premise. crash landing from the future is apparently your kid, not that you know that anyway... in the form of a mixture between you, and your... supposed counterpart, clues are bound to pile up as to whose child this is.
parts. rosehearts, kingscholar, ashengrotto, al asim, schoenheit, shroud, draconia
cont. gender neutral reader, use of 'mada' which is just 'mama' and 'dada' cut in half for our resident shrimp (aka yuu) staggering 6.1k words woah
note. hello, hello! for a while I don't think I can work on azul's part </3 it's gonna be a very busy week for me for the following two weeks (i can say i am already in hell week) for finals so it might be a while before I can pick his part up hehe. in the meanwhile... here's leona ;) if I can commit to a date for azul, you can check out the posting schedule at my pinned since I will be updated it once i do!
as usual, just comment if you also want to be added in the taglist ^^ if those already on want to be removed you can also drop a comment to inform me!
leona
i should take a bite–was a brief thought that swam through your mind just as you turned a corner to another seemingly endless hallway. the floating lanterns, and candles alike light up in a short flash of dim green when you passed, extinguishing completely when you found another hallway.
in your hands was none other than a doom sandwich from the cafeteria, plucked then fought after its other nineteen siblings in the tray. if you had a word it would probably be chaos, you’d think there was a pyramid of golden bars in the cafeteria from the crowd of students outside before the bell.
there was indeed not.
“shehehe! take this, our protege!” were the humble words of a ghost occupant of the main campus, who had apparently come to view you as an underling of theirs. so if slipping the wrapped delicacy into your hands discreetly with a wink was their idea of a ‘good job’ then who were you, honestly to decline?
out of courtesy you wondered whether or not to inform your friends alongside the large crowd in the front of the room but decided against it because you were in the right mind to not dive first into that… mob and lose your beloved gift immediately.
in short, the students of this unfortunate institution were not above using dirty tactics for a single, stupid sandwich that happens to induce a recollection of memories when eaten (alright, you do see the appeal).
you hid it within the inner pockets of your blazer, lacking the nausea you had through the first few times of travelling through the mirrors as you stepped through and found yourself in the warm, humid air of savanaclaw. thankfully, as with all condiments from the cafeteria, the food would always remain warm.
alright. you did feel a bit dizzy but as were such with certain out of the world aliens like yourself.
“we’re missing a disk, yuu-yuu!”
you turned your head at the mention of your name, spotting a few savanaclaw students either lying still with varying pants or grabbing a drink at their own magishift field. a few disks were strewn around the dusty ground but you steeled your gaze at the source of your called name.
politely, you waved. this time, you’re not sure why cater’s nickname for you had extended from the upperclassmen of heartslabyul (well, the first years regard you normally anyway.) then to savanaclaw residents. for a dorm with such virile individuals, they’re still teenagers who like to pick on you, albeit less disdainful and more teasing after you’d helped the dorm out.
before, they were just demons to you!
you nudge your chin towards the many lying around. “there’s a lot of disks around, upperclassmen.” you pointed out, the cheetah eared second year doesn’t even spare them a glance like catching your attention were more of his concerns than a not-but lack of disks. “if you’re asking me to carry one to you, they’re really heavy. i’m sure your magic can carry it well anyway.”
buttering egos must be an acquired skill around here.
cheetah only flashes you a toothy grin, two fangs poking out from under his lips. “nah.” he replied with a shake of his head, patting down the towel slung around his shoulders to the perspiring skin of his neck. “want to be our disk? last time got everyone motivated to be the ones to throw you around.”
“no, thank you!” you bowed politely, turning around at record speed.
he snorted.
“bye, yuu-yuu.”
in hindsight no one would ever be sane enough to be a disk after watching a magical shift game considering it might as well just be a blur of color with all of the spells trailing after it. unfortunately, you were more so dragged into the role and reluctantly accepted your fate.
it was not a fun experience! you shivered, keeping your head straight to the entrance of the dorm as you resumed walking and ignored the disappointed hollers behind you. if you can’t see them, they don’t exist.
a breeze brushes through your legs.
the breeze trips you from your stride.
dazed with confusion, you remained stomach against the ground for a moment. what was that? you wondered after your brief startle, moving to push yourself up from the ground. a frown creases the space between your brows when you regained your stand and spotted the brown dust littering your otherwise, clean uniform.
you sighed when you found that it did not only cover your forearms, but also the front of your entire uniform. you might as well be rolling around on the ground to justify the mess on your clothes.
this place really hates you.
“sorry…”
jumping ten feet from the air (you wish. you’re exaggerating for good measure.) you whipped your head around, searching from the pitched, misty voice that seemed to chime pretty close to your ear.
… must have been the wind.
the wind knocks you to the ground again when you moved forward despite your initial dumbfoundedness.
when you raise your face that once again planted to the ground, you are not greeted by the air you expected but rather than a pair of green eyes that was not familiar in the slightest when you pair their shade of hair alongside the irises.
“i’m sleepy. can we take a nap?”
you gaped, horrified at the scare. “WHAT IN THE WO–”
⎯⎯ . . .
grim on the other hand feels like he’s in heaven.
setting aside cans of tuna’s under your bed felt like a mastermind plan he’s been devising for weeks, there was no way you’d discover the pile below! he chuckled to himself. at last, with you away for the night (he assumes you are, since you’re goin’ over to meet that overgrown cat!). grim is at least thankful for this one time that leona kidnaps you away from him.
with his feast laid out in front of him grim spares a loud cackle that shook him with so much please that warm puffs of smoke slipped through his canine teeth, the blue fire larger with his laughs.
now i can eat! finally! after weeks! he cried in his head.
grim was just about to leap in to tear through the metal can to ravish his meal but instead startled upwards at the sound of a door slamming against the wall he worried the entire building just might come down on him for a second.
dust flew down from the ceiling and floated on the top of the cans. grim’s flames roared brighter in response to his otherwise perfect evening.
myaaahh! it’s just one foot on it. he thinks to himself, dimming at the thought of facing your fury. you sounded angry considering you literally slammed the door despite knowing it would challenge the stability of this… dumpster! his anger doubles down into satisfaction considering he took it upon himself to indulge in this feast up in the attic.
where you, after spotting the state of dust during the first few days, remarked to never step a foot in there again with a sneeze.
grim sneezed, then sniffed. it isn’t his sense of smell that matters now anyway, but his sense of taste!
though that fleeting sniff has him sniffing again, having caught a whiff of some scent that’s not familiar in the slightest. spicy, earthy with no traces of your own unique smell that divides you from the other students grim refers to as ‘nobodies’.
but slightly familiar.
he just about jumps to the ceiling with how shocked he was from the sight of the door leading down from the attic quite literally flew from its hinges to the air, falling heavily down the corner of the space with a wave of sound, and dust that momentarily blinds grim who coughed at the overwhelming amount of particles he had inhaled in the wake,
“ah!” grim yelled in surprise, ears folding back. he shuffled to the other side of the room, body reared back defensively.
he does not know what’s worse, these acts of anger involving the furniture having you as the source or… the savanaclaw dorm head that had just climbed the steps to the attic with begrudging slowness.
leona wrinkles his nose at the smell, turning his head to the side with a displeased expression plastered on his face. at the very least, the monster is intelligent enough to read that he’s less than in a talking mood. “you,” he all but growled, ascending the steps fully.
“m..me!” grim huffed, trying to look intimidating by the puffing of his chest. “this is private property! my henchman owns this place!”
the lion waves him off. “don’t care. whatever they own is mine, whatever i own is theirs.”
another menacing step from the male has grim blanching and scurrying back. until he feels the dusty expanse of the wall brushing against the tip of his tail comfortably, he at the very least makes sure the flame doesn’t accidentally get the whole building catching on fire. if he didn’t you’d be far scarier than this leona right now.
well… except this leona is the one enticing fear in him right now, not the imagination of you.
what in the world did you do to this guy? he thought frantically. he would have thought leona was immensely content with the fact that you were visiting his dorm like he was every other time. did you fight? why was he even here? did you throw him under the bus?
right. grim might have eaten one of the chilled meat inside the savanaclaw fridge–only finding out it was leona’s right after he spat out the wet piece of paper with his name stuck onto it but…
“you know why i’m here?” leona scowled, not bothering to crouch down to the monster’s height. such an action was below him, that’s why he only peers down through his lashes at grim who confusedly shook his head.
he mocked, voice coming out stuck between a low rumble, and a growl. “your ‘henchman’ owes me now, makin’ me wait all that time and being a no show.”
as if to showcase his irritation, his tail flicked sharply. ears pulled back but twitching at every little sound like he expects to catch yuu in the action of hiding from him or something. grim begs to differ because he has no idea where you were.
it must have shown on his face but leona refused to be in the dark about your whereabouts. “so,” he squinted, flashing a canine tooth. threatening all the well, and of course less than happy. “if you tell me where that herbivore is, maybe i’ll spare you from the storm that’s coming to them.”
more like tell me now or you’re not gonna like what’s gonna happen next! grim cried in his mind.
leona tilted his head, eyes skimming from grim to the surrounding room. “or maybe i can just bring the storm here? this place’ll be nothing but a poor imitation of that scarabia with all the sand i’m gonna leave it in.”
“you can’t destroy ramshackle.” grim protested. “this is my–yuu's home!”
the male waved him off. “i’ll just rebuild it into somethin’ more suitable for them. easy.” briefly distracted after entertaining a thought, leona’s face smoothed down into blankness. “they can just stay with me.”
leona was in for the worst mood in the century when two whole hours after your designated meeting time at his dorm, like usual which you almost always upheld by being there in the first place, sometimes a little late but nonetheless present.
initially one hour was the most he was willing to wait. then leona thought to spare you another gracious hour before he eventually begrudgingly stood from his already comfortable position to the bed to look for you himself. there was no way he was going to pass up on quality sleep.
not that he would’ve tolerated waiting for five more minutes for others, much less an hour then two.
unfortunately. it was just you.
he flicks your forehead twice. “that’s for being two minutes late.”
you frowned at him.
he shook the memory off before it can fully be the pin in the inflated balloon he currently calls his emotions. he’d flick you more than one twenty times that’s for sure, until the only thing you’d remember was him, even though leona knows his finger would lose the force by the third flick and you’re simply just feeling him poking you.
“anyway,”
“yuu ain’t here. they went to meet you, didn’t they?!”
“that’s right.” his eyes narrowed.
“then it’s not my fault they didn’t show for your attitude!”
leona grinned and stepped a foot forward with a bit more force than necessary, creating a stomp that promptly startles grim. “what did you just say?” he taunted, daring. say it again.
he sidestepped the ball of blue fire that came from grim’s teeth. “i’m telling yuu.” he said off-handedly.
grim panicked, straightening and sitting in a manner that was almost docile. “no!”
the man scoffed at the silence that settles into the air. your little partner was useless when the only thing tying him to this college was you and the audacity to not ensure your safety boggled him so much leona was almost tempted to transfer you over to savanaclaw despite your countless denial.
better to be safe than sorry. he thought. he would rather you be safe than him be sorry.
one glance at grim and of course the yapping he’d been doing the entire time, leona concludes that this little thing wasn’t any better in the where in the seven is yuu department. the only thing he’s irked about is that he went all the way here–that you somehow made him go all the way here.
he pinches the bridge of his nose, turning on his heel and sluggishly descending the steps from the attic. he must be going mad.
grim does not bother to muster up any form of courage to ask where leona was going, he already knew.
he could only think about what was gonna happen to the poor soul called you.
on his way navigating through your sad excuse of a (temporary) home, leona can feel the presence of your many spirit friends staring. to some extent he understands why, he did almost bring the entire dorm down since his arrival and he hasn’t even used a drop of his magic yet.
they can at least be grateful he shut the door on his way out.
leona momentarily thought about simply using a transportation spell to get him to the mirror chamber, from ramshackle to the main campus… it was quite a far destination to go through back to back. maybe he should think about hitting up a mage who excels in mirror transportation.
whoever made the mirror chamber. for your convenience.
wait a minute. why should he be worried about your convenience when you just about stood him up?
leona decides against the spell. it was complicated, and his thoughts was not in the right place to focus on converting his body and mind at the same time. he reckons he might as well be sending himself to somewhere farther with his state of disarray.
all the way to the mirror chamber, his face was etched into a permanent scowl. leona only ever kept your notifications unmuted, so a buzz from his phone has him reaching and opening it immediately.
one new message from chek–
he shuts the phone as his perpetual scowl deepened.
if seeing leona actually roaming the halls and not dozing off somewhere was a surprise, his face was practically a loud sign warning to stay away. that’s exactly what the passing students did, spared a glance, double checked, then steered clear from his way without another attempt at gossip.
they knew he could hear whatever they were saying. not that he cared enough right now.
the strange feeling of getting transported from the mirror chamber back to savanaclaw shortly takes all thoughts from his mind before it returns as he registers the familiar feel of his dorm, soothing but not quite home. home would more so be a person to him than a fleeting thing like a place.
like…
“dorm-leader!”
