to her former position, it's already a huge chance and a necessity. Right now she's drifting away from supporting her fellow waiters and waitresses, well, O-ryo-san must be intending to. To me, she seems to be enjoying having lesser responsibilities and more carefree in her current position." "Well, that's for sure..." Based on how Ginji-san talked about it, lately it seems that O-ryo has no obsession on the position of Waka-Okami. A little bit until recently, she seems, to have returned the bearing of her Waka-Okami decorum, but lately she's wholly just wanting to eat and eat, when she finally gets some free time she goes to Yugao, and lately has been persisting on going out hunting for marriage partners. However, I could say with confidence that she seems to be taking advantage of being relieved of her position as a Waka-Okami , and surely Tenjin-ya will realize that they need O-ryo's abilities. O-ryo's strength, is diligently doing her duties in that position. "Anyway, Aoi-san. I was preparing and building up the Autumn Festival here in Tenjin-ya at the end of this month, and I was thinking of using pumpkins, is it possible for Yugao to make Autumn foods and sweets for us?" T/N: Honestly double-triple negatives are a pain in the ass, srsly it's like inception to the nth power, I had trouble deciphering this line and almost this entire page in the original text so if it doesn't make sense, meh, I did my best within my current abilities. P121 "Pumpkin? Of course. It's gonna be fun, like Halloween." "Oh, right! There's a foreign festival called Halloween in Utsushiyo, but I thought it's impossible to recreate that here in in Kakuriyo, though I could imagine it to be made into a Pumpkin Festival." "Oh, not at all, we can make that same Halloween theme here because Tenjin-ya is mostly full of Ayakashi." A Japanese Halloween that doesn't use costumes... "But certainly, this year's pumpkins are delicious, so Pumpkin Festival sounds good, doesn't it? It's also a great idea to give out candies to our young guests." "We can probably decorate with paper lanterns and pumpkins too. We can place ogre-fire inside, and make them float all around Tenjin-ya." "Wow! That's very much like Utsushiyo's Halloween!" Why, the Autumn Festival goes well with the Pumpkin Event and our imaginations ran wild. "Also, Aoi-san. Pumpkins are not Odanna-sama's favorite." "..." Abruptly, the topic on Odanna-sama popped up, and I stiffened a bit. Some days ago, we came back from the orchard park date. I remembered being hugged in the airship's deck...** "How are you feeling, Aoi-san? Why is your face all red?" T/N: **insert lenny face here** You can't stop me wahahaha P122 "Hm? Oh, it's nothing, this is nothing. Odanna-sama not liking pumpkins, I wonder if I somehow asked that before..." "Oh, right. I saw that Odanna-sama often puts a lot of his boiled pumpkins in Byakuya-san's small bowl." "...really, isn't Odanna-sama unbelievable?" "Yes, he is. I don't know when Byakuya-san patience will end, but I want Odanna-sama to overcome his distaste for pumpkins." "You're right. His pickiness for food would not end... In this event I will feed Odanna-sama with the pumpkin cuisines I wanted him to try..." I haven't yet known what Odanna-sama likes, but I know what food he doesn't like. It wasn't at all regretable to make fun of Odanna-sama, but this time I got surprised. "Aoi-sama-- Manjuu-steaming has been finished!" Ai-chan's face suddenly popped out of the kitchen. She seemed to have established her affairs in Hyakumeyama, and she has changed her appearance to that which she made herself. Her time before returning to the pendant is still short, but she's working hard right now as a newly-hired employee. "You were steaming manjuu**? I thought I was smelling something good." "Yeah. Just a while ago Dr. Saraku was asked by Tenjin-ya to do some manufacturing trials for a new souvenir product.** T/N: Steamed bread with bean jam filling. They’re really good, try them when you can!

when I write souvenir product, it's translated from omiyage=お土産= something that you take home for your friends or family when you go have fun somewhere like a national park or a museum or amusement park. Like when you buy takeaways - T-shirts, food, keychains, etc. and bring them home or something. Is there an English equivalent for this? Because I don't know. In my native language we have an equivalent, well, for most Asian languages I guess. Don't know about others though.. Hm.... korewa....*inhales* O_O

P123 "We're still only in the middle of improving it, but once we're done we want Ginji-san to be the very first to try them out." "Wah, that sounds fun. When Byakuya-san saw the special products from Orio-ya, he also also saw the need for Tenjin-ya to make new specialties and other famous products, and he's going to be considerably sensitive about it." "Uhm.... But we have no confidence to meet that expectation..." If we couldn't get to sell all of the products that we made, what will we do if Tenjin-ya gets struck greatly by that? What will we do if Tenjin-ya's status and popularity crashes down? With regards to that, we had to think very hard. For Yugao as a small establishment it is a challenge, and the pressure feels a bit different. "It's alright. With regards to hit products, through time and through fads, luck always has a greater control. To me, the only thing needed by Dr. Saraku are failures no matter how many times, in his division. That is why it is important to fail when tackling new challenges." ".. Ginji-san..." "Because I think, we become stronger, don't we?" Ginji-san's relieving smile is so bright, even today it's promising. Having his support, for today as well, I will work harder for Yugao's business operations. P124 The next day, around noon. Tomorrow Tenjin-ya will be closed for a break. Since today Tenjin-ya's business operations will end and all shall check out at the same time, everyone's waiting to be free of work. Today, Yugao also has no business transactions, so tonight I was making up my mind to call all of the ladies to make hotpot. I was thinking of calling out all about to all the members who could attend, I only need to walk to the inner garden. "Oh, it's Kasuga." I noticed Kasuga first. On the other side of the log bridge, she was under the ginko tree. I was about to call out "Hey Kasuga--" but she seems to be talking to someone and I stopped. Behind the base of the ginko tree whose yellow leaves were slightly changing color, what the... Kasuga is usually cheerful but her face now weirdly has this blank expression. "Isn't that..." Beside her, it was Chiaki-san, the doorman in charge of the footwear. A Bake-Tanuki like Kasuga. Normally he doesn't get involved with her much deeply, but this time their dialogues seem to be at a crossroads. I thought that the young man was humble and modest, somehow trying his best to look cool, but somehow he is speaking to Kasuga with a harsh expression, the atmosphere doesn't seem good in there, the impression is very different from the usual funny and light. What is up with those two. These two were different from how I knew them. "Oh, Aoi-chan." P125 From far away, Kasuga noticed me, her Tanuki ears popped up, and rushed towards me. "Aoi-chan, are you going to the main building?" "Ehhhrm, yeah. That was weird, seeing the two of you." "You think so? Chiaki is my relative you know. We were just talking." "Oh, I see..." I don't understand but, I wonder what's normal for those two. "Speaking of, Kasuga, tonight, uhm, won't you come to Yugao after work?" "To Yugao? To make me eat food?" "Yeah. I was thinking of actually holding a ladies-only hotpot banquet. I'll set up the kotatsu, and there's also mountain apple liquor. Let's have a girls' night-out once in a while." "Girls night-out..." Kasuga said "That sounds so much fun" with a wicked Tanuki face. I wonder if she's recalling amusing stories she got out of everyone. "I was thinking of calling O-ryo and Shizuna-chan too. I'm going out to meet them now." "If you say so, I'll go tell them. I'm roommates with Shizuna-chan, and I'm assigned to the banquet hall with O-ryo sama." P126 "Oh, is it OK to ask? Sorry about that." "It's fine, it's like the usual running of errands." Smiling like a beast, Kasuga nimbly dashed away. Under the deep autumn air that feels cold, her fluffy Tanuki tail swings left to right. "..." Looking back at the ginko tree, Chiaki-san the chief doorman wasn't there anymore. I wonder what the two talked about. He seemed to have casually listened to the girls night-out plan. The strong mountain apple liquor, lend me your strength... "Aoi-dono" "Wah, Sasuke-kun!" Without warning, Sasuke-kun the O-niwaban fell down beside me. He has a long scarf hanging down his neck, ninja-style from sunrise to sunset. Normally, during the day he usually wears a monk's robe as he sweeps the garden. "What's up? Something happened during work?" "I am patrolling around. Lately, there has been some disturbances." "Well, tomorrow the inn will have its break, it must be difficult. Are you hungry?" "Ah, my stomach is..." P127 Grrrrrmmmmm. Sasuke-kun's hungry stomach made some noise. "My stomach is probably hungry..." "Hee hee. When your duties are done, while on break come to Yugao. We received a lot from Orio-ya, blessings from the sea. The Southern Lands were also grateful to Sasuke-kun, would you want anything?" "Is that true?" Sasuke-kun always had a cool expression, but when it comes to food his eyes sparkle with joy, like a child's. Realizing that he's let out his enthusiasm, he cleared his throat and hid his mouth with the scarf while saying "Well then, until later," and he disappeared into the wind. Sasuke-kun is just as always very earnest, it's adorable. "Nevertheless, some disturbance..." I heard about that by accident, recently. The disturbance, it's shady, things don't look good, among other things. I was working and doing my best in Yugao, and whatever lurks up in my surroundings I don't notice anything at all. But, at the moment I don't know about the things that have started happening, and I got more anxious and worried. P128 Today is a secret girls; night-out, no guys allowed. It's going to happen after Yugao's working hours, a hotpot party will be opened for the ladies of Tenjin-ya. Today it's not at Yugao, the venue will be at my room at the back, and I will bring out the kotatsu. Tonight's dinner will be amberjack shabu-shabu. We'll make a light konbu/kelp dashi amberjack shabu-shabu from the many seafoods from Orio-ya. "We'll use the top shelf kelp to make the konbu dashi for the seafoods of the Southern Lands. It's a hotpot filled with crunchy mustard greens and thinly-sliced daikon, Welsh onions and enoki mushrooms, I'm going to fill it with amberjack as much as I want." "OK--- Let's eat!" Despite it being after work, the ladies' eyes will get fired up. I wonder if that's the case when they get hungry after working hours. I immediately placed in the fatty slices of amberjack in the hotpot's boiled konbu dashi, and let it cook. I will add in here some ponzu for that single tingly flavor.** "Ahhh, what is this luxury. It's been a while since I had amberjack shabu-shabu..." "O-ryo sama, eat the vegetables too. Adding the thinly-sliced daikon makes this a shabu-shabu." "Alright, I get it..." O-ryo just ate only the amberjack, and Kasuga sneakily added in the vegetables. She also placed some of the boiled enoki, and placed a lot of the dashi along with the fish slices, placing all of these together she took a bite. T/N: Sour-tasting soups are best with fatty meats and fish, so I'd get that Aoi would do this to cut the fat and make the shabu-shabu taste even better and also to cut the fat and greasy feels. P129 The two closed their eyes in contentment. Certainly, when the raw amberjack was cooked over a flame, the entire flavor of the fish changes. Instantly the soft slices of amberjack became tough, and over that ponzu was added, this was entirely different when eaten as sashimi or with pickles, it can be an enjoyable, extravagant yet healthy food. Well, not really, it's just the season to eat hotpot deliciously. "Speaking of, what time is Shizuna-chan coming?" "The bath hours haven't ended yet, I think she'll come over after fixing and cleaning up the bath houses. She's the only one from the management staff, and she has to stay in her working area up until the end of business hours." "Oh, yeah. I see. Shizuna-chan is part of the management staff." I lightly glanced at O-ryo. O-ryo was a former management staff member, but she seems to be unaffected by my words. It seems that the person in question enjoys whatever working position she's in right now, and is drinking carbonated water as well as the mountain apple liquors equally. Somewhat it's like being that annoying single office-lady... "Perhaps I should say it- did you know? Orio-ya's Nene is married to their Waka-danna?" "No, aren't they just engaged? It seems like that for the time being, before getting married?" P130 Uhm, Kasuga and I looked at each other. But O-ryo wasn't listening. "Hmmph. That young girl, she'll be suffering so much marrying so young. That Waka-danna called Hideyoshi, that tiny squirt, he'll noisily scold her." "You think so? I've seen that Hideyoshi, he seems good enough. Well, he is pretty noisy. But he seems to like Nene very much, I think it's wonderful that he got his feelings through." I feel like an aunty who's earnestly chatting away about her relatives. If I could talk about it better, those two make a cute, tiny couple. "Gah! Enough chatting about a guy's love for some girl! I am not interested in the happiness of other people!" With a thud, O-ryo slapped her empty wine glass on the kotatsu. "Ahhhh, O-ryo sama don't start complaing about envying other people..." As always, Kasuga started telling her off with her "good grief!" pose. "I'm sorry I'm late--" A breath of fresh air, Shizuna-chan has joined the party.** Shizuna-chan takes care of the bath houses and bears the task of keeping them in order, and is Tenjin-ya's sole management staff for that purpose. "Shizuna, you're late! The battle has already started!" T/N: well the transliteration of the original text was "Shizuna-chan has arrived in the battlefield", but I think this has the same feel, from RPGs honestly IDK anymore lol anyways IMO food parties are always a battlefield so wth it's the same gahaha P131 "Ah, yes--? I'm sorry, ehhh, a battle?" After that, even if O-ryo was just a waitress who glared at her instantly, Shizuna-chan humbly apologized. It seemed that she had no idea what O-ryo meant with her words of choice. Shizuna-chan brought a box for us, filled with so many delicious sweets.This seemed delicious to eat as dessert. "Shizuna-chan, come sit beside me. Say, do you like amberjack shabu-shabu?" Shizuna-chan rarely visits here. I did my best to take care of whatever she needs. "Well, it has been a while since I had some amberjack shabu-shabu, how nostalgic..." "Oh, right. When you were young, you were a staff at Orio-ya. During that time, did you ate a lot?" "Yes, it was my favorite. Shishou-sama** made a lot of it for me..." Talking while bashfully fidgeting, Shizuna-chan started to eat with a lot of etiquette. Suddenly, O-ryo started looking at Shizuna-chan like a sister-in-law. "I say, uhm, Shizuna? There's someone in Orio-ya like you, who's also nice and has good vibes?" "Yes? A person with good vibes?" "Hey, weren't you explicitly pursued here in Tenjin-ya? Who was it.... That guy who looks withered up, called Tokihiko. You like someone who looks bitter and glum, don't you? It's illogical and unadult-like. Don't think that somehow you're under the shadow of that guy.. *hic*" T/N: I don't know how to call the main artist or the one who takes in a lot of disciples or students or apprentices so this is the next best thing, I guess? I mean, it’s directly translated as Master=師匠-Shishou, but it can mean other stuff, not just like sensei though. P132 "Oh, uhm.. that.. Shishou-sama.... he is uhm..." Shizuna-chan's face started blushing, like she had some beer or whatnot. Once that conversation was started, she immediately got perplexed. "Wait a minute, O-ryo! Shizuna-chan just started eating, don't ask her such direct questions, her throat might block off the shabu-shabu." "You're loud Aoi! Shut up, what's more important than looks are the uses**, you crazed-cook!" "What the.." Whom on earth did she think this hotpot party was prepared for? When O-ryo drinks liquor, she always blurts out unapologetic things. "Haaahhh... Aoi may be crazy about cooking, but in the end, eventually she'll get married to Odanna-sama... He'll pick up an excessively-expensive palanquin for you, you won't understand how miserable I am..." "What the heck are you saying... I'm doing my best to avoid being his fiancee." "But Aoi-chan, didn't you and Odanna-sama went out, and you were away for more than a night?" "Hold up, Kasuga, it's a weird, story, it can't be helped. We were captured by the mountain's Kaku-zaru." "Ah, but.. Odanna-sama pulled you out of a pinch, didn't that made you have a change of heart? Or some progress?"

T/N: hanayoridango=function before looks, like buying food first before buying flowers, yeah that’s the literal meaning of the phrase. P133 "...what?" A while ago Shizuna-chan got asked the same kind of questions. Suddenly, the three girls gazed at me. What the, what's up with their eyes, those three? They look like hyenas having an eye on their prey. "I.. I didn't mean it that way! Uhmm... Odanna-sama just.. gives his all as he saves me..." Speaking of progress, what on earth is progressing right now? My first-hand experiences weren't much, and even using those as my basis, I still don't understand. In the end, somehow despite never having an idea on what occurred, the warmth I felt when I was hugged just abruptly pops back again into my mind, and ultimately my face remains blushing, as I chattered and gritted my teeth in silence. I really don't understand this, I wonder... what is this feeling? "What the heck is that..?" "Yeah, what gives? It's weird, Aoi-chan's face is so red, why is that?" I could hear Kasuga and Shizuna-chan somewhat breaking the silence with their hushed conversations. "OK--- that's enough talking about sweethearts and whatnot-- That's every last one of them--" "Yeah, I heard you, I heard you!" O-ryo had enough of the topic already, and she rolled down into the kotatsu with an angry and dead-drunk expression. She probably got one-punched...** T/N: Yeah I feel you O-ryo, when everyone has some special someone and you're the lonely third wheel I mean, I can't blame you girl, I really can't. It's worse than getting one-punched by Saitama, but... Still lol tho sry my bad P134 "O-ryo sama, with that middle-aged man attitude such as yours, you'll miss your chances of getting married." "Kasuga? With the romance that a little girl-chama like you would know, wouldn't have an idea on what love is like, there's no such thing as an immediate fated encounter. Really esteemed women like me, wouldn't have to rush in choosing.There's no leeway for mistakes--" "Yeah, yeah. But regarding myself, I have a first love..." "What, that story about when you were young? Yeah, yeah, sure, that story that smells of inexperience is good enough. Kasuga, go pour me some more.." "Y-yes... Good grief..." The esteemed woman bully lied down again. And as the junior poured more liquor for her, she drank heartily, again. "But Kasuga, speaking of that, during the day, I saw you being with the Gesokuban** Chiaki-san. What on earth were you two chatting about?" "....uhm..." I suddenly remembered it, and without thinking I asked. Kasuga's facial expression slightly changed. "Reallyyyyy?! What the, Kasuga is with that Chiaki?!" Hearing that topic, O-ryo suddenly bolted upright. She kicked her legs inside the kotatsu, and Shizuna-chan let out a tiny, pained "ouch". "What is it, O-ryo?" "Chiaki may look sloppy and gaudy, but so many waitresses are eyeing on him. Not only does his face look good,

T/N: Gesokuban=下足番= doorman in charge of the footwear, normally in Japanese inns or hotels the footwear are kept outside the halls to prevent dirt from coming in. I think elsewhere in the world this is a practice, there’s a thing called indoor and outdoor slippers or shoes. P135 but being a Gesokuban, he's pretty much a member of the management staff. If he gets married, it's easy to dominate him. That's what I understand from hearing other people. Kasuga, he's also your type?" "...what are you talking about, O-ryo sama? Chiaki is my Uncle. Simply put, my father's younger brother.**" "Whaaa... Really?" Everyone got shocked. Everyone in here seemed to be unaware of that fact. Kasuga went "Uh-oh". Her face spelled out "I shouldn't have said that." "It's probably due to this liquor.. I may have said too much..." Kasuga was scratching an itch on her temple. Taking the opportunity, Shizuna-chan suddenly seemed to have remembered something. "Speaking of that... Kasuga is taking a long vacation to go back to her parents' home, and at the same time, Chiaki-san probably won't we working too, isn't it? Could it possibly be that, he's going home with you?" Somehow, a lot of suspicions and doubts started rising up, and Kasuga started clamoring and wailing. "Geez... stop it already! What I told you is already enough! More importantly, hotpot! Look, the mustard greens and onions, and the tofu had all boiled down.The umami of the vegetables and the amberjack have already dissolved into this precious konbu dashi, and it's considerably better now. Aoi-chan, how are we going to divide this?" With dexterity, Kasuga started distributing the contents of the hotpot into smaller bowls, but I was still determined to press information out of her. This girl is pushily taking charge over the hotpot... T/N: I don't know about you guys, but in some families due to the age gaps between the siblings, some of the nieces and nephews ar more closer in age to their aunts and uncles than the aunts and uncles have to the children's parents. I was actually raised by an elder cousin, and her eldest brother was around the age of my father, so yeah, I could understand how this whole thing with Kasuga goes. P136 "Ok, with this, it's definitely udon!" "Udon!" "Yeah let's do that" Shizuna-chan gratefully put her hands together, and O-ryo's sparkling eyes were on standby. Immediately, the udon balls were brought in, and these were dunked into the deliciously-filled dashi stock. After boiling it down, we only had to wait for the noodles to absorb the flavors. "By the way, you all, what do you think of the single guys in Tenjin-ya?" "Yes?" "Do you have anything funny about them to talk about?" While O-ryo poured some newly-opened liquor, she drunkenly pushed the question at me. This woman, sets herself aside and starts gossiping about Tenjin-ya's male army. "First of, let's start with Akatsuki. That guy's the youngest male in the management staff, he may have a promising future, surely being young his composure isn't yet enough, I think. Well, in desperate times I could say that he's adorable, but he's the type that holds grudges, and it's not a good thing that he easily snaps out. For certain, I think he doesn't have a girl." "It seems that O-ryo sama has a problem with the Bantou** -sama snapping out at her words and deeds, don't you?" "Shut up Kasuga--" "Owwwww" T/N:Bantou=番頭=head clerk, or the head receptionist

P137 O-ryo pulled out Kasuga's cheeks. Kasuga's cheeks stretched out so much. "Akatsuki-san's face is a bit scary, but he is a hard-working employee, in my opinion. But, well... I'm not interested in someone younger than me..." "That's right Shizuna, you have an older guy fetish don't you?" "Yeah, the guy has been living for 500 years now, yes..." Shizuna-chan just casually blurted out that she wasn't interested in Akatsuki. She's probably a bit drunk. She's drinking the mountain apple liquor on the rocks... "Akatsuki, you say... When I met him he shouted like he was going to kill me, that guy gave me the impression that he was the worst but... Now I think he's a really good chap. One way or another way though, he's not someone who likes taking care of others. I remember her younger sister.." That child** comes here to Yugao, his eyes may look evil but he's a caring person. Surely, I think that he's concerned about troubling his younger sister Suzuran and grandpa, among others. "Oh, and by the way..." At this point, Kasuga secretly pulled out a notebook and started telling us the stuff that she wrote. What the... What the heck, that is scary. "According to my research, the Bantou-sama doesn't have a woman's touch on him. He's aloof, and he easily and earnestly gets resentful. It also seems that despite the lady waitresses asking him out to have fun, he always doesn't go with them." "As expected..." T/N: the term Yuuma-sensei used for Akatsuki is mame=マメ=bean, but can also mean a child, a little person, etc. Honestly it's not wrong, Akatsuki is an actual precious bean IMO lol protect that spider bean lelz P138 "But that guy, a little girl once invited him to play with her..." Surprisingly, I thought this was a bit rude. Most likely, Akatsuki is sneezing a lot right now. "Wah, udon, udon--" Finally, the udon has been boiled enough. Everyone started putting udon on their bowls. "Gahh... This is it. The udon to finish the hotpot."** "Cooking this in the dashi makes it yummier, doesn't it?" The udon has surely absorbed the umami and the fatty flavors of the amberjack. I added the refreshing taste of the Sudachi Ponzu in mine. This went smoothly down the throat, and this perfectly wraps up the the meal. No, I mean, this is a work of art. "Hey Aoi, you only drank one glass of the liquor? You go drink some more..." "Sorry but, I dont drink more than a cup. Previously, drinking made my eyes hurt when I look at things." A cup of that liquor tastes great. But I dread getting drunk if I drink more than my limit. But everyone was just drinking heartily, so I guess it's fine. The mountain apple liquor also has another nickname, it's called "Easy Bandit-Killer". "Well then, next is the Waka-danna sama's turn" O-ryo continued the conversation where we previously left off. "Waaat? Even Ginji-san?! But.. Isn't Ginji-san perfect? No, a perfect Youkai? I couldn't find any fault with him." T/N: Just in case you're wondering how this works, it's rather easy.. After eating all of the ingredients in the Japanese hotpot, like taking out the veggies and meat, there's a lot of soup left. It's easier to just drink the soup but in Japan, they add stuff to help it go down easy. Choices are either noodles or rice, and the young ones love putting the noodles in. It actually tastes good either way, but I prefer noodles. I think in Persona 5 they also had this same dilemma lol Also yeah Ginji is just the ball, perfect ball of fur lol but he also has this shadowy and mysterious side so if you want a dude of mystery, Ginji's your man gahahaha P139 "Eh. You don't understand, Aoi. Seeing no faults or imperfections is that person's shortcoming-" An adultish smile floating up her face, O-ryo started spinning her glass around. "Waka-danna sama is, well, fanstastic. When you look at him he's handsome, he is well-mannered, and is skillful at his job." "Yeah I get that. He's very sweet, and he always lends a hand... But for sure, Ginji-san seems to have no interests in romantic relationships..." Even I haven't unraveled the reasons to why Ginji-san is still single. But I'm not surprised that he's well-liked. "Oh, well, based on what O-ryo-san was saying, Ginji-sama has no chink in his armor, doesn't he? When a little girl couldn't get any confidence from everyone and has to hold it together by herself, when that perfect Ginji-sama sees that person, his voice would probably not break so easily." "The Waka-danna sama isn't a greedy type, but look, what Aoi-chan is saying is that the Waka-danna seems to have no hobbies or interests. Aoi-chan doesn't understand how, but among the employees he seems to be the type that only admires one person. In that case, his attraction for this one girl could unfortunately end. And she won't be pursued relentlessly." Oh, I get it... Shizuna-chan and Kasuga pointed this out, and I could understand it better. "But after that thing with Orio-ya, somehow the air around the Waka-danna sama has changed, didn't it? T/N: OK I just translated from Japanese what I'd say if I was fan-girling over Ginji, srsly arrrghhh does a guy like this exist? I'd want the extra tails and the transformation powers but I'm OK without those as long as he's into romantic stuff.. Does he? Does he not? I don't know yet lol are there any Ginji fan-fams here too lololol P140 I heard it from the lady waitresses that aren't easy to talk to. That person, he has undoubtedly became likeable. And then, the Waka-danna sama, didn't he take care of you in your condition?" "..." With a wicked face, O-ryo was testing me with her words. But to me, up until now I think that Ginji-san is likeable, and in that case it's not even a joke. He hardly comes to Yugao now, and because of that it's gotten lonely... "On another point, among the Waka-danna sama's nine tails, the third one below, from the right seems to be the most unique.That is somehow a weak spot." "Kasuga, how did you know such information?" It's scary... Kasuga's information is creepy. Even though she's drunk the power of her research skills scared all of us. "Well then... Choubachou** Byakuya-sama--" "O-ryo, don't you dare take another step over there--" We suddenly exercised caution with Byakuya-san. If we speak rudely of him, we feel like we're going to get cursed.** "I honestly couldn't remember a time when he got angry..." "Me either..." "Me too..." T/N: OK so my bad, Byakuya’s supposed position ranges from accounting to reception, but I just previously translated his position as head accountant because it’s what I got before. But he’s more or less the chief of management operations, which includes accounting. Anyway... Hey, I mean, if Byakuya can kick Raijuu's ass then it's justifiable that Byakuya is always in a sour mood, and it's bad to talk about him rudely. Raijuu's a pain in the ass for sure. Arrrgh P141 In the end, this girls' group had nothing more to say. We shuddered when we remembered stuff, and inside the kotatsu we all curled up. Though we were only just talking about him, his pressure on us made us feel defeated even in here. "H.. However, Byakuya-sama stealthily spoils the pipe cats living at the back of the mountain..." "Kasuga, nobody knows about that yet. Don't talk about it, if that gets leaked out we'll get killed." Well, in short, Byakuya-sama pours all of his love to the pipe cats. "Geez, we've wrapped out heads too much on these puzzles, and my hands have lost all feeling. Like Odanna-sama, he also exists above the clouds." "That's because Byakuya-sama is Odanna-sama's good old wife." O-ryo and Kasuga opened the box that Shizuna-chan brought for us, and while munching on these they were sloppily chatting. "Good old wife?" Isn't Byakuya-san a guy? as I tilted my head. "Since long ago, he has assisted in the running of Tenjin-ya. Odanna-sama is able to go here and there freely for work, and Byakuya-sama was staying in Tenjin-ya and presides over it. He has long been in good terms with Odanna-sama, and Byakuya-sama could readily and frankly give out his opinions to him." Come to think of it, before Odanna-sama and I went out, him and Byakuya-san were talking about something one way or the other. P142 In that case, other than the other employess and executives, nobody sees it like an older wife giving encouragement to her husband. "And for sure, when the Oo-Okami** sama isn't here, Byakuya-sama also takes in that role as well, doesn't he?" "Oo-Okami?" Shizuna-chan was drinking the last drop of the sweet liquor, she was reminded of her old home and started talking. "Ougondouji-sama is currently residing in Orio-ya. Previously, Ougondouji-sama was asked to be the Oo-Okami. She holds the same position and rank as Odanna-sama, therefore ever since Ougondouji-sama left Tenjin-ya,the position has been vacant." "Oh, I see... If that's so, with regards to that old tale, I have asked Ginji-san about that." And with that, Byakuya-san also holds the position of Oo-Okami. "Haaaahhh... That weird chat about the Oo-Okami has been a bit too much already." "O-ryo sama, didn't you tell me back then that you'd focus intently on becoming Oo-Okami ,once upon a time?" "Shut up Kasuga! It's a harsh fact that I have to live with!" With O-ryo and Kasuga's conversation, my ears grew eager to listen. "But isn't that.. O-ryo already has no interest with the Waka-Okami position?" "Whaaat? Aoi, you're asking that question? Did't I tell you that I won't get into the position of Waka-Okami again?" T/N: Oo-Okami, Mistress of the House, or something, like the big lady boss.

P143 "R..Really?" "It's fine, really it is. My enthusiastic, indomitable personality is dead. I want to enjoy living a carefree life. I plan to marry a rich guy, then immediately stop working--" "..." Somehow, the atmosphere became tense. Could it be possible that, among all the people in here right now, we're all thinking that O-ryo didn't really want to give up that position? Especially Kasuga, she was shell-shocked, and her face looked troubled. I felt that the mood has changed, so I tapped my fist in my hand. "Oh, right, right. I brought some large-sized grapes from the fruit orchard park, and I made some grape tarts. Let's eat some? I added a lot of grapes on it, it's a custard cream dessert." "Kasstard? OK OK let's eat--" It seems that nobody understood what I meant, but everybody nodded their heads excitedly. Grape tart. I made the crust with the coconut oil from Orio-ya and baked it, and by adding the large grapes called Daishisui that I gathered with Odanna-sama yesterday, the tart looks like a sparkly jewelry box. On top of the crust, I laid down an easily-made custard cream made of Cassowary egg and some wheat flour, with cow's milk and a bit of sugar, P144 and these buried the grapes cut in halves, which I later baked in the oven. After baking this for a while, I topped everything with raw grapes and pure cream. These were arranged as such because the tightly-packed grapes beneath this layer cannot be seen. "Woooooow!" Those dynamic-seeing eyes, everyone's eyes were sparkling. I sliced the large tart in front of everyone, and when the neatly-arranged grapes were cut through, Shizuna-chan let out a regretful-sounding "Awww".** There wasn't any fork, we used kuromoji, special wooden chopsticks** normally used for Japanese sweets or just ate them using our bare hands. "Uwahhh this is juicy-- What is this, I thought this food has raw grapes, but this tastes is like it was meant to be a baked dessert!" "This is the first time I ate something that tastes like this, but the grapes' sweetness stands out, it's really delicious--" O-ryo eating with her hands and Shizuna-chan using a kuromoji, they fell into a trance like typical ladies who love sweets. "This is generally called a fruit tart, and with the rich taste of the eggs in the custard cream, it blends well with the sweet and sour freshness of the fruits, and together these really bring about the best-tasting combination. The sweetness gets reduced, and the sourness becomes mild." As I was explaining how the mild taste came about, Kasuga haven't taken a single bite of the grape tart, and while propping her chin with her hand, she was observing it quietly. T/N: Lol I feel you Shizuna-chan, I feel the same when a freshly-bought ice cream tub looks so neat I don't wanna cut through it lol that's why ASMR of perfectly arranged anything are famous bahaha

Kuromoji=黒文字= Japanese sweets are eaten traditionally by using tiny wooden chopsticks, to cut and skewer them. You can check them out via search engine or smth P145 "What is it, Kasuga? Don't tell me, you don't like grapes?" "Hmm? No, it's not like that.. I really love grapes. That dessert you called tart, I was thinking of something." Kasuga ate held tart like it was a hard cookie, and bit on it heartily despite doubting what it was, before chewing on it. She filled her cheeks with the grapes, the custard, and the fragrant crust. "Mmmm, I wanted to eat some more. The grapes are heavy, and they burst in my mouth." Just a while ago we were enjoying some amberjack shabu-shabu, but we still had room for dessert, and all of the girls ate as much of the grape tart to their hearts' content. "Aoi-dono--" In that moment, came a boy's voice that can be heard from inside Yugao. "It's Sasuke-kun. I told him that I was going to give him something to eat after his working hours." The three ladies around me went "It's.. Sasuke-kun?", and they looked at me from the side. "Say, Aoi, tell Sasuke-kun to come here too." "Really? Even if today's a no-guys-allowed girls' night-out, it's OK to call him in?" "Yes, it's totally OK. Sasuke-kun is an adorable and good boy." "..." Even though there was a nagging feeling, I went outside of Yugao and called out to Sasuke-kun. "Sasuke-kun, thank you for your hard work. We were just having a hotpot party inside but, P146 I'll also add something for you, OK?" "Hotpot, is it? Is it because it has already gotten a bit cold?" "Come in. Everyone's waiting for you. I'll go and prep up." "I understand." Sasuke-kun unknowingly trudged toward the innermost room, and opened the door. "?!" No sooner than opening the door. Sasuke-kun the ninja couldn't react fast enough, and he was dragged into the room. "Gyaaaaahhh! Aoi-dono, Aoi-dono---" Sasuke-kun, the innocent and sweet Sasuke-kun, he was preyed upon by the ladies starved of men. "I- I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun. I'll make you a delicious hotpot, OK?" I feel guilty that he gets harassed, and using another earthen pot I added dashi stock, vegetables and the amberjack slices, and hurriedly went towards the innermost room. Please, please let Sasuke-kun be OK! "..." Sasuke-kun was already pestered by the drunken ladies, here and there he was grumbling being urged to drink liquor, P147 his hair has been tousled and his scarf stretched out, it was horrible, but he was being coddled and spoiled. "Aoi-dono--" Poor Sasuke-kun, he was crying out of fear. He was unprotected, and the swarming girls were getting their fill, it was another shabu-shabu over the kotatsu setting. They're feeding him too much. While he's eating delicious food, I will protect Sasuke-kun.

Despite the determination of that bunch, just like turning off a lamp, the girls suddenly collapsed.

Zzzz.... The effects of the mountain liquor came at last, and the intense sleepiness has struck. "Aoi-dono.. What on earth, were you doing here?" "Hmm? It's a secret girls' night-out, Sasuke-kun." "Secret girls' night-out..."

It's really too much to handle drunkeness. The true intents and personalities of the girls, were hidden and unseen, in this empty room these must not get out. Everything that they spewed out, they'll probably forget in the morning. And that was the so-called, girls' night-out.

End of Chapter 4, Volume 6. Previous - Intermission 1 Next - Intermission 2

References:

Wonderful site for the youkai references

Other stuff I used to do this: Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary (you can buy here, I’m not sponsored btw). I was about to buy the older edition but then the newer one came out 2013 so I bought that instead. Worth buying since I was able to find nearly all of the words I needed just by stroke pattern alone.

Merriam-Webster's Japanese-English Dictionary (the red-covered 1996 version is apparently out of print right now). This is what I have been using for a very long time, I bought it when I was still a fetus (yes I am old so what lol), and after so many years, when compared to newer editions, I still prefer this one since its entirety is Japanese-English, the English to Japanese gloss are just 16 pages tops, so you get more Japanese words for your buck. But that’s just my opinion, maybe other people prefer the Jap-En x En-Jap IDEK.

Basic online dictionary, Jisho. Knowledge of verb conjugations and other words are necessary since not all have entries.

If you can read Japanese, you can buy the whole set in Amazon Japan, they’re shipping worldwide now, I think.

#kakuriyo no yadomeshi #kakuriyo no yadomeshi light novel #kakuriyo no yadomeshi english fan translation #kakuriyo no yadomeshi volume 6 chapter 4 #kakuriyo no yadomeshi volume 6 chapter 4 english fan translation

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exhaustedfander · 4 years

Text

First Comes Love: Chapter Two

Chapter Summary: Remus and Roman have a phone conversation about Remus's plans, chronicling Brotherly bonding as well as developing plans of a grand proposal.

1 / 2 / ?

a03 link

“So you’ve finally lost your mind? I always knew this day was coming…still, it’s sooner than I might’ve thought.”

Remus laughed into the phone, visualizing the look of disbelief on his twin’s face.

“I don’t know if my head’s ever been clearer in all my life.”

“Jesus Christ, that was sappy. Are you stealing my bit – are you the sap now? Remus, seriously, what the hell? You can’t be serious about this.” Remus pressed the phone close to his ear, amused with Roman’s dramatics for once in his life.

“I am, though. Ro, it just came to me this morning, looking at his sleeping face. I realized I want to spend the rest of my life with him.”

“Okay, who are you and what have you done with my brother? Remus, what in the world?! You’re never so lovey-dovey, and I mean. It’s not even been a year yet. Isn’t that like, insanely quick?”

“It’s about to be a year, though,” Remus pointed out, as though that made things seem any less abrupt, “In two weeks. And I was friends with Logan even before we got together. I’m serious, Roman. I want to marry him. I want to get down on one knee and promise him anything he wants – Jesus fuck, is it exhausting being this level of dramatic every day? How the hell does Virgil stand it?” Roman huffed out a sigh on the other end.

“Yes, it’s positively draining being so extra,” Roman said, only somewhat sarcastically, “Are you sure you aren’t…rushing into things a bit headstrong?”

“When have I ever been known to be anything besides headstrong?”

“I can think of a few things. Brash, abrasive, a real pain in the ass –.” “Oh, don’t start on a list, I’ll never get you to shut up.”

“You know what I mean, Remus. Surely you must. Logan is a very well put-together person, someone who values order. Don't get me wrong, you two are wonderful for one another, you really are. I mean, you’ve found someone who can tolerate your antics, so you’d better hang onto him.”

“Roman.”

“Oh shut up, I’m allowed to tease you now.”

It was strange, the shift they’d encountered in their relationship. Going from almost no contact to chatting fairly regularly and hanging out with friends was something that was certainly jarring in the beginning. It was still a lot for Remus to wrap his head around, sometimes, having a brother at his disposal who was supportive and wanted nothing more than the best for him. Roman being one of Logan’s closest friends was certainly a bonus.

Both twins had become so uncomfortably used to not having a close family member in their lived, and now having one another, they still had their moments of astonishment.

“Hate to break it to you, bro, but we teased each other long before we were ‘allowed’ to.”

“Be that as it may,” Roman sighed, “I’m just…I’m worried. I love both you and Logan so much, but I can’t help but fear that this might scare him. I mean, this would be such a major step. Are you certain this is something you’d like to go through with. You must realize there’s absolutely no rush to this, there isn’t a time limit.”

“Just because you haven’t popped the question yet doesn’t mean I can’t, y’know?” Roman sputtered in what appeared to be an attempt at coherent speech, failing miserably in that department.

“How dare you?!”

“Dude fucking relax. I’m just saying –.”

“I get it, okay! It’s not like I haven’t been thinking about it!” Remus’s end went dead for a moment before Remus replied, smug as ever.

“Are you ‘bout to propose to your emo? I mean you two are practically attached at the hip, it’s a wonder you aren’t already married with a thousand kids yet.”

“Stop it, you’re being unnecessarily cruel.”

“Aren’t I always, brother dearest?”

Remus wished he could see the look on his brother’s face, the grin that surely betrayed all of the fondness in his rumbling chuckle. He’d called him after waking up a few hours after Logan had left for work, not even sure if he would have the time to pick up. Remus couldn’t admit how grateful he was that Roman had answered the call even if he wanted to. Even with the sudden sureness he felt that Logan was the one for him, forever and always, Remus was sure he was going to start bouncing off the walls anytime now. He was stupidly, deliriously in love, sure that the things he felt for Logan could drive him to a madness rarely seen in humankind.

Remus still wasn’t entirely used to it, the strength of his emotions. For so long, he’d been nothing but a nuisance, mostly intentionally. He wanted attention, and by hell or high water, he would do anything to get it. He’d talk to most anyone who would listen, telling of the macabre, strange facts he had amassed a wealth of knowledge of. Most people shuddered, turning away at disgust at the person who Remus portrayed himself to be. Even the individuals he dated didn’t take him seriously, not really. He wasn’t even sure if he’d taken himself seriously then, in hindsight, probably not.

And then there’d been Logan. Logan who listened, Logan who cared more than he gave himself credit, Logan who loved. Logan who, upon their being friends, claimed to be emotionless. Remus didn’t buy it for a second, but still, he couldn’t help but be thrown for a loop when he finally realized how deep Logan’s emotions ran, as well as the feelings the man provoked in him.

Logan had given him more than he would ever realize. He restarted a heart Remus had long since believed was cold and unbeating. He’d been by his side at Remus’s weakest point. In some strange twist of fate, Logan had brought Roman back into his life when he called Roman informing him of his being hospitalized. And from there on their love had only continued to bloom. Because of meeting Logan, Remus had a real relationship with his brother again, he had people he could call his friends, he had a love unlike anything he’d ever known.

Remus had someone who he woke up with every morning, he had someone who he spent his evenings with. Remus had a companion who would entertain any and all of his strange fascinations, he had a partner who encouraged his writing more than anyone ever had, even while Logan was no real horror fan himself, he had someone who made him feel whole and human.

Remus had been granted everything he didn’t know he needed, and the realization that he couldn’t let that slip from his grasp was a compelling force.

“Yes, you’re a pest as always,” Roman said. Remus could practically see his eyes rolling, dramatic as ever, “I’m just trying to look out for you, is all. I love you, okay? And I love Logan. I don’t want you to rush into anything that could have nasty consequences.”

“I love him,” Remus said simply, a smile stretching over his face, “I love him so fucking much, Ro.”

“I know you do.”

“He’s my whole world. Isn’t that insane? I never…I didn’t think I’d ever get anything like that. Love, I mean. I didn’t know anyone could love me, not the way he does.”

“It’s not insane,” Roman said, some of the hesitations seeming to have left him, if only momentarily, “Not at all. I know Logan’s told you of my initial reaction to finding out about you two.”

“Oh, many times. He said you looked white as a ghost – whish I coulda seen it! I’m sure it was funny as all hell.” Roman sighed, exasperated as Remus chuckled at the idea of Roman being so flabbergasted about him and Logan being an item. It hadn’t been so long ago, only a few months.

“Right. What I’m trying to say is that, he’s brought out the best in you. I’d like to say you’ve brought out the best in him, but Logan’s certainly been more chaotic lately.”

“I’m proud of that!” Remus replied boisterously, “My Dragonfly’s letting his walls down. He’s so soft with me…I, it’s silly…how much it makes my chest ache, just thinking about him. You never told me how much love burns. It’s not bad, just...weird.”

“Looks like you’ve both gone soft. I never expected it, and certainly not from Logan. You’re both full of more surprises than I suppose I realized.”

“So…still think it’s an absolutely terrible idea to ask Logan to marry me?” Roman paused, mulling the question over for a moment almost long enough to send Remus into a panic before responding carefully, saying:

“Ask Logan about marriage. Nothing overt, mind you. Just his feelings on the matter. You don’t want to pull something like this out-of-the-blue, I don’t imagine he’d fare too well.” Remus considered his brother’s advice, nervously thinking about how he’d possibly breach the subject without falling apart. Even so…he supposed Roman made a good point. While much of their relationship thus-far had been fairly spontaneous, throwing Logan into a situation like this without at least a little warning could spell trouble.

“Okay. Yeah, I think you might be right. Fuck look at me taking advice from you. You think you’ll ever take a piece of my advice?" Roman laughed softly.

“At this point, I’m not sure if I’d doubt it. So long as you’re not advising I spontaneously decide to ask for Virgil’s hand.”

“Well…”

“No. Absolutely not. Just because you’re already thinking about marriage doesn’t mean that I am.” Remus wasn’t buying that for a second.

“Oh come on, Broman. The way you gush about him, you’d think you guys were already married. Knowing you, you’ve already got the whole thing mapped out in your mind.”

“I…might have an idea or two…” Remus barked out a laugh.

“Of fucking course you do! If you’re telling me I should have a talk about marriage with Logan, you might want to do the same thing with Virgil.”

“Remus – we’re not talking about my relationship, we’re talking about yours.”

“Trying to take the heat off of yourself isn’t going to work, dude. I’m being serious.”

“As am I. Seriously, Remus. Talk to him, before you go any further. From the sounds of things, you’re already building it up in your mind.” Remus stood up from where he’d sat on the bed, rising to his feet and looking out the window at the blue sky, only vaguely remembering that he needed to hold the phone to his ear with how lost in himself he was becoming.

“I can’t help it! I just…he’s so perfect, Ro. And he loves me.”

“He really does.” Suddenly, Remus was struck with an idea that he considered absolute genius.

“Hey, if I talk about marriage with Logan, can I ask you and Virge a favor?”

“So long as it has nothing to do with hiding a body on our property, I’m listening.” Remus grinned widely, his mind running rampant with a quick-forming plan.

“Can you guys host another party, like the one you did a year ago in say, two weeks?” Remus was sure he could hear the gears in his twin’s mind grinding.

“Ah…are you actually planning to propose in the same setting that you two got together?”

“Yeah. Wouldn’t that be awesome?” “Do you think Logan would enjoy that? After all, he isn’t much of a party-person, if that party has anything to say for it.”

“Sure, yeah, but this would be different. It doesn’t need to be big or anything! Just make it similar to that night and, boom, I could propose to him in your backyard!”

“If you’re so certain that’s what you want…then I suppose I could discuss it with Virgil.”

“For real?” The excitement in Remus’s tone amused Roman so.

“Yes, for real. But seriously, Remus, be smart about this. I know how you can be when it comes to doing things on a whim.” “This isn’t a whim, I swear!” Remus promised, even when the idea to ask for Logan’s hand had only occurred to him this morning.

“Okay. Then I suppose I’ll leave you to your planning. I’m sure you’re aware of my hesitations…” Roman paused, sounding unmistakably proud of his brother suddenly, “But I wish you and Logan the best in life. You two make a good team."

“Thanks bro,” Remus said, trying to disregard how much his heart swelled at his brother’s words, “I’ll talk at you later. Say hi to the emo nightmare for me!”

“Goodbye, Remus.”

And then, once again, Remus was left alone with his thoughts. Thoughts that delved into plans Remus prayed could be successful.

=+=

#intrulogical #Romantic intrulogical #human au #Logan Sanders #Remus Sanders #Remus the Duke Sanders #Roman Sanders #virgil sanders #fluff #creativetwins #the bros having a good relationship is what I strive for #First Comes Love #When is Enough Enough?#The When is Enough Enough? Series #Exhaustedfander #exhaustedfander writes

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fipindustries · 3 years

Text

list of comics i made so far

i already shared the list of all the novels i tried to write throughout my llife so i see no reason why not to do the same with the comics i tried to work on. no i should clarify, with my lists of novels there was a clear cut distinction between what was a novel and a short story so to parse one from the other was an easy task. it should be known that i wrote hundreds of shorts stories that i havent shared with anyone. now a similar situation occurs with my comics, i have done hundreds upon hundreds of little comics, short jokes, little skits and short lived strips through my life, so in order to give this list some weight and not make it longer than the bible the criteria i used was that it had to be something i did on a regular basis or that tells a self contained story with a beggining middle and end.

now without further ado, lets begin!

spike Vanderville (age 7)

you can tell i was way more into comics than i was into novels from a young age. done with pen and folded paper, it was the story about a young kid called spike, whose design was heavily inspired by bradley from sticking around, who had magical powers which allowed him to manipulate reality. it was a mix of harry potter and a series of illustrates short stories that came in a magazine in argentina. his best friend was a scarecrow with a pumpkin head that he had brought to life, his archnemesis was a fat bully.

curiously enough i was so passionate about this project even though i had no idea what i was doing and no talent that i actually did like three full colored issues of it. my family was really proud of me. sadly those comics are completly lost to time

andrew and the monkey (age 10)

this was the classical story about a boy and his best friend the talking animal. one page comedy strips done in pen and paper. nothing too clever, just a way for me to try lame jokes mostly stolen from spongebob squarepants. not much else to it. i tried to do like a revamp in 2014 but it was short lived, as you can see the jokes didnt get any less lame

FIP industries (age 17)

mostly done in digital. yes as you can see fip is something that has followed me my whole life in quite the variety of mediums. there were as a matter of fact multiple attempts to make this comic a real thing but time and again they would peter off as i saw that my skill was just not up to the task. i think i have talked more than enough about fip industries on this blog, one interesting thing is that if you follow the link you will come across a lot of proto ideas that i had before they cemented and took their definite shape in the novel (and even after the novel i kept retconning and retooling things over and over again, fip industries is an ongoing thing that will probably last my entire lifetime)

Disregarding Reality I (age 20)

the first iteration of disregarding reality, a humorous strip done in pencil and paper, a fairly short lived affair, lasting no more than 3 months. the entire premise of the comic was an MRA activist and a feminist live together, they are friends, they argue a lot. remember 2013 guys? back when this whole politics bullshit truly kicked off online? this was before gamer gate, mind you. but by that point i had seen more than enough of it on tumblr and i was like “someone should do some scathing commentary with wit and penache” and that someone had to be me. mainly inspired by commics like f@nboys and el goonish hive and a thousand billion others that were so popular back in those halcyon days.

i got bored of it pretty quickly and it wouldnt be until three years later than i would finally decide to re-start the project but until then...

Strangers in the forest (age 21)

here comes a rather productive era in my ouvre, ink and paper, based on a short story i wrote, its about an eldritch monster pretending to be human and a ghost girl, killed by her father. they have a dispute because the monster wants to eat the corpse of the girl but the ghost doesnt want to give up her bones because its the one thing that tethers her to the mortal plane. they eventually resolve their dispute. by this point i was actually, unironically trying my best to do comics which i felt looked professional.