“welcome back!”
“what were you up to, dorm leader?”
a chorus from entirely different people sound from the therianthropes likely practicing for a match that was ages away. such was the spirit of savanaclaw students that want to excel in one singular area like magishift when they put their mind to it. leona can atleast say he feels the same.
the long sigh he emitted was a quick sign he was annoyed, a sign that his dorm residents have learned to read over the years. they doubled down from their excitement at seeing him and settled a bit more pliantly.
most probable thing tied to his temper nowadays was probably you.
a lynxes’ ears twitch as he recalled seeing you earlier, talking to cheetah. so why was the dorm leader mad? “leona-senpai.” he started cautiously as the male walked past him, not sparing him a glance but definitely listening.
leona thought lynxes was just greeting him until the other continued. “you here to see yuu-yuu?”
he stopped in his steps, the slow swing of his tail betraying the nonchalance plastered across his face. from the way he turned his head over a shoulder a little was his own universal gesture of urging someone to continue.
despite a moment of excitement at the prospect of his dorm leader paying attention to him, lynxes relishes it quickly. “yuu was just on their way to the dorm.” he continued as cheetah perked up at the mention of the name. both of them do not think too deeply on the obvious uncoiling of the tenseness from leona.
cheetah nodded along. having resigned to resting by one of the bleachers seeing as he’d been playing for over half an hour. “yeah. the little human dropped by earlier with their scrawny self smelling good.”
at leona’s critical eye, cheetah back tracked. “like food. i’m sure it was for you, leona-senpai.” he huffed, sharing an incredulous look with lynxes. geez…
the only really scary thing about yuu was the fact that you’d managed to wrap their dorm leader around your fingers like it was nothing. you seemed like you weren’t even trying anyways! you were just… there, and it’s like leona’s the one keeping you close even though he was notorious for, well. doing nothing.
“where’s the herbivore?”
“they were on their way to the dorm.” lynxes replied.
cheetah sighed wistfully. “what a shame, really. was really looking forward to yuu-yuu playing magishift again.”
lynxes snorted. “doubt they can even hold up the weight of the disk alone.”
“i meant as our disk like before, doofus.” cheetah nudged him., lynxes scowled lighty at the name. both of them chorus a farewell to leona who had already started retreating after catching the answer to his question. if you were here, while he was over at your place… was that a waste of time then?
perhaps.
he can’t feel a bit annoyed. at the timing–then at the fact that he feels relieved.
leona only grunts in response, his own unique way of a thank you that eliminated the unnecessary need for words. good thing his dorm residents understands his non-verbal cues at least, more so you.
you had an uncanny ability to detect quite a lot about him since, well… the more time you spent together. you said he was grumpy when he doesn’t do anything–which is insane considering he doesn’t do anything at any given time (you just mean he’s grumpy all the time.) and when he asks, you only mimic the look of ‘his grump’.
a response to you. “i don’t look constipated.”
a response to him. “so you’re saying you look constipated?”
the man stepped into his dorm, a certain haste in his steps that does not drain his energy but makes him feel more alive with each assuming step closer to you as he directs himself into the wide area of savanaclaw to his own room.
he barely registers the murmurs of greeting that fly his way with each dorm mate that spots him roaming the halls. of all students in night raven college, it's his own that are most brave enough to still spare him a greeting even if he seemed not in the mood. of course it is, only his dorm doesn’t have cowards.
not that he’s not in the mood anyway. a few minutes ago, sure. but now? he’s begrudgingly unable to deny the anticipation that threatens to lift his lips.
unfortunately he passes by ruggie who immediately walks backwards with his pace to annoy him surely. “leona-san.” he greets with a grin, resting his hands behind his head and skillfully ignoring the incoming obstacles called people.
thanks to his reputation around, the greetings to leona are also mixed in with a ruggie-senpai, or a ruggie-san if it happened to be a first year.
leona gave ruggie the stink eye. “leave me alone.” he grunts out, impatient as he walked.
ruggie makes a show of letting his eyes drift down to his legs. wider steps. “you’re in a hurry.” he observes slyly. compared to other openly tactical students–ruggie was subtle to himself, never quite revealing any cards until the very last resort. one of the reasons leona kept him close. “didn’t know there was anything exciting in ‘vanaclaw.”
the hyena chuckled to himself, raising his brows at a passing sweaty student who was on the verge of a brawl with another.
“don’t care.” replied leona.
“been gone for a while.” ruggie threw back. “i don’t think i’ve ever seen you mope around in your room for so long, and tail it out.”
by the time leona finally spared him an irritated glance, he was speaking again. “so, did ya find em’?” ruggie didn’t need to be told what form of craft had leona rising from his comfortable coffin and going venturing out. its you, always has to be you somehow. be it in savanaclaw or elsewhere.
“no.” he rolls his eyes, finally opening the door to his room about to turn back and shut the door in ruggie’s face–but that was when he expected to see you pliantly sat on his bed and waiting because you owed him that much.
leona stops. staring at the empty space of his bed. he looked around the room, no sign of you but a whole lot signs of ruggie which wasn’t what he was looking for at all.
so he doesn’t care who’s been snooping despite the shameless animal behind him if it didn’t have anything to do with you.
“you came back, empty-handed?” ruggie quirked a brow, dropping his hands from his hair and tugging at the signature scarf of his dorm around his neck with a glance around. “gee. it's hot in here.”
leona pinched the bridge of your nose. whatever semblance of a good mood he had moments ago was thrown out the window when he found–that you were indeed not here in his room where he expected you to be. where else? you weren’t too buddy-buddy with any other dorm mates besides jack, and jack was in his room when he passed it.
you weren’t there either.
cheetah, and lynxes… he sighed in his mind.
“look for that herbivore in each corner of this dorm.” he sniffed, shaking his head.
leona pauses.
he sniffs again.
a scent of yours invades his nostrils, calming his rising temper to a halt suddenly. he stops, and looks scrutinizingly around the room with key focus. you were in here, somewhere. leona took a step closer to the bed, following the warmer tinges of your smell.
he took a right. it faded slightly so he went back.
by the time he was hunting for you, ruggie curiously took a deep inhale and wrinkled his nose. “ack… now this place smells like yuu-yuu. to think i thought them smelling like you was bad.”
it was true, the scent was particularly stronger than it should be. had he not noticed? the closer he walked to the bed, the stronger the smell was. with each step it practically swirled around in his head to the point where he could just sleep deeply in comfort, tricked into thinking you were laying right next to him.
like you were next to him,
leona stops by the side of his bed, narrowing his eyes at the crinkle of his sheets.
he stared closely until it seemingly squirmed at his intense stare, shifted a bit to the side like there was someone on it and leona’s hand shot out above the area. surprised to feel a limb, ankle perhaps? fit loosely within the confines of his palm.
“gotcha.” he whispered in triumph, tugging at whatever he had grabbed. it felt like a body, a potion perhaps? it didn’t quite feel like you, leona would know how you feel because he felt you in his soul.
leona, and ruggie stared in startle when the air flickered like translucent mirrors that reflected the light, and warped into something entirely.
“a little kid!” ruggie shouted in alarm, scurrying to leona to take a closer look.
the kid in question was… weird. more specifically, they smelled strangely familiar which was strange in the first place. leona leaned in, to which the kid squirmed when he inhaled deeply from the steady pulse of their adrenaline from their neck.
“who are you?” he all but growled, ruggie grimaced at his tone of voice like he was judging the way leona dealt with kids. surprisingly, unlike the usual intimidated bundle they only look vastly annoyed, like leona was a bother.
safe to say the man picked up on that as well.
they turned their head stubbornly. “you’re ruining my nap time!” they exclaimed–it was official. he was a bother. green met green and leona faltered when a haze of confusing familiarity stared at him right in the eye.
he glances at the pair of ears, a ribbon wrapped just below the fluff of hair at the edge of their tail. they must have sensed it because they huffed at his face.
“jealous?” they said at his stupefied face. “mada gave it to me earlier when i found them.”
he doesn’t know who mada is but they have terrible taste.
“a lion therianthrope.” leona observed.
“obviously.” the kid replied.
the former’s face soured, the latter snickered.
“looks like a baby you, but more sassy.” ruggie quipped.
the room pauses. first of all, leona briefly remembers the scent he was following and quickly determined that while this kid was swarming with your smell, it still wasn’t the strongest in the room. second of all, why?
“oi,” he grunted, rearing back when they swiped at his face at the prolonged proximity. “keep your claws in. you better have a good reason why you’ve been keeping my herbivore from me.”
“mada is mine!” retorted the kid with a distasteful scrunch of their nose as they turned their head away from the man, closing their eyes as if it was giving them a disability to look at him any longer. who was that?
leona’s eye twitched and one glance at ruggie quieted the hyena from an ongoing cackle of glee immediately–though he didn’t seem too prone to stopping considering his alternative was looking away so leona doesn’t see his grin.
contrary to the proud stand of the child’s ears, leona’s own flattens in response and he has to remind himself that he’s above chucking random kids who happen to smell like you out the window. “i don’t know who your mada is but–”
“mada is mada.” they huffed.
“...”
leona was quite forced to drop the little ‘rascal’ or so he thought when they feigned a bite at his arm. they plopped down back onto his bed, body too little so they bounced off a little. then… they scurried from the edge, away from him all the way to the edge and grasped at air.
literally holding onto air, fingers clenched around something.
his eyes sharpened. “what else are you hidin’?” he queried at the kid who boredly stuck out a tongue but hid back when his scowl deepened. to some extent he figured it was you, a quiet dispel incantation in his mind sent a wave of magic and the air flickered again to reveal the suspect of his most eventful day.
yuu. you. whatever
you looked like you just got caught hiding beneath a bench in broad daylight, your eyes drifted to the child and hilariously enough, seemed as though you also wanted to hide behind them. “novu…” you murmured lowly, as if all three therianthropes in the room could not hear you clearly. “you said i have to keep quiet and he won’t find out!”
novu blinked repeatedly. their demeanor falling slightly with the curl of their ears, they seemed strangely docile compared to the half bothered demeanor that was in the face of leona. “papa always finds us when we hide.” they whispered back, pursing their lips. “he’s a cheater interrupting our nap!’
you nodded vehemently. “true, he is.”
ruggie coughed. “wait, wait… about leona being this kid’s… papa or a cheater?”
“...”
“both!” replied novu cheerfully.
this time you seemed to be in jetlag to process the information, staring at novu’s face before it shifted to leona. “huh,” you murmured. they kind of looked alike, from the eyes, to their seeming shared feline traits. “HUH?!”
you sat up immediately, hands shooting to the small shoulders of novu who perked up–instead of being offended by your sudden startle they seemed incredibly pleased and nuzzled into the warmth that seeped from your palms through their top.
“what do you mean papa?” you swallowed. suddenly feeling incredibly nervous, especially with the heavy aura leona is emanating behind you, you really don’t want to turn around and see what kind of expression he’s wearing on his face.
the urge to shake the kid who had technically kidnapped you from the forbidden thing called crashing leona time then happily insisting it was novu time now. just a few intentional widening of their eyes and you begrudgingly followed them along to leona’s room which was surprisingly devoid of the man himself.
just from the small bits of his, and ruggie’s conversation when they returned you easily concluded he came looking for you.
and… well, you don’t really want him to see you at the moment when you unintentionally-intentionally blew him off.
you meant. it’s fine, right…? you do spend a lot of your time with him, so just a few hours wouldn’t be too bad.
everything is not fine! you screeched in your head. any hopes for respite from these two were promptly thrown out the window when novu’s face soured when they glanced at leona.