Song of a nightmare (age 21)

another one based on a short story i wrote. ink and paper, a private detective wakes up in the middle of the night and sees a mermaid lying in bed next to him. he spends most of the comic trying to figure out how the hell is this possible. still one of my favourite ones and certainly one of my family’s and friends favourites as well. a rather poetic tale, strongly inspired by argentinian fiction and their propensity towards magical realism, i was reading a lot of cortazar back then.

Aika (age 21)

as you can tell i was on a fucking roll that year. ink and paper, this was a story based upon a simple and basic idea that i had in my mind for years and years. i always liked the concept behind the movie “the kid” where bruce willis mysteriously comes across himself as a kid. so of course one day i came up with the idea, what if you recieved a visit from your future self... but she was a woman?

this is probably the most aggresively trans story i ever wrote in my life, it is literally about a guy realizing they are trans and breaking down over it. here is the giant kicker, i did not realize at all what i was doing. i was completly unaware of what was going on here, i was still deep deep in the closet and not even realizing i was there. it really is astounding the honesty and the rawness with which i wrote this comic and it went all over my head. a perfect example of “im such a great ally lol”

oh also there is time travel i guess. my main impetus (beyond whatever my subconcious was forcing me to do) was my desire to make a complete clusterfuck of a story, i was a huge fan of homestuck, i had read fleek and demon, i wanted to do my own take on a hypercomplicated time travel puzzle plot. other things came out on top of it but i didnt noticed them. fucking hilarious

Hello Agatha (age 21)

a comedic strip about a wacky pixie dream girl having wacky adventures with her wacky friends, one of which is a man with a toilet for a head. what a gut buster, what a knee slapper!

there is not much to say about this one, wacky surreal comedy was always my favourite and so time and again i would try my hand at it but it is surprisingly hard to do!

The /co/ ventures! (age 20 - age25)

an ongoing project done in multiple mediums. i think i said more than enough about this in here and here. it was me practiscing comics, practiscing my humor and adding my tiny grain of sand to the 4chan culture. i am proud to say these comics were actually very well liked there and that i would be recognized without a name or signature of any kind, just on the strength of my style.

the vest kind of madness (age 22)

probably one of the projects in which i put the biggest amount of effort to make it look professional. traditional inks and digital colors. a crossover that i cant believe never happened in comics considering how obvious it is. Rac Shade, the changing man and delirium of the endless, the two flagship vertigo characters associated with madness. clearly a match made in heaven.

to this day im flabbergasted i seem to be the only one to think of this.

Disregarding Reality II (age 23)

another work where i have already spilled rivers of bytes explaining my thought process behind it. after having a no good, terrible, very bad day, finding my self aimless and without purpose, deep in denial and depression, i decided to give my self a big project to have something to get me out of bed every day. these three guys came from the depths of my mind to save me.

this time leaning a lot more on silly humor and surrealism than political commentary, still insanely proud of how much i managed to make this last, almost three years, well over 200 pages! and in here i found the inspiration and the creative energy to tackle all sorts of diverse projects of which we are about to see all about.

Mama Bird (age 24)

my masterpiece.

by far the best comic i ever did. a kid with a bird for a mom. hilarious, touching, heartbreaking. it was a concept that i had come up with when i was 21. back then it was supposed to be exclusively a humorous comic strip but then i found a dramatic angle for the story and that was when everything clicked into place. that was when i realized this was a comic i had to do. and i did it. it took me five months but it was well worth it. still insanely proud of this one

Soft boys (age 25)

a weird experimental little story where i decided to sit down and deconstruct one of the most popular superpowers. super elasticity. more akin to me just mashing my toys against each other than me trying to tell a serious story. i am actually really happy with some of the art here and some of the sequences presented. particularly the final one where a brick joke twenty pages in the making finally pays off.

Hexen Snatch (age 25)

a semi spinoff to my novel FIP industries, we focus on a side character that managed to survive after the events of the novel and how they’ll manage to survive further beyond that. insanely soaked by the magical world of pact by widbow i wanted desperatly to share my own take on magic, every page is accompanied by a little text where i expand upon the lore and the way magic is supposed to work on this world. i really like the prose on those snippets and the ideas they work almost more that the comic itself with which i was not happy at all when i was working on it. i didnt like the character design, i didnt like how the art in general was coming out, i didnt like the pacing of the story or how superficially we were getting to expore this world in the comic proper. i had to take a very long hiatus just to accumulate the will to finish the comic and once i did i feel it really petered off without much of a satisfying payoff.

on some level i blame the exhaustion and frustration that i came out of this comic with for the fact that i ended up quitting disregarding reality soon afterwards.

Maxplosive (age 26)

another project that has followed me across multiple mediums. came up with an idea for a videogame back in 2015. saved it on the back pocket for a while, used it as a story within a story on my novel fan.tastic, practisced a couple of animations with the characters and eventually decided that, if my skills at videogame making were not enough, i had at least more than poven myself as a comic artist so maybe that was the definitive medium in which this idea would have to exist.

the original idea was to tell the story in two parts, the first half would introduce the character and the videogame as if the comic was a playthrough of the game. all fun and childlike and innocent. then the second half was meant to explore the life of the main character as an adult, how being “a videogame protagonist” had ruined her body, her mental health and her life. i tried all sorts of weird stuff with the format here, using reciclable assets, static camera angles and generally presenting the whole thing as if it was a videogame.

sadly the project got too big for my breaches, i was fucking exhausted back then, swamped with a bunch of other projects, my job, other responsabilities, unsatisfied with the story and with no idea where to take it. eventually i got tired, decided to skip a day, then the day became a week and then the week became a month and by then i had to face the facts, i was just no longer able to continue the comic. and so i quit not only maxplosive but disregarding reality all together.

i still did the occasional comic here and then but it wouldnt be until the very end of 20-fucking-20 that i was finally inspired to tackle a new project, my newest one, my last one....

Lapsarian (age 27)

an interesting experiment, i decided to do the whole comic in one sit and then post it chapter by chapter on a weekly basis. a surprising result of this was that i managed to do in one month the same amoung of pages that would have taken me 5 months back when i started disregarding reality, is good to see that after al this time i still got it.

took me a while to get the hang of it again and find my own style once more but once i armed up it was smooth sailing for 40 pages all the way to the end. but what is this comic even about?

its... weird, with full disclosure and no shame, it is mostly a fetish story about big lizard creatures commiting vore. the milkman had already shown me that i could do those types of stories and no lighting would come from the heavens to strike me down so i said, why not as a comic? i like to think that beyond the fetish content it is still a decent story in its own right, an interesting feedback that i got from this is that people are suprised how earnest it is, one saying something like “this is the best pitch for a fetish that i was never interested in”

Conclussion:

looking back on this im surprised, turns out i was a lot more prolific and working a lot more regularly than i expected, in here are documented ten years of creative output that never seems to wane. it was fun to do the roundabout trip and see how my style, my technice and generally my work ethic evolved through the years. another nice thing to see is the multiple formats, the multiple tools and mediums i experimented with, i find myself constantly trying new things, new methods, new angles, new interesting ideas for how to make a comic (without even getting into what to make a comic about).

something i always knew about myself was that drawing is a fundamental part of who i am, it is something that just cant be taken away from me and that will always be a part of my life one way or the other, is good to see it so plainly, in black and white, on this list. here goes for what i might be able to do in the future

#art #writing #fip living life

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skvaderarts · 4 years

Text

Epilogue:

You can check out the Masterlist Here for more links to places to read!

Epilogue:

Note: All notes will be at the end of this chapter besides this note because that’s just how I feel today. Thank you all for tolerating my eccentricities and for reading this story. The end notes will be very important though, so please read them. You guys are the best!

-~-

The next morning around 7 am…

The storm’s intensity had seemingly faded during the night. Though rain still fell in an unending torrent, the barbaric winds that had once rattled the windows of the streets of Fortuna had subsided and the lightning had ceiced. While thunder was still an occasional occurrence, it was much less disruptive and nowhere near as powerful as it had once been. The roads remained flooded for the time being, but people could once again be seen taking to the streets to perform basic tasks such as shopping and maintenance. All in all, things were starting to look up slightly, the metaphorical and literal dark cloud that had been lowered over the region finally letting up a little.

V was awakened by the unfamiliar sensation of sunlight making contact with his body. When they had returned home the night before, he had been utterly exhausted and remembering to close the curtains had been very low on his list of priorities. A low rumbling purr pulled at the edges of his consciousness, inviting him to fully regain his senses. The young summoner turned his head away from the sunlight slightly, fully aware that Shadow was taking a snooze on the floor beside him.

He sat up and stretched his arms over his head, cursing himself silently as a dull throb crawled through his lower abdomen. He hadn’t been awake enough at that moment in time to remember his injuries from the night before. V winced slightly and clambered to his feet, keying into the sound of several voices coming from the other side of the door. Things had been relatively quiet a moment ago. What had changed that so suddenly? V carefully tiptoed over Shadow, not wanting to awaken his feline companion. She and Griffon both deserved their rest. They had done admirably the night before. He glanced down at arms, noting that Griffon had chosen to stay in his tattoo form for now. That was probably a plus for V, considering his beloved bird’s mouthy nature.

Upon opening the door, he was greeted with the sight of none other than Magnolia. The middle aged woman was leaned against the doorway, engaged in a conversation with Kyrie that he had only caught the end of. The young brunette looked thrilled and worried to see her new companion all at once.

“It’s wonderful to see you, Magnolia but… shouldn’t you be…” Kyrie didn’t seem to know the polite way to ask her about her medical status. She had been horrified to find out that the kindly Alchemist she had just met had ended up in the emergency room an hour or so afterwards.

Magnolia patted her on the shoulder gently, clearly happy to see her, but also quite worn out. Much to her dismay, she wasn’t as young as she once was. “Oh, don’t trouble yourself, dear,” She said with a kind smile,” I won’t be here long. I’m off to the docks. If I’m going to have to languish away in a bed for a couple of days, it’s going to be in my own flat, yea?”

Kyrie nodded, seemingly still concerned but aware that there was nothing she could do about this. The young woman had come to the conclusion that Nero’s friends were all slightly insane and it was best to let them do as they pleased in most cases. Magnolia turned her attention to V, noticing for the first time that he was standing there. She gave him a mischievous smirk, clearly as glad to see that he was alright as he was to see her. He had no idea where to begin trying to thank her for her selfless actions the night before. In saving his life, she had nearly lost hers, and they didn’t even know one another.

“... I’d like to thank you for saving me last night… I-”

The alchemist held up her hand, gently shushing him with a waive of her finger and a shake of her head. “Hush now, Love. This isn’t my first fight. I didn’t go through the trouble of bringing you back from Purgatorio just to let a Faust send you right back,” She reached into her pocket, pulling a small piece of cardstock paper from within and handing it to him,” Once we all get settled in, give me a call. I’d like to see if I can help you. I hear you're a summoner. Perhaps I can show you a trick or two.”

V nodded, looking the small piece of paper over. He would consider her offer. After all, he was in her debt. She’d saved his life. It was a small favor to ask, and it could prove to be beneficial down the road. After a moment he nodded quietly, moreso to himself than to her but she got the message regardless.

Before they could finish their conversation, Vergil and Dante rounded the corner from the living room, seemingly embroiled in some other topic of conversation. Nero shadowed them, though he seemed to be uninvolved in whstervet they were talking about. Upon seeing Magnolia, Vergil craned his neck to the side, clearly inquiring in silence as to what the hell she was doing out of the hospital. “I see they were unable to keep you.”

Magnolia schoffed, folding her arms gently around her torso so as to not aggravate her wounds. “If I didn’t know better, Vergil Sparda, I’d say you were worried about me,” The smug smile on her face spoke volumes,” Is that why you're still in town?”

Vergil blanched, horrified by the statement. “Absolutely not. In fact, I was just leaving.”

“Yes, I’m sure,” She said with a small giggle,” Now that I’m here.”

The subtle yet totally flabbergasted look on Vergil’s face was enough to nearly send Dante into a laughing fit. It wasn’t every day that he found someone so adept to getting under his twin brother’s skin. The youngest Son of Sparda clapped his brother on the shoulder, gesturing towards her. “You’ve gotta tell me how you two met sometime. There has to be some history between you two.”

Magnolia smirked, waving goodbye to the group as she turned and carefully headed down the stairs. “You're quite right, Dante. Since we're all going in the same direction, we might as well travel together. I can regale you with tales from your brother’s youth on the way.”

No one present could tell if the face Vergil made at the prospect was anguish, anger, or pure unadulterated terror, but he followed her out of the door, more than likely eager to ask her to reconsider. Dante followed her as well, more than curious as to what dirt she had on his frigid twin. Nero joined V at his side, shaking his head as they all hurried out of the door.

“Yea, next time we run into each other, you’ve gotta fill me on on some of that, too,” Nero said, not even trying to hide his amusement at the concept of being able to relentlessly torment his father with all of his embarrassing secret,” I bet it’s pretty funny.”

Both Nero and V could practically feel their father screaming on the inside as the front door closed. V smirked, suppressing a snicker. Yes, it looked like he did need to pay her a visit. Anyone that good at driving their father insane was worth his time. He turned to Nero, feeling the need to say something but not entirely sure what. Nero seemed to share that sensation, contributing to the awkward silence that settled over them. Thankfully Kyrie, who had gone into the kitchen during all of this to give them space, seemed to feel their discomfort and called to them from the next room, informing them that breakfast would be ready in a few minutes. Nero thanked her and headed towards the stairs, seemingly planning to wake the children.

“... Wait…” V called after him, now more sure of what he wanted to say. A lot had happened between them in the last few days.”... Thank you… for everything…”

Nero stopped and gave him a surprised look before scratching the back of his neck, unsure of how to take the comment. On the rare occasion that V tried to open up to him, he was never sure what to say. Every genuine moment between them seemed to come without notice, but he didn’t really loathe that. In fact, it almost made him happy. Maybe.

“... You too, I guess,” Nero said quietly, glancing towards the stairs,”... I’m gonna go wake up the kids. See you at breakfast?”

V nodded in agreement. They shared a moment of silence (one that was significantly less uncomfortable than the last) and then Nero made good on his word, heading upstairs to go wake up the boys. V turned and went back into his room, opting to take a moment to reflect. Upon entering the room and closing the door, he decided that it would be best to change his clothes before heading to breakfast. Upon sitting down on the bed and pulling the comfortably loose shirt over his head, it occurred to him that what he had just done should have hurt considerably more than it had. He placed the shirt down on the bed and turned his attention to the bandage that covered the laceration he’d received from the Cutlass the night before, carefully peeling it back to check on the injury.

And to his utter disbelief, he was met with nothing more than a bloody bandage. There was no wound to speak of, only the slight soreness that it had left in its wake. V traced the spot where the wound had been, unsure of how to take this sudden revelation. He had never recovered from an injury that quickly in his entire life. What was going on? Had his recent resurrection awakened something within him? Was this some sort of biological fluke? Whatever it was, he was grateful for it for the time being. V wasn’t the type to look a gift horse in the mouth.

As he grabbed a spare shirt and laid it down on the bed, he decided to take a quick shower. So many things had happened to him in the last three days. So many things were still left unanswered. And as soon as he felt up to it, he was going to pay Magnolia a visit. Perhaps she and his father could help him locate the answers he so longed for. But all of that would have to come at a later date. For now, he was going to take a hot shower and relax. And then he was going to fight his young nephews for the waffles he could smell from the kitchen. They had lost already, they just didn’t know it yet.

-~-

I finally did it. I finished a fic. For once, my ADD didn’t get the better of me. I don’t think I quite believe it yet. Wow. And on my mother’s birthday, too! Thank you so dang much for reading this entire story. You're the reason I kept writing it. Part two is coming shortly! I just have to work out the plot. If you’d like to help me out with that, you can go to the link I’ve left below and answer a couple of quick questions. It will take less than five minutes, and it would be very helpful since I’ll be using the feedback to shape some of the events of the next book. But regardless, thank you again for taking the time out of your life for two months to humor me and my writing. I look forward to seeing you all again on Friday July 17th, 2020 for the start of the second book, Apocrypha. And again, you're all amazing. I couldn’t have done this without your support. If you haven’t already, check out my Tumblr (Skvader’s Epos) since I update there very often. Now time to buy a new chromebook and get to work on part two! But first, a little DMC5 and Animal Crossing.

If you’d like to help me out with the next book, go to this link. I’m not collecting any personal info or anything like that, I just want to pitch some nonsense ideas and get a feel for what you’d like to have answered in the next book. It will only take like five minutes, and it would be massively helpful. Thank you all again for your time. You're incredible.

Link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1dUCZ-SoJTw8NRxVz0-eM3vMcOu9bAGsVxGEgw8nDrYU/edit?usp=drivesdk

This fic is dedicated to:

BeansWithBones, Random Reader, Nothing Special, SkylarMorgan1899, Rarbox, HunterJamie, RubixaSeraph, Aureux, Likethecatiam, That_Random_Kid, He Who Wanders, Mallovarwen, Nephilim-Girl and everyone else on Ao3, FF.N, Tumblr, and Wattpad who read this fic all the way through to completion and left kudos. You're astounding! Sorry if I forgot to name anyone. I was going off of comments!

Part two “Apocrypha” starts on July 17th, 2020!

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dreamydorito · 5 years

Text

No-One Listens to Logan Sanders

Chapter 1/?

Read Chapter 2 Here

Word Count-1417

Summary-In which Logan Sanders is tired of not being heard and a mysterious letter could change his life forever

TW- Crying, Near Panic Attack, Minor Blood Mentions, Negative Emotions

AO3 link- {x}

Logan wrapped his arms around his knees tightly, leaning against the door to his room, his entire body shaking with the effort of not sobbing out loud and alerting the other sides of his current disposition. His eyes were bleary, and all his focus was dedicated to thinking of quite literally anything but what led him to this state but as with the white bear experiment his attempts were eventually fruitless, or in other words a complete and utter failure. Perhaps it was better just to wallow in this state for a little while, let the bad feelings float away, although from the strong, unrelenting gripping he felt around his throat no matter how much he loosened his tie and the pounding of his heart he found difficulty believing he could ever feel anything less than this.

It had happened again. They didn’t listen to him, much less care about what he said. He was always tossed away because this was a ‘matter of the heart’, but why didn’t they understand he was here to help? It is his role to help Thomas however he can, but they wouldn’t let him. Instead he was forced to see him get hurt again and again over things that were so easily avoidable if they just let him get a single sentence across. He may not always understand everyone else and why they do the things they insist upon, like letting Thomas fall in love only to get his heart broken or letting him go to those auditions for professional make believe just to get rejected. Unlike them however, Logan tried to understand the others, and respected that it was important for them. They never did that for him, never bothered to ask him why, resulting in only one Logical conclusion; the others didn’t care about Logan. It was nothing he didn’t already known, they demonstrated it often enough, on the countless occasions the other sides ignored him or his ideas for no reason other than that it was him speaking them. A perfectly good example was a few weeks before.

Virgil’s anxiety was worse than usual, and the problem was clear to Logan as he glanced down at the near empty coffee jug on the kitchen counter. As this was negatively affecting Thomas, Logan decided to talk to Virgil about it, who happened to be sprawled across the sofa scrolling through his phone, a coffee cup in his hand.

‘You’ve been drinking an alarming amount of coffee lately and I believe it has been negatively affecting you, have you considered cutting back your caffeine intake?’

Virgil stared at him coldly through his greasy unwashed hair ‘Have you considered minding your own business book germ?’ He took a big gulp from his mug while maintaining direct eye contact with Logan the entire time to emphasize his point. Logan backed off for the time being, deciding to bring it up on another occasion.

Not even ten minutes later Logan was in the kitchen smearing a piece of toast with Crofters when he heard Patton’s light footsteps entering the Living room. Even though they were all identical, Patton always seemed lighter on his feet. Logan believed it might have something to do with the permanent bounce he had in his steps.

‘Hey kiddo, I’m worried all this coffee is making you more anxious, what if you stopped for today?’

In a much softer tone than Virgil had had when Logan approached the topic, Virgil answered ‘I think you have a point Pat, I’ll do my best.’

Logan was absolutely flabbergasted. When he said the exact same thing, Virgil refused to hear him out. This had happened before but never within the span of ten minutes. The final straw however had happened only earlier that morning.

The sides were congregated in their usual meeting place to discuss an issue Thomas had been having. Due to his lack of maintaining any kind of planner or dairy (despite Logan’s pleads) he had promised to help his friend Joan on the same day as his dentist’s appointment. It was too late to cancel his dentist’s appointment and with no other available times for at least a month, it was vital Thomas went before his dull ache turned into something much more dire, however he swore to Joan that he would be at a book signing by their favourite author at the same time due to Joan being unable to make it. Very quickly the conversation descended into chaos as the Sides screamed at each other about how terrible missing either event would be without offering any suggestions over than ‘Time travel’ at which Logan scoffed quite audibly.

‘Oh well Mircosoft Nerd, how do you propose we solve this?’ Roman sneered, sounding offended his idea got shut down so quickly.

‘I actually happen to have a solution to the issue, which is that-‘ He got cut off by Patton who failed to notice Logan had even spoken.

‘Don’t worry kiddos, I’m sure one of us can figure it out’

Clearing his throat to make sure he was heard, Logan tried again ‘I actually have an answer’ He paused to make sure he had everyone’s attention then continued ‘We could enlist one of our friends, Talyn for example, who we already know will be attending, and ask them to get Joan’s book signed’

‘Won’t Talyn hate us for that though?’ Came the inevitable response from Anxiety. The prince followed suit.

‘Virgil has a point; it would be very unheroic of us to dump our task on Talyn who just wants to go see an author carefree’ Patton nodded in agreement to the prince’s statements.

Logan tried to reiterate ‘Don’t you see, this would work because-‘

He got cut off yet again, this time by Virgil. ‘What if we get someone close to Joan like Talyn to go, I’m sure I remember hearing they were going too.’

Patton grinned at this ‘That’s a brilliant idea Virgil, it’ll even give them something to talk about later’

Did they not even hear him when he suggested the exact same thing a second ago. To make matters worse Roman then turned his head to the Logical side ‘See Logan? It wasn’t that hard. Maybe next time instead of taken down my idea you actually contribute something next time. Unless your big brain can’t handle it.’

What? He didn’t contribute anything? Did they really care so little about him they forgot his words as soon as they were spoken unless they could be used back against Logan to spite him?

He sank down to his room as soon as he could leaving him where he was now, crying into his tie. Surprised at how long it took him to realise how little they cared, he chuckled slightly about it, feelings the salty tears that rolled all the way down his face against his tongue. All the signs had been there, stacking up over the years. What was the point of being there if he couldn’t help, if he was always excluded or an afterthought? They were only friendly to him as means of appeasement, just enough to stop him from irritating them even more than he already did. The manuscript from Roman, them playing along when he wanted to be Sherlock, it was enough to keep him satisfied and stop him from questioning their ‘friendship’. The few times their compliments seemed genuine, for example Thomas calling him ‘A cool guy’, the others forgot the benefits of listening to him instantaneously.

If they didn’t have to, would they even keep him around? Shouldn’t he be the figurative bigger man and just duck out? The second he thought those words he could hear a QUACK in his mind, the fond memories of Patton’s puns that once caused him joy now making him all the more miserable. Would Patton be disappointed in him if he disappeared? Would he be glad he no longer needed to deal with him? What was the point of staying if they never listened to him? Would they even notice he was gone? The ball in the pit of his stomach grew bigger as dread filled Logan. His breathing became rushed and he had to bite his tongue as the urge to cry out became stronger. The iron taste of blood filled his mouth. He guided himself through breathing exercises as best he could, rocking back and forth in attempts of warding off a panic attack.

It was twenty minutes before Logan could look up, his breathing steady again, he saw a note that was not there before, laying on the floor in front of him. It was a thick black cardstock, the front of it embossed in a depiction of two snakes wrapped around each other. Wary, he picked it up, reading the defined cursive writing on the flip side.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi guys, this sure was a depressing Chapter, I swear it’ll get interesting soon though,,,,stay tuned ;) Any and all Likes, Reblogs and Comments appreciated

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decandantfics · 5 years

Text

When You Need Me - Part 6

I’ll Be There

The McPartlin residence was a flurry of activity Wednesday morning, takeaway menus being found and set out on the kitchen table, family room being spruced up, and the stashes of Dec's favorite tea and snacks being checked. Ant was nervous but eager to see his friend after so long apart – for them, if they weren't on separate holidays, over 2 weeks without seeing each other was ages – and he was determined to set him at ease and help him to open up about what was troubling him. Ant knew now that he'd messed up by not being there for Dec over the past few weeks, and he knew Dec wanted him to put himself first, but at the same time, Dec needed him. That much had been made crystal clear by Christine – and Ali had confirmed it upon close examination by Anne-Marie. So Ant had made it his goal to get to the bottom of Dec's bizarre behavior and clear the air between them. Ant had made a vow to always be there for his friend, and he felt he had failed at that with everything that had happened in the past few months. He was going to make it right.

Dec had agreed to arrive at around 9:30am, in time for a late-ish breakfast to start the day off right. It was now almost 9:45 and Dec hadn't arrived yet. Typical Declan, really. If he'd been on time, Ant would have been more worried. As it was, he knew Dec would probably drive in any minute now, with or without a good excuse for his tardiness. Ant was currently in the kitchen, cooking up Dec's favorite breakfast – poached eggs with crispy bacon – and brewing a pot of his special tea. He knew he'd probably get scolded for going to all this trouble – Dec was expecting just some cereal and yoghurt – but he didn't care. He was going to spoil his friend today, whether he liked it or not.

Ant had been getting a lot of texts from Dec over the past few days, ever since the tabloids revealed his new relationship, just checking up on him, making sure he was okay. And yes, Ant had been struggling a bit, but he just wanted to move on. He didn't want to dwell on the past anymore. Lisa hadn't taken it well, and was reacting very publicly via social media. He was trying to avoid it all as much as possible. He didn't like the fact that Lisa was hurting, but at the same time, they had separated months ago. She had just as much right to move on as he did; it's just that he'd moved on faster. And he knew it wasn't going down well with some members of the public, but it was his life at the end of the day, and Anne-Marie made him very happy. Dec was being very supportive – as ever – even though he still just seemed a bit off somehow.

Ahh, there was the doorbell....And of course Dec was barging right in, using his own key to Ant's house rather than waiting for Ant to come to the door. Chuckling to himself as he heard Dec entering the foyer, Ant checked the time. 9:50am. By Dec's standards, that was pretty good – Ant was impressed! Turning the stove plate down to low to keep Dec's eggs warm, Ant walked through to the family room, meeting Dec halfway. Pulling his friend into a gentle hug, Ant said a cheery "Morning!" before pressing a swift kiss to the top of Dec's head which was currently tucked under his chin. Dec's grip on Ant was tight, as if he was afraid to let go lest he lost him forever. But Ant just dismissed his clinginess as being a result of their long time apart recently.

Speaking softly, Ant finally disentangled himself from Dec's arms, holding him at arm's length, "I cooked ya your favorites, Dec. Come on." Ant gave Dec a gentle shove in the direction of the kitchen, keeping his hand in place on his friend's shoulder as they walked into the kitchen. Gesturing for Dec to take a seat at the kitchen island, Ant hustled over to the stove, filling Dec's plate up with (mostly) healthy goodness and pouring his tea. Placing the feast in front of him, Ant grinned at his flabbergasted friend.

"Ant, you really shouldn't have!" Dec began in a small voice, "Why're you doing all this for me?"

"Why, mate? Because you're me best pal! Does there have to be another reason?" Ant had been expecting a scolding, not this peculiar reaction. It almost seemed like Dec didn't think he was worthy of Ant's care.

Dec just stared at Ant for a moment, studying him, before imperceptibly shaking his head as if at himself. Deciding to ignore his friend's strange behavior for the moment, not wanting to ruin his appetite with what he suspected would be a tough conversation, Ant patted his friend's shoulder while making his way to the stove to fill his own plate with food. He pulled up a stool next to his friend and tucked into his breakfast, nudging Dec's elbow in an attempt to prompt him to do the same. Ant was ravenous, not typically eating breakfast this late in the morning unless he'd had a lie in after a show day, and Dec was never one to have trouble putting away food. But now he was sort of toying with his food, pushing his eggs around on his plate. He looked guilty, oddly enough.

"Go on, lad, eat up!" Ant commanded jokily, pausing in his rapid demolition of his food to give Dec a quick side hug, squeezing him against his side for a moment in reassurance. That seemed to shake Dec out of whatever he'd lost himself in, and he started eating, although still not with the usual Declan gusto.

"So how's Ali, then?" Ant tried to start a conversation to break the unusually uncomfortable silence that had settled between them. Normally, Ant could almost always tell what Dec was thinking, but other than that strange guilt he'd picked up on earlier, Dec was unreadable at the moment. It was quite unsettling.

"She's not great, if I'm honest. Just taking it easy, trying to rest as much as possible. She's getting better, though, the docs said. Just gotta manage it until the baby's due." Dec raised his gaze from his plate, and Ant could finally get a good look at him. There were deep lines of exhaustion etched into his face, puffy bags under his eyes, and his neck muscles were so taut they were clearly defined. Really, his whole body screamed of stress and extreme tiredness. Dec was slightly slumped on the island bar stool, his chin resting heavily on his left hand while he reached for his mug of tea with the other. Taking a long gulp, his eyes turned to Ant again, catching him studying him intently. "What?"

Smiling sadly at him, Ant sighed, "You really need to take better care of yourself, Deccy. You look done in."

"I can't, though, can I!" Dec exclaimed, before his voice faded again, "I'm working out, trying to eat healthy and all, but...." Voice trailing off abruptly, Dec seemed to stop himself before he could reveal something he clearly didn't want Ant to know. Ant suspected it was a comment about work, maybe something along the lines of "It's hard work doing everything all by yourself." He was on more comfortable ground now, Dec was readable again. It was reassuring to know he wasn't so out of tune with his best friend that he'd lost their somewhat telepathic link.

Dec had now finished his breakfast, having eaten everything on his plate – Ant had no idea what an important milestone that was – and was pensively nursing his cuppa, both hands wrapped around the mug as if soaking in the warmth it offered.

"Come on, love, let's go somewhere more cozy," Ant suggested, noting the tiny smile that quirked Dec's lips at his use of that fond endearment. Clearing away their dirty dishes and placing them in the sink for later, Ant gestured for Dec to go ahead of him to the family room. Dec seemed dizzy when he got up, swaying slightly and desperately clutching at the island counter for a moment, before catching himself and managing to slowly make his way into the next room. That brief moment of unsteadiness was greatly worrying to Ant – he had no clue Dec hadn't slept in over 36 hours at this point – and he was further surprised when Dec chose to sit by himself in a plush armchair rather than settling down next to Ant in the loveseat like he normally would. Tucking his legs underneath him, Dec effectively curled up into a ball, still tightly grasping his mug of tea like a lifeline. Freeing a hand to tug at something caught in the fabric of the chair, an odd look crossed his face as he pulled out a long strand of Anne-Marie's hair.

"How's she taking it? Is she okay? It's not been...you know...." Dec hesitantly stuttered out, clearly unwilling to directly reference the media feeding frenzy that was taking place right now. He sounded genuinely concerned, though. He'd known Anne-Marie just as long as Ant had, and although he didn't really know her all that well, he knew she was a kind-hearted soul who didn't deserve the s***storm of paparazzi and tabloid lies her life had become. And because she had become such an important part of Ant's life, she now fell into the small group of people over which Dec felt fiercely protective...Despite his previously close friendship with Lisa which had now broken down beyond repair. And his jealousy over her taking his place in Ant's life.

Ant knew all this – except for the bit about Dec being jealous of his girlfriend – and he appreciated it greatly. He'd been rather nervous when he'd first broached the subject of having started a new relationship to Dec, but despite his initial surprise, Dec had been happy for him. He'd said he'd seen it coming a mile off, that Anne-Marie was a lovely – and very lucky – lady, and finished off by laughingly stating that Ant was a randy devil. And that was that.

So now, despite the odd feeling Ant had that something was definitely off with Dec, he felt deeply grateful for Dec's concern. "She's angry more than anything," he began, rage seeping into his own voice as he continued, "The stuff that's being said is just so unfair on her. I don't care what they say about me, it's her I wish they'd leave alone. She says there's been paps outside her house every day this week." Ant now sounded defeated, shoulders slumping as his girlfriend's angrily tearful voice came to mind again, telling him how she'd been ambushed outside her own home that very morning.

"It'll get better, Ant," Dec's voice was now gentle, comforting. "This is going to take a while to blow over, but people will get bored of it eventually. Neither of you have done anything wrong – it's your lives, and if you make each other happy, that's all that matters." He gave Ant an encouraging smile, eyes burning with concern for his friend. "Are you okay, Ant? Please be honest." Dec's voice was choked with worry. He desperately needed to know that this whole mess wasn't damaging his friend's recovering psyche. Even if Anne-Marie had taken his place as the most important person in Ant's life, he still loved Ant deeply and wanted – no, needed – his friend to confirm that the media storm wasn't putting a spanner in the works of his recovery. Ant had come so far already in just three months; Dec couldn't bear the thought of him losing ground again.

It definitely stung a bit that Dec had felt the need to ask Ant to be honest. Ant knew he had pushed Dec to – and far beyond – his limit with his repeated lies and avoidances of tough questions over the past couple of years. But he had been trying to make it right, to be entirely truthful with Dec. He was turning over a new leaf, and one of the new rules he was living by was to always be honest. "Yeah, I'm okay. Could be better, but I'm just basically trying to ignore it all, you know? It hurts, what Lisa's doing, but I don't blame her for being angry. I just wish she weren't making it all so public. It's very personal."

It was pretty obvious Ant was smarting from the overwhelming outrage at his having moved on so soon after the breakdown of his marriage, but Dec thought it seemed he was coping fairly well. Probably because Anne-Marie was his "rock." Unlike himself, who was clearly "just a friend."

Ant was studying Dec intently. He looked a bit like a petulant child at the moment – clearly lost in thought, but his lips were pursed in a pout...and was that resigned jealousy in his eyes? So it was true? Or was it? Surely Dec should know Anne-Marie hadn't replaced him? How could he possibly even think that?!

"Declan." Ant patted the seat next to him, demanding with a firm gesture of his head that Dec join him. When Dec stubbornly refused to move, Ant got up with a huff and bodily pulled a stunned Dec from his comfortable perch in Ant's armchair, dragging him over to the loveseat and plonking him down next to him.

"What the hell was that?!" Dec squeaked, his voice high-pitched with indignation.

"You're going to tell me what's going on inside that silly head of yours, Dec. You know no one can ever take your place in my heart, right??" Ant spoke quietly, calmly, knowing that he could easily put Dec on the defensive if he took the wrong tone with him. He knew he'd hit it straight on the money when Dec's eyes widened for a split second before his tough façade quickly started to crumble.

Dec didn't have it in him to fight. He was exhausted, worn down. He knew he'd been caught out, there was no use denying it. But he couldn't quite get the words out to answer, his voice stuck in his throat. "I...I..." He looked helplessly at Ant, eyes filling with tears as all his insecurities came rushing to the fore, the tabloids' crowing words like burning daggers in his heart.

Wordlessly, Ant scooted over and took Dec in his arms, holding him tight and rocking them from side to side. "I love you, Dec, you're me best friend. I know I've not been around lately – it was tough knowing you're doing BGT and I was feeling guilty about leaving you in the lurch like that. But I was selfish to ignore you the past couple of weeks," Ant's voice was loving, tender, guilt-ridden, his strong arms holding Dec gently, as if he was a fragile bird. "Anne-Marie hasn't replaced you, if that's what you're thinking; she never will. It's no different than me and Lisa. Anne respects our relationship – she knows how much you mean to me, and she's not about to interfere with that. All I care about is your happiness, pet, nothing's changed."

Safe inside Ant's arms, Dec wanted to cry – his throat was raw and his eyes were glistening with tears – but he couldn't. He was so emotionally exhausted he couldn't squeeze a single tear out. He just curled up with his head on Ant's chest, listening to his reassuring heartbeat.

"You don't always have to be strong, Declan," Ant whispered, pressing a kiss to Dec's head and cuddling him like a teddy bear. "You don't have to pretend in front of me, it's okay to let it all out if that's what you need. I'm not judging."

Even with Ant's tender encouragements, Dec just couldn't cry, even though he desperately wanted – and needed – to. "So...nothing's changed? We're still us?" Dec sounded slightly disbelieving. He was starting to really worry Ant now, he knew it, but he just couldn't help himself. He'd not been deaf and blind to all the whispers, both in the industry and amid members of the press and public, that he and Ant were no longer on good terms, that they'd gone their separate ways.

So when Ant had spent more and more of his time with Anne-Marie, even cutting down on the time he and Dec spent together because he "had plans" with his girlfriend, the rumors started taking hold in Dec's mind. Perhaps Ant hated him for going solo, maybe he no longer needed him because Anne-Marie was better to him, understood him better. And that's when the jealousy started – he freely admitted he'd never been good at sharing Ant, but now with how much he was missing him on a daily basis, he'd gotten even worse at it.

"Yes, Declan, we're still us," Ant dropped another kiss into Dec's fluffy hair. "Now stop being silly and answer me this: are you up for a Netflix marathon?"

Dec grinned despite the massive lump in his throat and tears standing in his eyes. "Are you asking me to Netflix and chill with you?"

"Woah, steady on, Declan!" Ant laughed, "We'll just see where things lead us, all right?" He winked cheekily at his friend, glad to have been able to bring a smile to his pinched face.

It faded quickly, though, Dec suddenly remembering something that had been bothering him ever since his conversation with Georgia four days ago. "Ant?"

"Yeah?" Ant was still holding him close, pressing him to his chest, and now tilted his head downwards to catch sight of Dec's face.

"Georgia said something the other day...Something about you getting angry about something the tabloids were going to print," his voice was reverberating with trepidation, and Ant was now tense – 'Dammit, Georgia, can't you ever keep a secret?!' Ant cursed silently, at the same time wondering how Dec was going to take this. He couldn't lie to him, he wasn't going there again. There'd been too many of those in recent history. Dec's insecure voice broke through Ant's thoughts again, "I got the feeling it was something about me. She said I should talk to you about it, that I'd be upset...?"

'Seriously, Georgia?! Full marks for originality in keeping secrets class' – Ant was furious, he couldn't believe Georgia had managed to bungle this so badly. How on earth had she made it this far as a talent manager when she couldn't even stop herself from mentioning something one of her clients – friends – had specifically asked her not to?!

Knowing Dec was still waiting for a response, peering up at him worriedly through his short eyelashes, Ant pushed down his anger. Then, "Wow, it must be bad," came an amused, although still clearly agitated voice, from his chest, "The vein's popped up in the middle of your forehead!"

That effectively broke Ant from his spell, and he snorted as Dec giggled nervously. "I told Georgia not to say anything about this to you," Ant began, deciding the whole truth would be better than a partial one, "And yeah, I told her that 'cause I didn't want you upset...." He trailed off again, unwilling to voice what the tabloids had been about to publish.

"Soooo??" Dec drew out the word, apparently trying for humor in an attempt to put Ant – and himself – more at ease.

This was horrific. He couldn't believe he'd been put in this situation. He couldn't give full voice to this, it was too horrid for that. With resentful, whispered words, Ant finally gave in. "The Sun's s*** sources claimed you'd deserted me when I needed you most, that we were no longer close," Ant was getting louder and angrier with each further word that left his mouth, "They were going to say I'd chosen Anne-Marie over you, Dec! That I hated you!"

'Goodness me, it's like they hired my insecurities as a source!' was Dec's idle inward observation, as he tried to process the fact that basically everything he'd been thinking had been that close to being printed in all the tabloids. He wouldn't have survived that, he knew that right now. But still there was that teeny tiny bit of doubt in his mind. What if Ant was pretending, like his brain had been telling him for weeks now?

He didn't actually mean to say it; it slipped out quite unconsciously, perhaps his subconscious mind working to provide him with a solid answer once and for all...."But isn't it true?"

Stunned silence.

Dec's mind was shouting "S***!" at the rate of once every half second. He couldn't believe he'd just said that out loud. If Ant hadn't fully hated him before, he surely would now. Why the hell did he agree to this?! If he'd said no to today's rendezvous, all would be fine. Their friendship wouldn't have been officially broken, he could have kept pretending all was well, even though he'd still have to watch Ant slowly replace him from every part of his life with Anne-Marie. At least it wouldn't have been over.

Sitting next to him, Ant was basically paralyzed. Dec's trembling words, spoken with utter conviction, had confounded him. Had he really been that terrible a friend to Declan over the past months? Had he ignored him so frequently, taken him for granted on such a regular basis that his friend believed he hated him? Forcing his sluggish mind to think back over the past couple of months, Ant started to see a pattern. Dec being there for him, Dec answering his phone at all hours of the night whenever it all got too much for Ant, Dec texting him, sending him little encouragements even when he didn't reply....The list went on and on. And what had he done for Dec? Very, very little.

Whenever they met up, they talked about Ant's recovery, his new life with Anne-Marie and her kids, his plans for moving, renovating the new house, etc., etc. Basically the only thing they talked about regarding Dec on a regular basis was the baby he and Ali were expecting. True, he would ask Dec how he was doing, but Dec always just sort of shrugged it off and said he was "fine." Not once did he complain – about going solo, doing everything himself....of being without his best friend. Not once. Yet Ant had seen the exhaustion, the defeated, lonely look in Dec's eyes. And he'd not done a thing, driven into silence by fear of having revealed to him what his actions had caused. Instead, he'd gushed about Anne-Marie and how amazing and supportive she was while Dec just looked happy for him and told him how pleased he was for the two of them, that he was glad Ant had found such a strong, supportive woman. Was it any wonder he believed he'd been replaced?!

Guilt overwhelmed Ant, leaving him speechless. He knew he had to say something, but he couldn't.

Bizarrely, Dec was still in Ant's arms, which had now gone rigid and were quite uncomfortable in their tight hold. Neither man could look at the other, both completely frozen by their emotions. Silent tears were running down Dec's cheeks, while Ant's countenance was stricken with grief at the pain his actions – or lack thereof – had caused. The only sound in the room was the steady ticking of the clock on the wall, counting out the seconds, minutes of a 29-year friendship being smothered.

Dec's pain was real. Very real. Every further second of silence was like someone viciously stabbing him with a million knives. Each second was a confirmation of everything his cruel insecurities had been preaching at him for weeks. But still, still, there was the teensiest bit of hope that maybe, maybe Ant would say it wasn't true. His continued silence was damning, though, Dec's mind running wild, his insecurities screaming from the rooftops, 'We were right, we were right!' And Dec couldn't take much more of this, but he certainly was not going to be the one to break the hush that had fallen over the room. Ant had to break the silence – whether confirming it was all true or rubbishing it. Otherwise, what would be the point of having started this conversation in the first place?

"I could never hate you."

Five little words. Spoken so softly it almost seemed they were in Dec's imagination.

"I'm so sorry, Dec. I never realized."

Okay, definitely not his imagination. His heart leaping, Dec raised his tear-stained face to gaze at Ant.

Feeling movement on his chest, Ant's mind stirred. His mam's words came to mind again: "Anthony David McPartlin, you. will. be. sorry. if you don't do something soon to save your friendship. He's at the end of his tether." He couldn't lose his best friend.

Jumping into action, Ant shifted Dec in his arms, basically lifting the smaller man into his lap and turning him to face him. His heart clenched as he took in the man before him. And he could see recognition in Dec's eyes as he began to speak.

"Dec, I'm so, so sorry, mate. I was afraid of facing up to everything I've put you through, I didn't think I could live with the guilt of what I've done to you. I haven't been there for you. I've taken you for granted, forgotten to show you how much you mean to me. I wouldn't have gotten through without your support. I can't live without you, pet. Please believe me."

Dec stared into his eyes throughout his impassioned plea, watching every emotion passing through his irises as if transfixed. Ant was telling the truth.

Launching himself at Ant, Dec buried his head in his friend's neck as he wept. With Joy? Relief? Pent-up stress and emotions? It was impossible to tell exactly. But as soon as Dec started to cry, Ant knew he'd believed him. That he'd saved their friendship from destruction. That not all was lost. That Dec forgave him. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he thanked the heavens – and his mam – for having pushed him to have this conversation. He couldn't bear the thought of his Declan thinking he hated him, that he found his undying support worthless. That he could ever replace him with someone else.

The house was still. The only sounds that of the clock and the shuddering breaths of two friends reunited. They cried in each other's arms for a good few minutes before they were both spent, no more tears left.

Dec pulled away first, face red and blotchy, eyes swollen from the torrential flood of tears that had burst forth. He took in Ant's sad face.

"I love you."

That was really all that was needed. It's a strange oddity of life how it is sometimes the smallest things that mean the most. In this case, those three tiny words said more than anything else Dec could have uttered. He could have come up with the most eloquent, gushing speech, but it never could have adequately relayed the message those three words offered up to Ant.

One last tear dropped from his eye at Dec's words, and Dec, in a moment of soppy sentimentality, kissed it from his cheek. They were far more intimate and affectionate in private than the public ever saw, especially when they were as emotional as they were now. That single kiss broke the spell, and they were Ant and Dec again, two best friends who'd been on the most amazing journey through life together. The indomitable twosome who had never stopped loving each other, even when they had lost each other due to the savagery of life.

"So are we gonna watch something or what?" Dec was beyond exhausted after all of that – not to mention his long bout of insomnia – but his voice now had a ring to it that hadn't been heard in months. There was a spark back in his eyes. A burning love back in his heart, shoving out the brutal soundbites his subconscious had repeated at him, beating back the vulnerability that had eaten away at his very heart and soul. Ant still needed him – he hadn't been replaced.

Eventually deciding on a series to binge watch, both men settled down, Dec curled up next to Ant, who had his arm draped over Dec's shoulders. They watched the first few minutes in comfortable silence, finding the opening scenes of the series to be quite spell-binding. They'd chosen a whodunit mystery thriller, and Dec was already starting to try to guess who the murderer was.

Ant relaxed into the soft cushions, tugging Dec closer to him with a small smile on his face. He loved it when Dec got like this, his childlike enthusiasm overruling his 40-odd years of life and taking Ant back to the earliest days of their relationship when they would watch telly together whilst stuffing themselves silly with crisps and pop. Ah, so many wonderful memories. Ant could feel himself starting to get misty-eyed as the years whizzed past his mind's eye – everything they'd done together, all they'd accomplished. But through it all, the only thing that really mattered was the person sat right next to him. Who had stopped wittering on about the case and was now staring at Ant worriedly. Oops.

Wiping his eyes, Ant explained, "Just sitting here with you, it took me back through the years, Deccy. Remember how we'd have sleepovers on Friday nights and then sit around the next morning, watching Saturday morning telly in our pajamas? Those were the days."

Dec could feel the lump re-forming in his own throat as the past swept him off his feet. "Yeah," was his simple reply, snuggling closer to Ant and tilting his head upwards to place a little kiss on the edge of Ant's chin. Ant chuckled, "Remember the time you did that on Takeaway? I quite liked it then, still like it now," he teased, grinning at his friend whose cheeks were now slightly rosy. "We're missing the show," Dec grumbled good-naturedly, sheepishly smiling as Ant cuddled him closer as way of apologizing for making him blush.

The rest of the morning flew by with the reunited friends amiably bickering over who the killer was, not unlike an old married couple. Early afternoon came and went before they reached the end of the 3-part series – neither one had guessed the murderer in the end – and both boys were rather hungry. It had now gone past 2:00pm, and Ant was starving.

Stretching his arms out above his head with a big yawn, Ant looked down at Dec, still scrunched up next to him. Ant frowned. Dec was surreptitiously pressing a fist to his upper abdomen, a slightly pained expression on his face. "Dec?" Ant began carefully, apparently startling Dec who hastily snatched his hand away from his stomach, "You all right? Something hurting?" Dec refused to meet his eyes, instead finding a loose thread on his partially open button down shirt intensely interesting, worrying at it nervously with his restless fingers.

Knowing Dec wasn't going to give anything away for free, Ant's mind started whirring. Dec had always suffered from a hyperacidic stomach over the years, mainly resulting in heartburn and indigestion, and he was never far away from a box of Rennies. In fact, he'd once suffered the indignity of having to admit to his stomach issues in an interview during their SM:TV Live days, when a packet of Rennies was discovered in his bag. He'd moaned about that particular invasion of his privacy for days, despite the fact he could have pulled the antacid tablets out of his bag beforehand. But Ant had never seen Dec react this way to heartburn or indigestion before, and he'd seen – and heard about – the symptoms enough over the past 29 years to know the signs as soon as Dec had a problem. Ant even carried a package of Rennies in his bag and had a stash in his medicine cabinet, just in case Dec ran out. No, this was something different, and Ant was concerned.

"Just need to eat," Dec finally mumbled, still avoiding Ant's gaze. Standing up hurriedly and attempting to make a break for the kitchen to escape Ant's questions, Dec was stopped short by a hand grabbing his wrist, yanking him straight back down onto the loveseat.

"Tell me," Ant growled, reaching out a hand to gently turn Dec's head to face him. He was determined to get an answer, and he knew Dec could never lie while looking him straight in the eyes. He was an honest man, was Dec. Gaze defiant, Dec muttered something unintelligible, trying to wiggle out of Ant's grasp. Ant was having none of it, though. "You can't eat until you tell me what's going on," he insisted, tightening his grip on Dec as he continued to wriggle away uncomfortably. Pouting at him, Dec fired back, "Not fair!" sounding like a little kid who wasn't getting his way.

"Declan!" Ant raised his voice slightly, eyes boring holes into Dec's skull. Finally giving in, Dec mumbled – just loud enough to be heard – "Have an ulcer." Right. That was new. Raising an eyebrow in a silent request for more information, Ant released his grip on Dec's wrist, knowing he wouldn't try to escape now the secret was out. "I've had it for a while, apparently, just never really had obvious symptoms," Dec grudgingly explained. Gaze fixed on the floor, his words now came out in a rush, perhaps hoping Ant wouldn't be able to understand him, "Guess-the-stress-made-it-worse." Ant placed a sympathetic hand on Dec's knee, squeezing gently before standing and offering his friend a helping hand.

"Come on, you, let's get something into that stomach of yours," Ant murmured, fingers curling around his friend's shoulder as he guided him into the kitchen and pushed him down onto a chair at the kitchen table. "What'll it be, then, darling? Cold cuts good?" Ant queried, peering into his fridge. Hearing a muffled laugh behind him, Ant turned to see Dec with a little grin on his face. "A sandwich sounds lovely, dear," Dec replied, eyes sparkling with amusement at how much they sounded like a married couple. Having built their sandwiches – competing to see who could do it quicker (Ant won; Dec pouted) – the men grabbed a bag of cheese-and-onion crisps, as well as some Minstrels, to share and decided to move back into the family room to start another series which had piqued their interest.