“papa doesn’t share you with me, so i have to take you first.” novu said proudly. at this point the hands on their shoulders weren’t enough so they climbed on your legs and slumped against your front, distinctively making a sound of contentment as they relaxed.
befuddled, frazzled, more words relating to perplexed ran through your head as you confusedly wrapped your arms around the little figure and pet the top of their head. novu seemed especially pleased when your fingers neared the fur atop their ears and even rubbed their head against yours in what seemed to be affection.
still shocked to oblivion, as in my soul just left my body you turned your wide eyes to leona who, to your surprise, did not bear a face of grump but a more unsettling blankness that cleared any semblance to emotion really. he stared intently at your head, obviously ignoring the disappointed look ruggie is digging to the side of his.
the hyena–when he caught your gaze also spared you a shake of his head as if he was non-verbally insulting you with an insinuation of something you haven’t even done, or yet to anyway.
you had briefly caught snippets of their exchange during your small interaction with novu, leona growling out an out which left ruggie no chance to deny but concerned enough with the new addition being seen to close the door on his way out.
when leona finally spoke, he furrowed his brows at novu. a flicker of annoyance at the sight of the clear coddling of the little one against you and the fact that you welcomed it. “i don’t have any kids.” he huffed like it was obvious.
novu did not open an eye but spared him a reply. “i don’t know how you and mada made me but you’re my only papa, and they’re my only mada.” despite their previous acts against leona, they were oddly proud of proclaiming themselves as his child.
leona raised a brow. he reluctantly softens, or instinctively you’re not sure.“you’re not from around here, are you?” he quipped. the bed dips under the new weight as he settled down next to you, surprisingly restrained enough not to pluck the kid out of your grasp and take their place.
he leaned back against the pillows, resting the back of his hand on his forehead.
“i’m where i’m supposed to be.” sniffed novu, a lower tilt to their voice trailing off that spoke volumes about their state of consciousness. “with you, and mada.”
novu nuzzled against you, shifting slightly like they wanted to wriggle out. you retracted your arms to your sides and they sighed deeply when they settled in the middle of the bed, eyes still closed and breathing evening out.
“don’t leave me for so long.” they yawned.
you blinked.
leona kept staring at the ceiling.
why was he so docile?! you were still trying to wrap your mind around it all!
“goodnight.” you muttered dumbly.
you turned your head to point a sharp gaze at leona–who sighs, feeling your stare and grumbled under his breath.
“night.” he rolled his eyes.
the room lapses in silence from a while, bathed in the dawning set of the sun. you considered stealing a blanket from leona’s drawer but decided against it, considering the dorm is still quite humid even at this time of day, if you were at diasomnia you’re sure you’d have frozen to death even with a pile of them on top of you.
you snuck a glance at the elusive novu, their energy burnt out as they fell to a sound sleep, occasionally their ears twitched when your body shifted the slightest bit, reaching out as if you keep you from going.
aw. you kept still.
“is this my future?” you sulked to yourself, sighing as the weight of your shock faded into the air and left you slumping against the bed.
“is it so bad?” leona commented after your remark faded a bit.
you crossed your arms, sneaking a glance at him. “they’re cute.” you referred to novu.
not an answer to his question. leona thought in irritation, you always did have a way with a head made up entirely out of air. then again, his might be as well if he’s taken such a deep liking to you that prevents him from letting go–that in the first place was demented of him, he was not clingy.
leona does not entertain the pictures that his mind conjures to rebuke his denial of fondness in physical form.
sleeping on you, teaching you chess, keeping you close? that was just him collecting pieces to discard.
sure.
“just sleep, you’ve been looking for me all day, right?”
leona closes his eyes. “i have.”
he’d just have to give you a reason to look forward to seeing a novu again.
⎯⎯ . . .
by the time you woke up there was something draped around the bed.
you instinctively patted the space next to you, not feeling the strange feel of novu but the hard plane of leona’s cheek. he does not swat at your hand but spares you an annoyed scowl. you note that he’s… well, a lot closer than he should be even with the missing space of novu between your bodies.
oops. the only thing to pull leona out of a grumpy mood in the morning was a meal. you clearly did not have the current power to do so as you had… fed the doom sandwich to a pouty novu.
thankfully ruggie popped in, barely blinking at your sprawled figures on the bed but more surprised at the missing recent addition. “where’s your lovechild?”
jack’s voice rose from the hallway. “their what?!”
“get out.” leona sneered. “you’re ruinin’ my morning.”
it wasn’t already ruined?! all three of you cried in your minds.
trivia
their unique magic is “from where do you see me?” which you might already guess is being able to conceal themselves in thin air, alongside a thing, or person they have to be directly touching as they’re still young, and inexperienced to properly control their unique magic without a medium.
novu is written to be an equally cheeky 7 year old that happens to take naps very seriously, and not so energetic when deprived of sleep (i’m trying to write all of the children to be generally gender neutral lol but i do have a ‘implied [gender]’ next to their names in the draft lol! as you might guess, alice is feminine… but what about novu?
a second italicized word means that it was novu! for example: ‘must have been the wind’ is really just the wind, whereas: ‘the wind knocks you to the ground’ is the cheeky novu!
cheetah, and lynxes are not their actual names. just called them what they were, which is an actual cheetah, and lynxes therianthrope who both respectively belong in the family of big cats.
unlike alice who was on a clock during their time in the past, novu wished to sleep well and was sent back in time to find you so they can enjoy a lengthy sleep as the future you had not returned home alongside future leona due to a political exchange.
so once they finally fell asleep, they will eventually return.
yuu hid the sandwich and tailed it out of the cafeteria immediately, not wanting to stick around to know that one of the non-humans with crazy senses smells it on them and decides to target them!
ruggie usually doesn’t comment on the weather of savanaclaw but he does say “its hot in here.” because it felt warmer compared to the outside, which didn’t make sense. it was very much due to yuu, and novu in the same room.
magical shift disks are known to be heavy in weight alone, that’s why it's mainly used to direct imbued in magic. yuu did, actually get roped into a game by being a disk which was… an experience.
jack was supposed to be hear but i missed the bullets where i outlined him LOL
writingerror on archive of our own inspired partial parts of this work (as well as me writing once again honestly) which includes the interactions with students to yuu, as well as the.. yuu being a disk part which is a chapter in one of their works!
the reason why leona’s ‘morning’ is not ruined despite him already being bothered first thing is due to you!
premise. crash landing from the future is apparently your kid, not that you know that anyway... in the form of a mixture between you, and your... supposed counterpart, clues are bound to pile up as to whose child this is.
parts. rosehearts, kingscholar, ashengrotto, al asim, schoenheit, shroud, draconia
cont. gender neutral reader, use of 'mada' which is just 'mama' and 'dada' cut in half for our resident shrimp (aka yuu), octavinelle's shady business deserved it's own tag, 7.0k words
note. hiii again! it took a whole month for this to come out hehe. my honest opinion, the kid here is the cutest I've had to write. I really love em' 🤎 most of the good parts of this fic is near the end where they start interacting with yuu!
azul
ashengrotto did not do things himself–it sounds bad, by extension. like he was incompetent but most of the student body of the school knew better than to assume so, much less say it out loud. associating with him came with consequences, but much larger rewards to sow if you were actually useful for him to keep close.
why should he exert much effort from the body when his mind had already done the work? he rewarded his employees well after all.
his grip was iron. figuratively, and literally. no slip through for an exit, if he let go then it was because he wanted to. he does things when he wants to and watches it all play with a critical eye. he let his actor take point center, relish the spotlight where in the end, he can bask under the light. what was rewards without hardships?
azul does things for you despite himself.
like now, he’s desperately trying to pluck out every thought of you like a needle stuck in hay from his mind because he was not at the local store for you, but for a business opportunity.
like before, when he would inevitably grace you with pointers for advanced lessons for better preparation. muttering something about him not nurturing employees that lack the essence of his dorm–intelligence, and wit.
like after, he’s not so sure if there is one now. who would take back what he said? him? ashengrotto?
everything is so within a script he plays that he tells himself that he let you storm off because he willed it.
“you wouldn’t know what it’s like to be special,” he shouldn’t have regretted the remarks that flew from his mouth as a defense mechanism that wrapped around himself and inevitably pushed you away. azul was special because he made himself to be (and you were special to him in a way that was irrevocably lost to him).
what did you do? how did you do it?
azul did not want to hold onto someone so sought after, he wouldn’t handle it well if you chose another warmth to run into, he only made investments that he was sure he would win.
he watched when you straightened abruptly from his words. like his voice struck you even when he made sure it was a sound that drew joy from you, you don’t look happy. you breezed past him like the wind, not unkindly but something fleeting that he can’t grasp at.
after all, no one can hold onto the wind.
a pair of eyes follow his frisky movements with amusement–since when did the perceptive, at ease azul struggle to focus picking off the most ripe ruby berries? he’d been staring at the fruit for so long that even floyd, whose attention was frayed by other aisles.
jade had only been interested in the mundane task of shopping when he spotted a tray of fungi on sale, his eyes sparkled. so azul compromised to purchase some free of charge if he was diligent in his work afterward. over time the interest faded, it was simply routine until he exited the aisle after a quick skim and found azul in the same spot.
then floyd got interested at whatever jade was standing by and idly observing.
now, they’re both looking at azul.
“he’s still sulking?” floyd scrunched up his nose as azul threw a perfectly decent ruby berry back into the basket, in his opinion anyway why was there a need to spend so much time finding perfect ones? azul was not as interesting to poke at considering he hadn’t blown up at floyd yet.
marine creatures are much more fun when they puff up. he had told his brother who agreed without any insight.
azul can only take much of floyd, and if he’s still keeping to himself by now it must have been serious.
and! more fun to see if pushed too hard. chuckled floyd in his head.
jade does not stray his eyes from azul. “it appears so.” he agreed with a light hum, he took the pack of eggs from floyd’s hands and set it in the basket before the latter got any ideas of breaking it–more so if it was related to throwing them at azul’s head specifically.
“but i would say it is brooding rather than sulking.” he added unhelpfully to azul’s case to which floyd merely shrugged in response.
“you do know i can still hear you both?” azul drawled from the stands. seemingly finding two more ruby berries adequate enough so he discards them at the basket hanging from his inner elbow. when he has forcefully moved his gaze from the fruits to the two, he is given the full extent of the amusement on their faces.
for floyd, lack thereof.
“indeed.” jade flashed him a smile.
floyd continued for him, shifting on his feet with one hand buried beneath his pocket. “that’s why we’re talking, azul.” cause you can hear us.
in response, azul merely crinkled the two of his brows. he briefly pondered to grace them with a response, but what would simply be adding more oil to the flame and he greatly disliked fire. the twins offered a brief respite from the hurricane of thoughts that was you, he supposed he could at least be grateful for that.
even if they clearly didn’t intend so and relished his disdain.
he pushes up the rim of his glasses. “all done?” azul interjected. there were far better thing to use with time rather than spend it all teasing him–or for thinking of good old you that didn’t fit into any equation he drew.
he still snuck you in.
thankfully none of the two had the ability to read minds, as it happens jade might be eerily good at reading but peering into his thoughts was out of his range. if they did, he would simply never hear the end of it, could have left them all alone just so he could have a hint of privacy.
jade nodded, azul hands him the list. “double check in case floyd,” he glared pointedly at said male. “forgets something like last time.”
the last time azul was negligent in checking twice, floyd hadn’t been able to grab a bottle of witch’s essence. mostly because of the presence of you, where floyd had found trailing after you far more interesting than browsing the aisles for what he was supposed to get.
he was supposed to be irritated, he was until he was simply just a bit grateful floyd was near to ward off a persisting customer of the shop who found your ‘less than interesting magic-less capabilities’ apparently interesting enough to poke fun at.
azul didn’t take you with them anymore. due to floyd’s distraction or the possibility you’d be bothered again he isn’t so sure.
of course, he tied off that loose end with jade.
“i don’t get why we couldn’t have done this at sam’s shop.” grumbled floyd, stopping in front of their paths and is then ushered by jade forwards once more. the voice shakes azul from his recollection, that unfortunately was once again related to you–who shall not be named.
jade momentarily eyed azul who stares ahead as if to shake off his piercing stare. “of course, azul would only stop at the best for the prefect.”
the remark burned him. you who shall not be named burned him, and azul sort of liked it. his cheeks flared with warmth and he cleared his throat, fearful that it would come out as a scrawny, weak, affected croak. “this is for our new exclusive offer.” azul retaliated.
“so the birthday bash offer was not for the prefect whose birthday is today?” jade retorted.
the excited it’s shrimpy’s birthday? from floyd was only entertained by his brother who nodded in confirmation. he looks away from azul who made it a point to drill him a stare on the side of his head.
“that makes sense.” floyd said, stopping to lean by the register where the other two transfer their item of goods from the basket to the counter. “everyone else doesn’t deserve anything but nothing except for shrimpy.”
besides the other students that you had ‘beast tamed’ that extended to the twins, jade took you in steadily when you proved to be a fascinating specimen while floyd took more convincing when you pointedly ignored his attempts at intimidation.
now the tweel won’t even leave you alone. azul is only ever grateful a few times for it.
when thought about once, you embedded deeper in the mind. it must be what floyd as doing because he spoke again. “i haven’t seen shrimpy in a looong time,” he pouted, the cashier had rung up half the items at that point. looking sleep deprived, and their chatter was merely background noise.