Scarfing down their food in comfortable silence, a rapidly emptying crisps bag between them – Dec finding he actually had an appetite that wasn't prompted by stress for once – Ant and Dec became engrossed in a documentary series. Truthfully, it was more Ant's scene than Dec's, dealing a lot with historic events, but Dec didn't care. He'd needed a day like today for longer than he cared to remember – just hanging out with Ant, doing all the things they used to do before everything fell apart. He felt really silly now for thinking Ant had replaced him with Anne-Marie, but he knew Ant understood why he'd thought that way. Placing his crumby plate on the coffee table in front of them and wiping his hands on a napkin, Dec moved the now-empty crisps bag out of the way and leaned into Ant again, resting his head against his shoulder with a contented sigh.

"Happy, Deccy?" Ant teased, glancing down at his friend who'd made himself comfortable, basically resting his entire upper body against Ant. His eyes were drooping slightly, the tension in his features easing slowly as he relaxed, stress and worry slipping away from him as he began to doze off. Guilt ate away at Ant's soul again as he took in his little friend, noting all of the lines on his face that didn't used to be there, and feeling the overtight muscles of Dec's neck and shoulders as he freed his arm from underneath Dec's torso and ran a palm soothingly over his upper back. "I'm sorry, Dec," he whispered sorrowfully, tears coming to his eyes as shame at how he'd wronged his friend overwhelmed him. A salty tear landed on Dec's restful features, rolling down his cheek. He seemed totally out now, bless him. Even asleep, however, the strain of the past few months was still visible. Normally, Dec looked impossibly young when he slept – Ant would jokingly call him his "little cherub" in reference to his youthful features – but now he looked older, weary, the pressures of life having left an indelible mark on him.

Another tear fell from above, landing on one of Dec's eyelids. Hand coming up to rub at his eye in a childlike gesture, Dec stirred slightly, eyes fluttering open for a moment before closing again. Only to open again, squinting tiredly at Ant. Ant was so lost in his own misery he didn't notice Dec was awake until he felt a warm palm cupping his cheek and wiping his tears away. A tiny growl sounded from the area of his chest, "Stop it, Ant, I don't blame you! You'd do the same for me if it was the other way 'round. No more guilt, please." Ant wasn't quite sure how Dec had read his mind, but he had, and his words hit home with blinding clarity. Dec straightened up, enveloping his silently weeping friend in a secure hug, whispering quiet reassurances in his ear. Ant's tears eventually slowed, and Dec pulled away, tenderly kissing Ant's temple before resuming his former position, drowsily resting against Ant's shoulder. "Seriously, Anth, you've been my rock for 29 years – it's about time I had the chance to repay you."

Still too choked up to speak, Ant just wrapped his arms around his loyal friend in silent thanks. Dec's head began to get heavier once again, slowly slipping down from Ant's shoulder to his chest, and from there down onto his lap as he gradually slumped over. Heart bursting with affection for the worn out man pinning him to the sofa, Ant ran a soothing hand through Dec's hair, gently massaging his scalp. He knew Dec inside out, and it hadn't escaped his notice that Dec was occasionally rubbing his temples throughout the day – a telltale sign of a headache. A sleepy, purr-like murmur drifted up to him from his lap, "Mmmm....'m sorry, Ant, I'm just...so...tired...."

"Just sleep, Declan, I'm not going anywhere," Ant reassured him, finally finding his voice. Turning the volume down on the television, Ant shifted slightly to get more comfortable, stretching his legs out on the coffee table and reclining back a bit more, quiet snores filling the room as his shattered friend finally found peace in the oblivion of sleep.

Roughly 4 hours later, signs of movement became visible on that luxurious loveseat in Ant's family room. Both Ant and Dec had been asleep for 3 hours, Ant following Dec into the land of dreams about an hour after Dec had drifted off. Now Ant was stirring, confused at first as to the identity of the heavy weight on his lap: Hurley was with Lisa this week....Ohhhh. Feeling around on his lap, unwilling to open his eyes quite yet, he felt a slightly stubbly chin under his hand, and everything came flooding back. That was Dec snuggled up to him. Glancing down, Ant's eyes shone with love to see the smaller man's head pillowed on his abdomen, hand lightly clutching Ant's shirt. He looked a bit younger than he had earlier now he'd gotten some proper rest – bags under his eyes slightly less puffy, and his features not quite so deeply bone-weary.

Grabbing his phone off the coffee table, Ant peered at the time. It was just after 7pm. Wow. Dec was meant to be home a couple of hours from now, yet he was still fast asleep. They hadn't even had dinner yet! Slowly extricating himself from underneath Dec, Ant quickly trotted up the stairs to the guest bedroom, closing the door behind him. After hitting speed dial for a very familiar number, Ant stood at the window, gazing out at the evening sky.

"Hello?" came a drowsy voice. Oops. It seemed all members of the Donnelly household were napping this evening.

"Al, hope I didn't wake you. Declan's been asleep for over 4 hours – completely spark out – and I really don't think he should be driving home in the dark tonight. Can you manage without him for the night? I promise to send him back in the morning!"

"Goodness, he's been asleep that long?! That's amazing, Ant! Did he eat anything for you?" Ali sounded beyond relieved to hear her husband was getting some much-needed rest, but slightly shocked. Had he been having that much trouble sleeping, Ant wondered?

"Yeah, full eggs and bacon breakfast, and a sandwich and crisps for lunch," Ant responded, voice still a bit gravelly from sleep.

"Oh, Ant, thank you so much, you've been amazing!" Ali was full-on gushing now, "You've no idea what it's been like trying to get him to take care of himself. The only thing he's done consistently is go to the gym, and that's more of a stress reliever than anything else....Of course I can manage, Ant. Just make sure he eats something...Erm..." Ali trailed off suddenly, clearly unsure as to whether she could safely mention Dec's gastric troubles or not.

"Yeah, I know, Ali, he told me. Right, well, if you need anything, call us. Our phones'll be on," Ant thought he could hear a voice downstairs, so figured he should end the call before Dec found him.

"Goodnight, Ant, and thank you."

"Night, pet!"

Ending the call, Ant bounded down the stairs to find Dec sitting up, staring blearily at his phone. At the sound of Ant's footsteps, he looked up. "I've got to get going soon, Ant, I didn't realize it was so late. I promised Al I'd be home by 9:00."

Grabbing the takeaway menus off the kitchen table and swooping back into the family room, Ant gleefully told him, "Nope, you're not going anywhere, Declan. I've talked to Ali all ready, and she agreed you should crash here tonight. You're too tired to be driving at night."

"But..." Dec began, ready to protest he couldn't leave Ali home alone all night.

"No buts about it, Declan. You'll be no good to Ali or the baby if you're laid up in hospital because you fell asleep driving home. We're going to order in a takeaway, and then you're going to get some more sleep." Ant left no room for discussion, his tone of voice quickly convincing Dec it would be fruitless to protest any further. At the same moment, he received a text from Ali ordering him to stay over at Ant's. Shaking his head in exasperation – but secretly rather relieved to not have to drive home – Dec gave in, taking the menus being proffered to him by his best friend.

"Don't think I'm up for a curry, but I could go for some Chinese. What do you fancy?" Dec yawned widely, leaning tiredly against Ant as they put together their food order.

A couple of hours later, a fully satiated Ant and Dec were settled comfortably in the family room yet again, this time on the large settee on the right side of the room. Dec's slight frame was fully stretched out lengthwise next to Ant, using his friend's abdomen as a pillow once again; Ant was seated in the settee's built-in recliner, and had kicked back to relax after finishing their meal. Neither man had the energy to move, fatigue rendering them both into boneless lumps. Dec especially was out of it again, rapidly losing his battle with consciousness, while Ant watched him through heavy-lidded eyes. Realizing neither of them would be moving to a proper bed that night, Ant tugged his warm, fuzzy Newcastle United throw blanket off the back of the couch, draping it lovingly over Dec. Dec always ran colder than he did, so was bound to get chilly during the night.

"Ant?" Dec murmured sleepily, burrowing gratefully into the blanket and nestling his head deeper into the folds of Ant's shirt, "Thank you for today. I needed this..."

"You don't need to thank me, Dec. When you need me, I'll always be there for you. I promise, no more shutting you out," Ant was merely whispering, but his voice was strong with conviction.

"I know, Ant. And I'll always look out for you, too, you're never in this life alone."

Although he was slightly choked up, Ant managed a tender, "Love ya, Deccy Doolittle. Now get some sleep, you're so worn out you're making me tired."

A little chuckle escaped Dec: "You'll be just as tired soon, dear – you'll be back before you know it."

Touched by Dec's utter confidence in him, Ant reached out a hand and grasped Dec's smaller one in his own, squeezing gently.

And so it was, that, having remade the vows that had first bound them together 25 years ago, Ant and Dec drifted off together, wrapped up in their cocoon of unconditional love, dreaming of the not-so-distant days when all would be well again. And in their sleep they smiled. When you need me, I'll be there.

#ant and dec #ant mcpartlin #declan donnelly #fiction #decandantfics

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naruto-scenarios-plus-akatsuki · 6 years

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Hi! Sorry i’m not sure if your ask box is open, but if it is could i please get a yamato confession P3 its getting really good!! Thank You

Sorry that this took so long. I wasn’t sure what I should do next for this scenario. If any one wants a continuation of this piece, please let me know when the ask box is open and if you have any ideas. Thank you for the request.

Part I

Part II

Reader confessing to Yamato: Part III

It had been another week since Yamato’s last encounter with you. He didn’t try to mend the situation again and let the incident go. What you had said and did when you were drunk was a mistake, he assumed. He didn’t want to cause conflict and he wanted to save himself the humiliation, since it was obvious you didn’t want to talk about it.

For the most part, Yamato didn’t think about it anymore. He was back to the daily grind of his life. Currently eating at a lesser known restaurant in Konoha that served decent food and wasn’t very far from his home.

It was a small and very accessible eatery, which he much preferred. He was lost in his thoughts until a guest came and sat on the stool beside him.

“Hey Yamato. You here alone?” Aoba jested as he slapped his fellow shinobi on the back in greeting.

Yamato was briefly surprised before uttering his reply. “Uh yea. How are you Aoba? Are you waiting on someone?”

Yamato peeked around the establishment and saw that Aoba’s attention was completely drawn to him. It wasn’t uncommon for the two to run into each other. Especially with their line of work. However, Yamato was never particularly close to Aoba and found it odd for him to be making small talk. He was rather a reserved guy. Yamato only rarely saw him smile or loose unless he was with you.

“Pretty much. Y/N supposed to meet me here. I’ve been good. I wasn’t expecting to see you here.” Aoba replied conversationally.

“Same,” Yamato agreed, his mood dipping at the mention of your name. He knew how close the friendship Aoba had with you.

“I had heard you and Y/N got pretty wasted two weeks ago,” Aoba continued casually.

Yamato avoided the shinobi’s gaze. He stared emptily at the chef behind the stand as he was chopping veggies. Yamato could only assume you had told Aoba of the encounter. How else would the ninja have known? Then again it was you who wanted to pretend that night had never occurred, so why on Earth would you tell Aoba?

“Mhm,” Yamato vaguely responded. He took a sip of his tea, watching Aoba from his peripheral vision.

“I hardly ever see Y/N get wasted unless their nervous. Was there anything special going on?”

Yamato narrowed his eyes discreetly. “Not that I know of.”

Aoba hummed in response as a pause fell between them. Yamato couldn’t help but feel like he was being interrogated and he wondered what Aoba was after if so. Why would he bring up the incident now?

Aoba finally turned away with a long sigh and leaned back in his chair. “Alright, I’ll drop it. I can see it’s a sore subject for both of you. Can’t imagine why you’re upset though. It’s not like you were the one that got rejected.”

“Wa- What?!” Yamato asked, flabbergasted. His eyes were wide in bewilderment as he looked at the man.

Aoba raised a brow at his comrade’s reaction but before he could respond, your voice cut in.

“Aoba!” You called for your friend’s attention with a wide smile on your face when you had entered the restaurant. You spotted him fairly easily but as soon as your eyes took in the occupant on the stool next to him, your smile faltered.

“Hi Yamato,” you greeted with a tight lip smile. You still felt hurt every time you looked upon your crush’s face. You wish you could black out his rejection from your memory but you knew it wasn’t going to be that easy.

Yamato’s face was still perplexed at the conversation him and Aoba were having moments before. He barely managed to shut his trap and turn his attention to you. He saw your fake smile and returned a similar one to you.

“Hello,” Yamato muttered as he looked at you earnestly. His mind was swimming with confusion. Did you think he rejected you?

“Hey Y/N,” Aoba greeted easily, noticing the tension between you two.

“What were you two talking about?” You quipped, suspiciously.

Aoba shrugged with ease. “Just catching up, small talk.”

Yamato nodded in agreement when your eyes went to him before back to your friend. You weren’t convinced. You knew Aoba knew about your feelings for the wood-style user and you had recently told him about the drunken rejection you had received from Yamato.

Aoba was, of course, surprised when you had told him about the incident. Mostly because you didn’t tell Aoba about it until after he asked how your patrolling duty went with Yamato. Being a good friend, Aoba had let Yamato switch shifts with him in order for you two to have some time together.

Little did he know you were avoiding Yamato after the drunk incident.

You told Aoba not to get involved and that you just wanted to forget that night. Aoba dropped the subject seeing how defensive you were. However, you knew that it might not stop him from prying further. If Aoba was talking to Yamato about that night, you figured you should just let it slide.

You weren’t going to dig your own grave right now. You didn’t want those negative thoughts in your head. You didn’t want to agonize why Yamato did not like you as much as you liked him. You didn’t want to do that to yourself. Instead, you were just going to have to ignore him. It was the only way for you to get over him.

You took your seat on Aoba’s other side. You were here for Aoba. Aoba only and you were hungry. Plus, Aoba was treating. How could you say no to free food?

“Alright, have you been here long?” You questioned, trying to sound normal.

“Nope, not at all,” Aoba responded, catching the odd ring in your voice.

“Good. What dish is good here?”

As Aoba answered your question and you both continued talking excluding Yamato from the conversation. It was as if he didn’t exist in your world and that hurt him more than you were aware of.

Yamato quickly finished his meal. He knew he was unwelcomed but at the same time, he savored the sound of your voice. Remembering that night at the bar when you sounded jittery and whimsical. Now you voice sound strained with a fake pleasantry tone. You weren’t completely happy. He saw the half smile you gave to Aoba as the words that Aoba said rang in his ears.

With mixed feelings and swirling thoughts, Yamato got up and paid for his meal. He needed to contemplate on what had just happened. He knew he couldn’t bring up the subject right now. Not in this public space. Not with your friend Aoba around. Not when you were pretending he didn’t exist.

No, he was going to clear his head first and wait until he could talk to you.

“I’m heading out. Bye,” Yamato mentioned to Aoba’s turned back, catching your eyes.

“Alright, see you around.” Aoba commented with a thin smile.

“Farewell,” you wished with a tight lip smile again.

Yamato nodded, before leaving. He was definitely going to have to find a way to clear this mess up.

Link to Part IV

#yamato #tenzo #yamato naruto #yamato imagine #yamato scenario #tenzo imagine #tenzo scenario #aoba

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whimsical-ness · 6 years

Text

Promise | Baekhyun

◇ Link to Masterlist

◇ Short story as part of this Secret Santa exchange created by @kpop-stole-my-lyfe

◇ Genre: Fluff!!

◇ Summary: A seemingly depressing Christmas Eve takes an unexpected turn when the local bartender takes it upon himself to cheer you up.

◇ Word Count: 2k

◇ A/N: Yay for holiday stories! @treasure-exo , I hope you like this Susie, I tried my best! :)

You sighed loudly as you set the glass down with a soft clink, your chin falling into your palm as you frowned, glaring at the happy couple kissing two feet away from you.

Did they really have to do that? In public? In front of people who’d just had their hearts broken?

The sound of someone clearing their throat made you look away, right up into the eyes of the bartender who was grinning at you knowingly.

You rolled your eyes, taking another gulp of your drink. “What? If they’re going at it like that for everyone to see, is it really so wrong to stare?”

The bartender raised his eyebrows. “I didn’t say anything,” he said defensively. “I was just going to ask if you’re alright. It’s odd to see someone drinking by themselves at a bar on Christmas Eve.”

You snorted. “Sue me. It’s a crime, is it? Sorry for not being obnoxiously happy and excited. I’m not really in the festive mood.”

The bartender let out a breath. “Whoa there. Wanna tell me what happened?”

You glanced at your drink, contemplating whether to tell this stranger why exactly you were in a bad mood. Why did he even care?

“Why do you care?” you blurted automatically. Now it was his turn to roll his eyes. “You’re kind of ruining the mood here for everyone,” he said pointedly. “Maybe if you tell me what’s wrong, we can liven things up for you.”

You were almost offended. But you decided to answer.

“My boyfriend broke up with me,” you said monotonously, and lifted the glass to your lips to swallow down the already rising hurt. “Ah,” he replied, his eyes softening. “And you’re going to let him ruin Christmas for you?”

You hesitated. For the past two years of being in a relationship, Christmas had always been happy. He had made it happy. As pathetic as it sounded, you didn’t feel as if you were going to be able to feel that away without him there to celebrate it with you.

It was as if the bartender read your thoughts, because he went on. “Understandable. You have pleasant memories of him associated with Christmas, don’t you?”

You bit your lip, looking away from him.

“What if you could make new memories?” he said, his lips lifting. “New memories for a new year. I reckon it would help you feel much better.”

You raised your eyebrows in question.

“I’ll tell you what. My shift ends in 20 minutes. I’m making it my responsibility to make your Christmas unforgettable.”

You gaped at him. “Excuse me?”

The bartender flushed. “Okay, I definitely did not mean it like that. I meant, we can hang out or something. Enjoy all the celebrations around town. You just...look like you need it.”

“And why would I say yes?” you countered, crossing your arms. “I don’t even know you.”

He shrugged. “You don’t have to say yes. But you’d be missing out on a great evening with a cute guy like myself. Are you really willing to turn that down?”

You burst out in disbelieving laughter. But he wasn’t wrong. He was very cute. Twinkling brown eyes and a mop of fluffy dark blonde hair that grazed his forehead; his lips curved in a cheeky smile.

You didn’t really want to turn him down at all.

“Oh alright,” you said finally, feeling your heart warm a little for the first time as his face lit up in a smile.

“You won’t regret it,” he replied, winking at you. “I’m Baekhyun, by the way. And I promise by the end of the evening, you’re going to forget about your breakup. And that this is going to be your favourite Christmas yet.”

“Susie,” said Baekhyun brightly as you walked along the sidewalk, your boots scuffing against the rough surface. “That is a very pretty name.”

“Thanks,” you mumbled awkwardly. “Where are we going anyway?”

��Have you ever been to a karaoke place?” he piped, and you shook your head. “Then that’s where we’re going. Get ready to sing your heart out to some Christmas music.”

You bit your lip, increasingly unsure of what you’d gotten yourself into. But 10 minutes later, you were nearly falling over with laughter as Baekhyun belted out his best rendition of “All I Want For Christmas Is You”, while somehow getting half of the lyrics wrong.

“How do you not know the right words?” you asked breathlessly, clutching your stomach to stop yourself from laughing. Baekhyun grinned, and continued to sing loudly and obnoxiously.

You took a deep breath and started to sing yourself, hesitant at first. But Baekhyun’s enthusiasm rubbed off on you, and as his voice rang out over the music, you found yourself not caring anymore, singing loudly and passionately, almost trying to outdo him.

And when the screen lit up showing the perfect score, you turned to him and pulled him in for a hug, forgetting for an instant that he was almost a stranger. When you immediately froze up, Baekhyun only chuckled, and hugged you tighter, his arms warm around your body.

You pulled away quickly, embarrassed, certain that your cheeks were pink. “We make a good team,” said Baekhyun grinning, shrugging on his coat. “All that singing has made me hungry. Shall we?”

And so your next stop was at a pizza place, which you definitely didn’t have a problem with, though your new friend seemed to. “What’s wrong?” you asked him curiously, taking a big bite of your slice and letting the cheese met into your mouth. “I thought you were hungry.”

He pouted, but took a bite anyway. “Pizza on Christmas Eve just doesn’t seem right. I’m usually used to a whole dinner set out, with roast and potatoes and pudding and stuff.”

A sudden question popped into your head then. “Why aren’t you home?” you asked curiously. “Why are you here, with me, instead of being with your family?”

He shrugged. “Couldn’t afford the flight ticket home this year. I guess I should’ve saved up more.”

Your heart broke a little as he took another bite of his slice, because you could see the disappointment on his face. “That sucks,” you said softly.

Baekhyun shook his head, his smile returning. “Not anymore. Think about it this way, if I had ended up going, I would never have met you, right?”

The casual words made your cheeks flame up, and you looked away from him, suddenly shy. You wanted to reply that you were glad too, that fate had made it so he hadn’t ended up going. That you had met him. That he’d brightened up your mood more than he thought he had.

You nearly fought him, later, when he refused to split the bill. “It was my idea to take you out, and so I’m paying,” he said firmly, and even though you grabbed his hand to stop him, threatening to stuff the money into his trousers, he only laughed, his eyes twinkling suggestively.

“Really, there are other ways of saying you want to take my pants off,” he said, and before you could say another word, he was paying the bill and scooting out of the restaurant, leaving you slightly flabbergasted and following behind him.

“Baekhyun—” you started to whine, but he wasn’t listening, his head instead turned up to the sky, his lips parted in awe. “It’s snowing,” he said, his voice laced with curious joy. “I can’t believe it.”

You laughed, amazed, as snowflakes trickled down around you. It hadn’t snowed at all, that winter. And now, on Christmas Eve, the town was going to be covered in sparkling white snow.

“It’s a white Christmas,” breathed Baekhyun, echoing your thoughts. “Wow.”

“The snow isn’t going to distract me from what you just did back there,” you reminded him, crossing your arms over your chest. “I’m going to pay you back. It’s not fair. It’s not like it was a—“

“A date?” he interrupted, smiling. At your flustered expression, he laughed airily, pulling up the hood of his hoodie. “But what if I wanted it to be?”

You groaned, covering your face. “You don’t even know me.”

“I know enough to know that that boyfriend of yours was a fool to let you go,” he said softly, and you felt your heart skip unevenly. It was dangerous, you thought. It was dangerous to be feeling this way, so quickly, about this cheeky bartender.

If you let him, you were sure he was going to steal your heart.

And so you took a deep breath. “I think I should go,” you said, biting your lip. “Thank you, for everything. For tonight. I had such an amazing time—”

He shook his head. “The night’s not over yet, Susie. I haven’t kept my promise.”

You gazed at him, your lips parted in confusion.

“I promised you would forget about your breakup. And you haven’t, have you?”

You sighed in exasperation. “One evening isn’t going to make me just forget. It’s not that simple.” Baekhyun stuffed his hands into his hoodie. “Build a snowman with me,” he said suddenly, apparently completely disregarding your previous words.

You gaped at him. “What? No way.”

“I’ll drop you home right after. Build a snowman with me.”

You were at a loss for words. “Baekhyun, I—”

But then he was taking your hand and pulling you with him, across the road and into the children’s park, the grass now covered with a thin layer of snow.

“I don’t even have gloves,” you sputtered, staring at him as crouched down to scoop up a ball of snow with his bare hands. “Gloves are for losers,” he replied, and then and there you realized that anyone who fell for this guy would be whisked away on a crazy flurry of emotions, leaving them breathless and craving more.

It felt risky, but promising, It felt like something you wanted.

And so you let out a breath and crouched down next to him, gasping as the cold snow stung your palms, turning them a shade of red. “If I get frostbite...” you murmured, shivering a little. “I’m going to kill you.”

Baekhyun only laughed at this, and proceeded to pile up the snow into a heap, forming the bottom half of the snowman. “Find me some branches, will you?”

You shook your head, but did it anyway, poking Baekhyun in the side with one of the branches before sticking it into the snowman. “And now for his head!”

Ten minutes later, your hands felt as though they were going to fall off, but the snowman was complete, with small stones for his eyes and smile.

“That is...the ugliest snowman I have ever seen,” you said finally, and couldn’t help but start laughing as Baekhyun’s eyes widened in offense. But seeing you laugh, he began to grin, and soon enough, both of you were doubling over in laughter, your cheeks tinted pink from the cold.

“My fingers are freezing,” he whined, and before you could fathom what was happening, he was intertwining both of his hands with yours. You gasped at the contact, the chill from his palms spreading onto your equally cold ones. “There,” he said softly, gazing into your eyes. “They already feel warmer.”

Your lips parted as you looked at him, the snowflakes in his hair, his nose tinged cherry red by the cold wind. “Susie...I really want to kiss you right now,” he murmured. “But if you don’t want me to, I won’t.”

You swallowed, not taking your eyes off him. Four hours ago, you had been gloomy and hating life. Four hours ago, the boy in front of you had been a stranger. But he had managed to make you smile, make you laugh, when you’d thought you wouldn’t be able to for a long time. Not with your broken heart.

Maybe you weren’t thinking straight when you leaned into him, softly pressing your lips to his warm ones. Maybe the snow had frozen your brain, and that’s why rationality had left you.

But maybe, a part of you hoped that this cute bartender would be able put the pieces of your broken heart back together, slowly, but surely.

When you broke away, Baekhyun looked a little stunned. “Can I make you another promise?” he said a little breathlessly. “If I promise to somehow make you fall in love with me, would you believe it?”

You smiled.

You knew it was a promise he was going to keep.

A/N: Merry Christmas everyone!!❄️

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lesbiansteveharrington · 7 years

Text

OH, TO BE ALONE WITH YOU (PT. 1)

Pairing: Stenbrough with minor Reddie on the side

Word Count: 3,986

Prompt: Stan Uris moves to Derry, Maine following the death of his father and gets a job babysitting a little boy named Georgie who just so happens to have a very attractive older brother. (Modern High School AU)

Warnings: Mention of death, depression (not a major theme), anti-Semitism, struggles with faith

Link to part two: https://jamespottev.tumblr.com/post/166443144647/how-would-you-feel-if-i-told-you-i-love-you

__________

Sometimes, Stanley Uris didn’t know what was up and what was down. Sometimes, it felt like the world was moving but he was stuck in the same position, day after day. And it sucked. His mother thought that a new start would be good for them, that it would help them move on.

Stan wanted to scream. He wanted to call bullshit on her logic. It wasn’t that he didn’t mind moving. He wasn’t exactly popular back at his old high school in Bangor ( once upon a time, his father had asked him if it was because of them being Jewish – but it wasn’t an anti-Semitic thing, aside from the occasional, always unfunny, holocaust joke, it was more so the depression thing and the OCD thing and the gay thing that drove people away ) so it wasn’t like he was going to be all that missed. Even his Jewish friends didn’t seem like they were gonna miss him that much. And it bothered Stan how little he cared about it.

But after his dad died, everything just seemed so… pointless. His father, a man who had never smoked a day in his life, ended up dying of lung cancer. It made Stan furious. At the world. At God. At everything. After watching his father shrivel up into a shell of what he had once been, Stan’s already complicated relationship with religion had turned sour. It infuriated him that his father could be dying and still praising that almighty presence above. Stan wasn’t even sure if he believed anymore.

“Stanley,” his mother’s voice called. “Come on, you’re going to be late!”

Gulping, Stan gave himself a once over and straightened the collar of his shirt before grabbing his backpack. As he left his room and shut the door, he found himself cringing. So, he went back, turned the bedroom light on and then off before shutting his door. Stan repeated that three more times before he was satisfied. It made him feel sick, wrong.

“I think you should start going back to therapy,” his mother told him on the ride to school.

“Mom—”

“No arguments, Stanley,” she said, her voice sharp like the cracking of a whip. “I know you, I know my son. You’re not okay, sweetheart. All I want is for you to be happy. I don’t want to send you off to college in two years with you…”

She trailed off and sighed. Stan could tell that if she hadn’t been driving she would’ve pressed a small kiss to the top of his forehead and hugged him tightly. Stan licked his lips and closed his eyes. He hated how unhappy his mother was. He despised that part of it was caused by him.

“I’ll see you tonight, yeah?” Andrea Uris said, looking at her pale, skinny son.

“Yeah,” Stan agreed, nodding.

“We can talk about you getting that job. How’s that sound?”

Stan smiled at that. Since his freshman year of high school, he had been begging for a job. He liked the idea of working – the responsibility, the experience, the money that he could save up to buy all the books he’d ever want to read. Stan just really wanted a job. He wanted something to do with his life.

And he also needed to start saving up for college. His father had been a Rabbi and his mother was a kindergarten teacher, so it wasn’t like there was a lot of money in either of those professions. If he didn’t want to leave college with an obscene amount of debt, Stan would have to save money while working his ass off for good grade.

“Hi, I’m Stan Uris,” Stan said in a quiet voice to the lady sitting at the receptionist desk.

“Oh, the new boy!” the receptionist said in a too-loud, too-cheerful voice.

Stan winced a little and smiled.

“Here’s your schedule, and your student guide will be down any minute to take you around!”

The receptionist had an odd accent that Stan wasn’t very fond of, and when she snapped her gum he thought his head might explode.

A minute later, a very clean cut looking black boy with broad shoulders, short hair, and a wide smile walked into the office.

“Hey, you must be Stan,” he said, walking straight over to Stan and offering his hand to shake. “I’m Mike.”

“Hi,” Stan said, shaking Mike’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”

As it turned out, Stan and Mike had all the same classes which was why Mike was chosen to give Stan the school tour. Within five minutes, Stan had decided that he liked Mike a lot. Mike was soft spoken, intelligent, and kind. He might have looked like all the football players at Stan’s old school that gave him hell for being gay, but Mike was nothing like that.

So, maybe Derry wouldn’t be that bad.

At lunch, Mike led Stan past the table filled with boys wearing the same kind of jacket as Mike and towards a different table in the corner of the room. At that table sat a very pretty girl with freckles spattered across every bit of visible skin and short cropped red hair. Beside her was a broad boy with dark blonde hair and a shy smile. Another boy sat across from them, lanky and thinly muscled with thick glasses and rather gorgeous dark hair. His arm was slung around the shoulders of a shorter boy with neatly combed chocolate curls. It was a ragtag bunch, but as they greeted Mike with wide smiles Stan could tell that they all loved each other a lot.

“Hey guys,” Mike said, sitting down and gesturing at the empty chair for Stan. “This is Stan, he’s new. Stan, this is Bev, Ben, Eddie, and Richie— where’s Bill?”

“Out sick,” Richie, the boy with glasses, snorted, ducking his face into the crook of Eddie’s neck.

Richie’s body convulsed with laughter Stan didn’t really understand. He stayed silent and began unpacking his lunch.

“What did you do to him?” Mike sighed, looking towards Bev.

“Hey, he agreed to drink with us,” Bev said defensively.

“They’re ridiculous,” Mike murmured to Stan, drawing a small smile from the new boy. “Don’t hold them against me?”

“So, I found a job for you,” Andrea told Stan that night after setting out dinner.

“Yeah?” Stan asked.

He held his breath for a moment, unsure if he was willing to trust his mother’s judgement on this.

“Yes. A woman named Sharon at my work was saying how she needs a babysitter for her son Georgie on Thursdays and Fridays,” Andrea said, stabbing her fork into her salad.

“Babysitting?” Stan asked, trying his best to hide his annoyance. “Mom. I don’t want to babysit.”

“It’s fifteen dollars an hour, Stanley,” Andrea said. “Sharon said it would be for at least five hours each night, so that’s at least a hundred and fifty dollars every week.”

Stan quickly did the math. If he kept fifty dollars every week for himself ( though, he didn’t have friends or much of a social life so why would he really need fifty dollars a week to do things? Well, Mike and his friends had been welcoming enough… maybe he’d finally have some friends… ) he could put away a hundred bucks each week. If he kept that consistent for two years ( and who knew what this kid’s parents would need over school breaks and the summer ) Stan could have a significant amount of money saved when he needed to get to college.

Suddenly, babysitting didn’t seem like such a bad idea.

“So, when do I start?” Stan asked.

Andrea beamed at her son.

“I have her number written down. You can call her after dinner and ask.”

As it turned out, Sharon Denbrough needed Stan to start ASAP. And tomorrow was Friday, meaning that Stan would be babysitting ten-year-old Georgie from 5:00 to 11:00.

When Stan shuffled into school, head down, he went straight to his locker. The girl to his left and her friends shot him a weird look, though Stan wasn’t all that sure why. He wasn’t that weird looking.

“Stan!” Mike’s voice boomed cheerfully.

Stan looked up and smiled at the approaching boy. Mike was walking with Ben and a boy Stan didn’t meet yesterday. But, boy, did he wish he had. The stranger was tall ( probably a little over six-feet, which definitely didn’t make Stan a little weak in the knees — no siree! ) and had light brown hair combed and styled very neatly. And his eyes—they were the bluest blue Stan had ever seen.

“Hi Mike, Ben,” Stan said in his typical quiet fashion, quickly glancing at the other boy before shifting his eyes down to the textbook in his arms.

“Stan, this is Bill. He was sick yesterday,” Ben said. “Richie mentioned you and Bill was anxious to meet the new kid on the block.”

Both Bill and Mike snorted quietly as Ben’s mouth lifted into a small smirk. Stan didn’t get the joke.

“It’s nice to meet you, Stan,” Bill said.

His words were slow and deliberate, and Stan really liked that.

“You too, Bill,” Stan replied, hoping that he wasn’t blushing.

If he was, no one said anything.

At lunch time, Richie clapped Stan on the shoulder and loudly proclaimed that his algebra teacher was a homophobic piece of shit.

“Why is he homophobic, Rich?” Bev asked, smirking at the boy.

“He told me I would never accomplish anything in life and is making me serve detention on Monday! This is gay oppression!” Richie exclaimed, flabbergasted.

Stan chuckled quietly.

“So, Stan, do you want to see Kingsman with us tonight?”

Stan’s heart bloomed within his chest, filling him with a warmness he had never felt before. He sighed, silently cursing his need for a job.

“I can’t,” Stan said, scratching behind his ear. “I have to babysit tonight.”

The rest of the group shut up about the movies after that. Stan realized that they were doing it for him—so he wouldn’t feel bad about missing out. The thought made him smile.

As a matter of fact, he was still smiling about it as he walked to Georgie Denbrough’s house.

“You must be Stan,” a tall, handsome man said with a warm smile as he opened the door. “It’s nice to meet you, son. I’m Zack Denbrough, Georgie’s dad.”

“It’s nice to meet you as well, sir,” Stan said politely, shaking his hand.

“Georgie!” Zack yelled up the stairs. “Come down, please!”

Seconds later, a small boy was sprinting down the stairs with a manic smile on his face, laughing as a tall, slightly muscled, shirtless boy ( Georgie’s brother, Stan assumed ) chased after him. Stan froze when he saw that the boy was Bill from school.

“Georgie, g-give me my sh-shirt!” Bill yelled.

Georgie was laughing still, loudly. The laughter was echoing around the house. Georgie and Bill sprinted past Stan without sparing him a second glance. A moment later, there was a loud scream followed by laughter as Bill, while laughing, called Georgie a twerp.

“My sons are rather… hyperactive,” Zack told Stan with an apologetic glance. “Once Bill leaves, Georgie will calm down, though. The two rile each other up.”

Stan swallowed thickly and nodded. His throat felt very dry, and his hands were beginning to itch. Slowly and deliberately, he dragged his blunt nails up and down the material of jeans that covered the outside of his thighs.

“Georgie, come meet your babysitter,” Zack said, walking out of the entrance hall and into the kitchen. “And, Bill, for God’s sake, put on a shirt.”

After a second’s deliberation when Stan seriously considered booking it out of the Denbrough house, he made his way into the kitchen. He caught Bill’s eyes and gulped.

“Stan! Hey!” Bill exclaimed happily, pulling a black t-shirt over his head. “When you said you had to babysit, I didn’t realize you’d be babysitting Georgie. I thought you had a younger brother or sister.”

“No,” Stan said, shaking his head and trying to remember not to stare at Bill. “I’m an only child.”

“Ooh, I wish,” Bill chuckled, sticking his tongue out at Georgie who reciprocated the motion.

Stan laughed dryly.

It wasn’t long before Zack and Sharon left for their date night, letting Stan know that they left forty dollars on the counter for him to order food and that he was welcome to keep the change. Bill was still there when his parents left.

While Georgie was showering, Stan took his opportunity to talk to Bill.

“So, uh, why aren’t you babysitting your brother?” Stan asked.

‘Really, Stan?’ he thought to himself. ‘What a stupid fucking question.’

Bill’s face went a little pink and he began to rub the back of his neck.

“Yeah, I’m not really allowed to do that anymore,” Bill said, his words paired with an awkward laugh. “Last time I babysat Georgie, it was pouring r-ruh-rain and I let him go outside, and he ended up getting wicked sick. My p—parents were really angry with me.”

Stan hadn’t noticed Bill’s stutter earlier. He didn’t say anything about it, though. Instead, he merely smiled a little.

“Well, if I’m ever babysitting Georgie and it rains, I’ll make sure not to let him go out.”

Bill threw his head back and laughed loudly. As his laughter died down, he bumped his shoulder softly against Stan’s and bit down on his lip. Yet again, Stan was gulping because of Bill Denbrough.

“I should get going,” Bill said, a look of regret crossing over his face. He stood up and patted Stan on the shoulder, but his hand lingered for a moment. “I’ll catch you later, Stan. I’ll probably be home before my parents.”

Georgie was a cute kid, and very sweet. He made a lot of meme jokes, which he told Stan he had learned from Richie. One time this past summer, Georgie told Stan, he ran into Bill’s room and dabbed with two fidget spinners in his hands. When Bill found out that Richie had been the one to tell Georgie to do it, Bill didn’t speak to Richie for a day and blocked him on all forms of social media.

At 9:00, Stan had to put Georgie to bed. After that, he had two hours to spare before he got to leave. And considering he was in someone else’s home, he had no idea what to do. So, he just grabbed a book from his bag and sat down in their living room to read.

Bill came home at 9:30, and when he saw Stan curled up on his couch reading a book on birds ( of all things ), he couldn’t help but laugh a little.

“What?” Stan asked, a little defensively.

“Nothing,” Bill assured him, sitting down next to him on the couch. “It’s just— well, a book on birds?”

“I happen to like birds,” Stan said, eyes narrowed. “They’re interesting.”

“Yeah? How so?” Bill asked, genuinely curious.

And so, for the next hour and a half, Stan talked to Bill about all different kinds of birds and the best places in Maine to go bird watching. And Bill seemed really interested too, he was asking questions and just looked completely earnest. By the time Sharon and Zack came back home, Stan hadn’t even realized that it was 11:00.

“I noticed you didn’t drive here,” Bill said, sneaking up on Stan as he put his coat and shoes on. “D-do you want me to drive you h-h-home?”

Stan almost protested, but he was feeling selfish. He wanted to spend more time with Bill, even if it was only for a ten-minute car ride.

“Thanks, Bill,” Stan murmured once Bill pulled into his driveway. “I’ll see you Monday.”

“Wait,” Bill exclaimed, grabbing Stan’s wrist. “Give me your number.”

Bill wiggled his phone in front of Stan’s face, blue eyes wide. Stan thought his face was going to split in two from how big his smile was. Eagerly ( maybe a little too eagerly, but Stan didn’t know much about this kind of thing ), Stan punched his number into Bill’s phone. If he was a more confident kid, he might have put some kind of witty, suggestive emoji next to his contact name… but Stan wasn’t like that.

“So, who’s the boy?” Andrea asked with a coy smirk on her face, watching as her blushing son stumbled his way backwards into the house, waving goodbye to the boy who was sitting in his car.

“There— there’s no boy. What are you talking about?” Stan blustered.

Andrea rolled her eyes.

“Stan, I’m your mother. You’re supposed to tell me these things.”

Stan sighed and relented, rolling his eyes.

“His name’s Bill,” Stan said.

“Do you like him?”

“I met him this morning, Mom!”

“Okay. So, what?”

Stan groaned, rubbing his eyes.

“He’s Georgie’s older brother and offered to drive me home because I don’t have a car. That’s all.”

Andrea hummed suspiciously, but didn’t press Stan further.

“My brother thinks you’re hot.”

Georgie’s statement was so bluntly presented that Stan choked on the slice of pizza he was eating.

“I heard him talking with Bev and Mike about it the other day,” Georgie added, grinning at Stan.

“Oh,” Stan said in a high, uneven voice. “That’s nice.”

“Do you think he’s hot?”

Stan’s face was burning.

“Georgie—”

“What?” Georgie asked, putting on his best angel face.

“I’m not talking about your brother with you,” Stan snorted. “And you’re ten, which is just— no.”

“I’m gonna be eleven next month,” Georgie whined.

Stan wasn’t amused.

“Eat your pizza, Georgie.”

“Do you think he’s hot yet?”

“Georgie, you need to go to bed!” Stan exclaimed, trying his best not to laugh at Georgie’s persistence.

All night, he had been pestering Stan about his thoughts on Bill. Like, yeah, Stan thought Bill was hot. But he wasn’t about to tell Georgie that. If he said anything, Georgie would definitely repeat it back to Bill ( Stan wasn’t ignorant to Georgie’s hero-worship of his brother ) and then Bill would think Stan was weird. Though, Georgie did say that Bill thought he was hot.

“Did he really say— agh! Never mind! Go to bed!”

Stan seriously considered throwing himself in front of a bus then and there. Was he seriously just about to ask a ten-year old about that? UGH!

Georgie laughed.

Bill arrived home not long after that, grinning. Georgie shut his mouth about Stan finding Bill hot.

Three weeks after Georgie asked Stan if he thought Bill was hot, Stan had the weekend off. Bill’s parents were going away for a few nights for their anniversary and Georgie was going to stay with Sharon’s sister in the next town over. That meant Bill had the house to himself.

If Bill was a different kid, he would’ve been instantly sending out invites to a party. But Bill was Bill, and he wasn’t like that. Instead, he invited Stan over for a movie night.

Andrea drove Stan over to Bill’s house and quickly lectured Stan on practicing safe sex. Stan wanted to die.

“Mom! Holy, crap!” Stan exclaimed, his face beet red. “It’s not— we’re not— no! Anyways, the rest of our friends are gonna be there!”

The rest of their friends ( ‘The Losers Club’ they were often referred to by a senior named Henry Bowers and his gang of asshole friends, but Stan didn’t pay them much attention ) were, in fact, not there.

“I didn’t realize it would be just us,” Stan muttered, glancing around Bill’s dark house.

“Oh,” Bill said, rubbing his neck. “I didn’t— are you upset?”

“No,” Stan said, smiling. “I just thought— you know what? It’s not important.”

Bill smiled that breathtaking smile of his and Stan found himself wishing for a puff of Eddie’s inhaler.

“Richie was saying I should throw a party this weekend,” Bill snorted. “And Bev was saying we should utilize my empty house and my father’s never ending liquor supply and get drunk.”

Stan didn’t think that sounded too awful. Well, the getting drunk part at least… so long it was only their group of seven. He wouldn’t want other people around. Just the seven of them… ‘the lucky seven’ had Mike called them a couple weeks ago. The thought made Stan smile a bit.

“Would getting drunk be that bad?” Stan asked Bill, a smile on his face.

“Not if it was just the two of us,” Bill replied easily in his slow deliberate voice.

The voice that made Stan’s knees go weak and stomach tie in knots.

Not if it was just the two of us… Stan flushed a deep red.

“So, I ordered us pizza,” Bill said, gesturing to a box on the table. “Normally I go with pepperoni or barbeque chicken, but I know it’s not kosher for Jewish people to eat pig or meat and cheese — that’s the right word, right? Kosher?”

Stan had barely thought about his faith in months. It had seemed so insignificant, so unreal for him after his dad died. And when it came to eating kosher— well, that had been the way he lived his life for the past sixteen years so he never even really thought about it. But Bill had thought about it.

Stan suddenly felt the urge to kiss Bill, but he had enough will power to stop himself.

“Is regular cheese fine?”

Bill was being so casual, acting as if nothing was wrong. Well, not that anything was wrong… but he had just made a significant impact on Stan and was acting as if nothing had happened.

“Cheese is perfect,” Stan said softly.

Bill beamed and Stan felt like his heart was going to explode out of his chest.

Stan really wanted to kiss Bill. But he didn’t.

After they ate their pizza, Bill suggested they watch something. And by something, Stan knew that Bill meant Game of Thrones. Bill was a die-hard Thrones fan and nearly had an aneurism when he found out that Stan didn’t watch it. Last week, he finally convinced Stan to start watching it. Stan was already on season three.

Bill sat down next to Stan, but in an unnecessarily close way. Stan sat curled against the arm of the couch and Bill sat right down beside him. There was only a small inch or so of space between them. Stan said nothing because he didn’t want Bill to move away.

“You know, I feel bad for Theon,” Stan confessed.

Bill didn’t say anything.

“I mean, I understand why he did what he did. He just wanted his father’s approval. I don’t agree with his actions, but I understand the motive. You know? And, wow, he really does not deserve… that.”

“You’re cute.”

Stan’s eyes went wide, and so did Bill’s. From how red Bill’s face was, Stan could tell he most definitely did not mean to say that out loud.

“Thanks,” Stan found himself saying. “You too.”

And then he kissed Bill. Holy shit. He was kissing Bill. And Bill was kissing him back.

WOW! WOW! WOW!

Even for a first kiss, it was pretty awesome. Stan had no idea what he was doing with his mouth, but Bill seemed to have some experience so he took charge. His right hand went around the back of Stan’s neck, while the other propped himself up against the arm of the couch that Stan’s back was pressed against.

Stan was in paradise, his hands wrapped around Bill and digging into Bill’s soft hair.

When Bill pulled away, they were both panting, gasping for air. Bill’s eyes were peering into Stan’s, and both boys smiled before Stan pulled Bill’s face down, crushing his lips to Bill’s once more.

____________________

#maggie writes things #stenbrough #it fic #reddie #mike hanlon #benverly #ben hanscom #beverly marsh #bill denbrough #stan uris #richie tozier #eddie kaspbrak #henry bowers #the losers club #it #it 2017 #it the movie

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apluseffort · 6 years

Text

Just One Sip - Part 2: Indulgence

Welp Part 2 of the little Bloodborne\ffxv crossover is up! I really love this crossover AU concept.

AO3 Link

Gladiolus sighs in the embrace. So many years, so many questions. It was obvious they both had stories to tell and they now had plenty of time. He tugged Ignis just a bit closer, a grin growing as he felt the hands buried in his cloak reciprocate the action.

“You sure you’re fine?”

It wasn’t that Gladio didn’t appreciate the closeness. They had been close friends prior to Ignis leaving for Upper Cathedral Ward. This was different though, this was the relief of knowing the other was alive and well. The relief that despite the time apart, that they still regarded each other as someone special in their lives.

Ignis takes a deep breath and exhales slowly. It was almost as if he was ready to fall asleep in the older man’s shoulder. Gladio waits and keeps him close. Barely hearing Ignis’s muffled voice when he responds.

“I am, truly. It’s been a trying few years away,” Ignis stands back to look up at Gladio, though the screen of his hat prevented Gladio from seeing the other man’s facial reactions. His hands brushed the cloth from his back to his arms, as if her were tentative of letting go.

“I had not planned to find you or anyone so quickly. I’m afraid it may still be a bit of a shock to me.”

Gladio shrugs, “It’s fine. I just wanted to make sure you were good.”

Reluctantly, Gladio stepped away from Ignis. The room wasn’t too small; enough room for a washing basin and a small desk and chair. He makes for the chair, pulls it from its resting place to turn it towards his friend.

“Go on and take the bed,” Gladio says as he throws a leg over the seat of the chair, resting his arms upon the back of it.

“Gladio, you honestly can’t expect me to-“

Gladio cuts Ignis off with a frown, “Sit on a whore’s bed?”

“No, that’s not what I was going to say. Though I do have to admit I’m a little uncomfortable being here.”

“The beds are clean, Iggy. And out of most of Yharnam, this is probably one of the safer public avenues we’ve got right now. Luna’s been managing this place pretty well so far.”

“That’s the other thing, Lady Lunafreya,” Ignis said with emphasis on Luna’s standing. “I cannot believe she’s here. Does Ravus have any idea?”

“No and we hope it stays that way. Gentiana is here and so are a few Glaives. Safety through anonymity. No one knows who she is and honestly, the majority of the people who come here are glaives themselves. No one in their right minds will leave their homes unless their sure there’s a safe haven. You’ve got nothing to worry about.”

“This is so… dire. Has most of Yharnam proper really become that bad?”

Gladio snorts, looking away from Ignis’s face. He sighs, running a hand through his hair, the frustration noticeable in his voice when he replies, “Iggy, you have no idea.”

“Enlighten me.”

Gladio looks back. Ignis has no idea how much he missed him. These 10 long years without that second opinion, without the emotional and physical support, without the without the sardonic wit… Gladio missed him much more than the other will ever know.

“You know, not to get all proper on ya, but most people take off their hats when entering a building.”

Ignis’s reaction on his face went from concerned to merely flabbergasted. It room him a moment to gather his thoughts to respond.

“Really, Gladio. This is what we’re on now?”

“Can’t a guy say he misses seeing your lovely green eyes without getting all mushy on you?”

“You’re incorrigible.”

Gladio smiled brightly with a laugh, “Can’t say I mind it too much.”

Ignis shakes his head as he moves his hands to remove the headpiece. He’s careful to remove it slowly, in a way that so deliberate that it’s obvious he’s practiced this motion multiple times. As the mask is taken away, Gladio feels his heart leap into his throat.

Ignis had always been a vision, pale face nearly illuminated by his green eyes, but this time was different. Instead of the evergreen eyes he’d been expecting, they were an almost a milky green. The brightness now lifeless with scars running along his face to show for the damage.

“Iggy…” Gladio says with a whisper, unable to look away

He stands suddenly from the chair and rushes to the other man’s side. His hands hover about a foot away, unsure if he was welcome to touch his friend out of concern. Ignis, for all of his patience, sighs, “Calm down, Gladio. It happened quite a while ago. I’m used to it by now.”