“it’s only been 7 days.” azul corrected, unwilling to voice the and 2 hours that lingered in response to floyd’s quip.
“you could just say a week.” teased jade. “have you been keeping tabs?”
floyd off-handedly took jade’s phone from his pocket, having forgotten his back at the dorm. the latter does not argue considering it was better to let floyd run amok when the things he desired was innocent.
“i simply like to be informed well.”
ignoring the other two was easy as trein’s class (which was easy because he slept through mot of it). floyd inputted the password of his other and peered as the screen flared to something other than an ominous screen of a forest fungus. he, for one was glad to be free of the sight.
his face does sour into a blach when he finds the last thing jade was on is an online cart full of plants he didn’t bother to remember, and a few he associated with the list of fungi crewel gave them with the book to study for an upcoming test.
floyd isn’t sure if jade was trying out hands on learning or doing something weird with those… things again, like cooking them up and force feeding it to him.
he shuddered.
“about yuu?”
azul glared, floyd spared a glance to quietly laugh at the expression before returning to the device.
way too bright, he sniffed, swiping down to lower the brightness that was obnoxiously raised to the maximum setting and stopped at the myriad of notifications of missed calls.
“you buddy-buddy with oyster?” queried floyd as he found the number seven next to the red ping of a missed call.
jade tilts his head.
“or yellowfin tuna,” he read. “or flounder, or mackerel..”
floyd listed out the names as he scrolled, only pausing when he found the end to be an answered call from you four days ago. azul turns his head after handing off the newly bagged items as they made their way to the exit.
likely, he recognized those to be the species of his employees.
“we are dorm mates.” jade answered, they weren’t friends, colleagues at most but most prominently dorm mates.
floyd held up his phone. “you got like ten million missed calls from everyone at the dorm at this point,” he snorted. “and message from tuna hours ago about the lounge being in chaos.”
“what?” azul sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “i left flounder in charge, he’s capable.”
“clearly not capable enough, did azul make a lapse in judgement?”
“why you–”
“floyd.”
___
the dorm was in fact.
not in chaos?
the three stood befuddled at the surprising serene peace of the lounge. azul in particular crossed his arms and wondered when his employees got off making lies about the state of his lounge. if anything the atmosphere was better simply because everyone on the shift seemed to be in a good mood right now.
oyster passed along a bottle of coral sea refresher to a table of savanaclaw students with a smile which could be the sign of the impending doom of the world because all they knew how to do was brood, and brood, and brood about their state of finance as if azul isn’t their answer to that particular problem.
“did you teleport us to the wrong place?” floyd scratched his head.
“how dare you imply i could make a mistake.” azul snapped, reigning his temper in before he could fully grant floyd the satisfaction of seeing his patience fraying.
“you exerted your magic suddenly without pausing for mistakes.” jade chided. usually a teleportation spell could have moments to spare before the final incantation to polish beforehand to ensure the body is in one piece after the travel. a spontaneous one consumed larger magic due to lack of perfection.
if the reservoirs weren’t enough the spell would simply hurt the body instead.
azul sighed. “what can i do? the lounge cannot run well, or at least i was told.” his face twists into a cold stare of annoyance, eyes skimming the room, likely looking for flounder.
to his displeasure, he does not see them. only the startling smoothness that the lounge operates in at the moment. it was a sight that should have brought him satisfaction–just another variable in his equation to separate from his worries.
instead the sourness that had lingered for days now churned in his gut. no matter how much water he drank to flush it out, it stayed and that was strange because you did not.
floyd shrugged his shoulders. “eh, looks good enough to me. since it’s operating so well, we shouldn’t disturb them.” which was the less subtle form of i don’t want to work. azul could not read jade’s expression as usual, so he was unsure if he agreed with floyd or not.
he stared longer around. looking for a crack in the pristine management to put floyd as a temporary bandage
azul slumped his shoulders. “fine.” he relented, not without a heated glare at the side of floyd’s head.
then the eel was huffing, striding to the back where the dark halls extended to the inner dormitory of octavinelle. intimidating on purpose of course, to ward off just in case any stray, wandering customer came to close.
and of course, if they still looked past that. any octavinelle hungry enough for a fool was welcome to name it their prey.
he glanced sideways. “find flounder. we have much to discuss.” jade nodded, did not pry. a more favorable trait between the two brothers if you asked azul.
azul was just about to turn to the direction of his office, sort out his plans for the following week. ensure his current plans are not falling through, ponder about the state of you or maybe he can pick himself out of his towering, fragile pride that he’d let you tip over if you came back.
maybe.
you likely would not though, once he’s chased off someone they don’t come back. he does not give them a reason to, nothing in him to stay anyway. you had nothing but had something that briefly makes his heart stammer in a way that warms him even in the frigid cold of octavinelle.
he would need several hours to shrug off afterwards, lamenting over the time his thoughts scattered and he scampered around in his mind trying to pick off fragments. azul did not waste time, didn’t make the same mistake twice but still sought you out like a symbolic voice.
he’s never heard you sing, but he wants to hear it more than your stifling silence.
frazzled, azul grasps at the edge of his hat. tilting it down to hide even the slightest of skin over his distraught expression. forget about them! he protested against his mind, now his mind won’t even listen to him lately. stop thinking about them…
“azul,”
“not now jade.” he hissed, eyes shut.
“azul,” again.
“i told you to look for flounder just a second ago.”
“i suppose you don’t want to talk about the child skimming through your contracts?”
“whatever you do is none of my–”
blue eyes snap open to jade, tracing the line of sight.
a cold chill shriveled his spine. he had not fully registered the entirety of jade’s words, the word your contracts is what he zeroed in on with lazer focus as his legs jerked to move towards the bar. where he certainly did not keep his contracts and where a child was certainly skimming through quite a few diligently.
where did they find that? his eyes twitched, eyes unrelenting on the little thing. the better question was, who let it inside of mostro lounge! do any of them know he’s not allowed to bring any in here?
well, no one does.
still! a child? his contracts?
“excuse me,” he halted in front of their tiny frame, their legs barely even meeting the floor and hovering from the stool. if azul had to guess… they required some semblance of assistance to even reach it, begging the question who and why in the world when they are clutching onto his–! “i do believe you should not take what is not yours.”
azul could not help the frown that tugs at his face. he probably looks unfriendly, and frightening to a child now no matter how soft he forced his voice to be. he reaches out and grasps at the edge of the pristine parchment, tugging, smoothly rolling it to tuck into the inside of his coat without another word.
to make up for the sudden motion, he breaks into a smile. “you are not supposed to be here.” he states flatly, half aware of jade’s footsteps coming to a stop beside him.
the eel leans down slightly.
curiously. the child peers up without a sense of startle, just calm observation.
“mister jade.” they murmured.
said male’s brows quirked. “i would have remembered such a… small specimen.” he says, a subtle jab to their knowledge. a nicer way of prying he typically does not spare for problems, after all, it is a kid.
his eyes drift from the child to azul. not to share a look of confusion but to compare the eerie shade of blue that reflected back at him.
in a surprising act of sincerely, the child blinked and glanced at the hand that used to hold his contracts. “I'm sorry, papa.” they murmured, bowing their head in a show of what seems to be genuine atonement. their hand reaches out and clutches onto the coat of his dorm uniform, azul is feeling more surprised to the fact he hadn't recoiled away.
papa? he's not a papa! he blanched, forcing a wobbling smile.
at their point of eye contact only does he notice the striking similarity of his eyes. it reminded him of himself when he was young, that sort of innocence before it was tainted.
gravely. he shook it off.
though they seemed to have mistaken his silence for anger. their lips purse. “don't be mad.”
jade eyed the interaction with a glint of surprise. “you clearly shouldn't have a child in the future if you've made one so upset already.”
azul spares him a heady glare. “be quiet, jade.”
the child frowned lightly at that. “don't be mean to mister jade, papa.”
the eel in question grinned lightly. “that's right, papa. don't be so mean to the kind mister over here.”
azul is tempted to make his stare more harsh, and throw in the good old threat. it always worked for employees out of line, even if it was scarce to work on jade. so he had always pinned the punishment on floyd, who would then pester jade about being dragged about his mess.
that was how to keep jade in line.
halfway into it, he remembers the innocent child in front of him. holding onto him like he was their father. well, they certainly thought so. which was an extremely silly thought. still, azul bites his tongue before he can spew any semblance to ink on land.
once, jade had received the unfortunate end to his ink and wasn't too pleased.
safe to say he had never tried to dent his pot ever again.
azul clicked his tongue but for appearances sake, he manages another practiced smile at the kid. turning his head to hide a grimace as they tugged on his coat. “ahem… dear child, you are not supposed to be here.” he started. he wanted to back track, he did not want to sound like that crow! “how did you get here?”
“how about we inquire about this charming little one's name first?” jade cut smoothly.
the child perked up.
“i’m solon!”
azul's lips twitched–
“I haven't thought about a name yet.”
“don't tell me its another business thing? it's just to differentiate marine life!”
“hmph, I am not always so driven to success. I have time for other things, like pondering, and indulging your silly excuses for passing time like naming these creatures..”
“what would you name that little cutie there then?”
a shy little octopus in the corner? he paused. “a wise one named solon.” proudly said.
–downwards.
he wants to knock on his head this instant. how dare he betray himself again by drifting his thoughts to you? azul cleared his throat and feigned a cough. “is that so?” he croaked.
“and azul is your father, is that why you're here?”
the former shot him a look so incredulous that it was easy to read. you’re kidding. azul’s face read, both a non-verbal message to himself and jade. do i look like a father to you?
jade was almost tempted to give azul a nod out of spite, to see if his expression twist into deeper offense but then again the two had known each other for a while enough to read more clearly than others. they did not use the term friends to describe one another, more of a lasting companionship than anything else.
as long as he continued to be amusing, jade and floyd would stick by him. be occasional thorns on his side but nonetheless still there.
azul opened his mouth to reply before he could get prodded at further.
solon already answered for him with a nod. “yes, my papa.” to which azul’s eyes bulged through the fogging lens of his glasses. jade had never seen him so discombobulated that he could not help an amused, low chuckle under his breath,
always so interesting. he thought with a simpering smile. he’ll stay by for a while it seems. shouldn’t he call floyd to share the laugh?
it was not azul that pushed up the rim of his sliding glasses up the bridge of his nose, but his seeming younger counterpart. “papa’s establishment was failing so i saved it.” they added.
that solves the why is the lounge operating so good. so that means flounder was out of azul’s red zone. for now anyway!
“excuse you?” azul stammered. “mostro lounge is many things, but it is not a failing establishment!”
solon blinked. “oh, it's a mostro lounge? i thought it was an aquarium.”
“azul was always thinking of having something other than a restaurant for business.” jade mused in reply.
azul could not believe the audacity of this child. coincidentally looking the same as him or not… sharing the same name he shared only with you or not… mostro lounge could only be his only real child, something he raised from ground up with his own blood, sweat and tears yet here was this strange child…
he glanced up, watching the lounge around. azul will not deny that if solon really took care of mostro lounge in his absence, and flounder’s apparent incompetence…
his eyes glimmered. a business opportunity! his mind swooned. “would you like to work for me?” azul grinned lightly, voice tinged with sweetness.
again, jade unhelpfully cut in. “you’ll be arrested for child labor.”
oh, right that was a thing.
azul’s smile faded immediately as he sighed. if only chances came to him like this little one on a silver platter everyday, his business would simply be booming. he would even entertain jade’s idea of variety in his line.
it wouldn’t be too bad.
that way the names you bestowed upon those oblivious fish would be put to use.
ah! internally, he slapped himself.
on the other hand. jade was having the highlight of his day. he would say time of his life but that was only ever reserved for the time azul was scampering around to find a suitable gift for you for… well, no reason that he can remember at all.
after all, he had not been given the pleasure of seeing a pink octopus until then.
in hindsight. he noticed azul was quite down under the works, and even that description was too far off to describe the spiral of a mood that azul seemed to be going through. funny for a while but now quite boring. thankfully, this random child that spoke of odd things made azul interesting once more.
that interest transferred over to them in an instant as he surveyed their form. he had never met this one so he was not so sure how they knew of him, or even spoke so politely with respect for that matter. jade is used to seeing being held in high regard out of fear, not such positive emotion.
a grin breaks his lips apart as he spots the dangling shell initially hidden by their little sweater.
once upon a time he spied on azul giving you the exact same thing…
seems like my theory is correct.
wouldn’t it be hilarious to slap azul with that kind of truth?