“But how did you?” Gladio croaks out.

Ignis frowns, “you don’t have any idea what happens in the upper ward, do you?”

“What do you mean?”

“The Choir members aren’t completely privy to everything that’s happened in the past, but we have seen things. Worked on unfinished experiments… there are a lot of horrible things the upper echelons of the Church have done in both past and present. This,” Ignis covers his scarred left eye with the palm of his hand, “was the result of unfounded suspicions. Something I couldn’t help.”

“I’m sorry, Iggy.”

Gladio’s voice could barely withhold the sorrow and regret flowing through him. Ignis turns towards him, his unfocused eyes staring in his direction and with a soft smile spread across his face.

“There’s nothing to be sorry over. What’s done is done. What Kin blood I was given is now part of me. I use it to my advantage.”

Gladio stays silent, the blood in his body roiling in frustration and anger over his friends state. It’s not often those with Kin influence come through the the streets of Yharnam. And to see Ignis under their influence, he was at a loss of what to do.

“Do you mind if I touch you?”

Gladio is hesitant as he waits for Ignis to respond. He watches as the plain surprise that flashes on the other man’s face shifts back to a warmth he remembers from so long ago. Ignis raises both of his hands, motioning Gladio to come forward.

“Come, there’s no reason to hesitate with me.”

—-

“Iggy…”

Gladio’s initial touch with the tips of his weapon-worn fingers causes Ignis twitch with the shock of sudden touch. He doesn’t allow people to touch his face. He rarely does it himself nowadays, only for a quick wash before and after bed.

But Gladio’s touch is different.

His brain maps out the movement, feeling when every dip and groove is drawn over by thick digits. Gladio, oddly vocal, hems when he comes across the largest patch of scarring. He asks if it will hurt and Ignis replies with a murmur of “No.”

Gladio continues to trace the curves of Ignis’s cheekbones. The tough, thickness of the scarred skin causes the older man to flinch. He couldn’t believe how much this would have hurt Ignis. How alone he must have felt all those years in the upper ward. A sudden touch on the both of hands causes him to stop. Ignis taps the backs of his hands with his gloved fingers, drawing them both into his own to hold.

“It wasn’t as… well no, I can’t say it wasn’t as bad as you think. It was very painful. But I feel like this blood running through my veins will help me serve his majesty all the much more.”

“You shouldn’t have had to go through this on your own.”

“It’s not as if I volunteered for it, but I tried to make the best out of the cards I’ve been dealt. This kin blood allows me to see things. Allows me to feel things. I’m not a paleblood, but if there is something I can do while I’m like this then I will do it.”

It didn’t go unnoticed by Ignis that Gladio’s hands held his just a tad tighter. That the words coming from the other man’s mouth were all that more thick with emotion.

“And with you all supporting me from far away, Gladio, I could hardly ever feel as if I were alone.”

There was a gasp of “Iggy” as the older man suddenly let go as he nearly fell into him. The arms around his shoulders were such a comfort that Ignis merely just breathes the other man’s scent in deep and lets it all out with a sigh as he wraps his own arms around the Gladio’s chest. He can smell it on his friend, the thick scent of blood of beasts, not just from earlier, but there was something else underlying it. As if the blood was running through Gladio’s veins.

“Gladio, have you?”

“Hm? Have I what?”

“The family tradition, you’ve gone through with it?”

Ignis could feel his friend freeze in his arms for just a second. He knew his answer then, but he also waiting for Gladio to say it with his own words.

Gladio leans forward resting his forehead against Ignis’s. With a shaky breath, he begins his explanation.

“You remember my father right? How he had put off this ‘tradition’ of the Amicitias as long as possible when I was a teenager? Well, it was decided a little after you left for me to get through with it. It was a necessity to keep Noct safe.

“So, I - I guess Amicitias are pretty compatible? I can feel the draw every second. That bloodlust that calls to you. The hunt calls to me, Iggy, but I have to stay with Noct.”

Ignis pulls Gladio back in, the older man almost nuzzling his head. He nearly laughs when he thinks it over and says so when he hears a questioning whine coming from the back of Gladio’s throat.

“Look at us. Kin and beast. What an odd troop to protect the Lucians.”

“Beats the Church.”

Ignis hums in agreement.

“I may regret saying this, but you should join me here on this bed. The angle your back must be in while hugging me must be uncomfortable.”

Ignis feels Gladio shift away, the warmth of the other man’s body now leaving a chill behind. It take him seconds to feel the shift in the air, but Gladio is fast and pushes Ignis back onto the mattress. The growl in the back of the man’s throat is playful and Ignis can’t help but laugh. Arms wrap around his waist and Ignis allows himself to be pulled into the warmth of his friend.

“It’s really good to see you again, Iggy.”

“Mm, I wish I could say the same,” Ignis says as his smile fades to something warm and comforting.

“You could touch me?”

Those few words make Ignis’s brain short out of just a moment. The surprise must have been evident on his face because suddenly Gladio is falling over his words trying to rectify what he was saying.

“I-I mean you can touch my face if you wanted to see me.”

“Oh?” Ignis asks as his unseeing eyes close. He begins to remove the long black leather gloves covering his hands and forearms. He murmurs sweet and low, “Is that so?”

Ignis doesn’t wait for Gladio’s answer as he brings both of his hands to the face of his friend. When his finger tips first his skin, Gladio’s breath against his forehead stutters as if he were surprised by the touch. He wouldn’t be surprised if Gladio had also closed his eyes as he mapped his face.

Warm skin met his fingertips, with a light scratching of course hair. Gladio must have allowed his beard to grow out just a little, Ignis muses as fingers lightly run across his jawline. The scar was still there, on the man’s left cheek, a mark of a beast that had come too close to the young Prince so many years ago. He wore the scar with pride, much like Ignis had decided to wear his. His skin was slightly oily, but not by much, his nose just as defined as it had been before, but with the added notch of buckled bone, as if he had been punched in the face and not cared for as much as it should have been.

Gladio’s eyes fluttered under his fingertips. Long eyelashes tickle Ignis’s skin prior to hovering over small, developing crows feet. Age has been kind to him, Ignis thinks, before moving quickly to the eyebrows. They were thick, made of the same sort of hair as Gladio’s beard, but they were not completely out of control. Not like most Beastly men he’d seen in the past. He moves up and comes upon a new scar, one that ran across the man’s forehead Ignis pauses, his fingers playing along the raised piece of skin.

“What’s this?”

Gladio hums, “I got that not long after you left. Kind of had my own need to go out on a couple hunts before shit went down.”

“It feels terrible,” Ignis murmurs as he brushes his finger across the scar once more. He moves his hands through Gladio’s hair, taking in the messy state with a curl of his lips. Gladio was never one to overly care about his long hair, but the length seemed well managed enough that Ignis’s fingertips didn’t get caught in between the strands.

“Your hair has gotten long.”

“Too long?”

Ignis snorts in laughter, “No, I’m sure you look very dashing.”

“I do make a good picture of a hunter,” Gladio says with what Ignis could feel is a smile.

“Like the Hunter legends of old… but truth be told, I wouldn’t model yourself after them,” says Ignis. He wouldn’t go into details. Not now, with Gladio this close and his heart awash with warmth and happiness. “I have no doubt your effort will outshine them all.”

Gladio snorts in reply, leaning his forehead again to lightly touch Ignis’s own. The connection soothes him and he can feel Gladio relaxing as well, the creases in his face softening while Ignis goes over them with his fingers.

“You’ve gotten old,” Ignis says with a laugh.

His fingers were now running up Gladio’s jawline, tracing the skin over bone as short hairs prick his skin. Ignis could feel the age on his skin. Gladio wasn’t the young go-getter he remembered, but neither was he in this case. Didn’t hurt to tease the man when he could though.

Gladio growls in response as his arms move to wrap around Ignis’s waist.

“Says the guy who’s a year younger than me.”

“I wonder how much gray is showing now? Is it peppered throughout your hair or are you graying at the temples?”

“C’mon Iggy, that’s not fair. Your hair is almost too fair to see the graying.”

Ignis grins, his fingers massaging the man’s temples in a soothing gesture. It was surprising how easy it was to tease Gladio. He didn’t intend it to be in a harmful manner, but he could just imagine the pout the older man wore upon his face right now.

“Gladio, I’m certain when you go gray you’ll look quite dignified. Your father wore it well if I do recall.”

“Dad shaved his head, Iggy.”

“And so did you at one point,” Ignis said with certainty. “You looked quite good then.”

Gladio nuzzles Ignis’s forehead before moving back to lean down and rest his face in the crook of his neck. Ignis sighs, adjusting his hands to run them through Gladio’s hair, only to have them rest on the back of his head. He scratches the Hunter’s scalp in small, soothing circles. Ignis can’t help his grin when he feels Gladio’s lips form words against the skin of his neck.

“I’m not ready to chop it all off yet. What set dad off to do it was a two-year old me grabbing fistfulls of his hair.”

“It wouldn't look too bad either way. I do like running my fingers through your hair.”

Gladio’s teeth lightly nip at the skin of Ignis’s neck, causing his breath to hitch just slightly. He hadn’t dallied when he had been in the Upper Ward, keeping to himself, assisting his mentors and peers with what he could as he got used to his new disability. He was able to use it to his advantage; to keep an ear out for side conversations, to learn the arcane, to be able to seek out the Great Ones whenever possible. But here and now, with Gladio’s weight slightly nudging him over so he could have better access to his neck, this was something he missed. This intimacy with another person and Gladio was the perfect person to be intimate with.

“Mmm, Gladio,” Ignis’s low murmur seems to urge the Hunter on. Gladio’s teeth scrape lightly again Ignis’s pale skin, eliciting a shuddering sigh from him. This connection with one another, the feeling of being worshipped was unlike any other. Ignis appreciated it more than he could have imagined.

There was a growl, a reverberation coming from Gladio’s throat that made Ignis squirm. Yes, Ignis thinks, here is that inner beast that Gladio let in; the scourge that’s tainted the blood of Yharnam.

“I can sense it in you, Iggy. The paleblood.”

Ignis groans just a little as he lets the words engulf him. He decides to change their position, tugging the larger man up in order to cup his face and kiss him soundly. He struggled to stay in control as Gladio’s mouth met his own in such a raw kiss. His teeth clacked against Gladio’s, once, then twice, as they got used to each other. A rough chuckle from above him has Ignis grinning before lips are being drawn back to each other.

Ignis thinks this has been a long time coming as he allows Gladio to push him into the bed.

---

All Gladio could do at this moment was try to take in all of Ignis. He smells the salt of his skin, mixed with the unearthly blood flowing through his body. He hears the other man’s deep breathing and pounding heart. With his own gloves removed, he could feel the soft cloak dip around his fingers as he runs his own fingertips under the pure white robes of the choir clothes over the smooth skin of Ignis’s abdomen.

With his body now settled on top of Ignis’s, Gladio feels the other man’s thigh shift to move between his own. Just a small push of pressure and a jolt of pleasure rushes through him. Gladio lets a growl vibrate on his lips over Ignis’s own, eating the approving moan that comes from the younger man. It was so easy to get lost in the moment and just let his instincts take over.

He moves his hips to have them grind down on Ignis’s thigh, a whine leaving the back of his throat as he feels that same jolt of arousal. He does it again, in a similar kind of rhythm, hoping the similar canter of Ignis’s hips meant that he, too, was also getting worked up.

With a slight shift in their positions, Ignis has him gasping for more. The younger man complies, rolling his hips again with purpose as he meets Gladio’s halfway.

“Let the gods take me, Iggy,” he gasps, picking up the pace.

They continue to grind against each other. Their foreheads brushing together as they try to keep up with one another. Gladio stares down at Ignis as the other man’s empty stare looks right back up at him. Instead of focusing on the eyes, he closes his and trusts his other senses. Their breathing becomes ragged as they work themselves to a fever pitch. The hot breath of Ignis puffing on his face in between kisses was almost too much.

He can feel Ignis’s voice, low and heady, gasp, “Gladio, I’m about to-”

A knock on the door cut Ignis off and they both freeze. Gladio feels his body tense up as he reacts to the surprise by coming. He dares to open his eyes and looks towards the source of their interruption cursing it with every fiber of his being. It takes him a few breaths to try to even out his breathing. He clears his throat before calling out with a husky, “Yes?”

The smooth, sweet voice of Lunafreya comes from the other side of the door, “Oh! Gladiolus, I just wanted to make sure you were doing well. I was wondering if you and Mr. Scientia would like to join us for some tea.”

Gladio sighs, closing his eyes once again. He didn’t look down at his partner; not wanting to know if the look on Ignis’s face was one of mortification or amusement.

“We’ll be down there shortly,” Ignis calls out. It must have been amusement then. Gladio could nearly feel the smile spread across his face.

“We’ll make room for you then. Take your time.”

Gladio opens his eyes to see the sly smile on Ignis’s flushed face. The man underneath him relaxes, settling back against the sheets. Ignis moves his right hand to the back of Gladios’s head to pull him down just enough for a kiss. He mutters against Gladio’s lips with, “You need more time?”

With a pause, Gladio comes back to himself. Letting out a nervous laugh, “I-I think Luna sort of scared it out of me.”

“You mean, you came when Luna knocked on the door?”

Gladio nods, feeling the flush on his face deepen. It’s not as if he was embarrassed over the outcome, but a small niggling feeling in the back of his mind was incredible disappointed in himself. As if sensing his discomfort, Ignis pulls him down again for another kiss, deepening it with a fervor as he tries to get Gladio to respond. Gladio could feel himself whine again as Ignis leans back into the bed once more, shifting his hips up to let the larger man know that they weren’t quite finished yet.

“Finish me off then.”

Gladio didn’t need to be told twice.

#gladiolus amicitia #ignis scientia #gladnis #bloodborne/ffxv #ffxv #fic: just one sip

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avaalons · 7 years

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Chris Evans Fic: Disney Princess Series Part 5 (The Ugly Truth)

You tried to stay calm, frozen to the spot as you were. Nothing moved except your fingers, typing and tapping and revealing article upon article of gossip surrounding you and Chris.

You felt genuinely nauseated: the pictures from Disney captioned with all kinds that just cheapened the whole moment that had really been happening; the body language ‘experts’ pulling up press photos from the premieres and ‘analysing’ them; pictures of you in a line with a long list of ex-girlfriends, comparing your merits to each. But it didn’t matter what angle the gossip-mongerers went for: one clear implication linked them all. You were a gold digger, a social climber, a small time actress intent on furthering her career, an opportunist, ingratiating yourself with his family and you were using Chris to get where you wanted to be.

You sat, flabbergasted, surprised when the tears didn’t immediately start falling, but, you supposed, you were too shocked. This was bad. This undid everything your PR team had tried to achieve in the past few months. They’d worked so hard for you and now you’d ruined it because you just couldn’t resist going on a fucking holiday with Chris Fucking Evans. Why couldn’t you have just said no? It didn’t matter that there was actually no story there, a picture spoke a thousand words and these gossip sites had several.

And you were embarrassed that Chris would now be having to deal with this too. You knew that he liked you, at least in some capacity, but this ‘reporting’ must make things uncomfortable. It assumed things that hadn’t happened, feelings that hadn’t been acknowledged, created a whole story where there wasn’t one and, you had to admit to yourself, you were afraid that this would push him in the opposite direction. That the friendship you had formed would disappear completely while he rode out the storm and let the story die down.

So caught up in your thoughts and what ifs and scenarios as you were, when the buzzer rang to alert you that someone wanted to be let into your building, you jumped and blinked, processing that you needed to move and then doing so, leaving your phone on the sofa.

You pressed the button to accept the call and saw the subject of all your thoughts on the little screen.

‘Hey, it’s me. Want to let me up?’ His voice was subdued and you knew instantly what he was here for.

You could barely even respond, nodding though he couldn’t see you, and simply pushed the button to open the downstairs door, waiting nervously for his knock.

***

Chris had done a couple of things after ending his call with Scott. He’d stupidly googled other versions of the same story, growing angrier with each one, until he’d eventually got on the phone to his PR.

That conversation hadn’t made him feel much better, if he was honest, and he knew he needed to speak to you. He was mortified. This was all his fault. For some reason, he’d decided that now, at thirty five years old and after decades in the business, that throwing caution to the wind was a good idea. He meant it when he told you he didn’t care what anyone thought, but when he’d said those words, he didn’t think you’d be the one being beaten with the tabloid stick. You had always been so reserved and careful when in the public eye and he’d selfishly persuaded you to let your guard down and now here you were: strung up in a list of his exes, full colour pictures of them all with an obscene Top Trumps style comparison of your pros and cons. He felt sick and, honestly, like he wanted to punch things. But first he needed to think about you.

He hovered his thumb over your contact for a few seconds, your smiling contact picture one of the selfies of the two of you he’d taken on his own phone, before darkening the screen, pocketing it, snapping a lead on Dodger’s collar and grabbing his keys.

‘Come on boy, we’re going to pay a visit.’

***

A furry four-pawed creature exploding through your door the moment there was an inch of space wasn’t exactly what you were expecting. As the dog jumped up to say hello and your hands automatically went to tickle behind his ears in greeting, you looked up to see Chris with a small, sheepish smile on your face and a half-shrug in his shoulders.

'Hi,’ he threw out.

'Hi,’ you replied back, unsure about what else to say. Dodger was still stretched up against you, front paws against your stomach, as he nuzzled into your attentive touch.

'Is it okay that we’re here? He’s well behaved, I promise.’

You suddenly registered that Chris was still in the hall.

'Yeah, yeah. Of course. Come in,’ you said quickly, trying to make up for your negligence. You stepped back, Dodger dropping to the floor, and created some room to let man and dog in to your apartment.

You shut the door gently behind them, trying to gather your thoughts before you turned around.

'Do you mind if I let him off the lead? He won’t go on the furniture if I tell him no.’

You took a deep breath, 'It’s fine, honestly. He can go wherever he likes, the sofa’s plenty big enough. Shall I put a bowl of water down for him?’

Chris unclipped his lead and Dodger immediately set about sniffing everything in the room, scoping out his surroundings and gathering information.

'That would be really great, thanks.’

You were happy to have something to do as you headed to the kitchen area of your open plan living space and retrieved a small metal mixing bowl from a cupboard, filling it with water and placing it down on the laminate flooring.

Dodger had his nose in it before you even put it down.

'There you go boy,’ you told him quietly, ruffling the short fur on his head as he lapped at the water enthusiastically.

'He’ll be your friend for life after all this attention,’ Chris smiling voice appeared from the other side of the breakfast bar that separated your kitchen and living space. When you looked up, he was leaning against the counter, watching you and Dodger interact.

'He’s a handsome little guy,’ you complimented.

'Gets more attention than me most days so we’re a good team.’

There was a silence as the real reason for Chris’ visit hung in the air uncomfortably. It was the elephant in the room and you could feel your face burning more and more the longer it went unmentioned.

'Look-’ you broke the silence. 'I’m sorry-’ Chris spoke at the same time.

He chuckled lightly, 'Go on, you first. I guess you’ve seen the tabloids.’

You nodded, your expression serious and you could barely look at him, 'I’m sorry to have caused you embarrassment.’

Chris stood up straight at that, no longer leaning casually against your kitchen counter, 'Wait, what do you mean?’

'Well, just that I know that you normally don’t publicise your life too much and now all of this is implying things that haven’t happened. I know how embarrassing it must be to be connected to me in the press like that, especially the way they make it seem like I’ve pulled the wool over your eyes or something,’ you crossed your arms over your body defensively, struggling a little with your words. Part of you wished he’d just called you, but then, it was good to see him, if this would be the last time, 'So I understand if you want to keep your distance and let it all blow over.’

'You think I’m embarrassed to be connected to you?’ Chris’ voice was disbelieving, 'Sweetheart, I came over to apologise! This is all my fault. I put you in this position: it was me that all but forced you on the trip, me that made you take selfies that day, and it’s me that’s been the topic of tabloid trash for a lot longer than you. I should have known better.’

'Chris, there’s nothing to blame yourself for here. I might be a little bit less experienced in the Hollywood whirlwind but I know how it works. We both do. We shouldn’t really be surprised that this has happened, it was bound to. I was naive to think we’d got away with a few kids asking you for a photo. I walked into this completely willingly. I’m just angry at myself that I let it get this far. All that work my PR have done…’

Chris moved around the breakfast bar and towards you, placing his hands around your upper arms and looking earnestly into your face as he spoke, 'Listen, this will blow over. Eventually someone is going to remember all the mistakes I made, all the stupid things I said in relation to you and remember that it’s me that’s done the pursuing while you’ve been nothing but gracious and professional about the whole thing. I’m so sorry for the spin they’ve put on it, you don’t deserve that. Some of it… well, it makes me feel sick.’

'Yeah, the ex-girlfriend line up was a bit of shock,’ you admitted with a wry smile.

Guilt filled his features, 'I don’t even know what to… I’m just so, so sorry.’

He pulled you into a warm, all encompassing embrace and although you’d had his arms around you for the selfies, this was different. You could breathe in his scent and note how easily your head fit under his chin. Your arms were pinned tight between your bodies, your fingers splayed against his chest as his arms circled you. And it felt… right. It made the articles seem less important all of a sudden. What did they know? They had one set of pictures and a whole shed load of speculation, that was it.

Then something he’d said earlier popped out in your mind and you pulled your head back a little to look up at him, 'Wait, did you say you’d been pursuing me?’

His eyes darted around your eyes, trying to gauge what the best response would be. Your faces were only inches apart and you saw the fractional shift of his gaze towards your mouth before it snapped back up. Your neck and chest felt very warm all of a sudden, heat blooming across your skin.

'You are my friend, first and foremost, and if that was all you wanted, then that is a boundary I would stick to…’

Your breath caught in your throat. He was too close, this was too much, but at the same time you were euphoric in his arms. He’d pulled your walls down so gently, so kindly, that you’d barely even noticed him wiggling under your skin. His lips were right there, his eyes somehow darker as he gazed at you. This was it: he was going to tell you, going to kiss you, and you weren’t going to do anything to stop it. You were tired of the strain of keeping him away, and after this last week of no contact, you knew that your feelings were running deeper than you had ever intended.

'But…?’ you urged him to carry on in a breathy whisper, sensing there was more.

Your breath hitched as one of his hands travelled to your face, ghosting your cheekbone to tuck your hair behind your ear, 'But if you wanted to explore-’

He was cut off by the sharp ringing on his phone and the moment, and spell, was broken. He cursed under his breath, unwinding one arm from you to pluck his phone from his pocket. Glancing at the screen, he apologised to you.

'Sorry, I’m going to have to take this. It’s Josh and with everything going on…’ he waved his hand by way of explanation and you nodded in reply.

'Yeah, go on, of course,’ you were shocked you’d even managed to find the words. You pulled away and out of his other arm as he answered and fled the kitchen as he began his conversation.

Retreating hastily to the bathroom, you looked at yourself in the mirror: eyes glassy, cheeks flushed, lips extraordinarily pink. You needed to calm down, get your head together. Quickly splashing your face with cool water, you took a few deep breaths before patting your skin dry with a towel and replacing it on the rail. There was more to think about than your own desires and wants, the rational side of your brain knew that above anything. But there was an increasingly powerful part of you that thought the worst was over. The exact thing you’d been afraid of had already happened, so why not just give in? There seemed little point now in keeping him at arm’s length: you may as well at least have all the good stuff everyone clearly thought you were getting, if you were getting the negative stuff anyway. Pushing your shoulders back, you left the bathroom and strode back out to the living area.

Chris was still in the kitchen on the phone and, even though he was speaking quietly, you could hear his end of the conversation, punctuated by silences when, you assumed, Josh was speaking. Your presence had gone unnoticed so you sat in the floor in front of the sofa and played with Dodger.

'Yeah, I know that, I do…. but I don’t want to, Josh. This is different, she’s different… this was my fault don’t forget, she’s done nothing wrong… Josh, you don’t need to tell me that, I already know… yes, of course I fucking do… look, I’m sorry… I just… I’m tired of not being able to live my life.’

***

'You should walk away, dude,’ Josh was telling him. The exact last thing Chris wanted to hear, 'I don’t know her at all but is it really worth it? She seems kinda ice queen to me.’

'She’s different Josh, I’m telling you. This is all my fault.’

'Look, it’s not great at her end, is it? I mean, she’s not been portrayed in the most flattering way. If you carry on, this isn’t going to die down. It could be the most selfish thing you’ve ever done.’

Chris winced at that. Josh was brutally honest and for that he was (mostly) grateful but it didn’t mean that it wasn’t painful to listen to sometimes.

'I know, I know.’

'I mean, it depends on the both of you obviously. Do you think she could handle all that? Could she handle everything that comes with dating Chris Evans? Could her career handle that?’

'I… I don’t know,’ Chris admitted quietly, wishing he did.

'I don’t know what to say to you, man. In your position, well, you’ve got to be sure. I don’t think there’s a choice here, is there?’

Chris’ sigh rankled with defeat, 'I guess not.’

'Just do the right thing, move on and forget any of this ever happened, okay?’

'Right. Thanks man,’ Chris hung up and tapped his phone against his chin in thought.