“azuuuuul!”
the said male immediately groaned.
solon eyes brightened, letting go of azul’s coat instinctively as the latter quickly straightened his uniform. azul sighed deeply, bracing his remaining brain cells to stick together as he turned. “floyd, how many times do i have to tell you that yelling is unbecoming in the–”
he shuts his mouth at the sight of a blank faced you.
floyd, proudly it seemed, shook his arms in your direction as if you were a surprise. a surprise yes, but certainly not a pleasant one–! “tada!” cackled floyd, sliding an arm around your shoulders and tilting to the side. you wordlessly followed. “i got a tilting shrimpy with me!”
“kidnapped.” you corrected. not too pleased with the sight of azul either which only seemed to fuel floyd’s amusement.
oh. is that what it was? floyd was bored and in dire need of a drama to watch?
at first. you did not notice the little kid. neither did floyd considering he only ever paid attention to his area of ‘people’ which happened to be very few right now. so solon slipped from his radar, only paid attention to when he barrelled to your side.
startled. you hold a hand to their head in case they toppled over from the speed and force they ran over to you with.
floyd shamelessly pointed. “an fry shrimplet sticking to the shrimpy!”
all three of you send him incredulous glances.
“mada!” solon exclaimed with bright eyes, briefly glancing at floyd. “and mister floyd!”
the male in question tilts his head, looks at you, looks at solon, looks at azul then back at solon. “the fry talks!” he blinked.
“of course i talk. you’re always weird, mister floyd.” solon replied, not an ounce of intimidation on their chubby little face at floyd hovering until he leaned down to curiously peer at them. he pokes their chubby cheeks with a grin.
“you’re weird.” floyd retorted like it was obvious, another poke to their cheek has his teeth widening. “and round, hey, hey… you kinda look like az–”
“floyd!” azul snapped with rapidly warming cheeks.
when the male frantically waved floyd over–several times until the latter relented and swaggered forwards, you take the chance to adjust your grip on the child. feeling a sort of responsibility to treat youth with care came naturally as you settled one of your hands on the back of their head, letting them nuzzle all they liked on your stomach.
the other smoothed down the curve of their solider. you felt movement against your front, no doubt a delighted quirk of their lips. it brought a light smile of your own despite your initial wariness to be in the same presence as the intruder of your thoughts.
thoughts that came in either harsh hurricanes, memories less than pleasant swirling around in your head like a storm you can only brace yourself from or a gentle breeze, lighter memories that you couldn’t hold onto as they passed.
nor did you want to remember it again.
“hello there,” you greeted politely at the child who tightened their arms in response. when they looked up their lids were blown open, staring upwards at you with what you presume to be marvel. being the object of such a sentiment has you warming, absentmindedly patting their head. “i’m yuu.”
you also miss the look of offense flashing through azul’s face before he schools it into stubborn neutrality.
“i know!” bubbled the increasingly excited child who promptly bit the inside of their cheek lest they overflow. control what you show. solon thought to themselves but that was so incredibly hard when they could only focus on what they feel!
and what they felt was incredible admiration. even if you were unmistakably younger, more expressive due to the passage of time not caressing your soul long enough for you to be a cultivated version of yourself… this was still the same person that made your house a home alongside their father, who took a more prominent role in managing the smooth flow of the home.
you smiled wider, pinching their cheek. you could melt into a puddle with how the adorable fat stretches as you tugged lightly. would it be possible to shake this little one into oblivion out of cuteness? “i’m solon.” newly introduced solon adds, clearing their throat. “but mada, and papa calls me sol.”
mada? your smile doesn’t falter but you do blink slowly. papa?
you sniffed, glancing up the trio who appeared to be watching you with deep fascination. jade, more so, floyd, less so. azul… was staring pointedly at solon.
“is there a teen father at night raven or did you kidnap some child?” you snorted, tone laced with skepticism.
jade in particular side eyed azul and you followed his sight and could not help your train of thought as you peered back at solon, noting their similar features. huh.
“not at all.” the eel replied smoothly. “azul was just about to recruit a new hire though.”
you blanched. “that’s illegal!” or at least in your world it was… hopefully in this world it is? azul in question immediately straightened up at the feel of your disappointment rolling in waves and he could not help but sputter in defense of his already shattered reputation by you.
“i knew that!” he cried. too aggressive in the manner he shoves his glasses up the bridge of his nose to actually know that. “why wouldn’t i?”
“probably only seeing madol rather than the law.”
floyd snickers from his side–having grown bored of remaining idle, and instead striding towards you. he grasps at solon’s arm, about to pull them up and you frantically correct his manner of holding a child before letting him lift them up.
he holds him up under his arms and tilting his head. “you’re even smaller than shrimpy.”
floyd ignores you boldly smacking his side when he feigns dropping solon, who surprisingly does not even yelp in surprise. only blinking when they were temporarily suspended in air, and caught again. this time closer to your side as you tugged on floyd’s arm with a simmering glare.
“that’s a child, floyd!”
“eh? i just see a sticky fry.”
“you need to handle solon with more care. they’re not like me who you can throw around for a bit, i won’t stand for it.”
“shrimpy survived all the rough stuff and now, look. you’re tougher than all those other kids.”
the heat of your stare heightened until floyd pouted and deposited solon to your side. you shuffled several steps backwards. “that’s not how it works.” you pinched the bridge of your nose, refusing to open your eyes when floyd barked out an sure it is!
you also ignore floyd now attempting to rile you up once more–looking for entertainment, which is apparently you brawling with him.
“how did you even end up here?” you sighed defeatedly. at least you weren’t roped into reconciling with azul, which was what you initially thought when floyd popped out from the octavinelle’s mirror in the chamber. he had spotted you chatting with your heartslabyul companions and when they departed back to the space of their dorms he pounced on you.
no polite requests of letting you go loosened his grip as he hauled you to the lounge.
now you were, not talking to azul but instead holding a smaller version of him it seemed. well, good thing this one was cuter than that idiot.
you were spiralling back to azul and your face must have darkened because solon had paused to eye your microexpressions carefully. the squinting of your eyes, the displeased curl of your lips that only pulled down further the more you unconsciously glanced at azul…
he muttered something under his breath.
again, you sighed. “sorry–what was that?”
strangely enough, floyd stopped speaking.
… so did jade who joined floyd to pester solon with endless questions. do you only stick to shrimps? what do you do for your past time? why are you an algae? would you inform authorities if we took you under our wing?
you didn’t even want to question the last part.
when you look up floyd’s mouth was open in an intermittent yawn–one of his eyes was shut and there was moisture gathered on the corners. he was still staring quite interestedly at solon while jade seemed to just… stand still as a statue.
neither of them blinked.
feeling just like the day you found out magic was apparently real and people here could just levitate a remote back to them across a room, you snapped your gaze around. even the customers remained unmoving. you spotted a group of savanaclaw, one pointedly having hurled a glass towards a half dead server of octavinelle who had their back turned.
you contemplate walking over to save that guy from a possible injury before identifying said student to be one of your previous perpetrators–getting your stuff (especially when it was from professor crewel. back then you went to classes without much simply because you were too shameful to ask once more for a replacement) dumped in the fountain was indeed no fun.
goodluck with that. you mused in your head. call it your petty way of payback.
you glanced around for moments longer, lingering on kalim’s midst at some table.
“what in the world…”
apparently azul could move, like you. you’re not sure why and even dreading your predicament. in what world would time freeze and the only one unaffected is you, oh, yeah. your enemy that you self proclaimed in your head? twisted wonderland apparently…
besides your increasingly disgruntled face that you no longer try to mask in the presence of others considering azul is only ever the one you’d show such blatant dislike to now, he looks positively floored. while the turn of his head is slow as he stared around, his eyes are wide through his rims.
the arms encircled around your waist slid off, bringing your attention to solon who frowns lightly. their previous look of sparkling warmth was still present in their eyes, simply dwindled to highlight their look of seriousness. they crossed their arms.
“you’re my before mada,” solon pointed at you, then to azul. “you’re my before papa so now you have to go back to being lovey so i can go back to my mada and papa.”
both of your jaws drop.
“what?!”
“wait a second–this is going too fast.” you blurted, feeling a bit flustered. who would drop a big bomb like that so suddenly? this kid was saying you and azul have a kid in the far time ahead!
didn’t that mean you chose to stay here? or perhaps you never really did find a way back…
implications aside, it was certainly… an experience to hear it being said so outright. azul seems to think the same due to him gasping out an: “y-you mean…” he gaped, eyes darting to you and solon with reddening ears. “they’re my… we… have a…?”
gosh he was going to faint.
it was at least a pleasure to witness the eloquent azul struggling to conjure a coherent sentence. the more he glanced at you the more prominent his change of color was. it didn’t help that his attire helped it contrast from his complexion.
solon giggled, momentarily dropping their face of seriousness. “you said i’m the product of your love.”
azul squawked. “i said that?!” but, that was just so… embarrassing to say! why would his future self say that?!
you frowned. “is this a joke?” you asked seriously only deadpanning when solon nods.
“please make up,” they said sincerely. sensing both of your skeptism, they reached under the collar of their shirt pulling out a shell necklace that eerily seemed similar to–
your hand instinctively flew over your collarbone. panic giving way to unwanted relief. azul watched the motion.
he thought you threw it away since he did not see it.
“i want to go home.”
you simpered bitterly. you did too.
“mada please forgive my weird papa.” solon beamed, ignoring azul’s look of offense.
“if you do you’ll go home too.”
your throat twisted.
“you said me and papa is your home.”
before solon can spot the look of frozen shock from your face, they whirled around, smacking azul on the leg. the latter winces but didn’t look as reluctant as before. he’s even staring at you in the eye with something unreadable and heavy in his.
azul seemed to be weighing his pride the size of a mountain and the depth of his feelings for you that could probably only be measured by the neverending sea. it wasn’t infinite like some cheesy someone would proclaim, but it was calm at some parts, rough at the other but certainly deep.
something he can’t pinpoint a how but he knows.
he sighed deeply. “i apologize.” he said finally, voice low like he only wanted it to flow between the space of the three of you despite the time frozen. azul felt like that was how he spoke to his business transaction partners so he rephrased himself, there was a lot of them and only one of you. “i’m sorry.”
you squinted.
“my mind was clouded before.” he pursed his lips. “i… don’t want you to be special. that only meant you would be something others would be reaching for, i don’t want that. i’m selfish. you’re so special in a way that i can never take ahold of and keep to myself. i dislike it.”
“you’re terrible at communicating.” you pointed out gruffly. albeit less hostile than before, more inclined to hear him out. was being terrible with emotions an admission requirement here? is the concept of affection illegal?
azul chuckled at that. he did not smile–tried to but it fell. “with you it seems so.”
“yeah.”
“i don’t know how to atone.” he admitted and you only furrowed your brows.
“being mean to me isn’t a sin but it sure was unfair.”
you only heard a quiet agreement from him and pointed accusingly. “you’re going to listen to my demands until i say so, okay?”
iffed but carrying a plank to bridge the distance between two mountains, azul nods. “we should discuss it over a contract. i won’t change any terms.”
which was his sad version of an apology. you’ve come to learn that individuals here deviated from the normal and morally right way of doing things. the most you could do was to recognize that this was this world’s version of grovelling on the knees.
you only focused your attention on the brightening solon–literally bright like he was about to get sent to heaven or something. he was only smiling lighty, no teeth. something you’d see on azul’s face but solon did well in expressing something so little sincerely. his expression was brighter than the light he was encased in.
“you’re going home?” you sniffed, aware of azul quietly shuffling to the side where you were in your peripheral vision as if his small steps weren’t noticeable. you didn’t comment on it.
solon nodded enthusiastically. “mhm. thank you.”
they did not bother with a goodbye, it wasn’t a goodbye. they’d see you soon.
“bye, sol.”
you elbowed azul who had somehow managed to awkwardly stand by your left in the span of a few seconds.
he coughed, side eyeing you. “farewell, sol. keep that necklace safe. it is very precious.”
the child laughed. “don’t worry. papa has all the stuff he gave to mada in a box under your bed.”
azul’s eye twitched. “off you go.” it was more of to finally drag you off somewhere himself and a little bit of not letting any of his future secrets be jeopardized.
when the last proof of solon’s existence fades before your eyes, the world starts again.
“-our wing–?” jade finished, frowning when the spot where solon used to be, in front of you, was replaced by nothing.
he blinked. directing his gaze to azul, noticeably lighter who seemed to be quietly exchanging words with you.
“the heck?” guffawed floyd, rearing his head to squint at the two of you. “when did they make up!”
“go back to work.” azul snapped, grasping at your wrist and dragging you off to the direction of the back.
“are you two getting started on solon already?”
“jade!”
trivia
if you guessed, the time stop was solon’s unique magic: “a chilling stop” very boring name, i know. i kind of just spew the children’s UM names off the top of my head! like you have observed it is simply pausing time within a decimated space for a period of time. in this case, solon only paused time inside the lounge. everything outside remained in motion. the larger the range, the harder it is to keep up.
solon is written to be a ten year old cutie pie male! the necklace he was wearing is what past azul gave to past yuu, and future yuu will eventually give it to solon (yes, azul actually does have a box of trinkets he collected. some things from you, the other reminds him of you. it accumulated over the years and he couldn’t stop)
like the other kids who had specified conditions to return, in solon’s time, future yuu and future azul was in a fight, and he coincidentally (or intentionally?) got warped to a time where past yuu and past azul was also in a fight. their conditions to return home was to reconcile their before parents.
when they came back future parents also made up <3 (idk i am just yapping at this point)
yeah. azul was out here trying to recruit a kid just because they ended up doing pretty well with managing the lounge lol.
i accidentally deviated from my outline lol! originally azul was supposed to start interrogating the employees currently on shift as to why they’re letting a kid run the lounge. it was chaos before and solon made it run smoothly so they kind of just accepted it. better than azul coming back to chaos, right?
floyd’s nickname for solon “fry shrimplet” deviates from the babies of shrimps.
as you can see i didn’t see that particular line and i was writing the ending when i saw it!
the names of the employees are not their actual names lol but rather their species, just like what i did for leona’s part with the side characters.
You know what's so funny about being a Vil Schoenheit fan?
Remembering that he's a guy. I, like the whole twst fandom, gets fooled by his glamour, beauty and everything about him to forget that underneath all of that is a guy. I remember anticipating his sleep wear as one of those sheer pink robes with faux fur but in reality,
He's wearing what I assume to be a designer pajama set with a hair bonnet to avoid bedhair. I mean I am not complaining cus hello?? More Vil content for me but it reminds me to step back and realise I am still swooning over a guy.
His sleep wear makes sense since he's an actor and mostly likely very rich. He can afford that designer branded pajamas. Hell, it could be a sponsorship thing. Additionally it's not too extravagant since he is going for the elegant Queen vibe to honor his dorm. (I'm reaching for the stars on this one but it could be right)
Moreover, I remember reading about what happened in the Bean festival event. According to those who played it, Leona meticulously chose who to pick as his teammates. Makes sense, he's scheming and calculative. Also he's a chess player, he knows what he's doing. Meanwhile Vil just says the group to duke it out and the winner/s is his teammates which is the most jock thing to do. Like that's the most guy thing I ever heard.
So in conclusion, I yearn for the twst fandom to characterize Vil like a guy who just happens to be both masculine and feminine. We all collectively associate vanity, harsh and strict personality, beauty and glamour with the personality of a mean girl. Always remember, Vil Schoenheit is a guy.
☆ PAIRING : Yandere Kurt Wagner x Fem Angel Reader
☆ HEADCANON : How Would He Be With An Angel Darling?
☆ NOTES : English is not my first language. Hope you enjoy!
Kurt saw you for the first time during a mission with the X-Men. You descended from sky like a gothic renaissance painting—glowing, regal, beautiful. Your voice rang out like a celestial choir that also wanted him dead. The moment your six cute, fluttering winged eyes turned toward him in horror, he was smitten.
You called him “demon spawn” with such elegance, he actually got flustered.
“Thou reek of sulfur and failure.”
“Thank you—wait, what?”
He tried to introduce himself and offer a hand. You floated over it. Not past it. Over it. Like his existence was something sticky you didn’t want to step in.
He 100% thinks he’s in love.
Logan says he’s into being insulted.
You say he’s “a furry manifestation of God’s worst joke.”
He tells people you’re just shy.
Your floating eyes adore him. They blink sweetly when he’s around, chirp like pigeons, and one of them even gave him a flower once. You hate that. You punish them by making them watch sermons.
Kurt talks to them like they’re cats.
“Hallo, kleiner augenfreunde! Did she tell you about me? No? She never stops talking about me—of course she did!”
You’re the opposite of what people expect an angel to be. You’re a narcissist with zero patience, a superiority complex the size of the sun, and no internal monologue.
You insist you loathe Kurt. Disgusting little demon.
But every time he prays, you mysteriously appear to scold him for “appropriating sacred rituals.”
Girl, why were you watching him pray?
This man’s main character flaw is blind optimism. You spit on his face (literally), and he’ll say, “She’s warming up to me.” You explode a building because he touched your wing, and he’ll smile through the blood.
“She said I was a disgrace. That’s two steps up from unholy vermin!”
Everyone else is watching this like a horror rom-com trainwreck.
You know everything about him. His birth year. His favorite food. The exact softness of his tail.
You dream about strangling him. Or marrying him. Or both.
You followed him to confession once and stood behind the priest, breathing dramatically. He nearly cried.
Your inner monologue: Stupid fuzzy rat. If he smiles at me again I swear to God I will decapitate him in my dreams and also braid his hair and also kiss him once and then kill him again.
Kurt is unwavering. You try to push him off a building? Teleports back.
You insult his tail? Offers to let you touch it.
You call him "an eldritch wet cat in spandex"? He blushes.
Eventually, you start talking to him without barbs. Just a little. One of your eyes starts hovering around him even when you’re not there. You start appearing to protect him, but only under the guise of “killing him later.”
“Touch him, and I’ll annihilate your bloodline. He’s mine to destroy.”
Kurt: beaming “She cares.”
He once walks in on you lecturing a broken mirror for reflecting you “incorrectly.” You’re in a silk robe, surrounded by fire.
He shrugs and offers you tea.
You start screaming about how tea is beneath you. He hands you your favorite kind. You stare.
You drink it.
Your floating eyes blink rapidly.
You’ve never sneezed in front of anyone. Because angels don’t sneeze. You told everyone this. Loudly. Often. But one day during a mission briefing, something in the dusty abandoned chapel hits your nose wrong and—
You let out the most pathetic, high-pitched “chu!”
And then immediately disintegrate a pew from embarrassment.
Kurt, blinking: “Gesundheit?”
You, glowing with shame: “I will erase this moment from your mind and soul, you putrid blue salamander.”
The floating eyes start circling him apologetically.
He still thinks about that sneeze at night. It was adorable.
One day He gives you a gift. Wrapped in silver paper, tied with a ribbon that matches your hair.
Inside: a custom eye mask. Six of them. Tiny. Embroidered with golden wings.
“For your augenfreunde. So they may sleep better, ja?”
You go feral. Shouting, flying ten feet in the air, glowing bright enough to cause minor sunburns. You accuse him of mocking your “divine protectors.”
He nods solemnly. “Of course. I will humbly accept any punishment you deem worthy.”
You glare at him.
You take the masks.
You tell him they’re “being incinerated.”
You lie.
That night, the little eyes float in a circle, sleeping peacefully in their tiny angeli masks.
Once during combat, your hair gets scorched. Not completely—but enough to reveal one eye. You freeze. Everyone freezes.
You’re panting, hurt, vulnerable.
Kurt immediately teleports in front of you, covering your face with his own tattered cloak.
“You are beautiful,” he whispers, reverent, not even trying to hide the awe.
You slap him.
You scream.
You kick him so hard he crashes into a tree and apologizes for being in your presence.
You vanish for three weeks.
When you return, your hair is longer.
Your eyes flutter around Kurt like shy children.
You still call him a disgrace, but now your voice wavers.
The first time you touch him you were injured. Bleeding golden-blue ichor that shimmers like mercury. You insist you’re fine.
You start to collapse.
He catches you.
You slap his chest. “Unhand me, heretic!”
But you don’t teleport away. You don’t fly off.
You just… sit there. On his lap trembling.
He whispers a prayer.
You roll your eyes so hard one of your floating ones spins in the air.
But your hand?
It grips his tail gently.
And when he flinches, thinking you’ll bite it off?
You curl your fingers around it and squeeze.
“Disgusting appendage… warm.”
He nearly passes out.
You eventually let him hold your hand. Only because you were “cold.”
You get jealous when he flirts with anyone else—even if you were trying to murder him that morning.
And even though you still call him a demon in public, at night you whisper prayers of confusion to whatever god cursed you with affection for that thing.
Maenwhile, Kurt thanks God daily for letting him fall in love with a celestial nightmare in heels.
☆ PAIRING : Yandere Kurt Wagner x Fem Angel Reader
☆ HEADCANON : How Would He Be With An Angel Darling?
☆ NOTES : English is not my first language. Hope you enjoy!
Kurt saw you for the first time during a mission with the X-Men. You descended from sky like a gothic renaissance painting—glowing, regal, beautiful. Your voice rang out like a celestial choir that also wanted him dead. The moment your six cute, fluttering winged eyes turned toward him in horror, he was smitten.
You called him “demon spawn” with such elegance, he actually got flustered.
“Thou reek of sulfur and failure.”
“Thank you—wait, what?”
He tried to introduce himself and offer a hand. You floated over it. Not past it. Over it. Like his existence was something sticky you didn’t want to step in.
He 100% thinks he’s in love.
Logan says he’s into being insulted.
You say he’s “a furry manifestation of God’s worst joke.”
He tells people you’re just shy.
Your floating eyes adore him. They blink sweetly when he’s around, chirp like pigeons, and one of them even gave him a flower once. You hate that. You punish them by making them watch sermons.
Kurt talks to them like they’re cats.
“Hallo, kleiner augenfreunde! Did she tell you about me? No? She never stops talking about me—of course she did!”
You’re the opposite of what people expect an angel to be. You’re a narcissist with zero patience, a superiority complex the size of the sun, and no internal monologue.
You insist you loathe Kurt. Disgusting little demon.
But every time he prays, you mysteriously appear to scold him for “appropriating sacred rituals.”
Girl, why were you watching him pray?
This man’s main character flaw is blind optimism. You spit on his face (literally), and he’ll say, “She’s warming up to me.” You explode a building because he touched your wing, and he’ll smile through the blood.
“She said I was a disgrace. That’s two steps up from unholy vermin!”
Everyone else is watching this like a horror rom-com trainwreck.
You know everything about him. His birth year. His favorite food. The exact softness of his tail.
You dream about strangling him. Or marrying him. Or both.
You followed him to confession once and stood behind the priest, breathing dramatically. He nearly cried.
Your inner monologue: Stupid fuzzy rat. If he smiles at me again I swear to God I will decapitate him in my dreams and also braid his hair and also kiss him once and then kill him again.
Kurt is unwavering. You try to push him off a building? Teleports back.
You insult his tail? Offers to let you touch it.
You call him "an eldritch wet cat in spandex"? He blushes.
Eventually, you start talking to him without barbs. Just a little. One of your eyes starts hovering around him even when you’re not there. You start appearing to protect him, but only under the guise of “killing him later.”
“Touch him, and I’ll annihilate your bloodline. He’s mine to destroy.”
Kurt: beaming “She cares.”
He once walks in on you lecturing a broken mirror for reflecting you “incorrectly.” You’re in a silk robe, surrounded by fire.
He shrugs and offers you tea.
You start screaming about how tea is beneath you. He hands you your favorite kind. You stare.
You drink it.
Your floating eyes blink rapidly.
You’ve never sneezed in front of anyone. Because angels don’t sneeze. You told everyone this. Loudly. Often. But one day during a mission briefing, something in the dusty abandoned chapel hits your nose wrong and—
You let out the most pathetic, high-pitched “chu!”
And then immediately disintegrate a pew from embarrassment.
Kurt, blinking: “Gesundheit?”
You, glowing with shame: “I will erase this moment from your mind and soul, you putrid blue salamander.”
The floating eyes start circling him apologetically.
He still thinks about that sneeze at night. It was adorable.
One day He gives you a gift. Wrapped in silver paper, tied with a ribbon that matches your hair.
Inside: a custom eye mask. Six of them. Tiny. Embroidered with golden wings.
“For your augenfreunde. So they may sleep better, ja?”
You go feral. Shouting, flying ten feet in the air, glowing bright enough to cause minor sunburns. You accuse him of mocking your “divine protectors.”