There was no way around it, no matter how many scenarios he tried. If he continued pursuing you, or even keeping up with the friendship, you’d have the press hounding you. Everyone would assume the articles were correct and that social climber label would keep on sticking. The other option was to keep it secret, but how long for? He couldn’t guess. There was no guarantee that when you did go public, the same shit wouldn’t be dragged out again. You didn’t deserve that: to not be able to even go outside with someone you were dating, to be holed up in houses just so you could spend time together. You deserved someone who proudly walk down the street with you, hand in hand, and not have pictures and speculation ruin your life and your career. And, unfortunately, that guy would never be Chris. Being with him, Chris understood, meant compromise and sacrifices and he just couldn’t do that to you.

He looked up and out over the sitting room and saw you, in your pyjama shorts and Beauty and the Beast tshirt, sat on the floor playing with Dodger, asking him to sit and then creeping your hands across the rug to his paws. He’d jump back and go down in to his play bow, tail and tongue wagging, until eventually he lunged forwards in excitement. Chris started to go and drag him off, thinking that normally people didn’t tend to like having someone else’s dog’s tongue all over their face. Then he heard your laughter as Dodger rubbed his nose across your cheeks and chin. He could picture hearing that laugh so easily in the rooms of his own home, inserting into his life like you’d always been there. He wanted to watch sunsets with you under a blanket, and wake you up with kisses on your face in the morning. He wanted to arrive at his mom’s with you for Christmas and he wanted to travel the world with you so he could meet all of your disparate family members. He wanted to be able to buy you little gifts, just because, and pick you up from the airport with a cheesy but funny name card when you’d been away with work. There was an entire future with you he could envisage, but reality was a cruel mistress and he knew he needed to be the bigger man and walk away.

He shuffled through, each step heavy with the knowledge of what he was about to do, hands in his pockets, and stood behind the sofa.

'Sorry about that,’ he told you.

***

'Don’t worry about it,’ you smiled up at him from the floor, Dodger pawing at you to play with him more, 'What did Josh say?’

He let out a deep breath, 'That I’m being selfish, basically. That clearly, being linked to me will have a negative effect on you. I don’t think I could live with that.’

'Oh, I see,’ disappointment instantly welled in your stomach, all your hopes for what was about to happen dashed. This was it. The 'let’s just let things die down, be seen other people, throw them off the scent’ solution to the problem. The problem that was you.

'I’m sorry. You don’t know how much I wish things were different, really. Being 'with me’ in the public eye is, well, it’s shit, quite frankly. There’s so much that press like this could permanently damage for you, and I’m literally the cause of it. I wish beyond anything that it wasn’t like that,’ he was almost pleading. With who, you didn’t know.

You sat quietly, running your hands over Dodger’s belly where he’d lay down and rolled over in front of you. You were so conflicted, left feeling like you had too much to say and not enough, all at once. But really, what was the use? He’d clearly made up his mind, in the exact way that you’d expected before his arrival, and realistically, you knew it was for the best. All of a sudden, you just wanted him gone.

'Okay. So, I’ll see you around?’ You kept your voice and expression neutral, easily done after years of practising keeping your feelings well hidden. You stood up and collected Dodger’s lead from the coffee table, clipping it on to his collar and walking him over to Chris.

'Maybe we can still t-’ Chris began, lamely, but you held up a hand to stop him.

'Chris, if you were about to tell me we can still text, please don’t. I don’t want to be some secret. I’m all for staying under the radar where possible but please don’t insult me like that. I’m an adult, I have adult relationships, where I spend time with people face to face. And that’s not on the cards for us, is it?’

He looked pained. His eyes had a soft, sad expression in them and he held his hand over yours for much longer than was necessary as you passed Dodger’s lead to him.

'Sorry,’ he whispered, 'I guess I better take off.’

You nodded, not trusting yourself with words anymore. This was for the best.

He walked to the door and passed through into the hallway. You stayed on the other side, hand propped against the door frame.

'See you then,’ you said, firmly.

He opened his mouth a few times to speak but eventually decided on just saying, 'Yeah, see you’.

You closed the door behind him, leant your back against the wood and sank to the floor with a long exhale. Resting your head in your hands, you were frustrated and angry with yourself when you felt tears prick your eyes. You hadn’t been anywhere close to being together, so why did this feel so much like a break up?

#chris evans #chris evans imagine #chris evans fanfiction #chris evans x reader #chris evans x you

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emilyplaysotome · 7 years

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Part 49 - There’s No Place Like Home

Down the Voltage Rabbit Hole is an ongoing story about our MC, who could easily be anyone in voltage fandom. She woke up in hospital bed only to discover that she’d somehow been transported Voltage universe.

This story is ongoing, so if you missed a part, or are new to the story, please use the link to the masterpost below to catch yourself up:

https://tinyurl.com/k4rrxna

Part 49 - There’s No Place Like Home

Zyglavis and I stood side by side in front of the open door, flabbergasted by the actions of the king. Even though I’d suspected that the king might be duplicitous, I never imagined that he’d pull something quite like this.

My mind raced as I tried to figure out a way home, all the while concerned with the fact that the king might be able to read my thoughts. I worried that if this was the case winning the game might be impossible, however I wasn’t ready to throw in the towel just yet.

I watched as Zyglavis straightened his posture and attempted to appeal to logic and fairness, seeing as how the king had encouraged both of us to fall in love only to immediately punish us for doing so.

In the king’s words, this was Zyglavis’ penance for lying with a Goldfish when (as a minister) he should have known better.

When Zyglavis had argued that the king had given us permission to break the law of the Heavens, the king snapped back and noted that Zyglavis had transgressed from the moment he began caring about me more than any other human in Toyko. Zyglavis attempted to assert that he’d only recently come to acknowledge these feelings, but the king cut him off and declared that he’d cared about me much longer than Zyglavis himself had even realized.

The king divulged that from the moment he’d noticed that his straight laced minister had begun to fall for a human, he’d planned to use my existence as a way to test Zyglavis. Once the king had looked into who I was and had heard my thoughts, he realized that my attempt to take someone back to my world could be used for his benefit. From there, he had decided to pay me a visit in the baths and had effectively challenged me to win Zyglavis’ affections.

The king proudly proclaimed that he had meddled just enough to ensure that his minister would be given a proper test and it became clear that unbeknownst to me, I had set a trap for the man I loved.

To the king, this had all been a test of Zyglavis’ loyalty to the heavens which he had failed miserably by choosing to be me with. Upon announcing this, I thought the king would be more annoyed however I soon saw that there was a consolation prize in all this for him.

The king admitted that while it had amused him to see Zyglavis in such an emotional frenzy the past few days, it was clear that while he’d failed the king’s test he’d opened himself up to love.

This was beneficial for the king, who had been trying to persuade Zyglavis to have an heir for the last hundred years or so. As he watched Zyglavis begin to open his heart to me (which was unexpected), the king saw my existence in this world as an opportunity to teach the God about love before pushing him to find with a Goddess it in the Heavens.

He figured that being a man of logic, should it come to this point Zyglavis would understand that stepping through the door would upset the natural balance between the two worlds, and would quickly realize that if he could love a Goldfish, it was possible to love a Goddess.

Zyglavis took in everything the king said without so much as a word, standing there in silence as his usual stoic expression revealed little about what was going on in his head. To most, Zyglavis was hard to get a read on when he wore his poker face but having gotten to know him as well as I did, I was able to tell that none of what the king was saying sat well with him.

Zyglavis chose his words carefully, and when he finally felt inspired to speak, he noted that love is an illogical emotion that cannot be easily replicated with another. He appealed to what the king had said to him in the throne room, and told the king that he had miscalculated the extent to which experiencing the emotion would change him.

As Zyglavis politely bickered with the king, I decided that it was time for me to take action.

While the king’s focus was on Zyglavis and his words, he would most likely be unable to tell what I was thinking. Using this distraction to my advantage, I slowly began to back towards the open door as I put together a plan.

As expected, neither man noticed me slowly walking backwards, as they were too absorbed in their conversation. I noticed that the king seemed amused by how firm Zyglavis was being, and by the time my heel was up against the doorframe, Zyg’s stony exterior had shattered and he was demanding that the king not break his word and let us step through the door together.

As heartwarming as it was to see Zyglavis go to bat for us, I didn’t have time to get lost in how warm and fuzzy the whole scene made me feel. Instead, I channeled everything I could remember from my high school drama class and feigning depression interrupted their bickering.

“Can I at least say goodbye?”

Zyglavis ran over to my side and tilted my head up with his gloved hand, a resolute look in his eyes.

“This is not going to be goodbye. Naomi - I swear, I had no idea…”

“It’s ok. I understand where he’s coming from,” I said, trying to force my voice to quiver. “The king once said it himself...a man is no match for a God.”

“I’m pleased that the Goldfish understands even if my stubborn minister does not,” the king said with an amused expression.

“Of course. But...I am no man.”

Knowing that the king had a flair for the dramatic, I held my head high and smirked, allowing any semblance of upset to disappear.

I tossed my hair back and having dropped one of my favorite quotes from Lord of the Rings, pressed my lips against Zyglavis’ taking him by surprise as I clung to his back and flung us both backwards through the opened door.

I heard the king shout something behind me, and it was unclear if he were amused or incensed. With that said, it didn’t really matter seeing as how he was too late.

A strange sensation overtook me, and I found both the king’s shouts and my consciousness giving way to nothingness. I tried my best to hold onto Zyglavis, but unable to stay awake soon gave into the drowsiness I felt, as everything around me faded to black.

I woke up, eyes bleary, head pounding in a bed that I hadn’t been in for some time.

The sunlight that poured through my apartment window felt more vibrant than the sun I’d been exposed to for the past month and I smiled upon realizing that I was home. I carefully sat up in bed, suddenly remembering that it had not just been me who had gone through the door.

I turned and much to my delight saw a figure looking out the window.

“Zyg?”

“Naomi! You’re up!”

I was relieved to see that he had survived the trip, and as he ran to my side I smiled confident that my new, old life was just beginning.

“Wait - have you tested your powers?”

“No I…”

“Quick, try to make a social security card.”

“A what?”

I opened the drawer to my nightstand, and saw that my wallet and phone were neatly tucked away as they always were.

I pulled out my wallet and frantically found my social security card and driver’s license. From there, I fished out a passport and spreading the documents on the bed in front of Zyglavis, I prompted him to snap his fingers with the hope that he could muster enough power to replicate the documents for himself.

With each snap, I could hear his powers begin to fizzle out, but thankfully before they were completely gone he’d created everything he needed to work and live in my world.

Picking up his brand new social security card I glanced at his name and with a smile asked, “Lee?”

“I believed it to be customary that married people share the same name. Am I incorrect in that assumption?”

I shook my head no, and kissed him, not caring that my head was killing me.

Zyglavis had been conscious the entire time, and told me that I'd blacked out no more than a few seconds after we’d gone through the door.

Seeing as how I'd grabbed him before jettisoning us both through the portal, he’d naturally wrapped his arms around me. He'd held my unconscious body tightly pressed against his and when we made it all the way through to the other side, he’d discovered that we were in the small, studio apartment I had described to him back in his world.

From there, Zyglavis had carried my limp body to the bed and had watched over me before some sirens outside had distracted him. The noise must have roused me as well, which is why I woke to see him leaning against the window, peering down at an unfamiliar street as he tried to get a sense of what was going on below us.

“I'm sorry,” I said. “You told me that you wanted to come with me and I hope you aren't mad that I made that decision for both of us.”

He shook his head no and with his gentle smile said, “I'm happy you did. I never could have taken that kind of leap on my own. It's why I need you in my life.”

We kissed, and I felt myself shed a few more tears of joy as we fell back onto the familiar bed.

My head hurt too badly for us to do much more, and after enjoying a brief reunion of sorts, I reached for my smartphone which no longer was full of off brand apps.

Upon booting up it appeared that my month in otome-ville had meant being absent a week in this world. According to my calendar, it was currently mid-afternoon on a Saturday.

My work email was a complete and utter disaster, and I found myself in quite the predicament having disappeared without sending so much as an email or text. My boss went from fairly quickly from anger to concern in her emails, and I sent her a long text in which I let her know that I’d passed out in the subway. I claimed that a good samaritan had nursed me back to health, and that I’d been fairly out of it until today.

I apologized profusely, explaining that while I was still sick, and would most likely need a few more days to recover, I hoped that they would let me use the PTO I had accumulated. I noted that I hoped that my superiors would not hold this disappearing act against me as I truly hadn’t meant for it to happen.

She immediately responded, letting me know that she was happy I was ok and that she felt awful to hear that I’d been through such a terrible ordeal. Considering my flawless track record, she’d figured something bad had happened as I wasn’t one to just disappear, and told me to take as much time as I needed.

I felt relieved knowing that my vacation in the otome-verse hadn't negatively affected my work relationships, and breathing a sigh of relief filled my team in on everything that I’d told my boss (CCing her on the email as well). I apologized for any trouble that my absence had caused them and let them know that I’d be returning to work as soon as I could.

Considering all that I'd been through, I wasn't ready to rejoin the ranks just yet and with my boss’ blessing hoped that I could use the next few days to help get Zyglavis acclimated to his new life here.

I opened my text messages which were full of worried notes from concerned friends.

I maintained the story I’d told my boss Kari, which not only explained why I’d accidentally stood everyone up, but also created a lovely story that described how Zyglavis and I met. After apologizing and letting them know that I was ok, I mentioned that the good samaritan who had saved me was kind, wonderful, and happened to be single. I made it clear that I was fairly smitten with him and at the very least hoped that I’d made a new lifelong friend.

Immediately the well wishes poured in, and both Meg and Sarita sent seduction advice which was obviously not necessary but appreciated. My heart swelled with the realization that I was home, and that the friends I loved so much would soon be meeting the man I loved as well.

I also sent my parents a quick note letting them know that I’d been under the weather and was on the mend but still didn’t feel up to talking on the phone. My mom sent a text in response almost immediately, which told me to get well soon.

As the familiar names continued to pop up on my phone, I had to smile.

I was really home.

Zyglavis looked over my shoulder as I effortlessly navigated from message to message, app to app, checking emails and catching up on all the correspondence that I needed to take care of in my absence.

“Will I be getting one of those devices?” he asked me quietly.

“Yeah. You won't have Altair anymore - you’ll have to get used to text messaging instead of a little boy who delivers lattes,” I joked.

“What’s that folder?” he asked innocently, and I gasped as the realization sunk in that everyone I'd encountered in his world was neatly tucked into a folder in mine.

“Oh man, this now feels really weird…”

I tried to explain to Zyglavis best I could what he was about to see, but when my words failed me, I just decided hand him the phone.

Star Crossed Myth loaded, and he watched on dubiously as I navigated to the main stories and showed him the truth.

“But...no. This can’t be…”

“I’m sorry,” I found myself saying again. “That’s how I knew all about you guys.”

“What are these stories like?” he asked, before selecting himself. “Complicated and severe? I...Naomi, what is this?”

“They’re...huh, that’s odd.”

I clicked on Zyglavis’ main story, trying to show him the game version of himself that I’d come to know before meeting him. However, it failed to load, giving me error after error. Out of all the Gods it appeared that his story was the only one riddled with errors, and I decided to load Leon’s story in order to properly illustrate what it was that he was seeing.

As he began reading, I booted up my laptop and navigated to Voltage’s Facebook page.

I scrolled down, past their typical ads and social posts, only to stumble upon an announcement that addressed the fact that several of their stories were currently unavailable due to technical difficulties. The post claimed that their staff was working around the clock to resolve these issues as soon as possible, and that they appreciated their customer’s patience in the matter.

The comments in the post were overrun by people asking for refunds, and I noticed Zyglavis’ name appearing over and over, in addition to a few other familiar faces.

When I turned to ask Zyglavis if I could have my phone back he appeared to be perturbed and I immediately saw why.

He’d reached a fairly suggestive part of the game, and quickly handed it back to me noting that he’d hoped his story was nothing like that of the “lothario Lion’s”. Seeing as how the best relationships are built on an honest foundation, I explained to a fairly shell shocked Zyglavis exactly what these games were.

His face reddened and in an attempt to reassure him, I noted that in the time we’d been together he’d grown far beyond the “story” version of himself.

He nodded, but I could tell that he was struggling with the reality of the situation. On top of that, he was clearly uncomfortable with the thought that thousands of women had read about him in a romantic way, and as his cheeks burned I couldn’t help but smile at how lucky I was to be the only one who had gotten to know the real him.

“I understand that it is illogical for me to be upset over the men in this device but...”

“But what?”

“Those other men...what of them?”

I pulled up Her Love in the Force to show Zyglavis, and when I attempted to load Namba’s story, I saw that he was broken as well.

I wondered if it was possible that I was the cause of these errors, and found myself opening Kissed by the Baddest Bidder where all of Soryu’s stories were offline. From there, I loaded Eisuke’s but the game kept crashing every time Soryu was supposed to be in the scene, and I realized that choosing a life of crossfit over crime had potentially ruined a fan favorite game.

As I scoured the internet for answers, I discovered that during my absence Voltage had launched their new game Irresistible Mistakes and I downloaded it to discover that my read on Addison & Rhodes had been correct. I had been correct in thinking that the office building appearing in an instant was tied to the game being launched in my world, and as I browsed the possible love interests felt vindicated by the fact that Shun, Toshiaki, and Toma were all playable characters.

Unlike HLITF and KBTBB, Irresistible Mistakes seemed to be working fine, and I purchased Shun’s route only to realize within the first few scenes what was happening.

“Oh my God. That girl the king showed me...she’s his MC. That’s why his game still works…”

“I don’t understand.”

“You’re proof that this was all real...that none of it was a dream. That’s why you don’t work. You’re here. But Shun...remember him? In front of the office…”

"This is...illogical but at the same time, your theory makes sense.”

Zyglavis’ eyes were downcast, and as he grappled with his new, difficult reality, I found myself feeling guilty. In his world, I had been the only one to fully understand what was going on, and even though he’d had an inkling, seeing him so distraught made me realize that he’d only grasped the tip of the iceberg.

I hadn’t thought about what it would mean to suddenly have your existence and everything you thought you understood turned on its head. I felt compelled to stroke his hair in an attempt to comfort him, as I hated to know that my actions were causing him to look so downtrodden.

“I hope you don’t hate me,” I said tentatively.

When he didn’t respond, I gently brushed his hair out of his face and kissed him. To my relief, despite his clear uncertainty, he kissed me back.

“This is all rather troubling to me...but the one thing I know to be true is that I could never hate you.”

I kissed him again and told him that no matter what or who had come before, and no matter how weird this all was, what we had was real. We professed our love again and again, and eventually I decided to ignore the fact that my head still hurt and gave myself over to him.

I woke the next morning feeling like a new woman, and suggested that we start our day with what New Yorkers do best on a Sunday - brunch.

It was weird being in my neighborhood after a month of being away, and I was eager to show Zyglavis the best this city had to offer. I took him to my favorite local brunch destination where I ordered my go-to breakfast tacos with pork belly, scrambled eggs, cheese, potatoes, and austin green sauce.

Zyglavis ordered a more sensible egg dish and was perturbed to note that he “felt hungry” now that he was human. The sensation was new to him but he quickly noted that he didn't mind it, assuring me once more that he had no regrets.

From there I took him to the real sheep’s meadow, walking through a fully intact neighborhood that was not the dust bowl we'd experienced in his world.

“So many people!” he exclaimed, his eyes shining as he took in the landmarks and the city’s hustle and bustle.

“This is what New York City is really like. You’ll get used to it.”

We laid out on the grass for a bit, enjoying the pleasant day before heading to a Verizon store and creating a family plan so Zyglavis could have his own phone.

I taught him how to use his new iPhone over Black and Tans at La Colombe, in addition to sharing some NYC 101 tips involving how to use the subway, tricks for navigating the busy streets, and of course how to find a clean public bathroom now that he could no longer relieve himself with the snap of his fingers.

At the end of our first day together in New York City, we lay in bed exhausted but happy.

In the weeks and months to come we’d become like any other couple. We would go on dates around the city and occasionally would take a day trip or overnight trip on holiday weekends.

Zyglavis loved Jacques Torres so much that he ended up working there.

I was the primary breadwinner but that didn't bother me in the slightest as Zyglavis came home each day happier than he'd even been as a Chief Minister of Punishments.

As a human, Zyglavis smelled faintly of chocolate instead of lavender, and his kisses after work were always sweet. His salary covered his cell phone bill, utilities, and the occasional meal out. Considering he was a God who had no real concept of money, he didn't have any hang ups over his woman being the primary source of income in the way I'd suspended Shun or Namba might.

To be honest, I thought of them both from time to time, even though Zyglavis had banned me from playing my folder of otome games.

I understood where he was coming from, but truthfully I didn't have it in me to delete them. To that point, from time to time I occasionally revisited an ex or two during lunch hours at work or when we were apart and the mood struck.

Voltage never did figure out how to fix their games and (after a month or two of apologetic social posts) were forced to refund their customers.

It was quite the scandal within the community and I watched it unfold unbeknownst to Zyglavis. Several of his fans were livid and missed seeing him in their stories, and even though I understood how they felt I had a hard time caring seeing as how I had the real thing and couldn't possibly be any happier that I already was.

With work going well, and my relationship going well, I'd started my social life back up once I felt confident that Zyglavis was settled and comfortable in our small studio apartment without me.

Seeing my friends after all the time I'd spent away made for an emotional reunion on my end, and a confused first meeting of our dinner club on theirs. I was so happy to tell them all about my new boyfriend who had rescued me in the subway, and omitted his real back story seeing as how they'd never believe me.

Being the good friends they are, they were all super happy for me and soon enough I was introducing Zyglavis to them at Maya & Omar’s engagement party.

Zyg reverted back to his overly polite and stoic self at the onset of the party, but after a few drinks (and seeing as how his new body was not accustomed to drinking liquor) he loosened up a considerable amount.

I learned that night that Zyglavis was an affectionate drunk, who got along better with women rather than men, and ended the night dragging him away from my girl friends who were amazed at how open he was with his emotions towards me.

It was a bit embarrassing but also made me happier than I'd ever been in my life, and even though he'd later become sick at my apartment I didn't mind caring for him at all.

It's been over six months since I fell down the rabbit hole, and Zyglavis and I recently announced our engagement to my friends.

Zyg has said he’s excited about having a summer wedding though neither of us want to rush the preparations and have no problem with enjoying a long engagement. My parents love him, my friends love him, and most importantly I love him.

In fact, I love him more now than I did on that day I made the decision for both of us, and flung us through the door in the Heavens. To that point, I have no regrets and I'm pretty sure he doesn't either.

I've thought about how strange it is that things worked out the way that they did. I suppose I'll never really understand why I was picked to go down the rabbit hole, but these days I've given up trying to understand.

I suppose the moral of the story is that there's someone for everyone.

For me, that someone turned out to be a made up character in a choose your own anime romance adventure game...but that's most likely a fact I'll take to my grave.

These days, before I come home from work, I swing by Fairway market to pick up a few ingredients so I can make us a healthy dinner. Seeing as how Zyg is no longer a God, he’s learned the hard way that eating copious amounts of chocolate often leads to weight gain.

Being the loving, considerate, and secretly vain man he's turned out to be, he's been making an effort recently to lose the weight that he's gained during his first six months as a human. Even though it's just a slight belly, the loss of his perfectly sculpted physique (and specifically 6 pack abs) hit him fairly hard, and as a result I've been trying to be as supportive as I can.

Don't get me wrong - I still love the fluffier version of Zyg, but I can tell he's not as confident so we have been dieting together and in true, boring couple fashion, we even started going to the gym before work together.

Seeing as how Zyg is the first man I've ever lived with, I get a kick out of bringing home groceries for the two of us. Even though our relationship is now solidly out of the honeymoon phase, I still get a bit giddy when I think about doing those mundane, domestic activities together.

To that point, I think it’s fair to say that I’ve become one of those women I used to roll my eyes at, but I’ve found that being in love will do that to you.

I juggled the bags of groceries with opening the front door to my apartment as I stepped through, called out as I always did.

“Ziggy? Are you home?”

Lately it was a bit of a coin flip whether or not he’d be in the apartment as he’d made a few friends at work, in addition to a bartender who worked around the corner. He never stayed out late without texting, but the past few weeks I found myself beating him back to the apartment.

I kicked off my shoes, and dropped my keys on top of the small table in my foyer. It was then that a key card of sorts caught my eye, but before I could properly investigate it, I heard a familiar snicker come from my living room.

“Ziggy, eh?” the familiar voice taunted.

“Quiet!”

The snicker turned into a chuckle and I froze, too shocked to do anything other than stand there. I heard my wooden floorboards creak as Zyglavis appeared wearing a stiff, stoic expression I hadn’t seen on him for some time.

He took the grocery bags from me and in an annoyed whisper said, “We have a visitor.”

It was then that Leon appeared at the end of my foyer, and with his usual haughty expression he said, “I’m glad to see that you two are doing so well, but the king requests that you both return...and fix the mess that you've made.”

To be continued...in Part 50

http://emilyplaysotome.tumblr.com/post/161275875142/part-50-an-ending

IRL Zyglavis = the beautiful model David Chiang - Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/davidspecials/

Naomi’s NYC Apartment : http://www.decoist.com/2014-11-20/nyc-studio-apartment-design/

If you’ve enjoyed the story, please show your support by sharing it with a friend or buying me a coffee! My goal is to create an original web series so if you like my characters please consider donating something to help me get it made.

Thanks for reading :)

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