He nods solemnly. “Of course. I will humbly accept any punishment you deem worthy.”
You glare at him.
You take the masks.
You tell him they’re “being incinerated.”
You lie.
That night, the little eyes float in a circle, sleeping peacefully in their tiny angeli masks.
Once during combat, your hair gets scorched. Not completely—but enough to reveal one eye. You freeze. Everyone freezes.
You’re panting, hurt, vulnerable.
Kurt immediately teleports in front of you, covering your face with his own tattered cloak.
“You are beautiful,” he whispers, reverent, not even trying to hide the awe.
You slap him.
You scream.
You kick him so hard he crashes into a tree and apologizes for being in your presence.
You vanish for three weeks.
When you return, your hair is longer.
Your eyes flutter around Kurt like shy children.
You still call him a disgrace, but now your voice wavers.
The first time you touch him you were injured. Bleeding golden-blue ichor that shimmers like mercury. You insist you’re fine.
You start to collapse.
He catches you.
You slap his chest. “Unhand me, heretic!”
But you don’t teleport away. You don’t fly off.
You just… sit there. On his lap trembling.
He whispers a prayer.
You roll your eyes so hard one of your floating ones spins in the air.
But your hand?
It grips his tail gently.
And when he flinches, thinking you’ll bite it off?
You curl your fingers around it and squeeze.
“Disgusting appendage… warm.”
He nearly passes out.
You eventually let him hold your hand. Only because you were “cold.”
You get jealous when he flirts with anyone else—even if you were trying to murder him that morning.
And even though you still call him a demon in public, at night you whisper prayers of confusion to whatever god cursed you with affection for that thing.
Maenwhile, Kurt thanks God daily for letting him fall in love with a celestial nightmare in heels.
premise. crash landing from the future is apparently your kid, not that you know that anyway... in the form of a mixture between you, and your... supposed counterpart, clues are bound to pile up as to whose child this is.
parts. rosehearts, kingscholar, ashengrotto, al asim, schoenheit, shroud, draconia
cont. gender neutral reader, use of 'mada' which is just 'mama' and 'dada' cut in half for our resident shrimp (aka yuu), a yummy 5.8k words that I did not expect to get this long lol
note. I only have a rough outline of what's going to be included with the others parts after the names of the kids lol. I'll probably write leona's as usual after this but I can't promise I'll release one more part after his this month, the rest will probably come next month considering I'm bombarded sadge. paper defense, then final exams next month save me
also hello! my unnofficial: I'll try to post more
late edit: comment if you want to get tagged <3
riddle
when you slid a foot over the portal to heartslabyul there’s some sort of a strange–inexplicable air that surrounds it. usually the dimension is light to be in, unlike the tingling feelings of being in octavinelle or the eeriness of ignihyde. all dormitories had their own particular sensation that weighs on you depending on where you were.
you squinted, deciding to shrug it off. there was no way you had a sixth sense for feeling in the literal air!
barely a foot in though, was something you could only explain as an army of card… soldiers trudging from the other end of the sidewalk to the next. dumbly, you stopped right in front the shimmering portal that settles into a smooth sheen of silver behind you as they just kept coming.
they seemed to be looking for something–or whatever but you don’t really want to know what so you slowly inched to the side, hoping to sneak past them even if you had to go into one of the confusing mazes (which was a struggle considering you’re trying not to laugh as one of them trips).
must be ace’s wretchedness rubbing off of you.
the real question was, where in the seven were your resident idiots? you’d already sent a text over for your impromptu visit to the chat consisting of you three and figured they had seen it like they usually do then waited for you with feigned begrudging-ness that does not fit well with them showing up in the first place.
you fish for your sad excuse for a phone in your pocket, cater’s words not yours. you’re more busy trying to merge your backside as you shuffle and pull up the chat to notice the ever nearing edge of the hedge wall that makes you stand out in comparison to the lighter shade of green brushing against your uniform.
not deuce: you guys ever notice the card soldiers infestation near ur mirror portal…?
not ace: you nedea to RNR RUN RN!!
not yuu: what???
there’s not much time to ponder about the cryptic, seemingly panicked expression of deuce’s message as you looked up from your phone, feeling a slight chill crawl up to your spine like you attracted some sort of unwarranted trouble that is also unwanted.
disclaimer: you (uu) did
“over here!” an unfamiliar voice yells, freezing you in your tracks just when you were about to make the sneak of the century. without a moment’s hesitation you darted deeper into the maze and shoved your device within the confines of your pockets as you held in a mortified scream at the sudden mob upon your tail as you ran.
WHY WAS THERE SO MANY? you yelled in your mind. number one rule in horror games don’t look back. don’t look back. don’t look back–
oh sevens you’re looking back.
the decision immediately fills you with regret when you spot the diabolical amount of card soldiers trailing after you like you just slaughtered their queen in front of whatever kingdom they came from! was this someone’s unique magic? there was no way riddle would let this sort of thing go rampant on his dorm!
you almost keel over in shock when the pointy end of a heart on the end of a pole sticks right on the patch of grass you just barely managed to trudge across with increasingly heavier steps. maybe you should actually take jack’s offer to join track and field–your stamina is horrible–you’re gonna get stabbed.
goodbye world. you thought warmly with a chorus of pants.
a deeper voice bellowed from the crowd from your behind. “three of hearts! are you thin-headed? do not harm the majesty!” the steps behind you stop almost abruptly, and you don’t stop running even as the voices fade. idiots for choosing to chastise their idiotic comrade but you’re not complaining as long as you get away from this horrid situation.
your majesty what now?
you don’t know how far you ran by sticking to all left turns until you flop down on the entrance of the maze, the archway barely offering you any relief as you took deep breaths and fought the urge to lay down on the grass and hope it camouflages your grey uniform.
that won’t work but you’re coping at this point.
not deuce: HELLO I ALMOST GOT SKEWERED BY LITERAL CARDS?
not yuu: that’s a humiliating way to go down from
not ace: don’t be insensitive ace! are you ok?!
not deuce: NO? WHAT IS GOING ON
not yuu: riddle got dethroned and i'm not even happy
not yuu: it's the absolute WORST AT THE DORM!
not yuu: you better turn back rn and get away from ‘labyul coz it’s getting run by a kid
not deuce: BACK INTO THAT DEATH MOB? no thanks
not ace: yuu brace up, cater texted that the new boss is on his way to you
not yuu: F for yuu
not ace: F
not deuce: F u
what you expect to be the final boss of your life, you guess from the approaching pairs of footsteps nearing your defeated form sprawled across the flecks of grass and still heaving comes in a surprising form of softness, and youth.
“mada.”
the blueness of the sky is shadowed by a tiny little head peering over your head. you’re startled by the tuff of red hair, and familiar pair of eyes which was strange, considering you have never seen this kid in your life. this was the new queen of heartlsabyul? you thought incredulously, since when were kids allowed in nrc…?
the thought was a breeding ground to raise the most evil person on the planet, considering the equally as evil people in night raven.
out of habit from the familiar chubby, round face you blurted: “riddle?”
the child blinked before they shook your head. “I am not papa.” their lips twitched into a small smile directed to you. if taken a closure look, this child’s resemblance with riddle really is uncanny. from the hair, even to a small golden crown sitting primly on the middle of their head. “mada, I am glad I found you. I have not seen papa yet.”
was this season 5 of stranger things?
they straightened. attention straying from you as you glanced to the other pairs of legs, whom you put a face to quickly. trey and cater both cast you a look of exasperation and pity.
then done like a true riddle–their face does a complete 360 and curls into anger as they stared off inside the maze. “all of you!” the tiny child rages with a concerning… change of color around their cute face, fingers pointed accusingly. how can a child be so horrifyingly scary?
the two third years do not mirror your confusion as you sat up, following the kid’s gaze to the archway where a myriad of thundering footsteps almost have you scampering away if not for them laying a small hand on your shoulder and somehow managing to ground you to stay still.
whose kid is this? you looked to cater who shakes his head uselessly
then to trey who wore a resigned smile.
the child’s brow twitches when the card soldiers lined up obediently. “I thought I had made it clear you not hurt mada.” they seethed, voice tilting in clear threat and a I demand you! sort of way. the card solider, three of hearts who had scared the living soul out of you trembled less subtle compared to the other guards.
of course this child had to get more terrifying by being observant, they caught the shiver of one soldier and narrowed their eyes. “ah, found the culprit. three of–”
trey shuffles forward with an awkward laugh that belies his usual laid back with–on his face is a twinge of concern as he raises his palms in a placating gesture. he steps forward three more times, sliding between the child and the line of soldiers but keeping the distance warily. “hey, kid. maybe we can discuss this with some tarts, and some tea?” he tries. children love sweets, right?
they keep their head level despite the astounding height difference. “I told you, uncle trey! being called ‘kid’ is disorderly! It's alice!” still, despite the brief protest their eyes sparkled with interest at the notion, even if they seemed a bit embarrassed to admit it. “i’m not supposed to eat sweets on mondays.”
“huh.” cater mumbled before the thin line of his lips rose into a familiar grin. “as in, rule 102 of the queen?” he queries with a nervous slide of his fingers through his hair. he’s not so obvious to directly state that he’s tiptoeing around… alice but a bit of months knowing him, you can tell.
alice nods along. they no longer look as bothered as before, the card soldiers all slump their tense shoulders a little when alice shifts their piercing gaze from the three of hearts before settling onto cater, who they offer a brief nod of agreement before returning back to trey.
well, a kid is a kid.
“but i can eat sweets on tuesdays.” they added hastily. like they don’t want the notion of trey’s treats slipping from their fingers but that would be strange, if the look of confusion you three share with each other you would have thought trey had initially baked for alice based off the tone of wistfulness in their tone.
trey smiles at them. “tomorrow it is.” reassured by their sheepish innocence he stops in front of them and grasps their shoulders, turning them away from the stiff soldiers. alice spares a brief glance at them. “what about these rule breakers?”
you stood up fully. “uh, don’t worry, they didn’t do anything wrong. i ran for too long.” you supplied in defense. if anything , a resemblance to riddle of all people meant that they could have the head offing in their blood. you did not want to stick around to find out, neither did cater.
alice considers you for a moment with a small sparkle in their eyes, with a wave of the small wand that maternalized in their hand, the soldiers fade into glittering spots of gold. only then do they let trey lead them back to the main pathway towards the dormitory of heartslabyul.
you fall into step behind cater who probably sees the question in your eyes so he lowers his voice discreetly, glancing at the back of trey who keeps the child’s bay attention so they don’t notice you two slowing down a little. nonetheless, still walking.
“that was little alice’s unique magic.” he says to you with a shrug, sighing after a glance at the former’s small, regal form. “pretty overpowered… kind of like my split card but less cute, and more dangerous.”
he winked, you frowned.
in front of you two, alice seems tame in comparison to the subtle bribing of trey questioning about their favorite sweets as you all finally reached the nearing entrance of the main dormitory
“where’s riddle?” you questioned.
he pursed his lips, navigating though the fountain in front of the dorm. “last i know, he went out early to campus cause of a meeting with his club for the upcoming NRC tour festival…”
oh, right. I have not found papa. alice’s voice echoes in your mind, so you echo the question that appears in your mind right after the memory. “alice called riddle ‘papa’ which i’m pretty sure is a term for a parent…” you trailed off. riddle seemed to be the least likely person to have a secret love child of some sorts, he seemed like he had most of his life planned out.
if riddle bent over backwards for his rules then he wouldn’t stray from the path he had set.
there’s a flash of interest in cater’s eyes, it was already there before, just dwindled. you watch it spark to life. akin to lighting some sort of fire within the guy, a gossipmonger at heart as he leaned in eagerly just as you both trudged up the stairs to the front doors who opened politely, and closed behind you as you walked in the main hall of heartslabyul.
“they look, and act like riddle!” he chuckles. “imagine our shock when alice popped up straight out of nowhere with an army at their beck and call.” cater clutched onto his arms, and shivered. you leaned away when he reaches his arms out to you in a teasing manner.
he adds. not at all offended by the way you scrunch your face at his ‘affections’. “they seem to listen to you though. like someone.”
you only regard him with an impassive raise of your brows. “i don't think so. riddle doesn’t listen to anyone. much less me.” befuddled by the mere idea, you scoffed. in all your magic-less glory, the best thing you might have achieved here in this other dimension was having the ability to wake leona kingscholar up from one of his power naps.
cater doesn’t seem to agree. only sighing at you from what it seems to be an of course. “only you can be so oblivious to the chaos you leave behind.” he says in response, making an exaggerated show of peering behind your shoulder and widening his eyes in feigned shock.
you humor him as you turned your head. the scene of the main entrance of the dormitory was the only answer to your eyes as you both walked into the living room–where little alice sits alone. you caught a glimpse of trey’s dark hair as he disappeared into the kitchen, most likely going off to make her a treat.
vaguely unsure if the male had heard him, cater calls out a “make us some too!”
“not my fault the students here are so… unstable.” you remarked with a roll of your eyes. remembering the overblots to be the most plausible reference to the chaos cater was talking about as you begrudgingly sat down on the couch and reeled in any other remarks for the child in the room.
who was now shuffling closer to your seated frame even if they thought they were being subtle in the movement.
what was two seats in the space between you and alice eventually became none at all, as they settled beside you and peered up with innocent eyes.
you tilted your head at them, alice copies the movement.
then to the other side.
they mirror the lull of your head.
“besides those.” cater cleared his throat after a bewildered glance at the child. “what’s more impressive is that you’re still here, yuu-yuu. night raven is like… a pack of wolves trying to run you off crying, and you? you’re a very weird sheep.”
still a bit enraptured on this child, you replied without your stare wavering from the roundness of alice’s cheek as you reached up to pinch it. to yours, and cater’s surprise. their previous cute ferociousness is not present at all as they leaned against the warmth as though instinctive. “i didn’t do anything.”
you don’t entertain the accusing look in cater’s eyes.
“if that was you not trying to beast tame the school then i don’t know what’ll happen if you put in the effort.”
you both lapse into silence as cater–who seemed to sense the finality of the conversation lets it slip fully and instead, busies himself with the entertainments his phone provided. you redirect your full attention onto the elusive red-headed alice.
“so,” you started. “how did you end up here? must be a great feat if you were able to go past the barriers.”
alice curls their fingers within the fabric of your blazer, inspecting it as they reply softly. “i’m not sure, mada. i was just sleeping, and woke up in a garden. the hedgehogs showed me the way after i offered them a caterpillar.” they do not mention a bleary moment in their sleep where they curiously wondered how you and riddle came to be as they drifted off. “as pertaining by rule 210… if you are lost in a maze, give the hedgehogs an offering and they shall show you the way.”
you can’t help but let your mind drift over to riddle, who echoes the rules to be followed when mentioned.
your lips twitch into a smile, much to the delight of alice. “strange indeed. must have been scary.”
their eyes squinted. “i’m not scared.”
you chuckled and pinched their cheek. they pout.
“where are you from?” you ask instead, wanting to know more about the.. figurative alice from nowhere.
alice looks at you strangely.
“from the queendom of roses…” could they simply be a relative of riddle’s? you thought mindlessly. drawing your fingers through the surprising soft red locks who seemingly part eagerly for your touch. “with my mada, and my papa. sometimes my uncles visit.”
unsure of how to reply, you merely nod along. parting their hair by half and twisting it into a braid. “you called me mada.” you hummed.
“because you are my mada.”
she says like it’s the only thing that makes sense in her small world, not relinquishing her grip on your blazer but instead tugging at the wrists to expose the small slither of skin and hold onto it. clingy. you thought, deciding not to question it.
… was this your freaking kid?
the smell of strawberries wafts over the space of the living room alongside the ticking of the oven–momentarily taking both alice, and cater’s attention. the latter stretches before standing to stride over to the source of the smell, no doubt requesting trey to change the taste once more.
alice’s eyes, like yours slid to your own. a bit shy in their demeanor as they clutched onto the skin of your wrist. “can i eat some of uncle’s tarts?” they queried under your breath, only meant for you alone. you felt a bit confused but nodded nonetheless.
their lips twitched into an eager smile before it settles into a more controlled look of impassiveness.
that was adorable. you thought, unable to resist leaning down to scoop them into your arms as you stood. alice makes a sound of brief surprise before their arms loop around your neck. they sat pliantly still as you walked over to follow cater inside the kitchen, catching a glimpse of your scent that they sought for, so alice nuzzles their face into the warm pulse on your neck.
trey glances up from the animated retelling of cater about the crazy day. “new responsibility?” he wore a humored smile, apron long discarded and folded over the handle of the oven for the meantime.
if riddle saw this, he would not believe it no matter how intelligent he was. trey deduced.
he gestures to the tray set on the counter. “there’s frosted strawberries, blueberry cornmeal, and the good old mont blanc since i got left over ingredients from the last unbirthday party.”
alice feels the shift of your head as you glanced down at them, they don’t remove their head from the crevice of your neck for a moment and meets your eyes with a raise of their own. “frosted strawberries, please.”
“good choice, little alice.” cater comments.
“careful, it’s hot.” trey chided gently as he watched you pick up one of them, drawing it near alice’s waiting hunger as they tilted their head up from your shoulder. they took a small bite at the corners of the tart, smiling at the taste and only wider when you wiped remnants of crumbs around the edges of their mouth.
alice chews, and swallows before they spoke again. their eyes gleaming with admiration as they stared at trey. “it’s always the yummiest when it’s fresh out the oven.” they recited.
trey blinks.
“you’re a bright one.” he remarked, ruffling their hair when he drew near. “don’t tell anyone about the wicked secret ‘round the kitchen, all right?”
they nodded vigorously. “thank you, uncle..” they spewed politely, but evidently genuine.
cater munches from the other end of the counter. “we gotta protect alice,” he chuckled, eyes crinkling as he pointed his phone to you, tapping to snap a picture of the scene despite your warning stare. “too nice for the vultures we call students here.”
“you might be right.” trey shook his head, and you nodded mutely. more absorbed into letting them take bite by bite into the tart until it was about finished halfway. only then do you lay it back on the tray. how much sweets was ideal for a child to take anyway? regardless of you deeming it as enough, alice stays quiet and does not complain.
if they wanted more, you wouldn’t know.
“later.” you promised, leaning back when you were satisfied with their prim appearance. a pat of their hair to smooth down trey’s earlier disruption.
“later..” alice echoed.
a resident third year enters the kitchen. only to pause in their tracks and back away.
“domesticity is really the enemy of the students here.” cater sniffed, earning a chuckle from trey who found the comment funny. “imagine being happy, being broody and emotional are the real requirements to get admitted.”
cater finishes his snack with a pleased hum, and a grateful nod to trey. “by the way i messaged adeuce, sent them to stall dorm leader from going back as long as the dorm was… kind of in a wre–predicament.” he cleared his throat, casting a brief glance at alice to spot if they had taken offence to his almost uttered word.
“so now they’re en-route?” trey guessed, transferring the leftover tarts to a glass bowl. leaving the tray in the sink to wash for later. cater nods in response, typing on his phone with one hand. likely in cahoots with the two right now. “told them the coast was clear! no more trampling soldiers scampering around.”
trey eyed him. “what about the–”
just then, whatever trey was going to comment in rebuttal of cater’s easy reassurance was promptly interrupted by new individuals peeking inside. ace, and deuce poked their heads from the corner. as if trying to ascertain the danger level of whatever may be inside.
ace rougly nudges deuce when he spots you with a child in arms. for two people insisting on their unique, varying selfs. they mirror each other’s look of bewilderment as though their brain cells crackled and connected into a singular one. “what the seven?” ace mouthed.
you all do not notice the look of familiarity on alice’s face.
nor the brightening when riddle strides in with a petulant huff,
if riddle thought strangely, or disapproved of the two’s behavior then he wouldn’t have had the chance to comment on it before he was leveling trey with a sharp, inquisitive stare. “i would like a very good explanation as to why my hedges have been mangled to the ground.” his eye twitches with the effort of containing irritation. “three hours i’ve been gone. three! and when i enter heartslabyul the first thing i see is devastation upon my gardens!”
perhaps emotionally, riddle cried out in the last sentence.
even though such an expression should have frightened a child to some degree, alice relaxes in your arms but their face clouds in shame at his voice.
riddle whirls back to the other two lingering by the doorway who both flinches imperceptibly–cater tries to intercept with a nervous chuckle but is only met with a steely don’t even start! “ace, and deuce have me running around the school. saying something about yuu getting kidnapped by those.. vermin excuses of… students from octavinelle!" riddle seethed, breathing still a bit labored as favor of his statement about running around.
“dorm leader!” ace stood straight stiffly.
oh, did he just come from a frantic search in octavinelle?
“i even had to threaten collaring azul who i thought was lying about yuu.” with a deep intake of air, riddle breathes out and pinches the bridge of his nose, collecting his temper. much to the chagrin of deuce.
“we apologize.” deuce added sadly.
cater feigns ignorance by looking away but it’s trey’s look that has him adding to the defense of the two, rather than using the opportunity to scamper away with his head in tact. “ahem… we had these two keep you busy. so don’t be too harsh on them, riddle. us upperclassmen will take responsibility.”
a nod of agreement from trey gets riddle quiet.
the former tilts his chin to you. “yuu is fine, they’re right here.”
like he hadn’t even noticed before (he really didn’t), riddle’s head snaps to you immediately. his eyes would have been stuck to you, prodding for a valid explanation to your ignorance to his angry calls but instead, settles on the bundle in your arms.
“who…” a blink. “why in the world do you have a child! they are not welcome on school grounds! especially this time in the school year–.” riddle sputtered, instinctively sauntering over to take a closer look at alice who only stared without an inch of fear.
“papa.” they mumbled, voice measured but still echoing in the now quiet kitchen.
ace leapt up to your side. “that’s not right!” he gasped, squinting dangerously at riddle. any traces of earlier mortification gave way to whatever emotion he’s got on his face. “how could you sully yuu! they’re not a babysitter for your kid!”
“what?” riddle seethed, head flicking from ace, to you, then to alice.
despite a look of great reluctance, deuce nods from the doorway still. mumbling to himself. “dorm… dorm leader has a child…”
you vaguely remember trey offering the dazed guy a glass of water.
“unconfirmed earlier, confirmed now.” cater adds unhelpfully to the blazing fire of riddle’s rising anger.
riddle’s teeth grind together, jaw clenching as his fingers tightened into a fist. it was more of one his attempts at calming down rather than preparation for a physical alteration. “I did no such–!”
“don’t be mad at mada.” alice reaches for him, tugging at his blazer which surprisingly, quells the reddening of his face. now, he just looks a bit confused.
alice turns their head slightly. “mada, you can calm down papa.”
deuce paused before dropping to the ground.
“AH! he’s dead. this is why you don’t betray us by keeping secrets, yuu!”
“uh oh… trey help me with deuce… wait, should we just leave him? i mean, he’ll be just fine here, right?”
“... just take the other arm, cater.”
all the way back to the living room, riddle’s face remained tinged with warmth. alice, while reluctant to part with your embrace, seemed wholly pleased to stay by the other red-heads' side. insisting you sit next to him when you moved to sit by your two friends.
you obliged them despite riddle’s interest with the carpet.
the couch dipped at the weight of another. even so, the non-verbal conversation between alice, and riddle continued. the former pressed their lips together thinly, seemingly assessing the… youthfulness of the latter. they aren’t so used to this kind of look from him.
cater flinched, and look away from the flash of his phone. he elbows a dazed deuce.
“so,” ace cleared his throat, blinking his still wide eyes. “who the heck is this kid?!”
“language.” riddle chided sharply. though softened from its usual end even he isn’t so sure why it is from the mere presence of alice alone.
“rule 13, always present yourself with appropriate language.”
“always present yourself with appropriate language.” alice repeated.
riddle squinted at a relaxed alice, who tilts their head as if to ask ‘what?’.
“genetics is crazy. what’s next, the kid beheads us too?” ace points between the two.
alice shrugged. “only if you break the rules.”
“i do not have a child!” riddle protested.
“i am your child.” replied alice.
“apparently this one’s our kid.” you agreed begrudgingly.
riddle stares at you with a mixture of disbelief, and confusion.
darting between you and the kid like they're gonna start collating him in all his glory! sure, alice had red hair like him but quite a lot of people in the island have it too besides his relatives. the idea of… of him and you is just so out of this world that he can't wrap his head around it.
you? you who he hadn't paid attention to when you arrived at the ceremony? the very first person in that event that broke the rules? you, the very fading into the background student whom he believed to be a bad influence to his students ace, and deuce?
you he had almost hurt beyond repair at the bursting of his control so tightly held in his hands?
the brief skip of his heart when your eyes meet over the head of alice is enough to send blood rushing to his head, coloring it with his signature red whose warmth doesn't feel like the usual simmering anger he struggles to keep submerged. if anything, this feeling is practically leaping out the water and baring his face to everyone.
riddle does not look away. managing a look of what he tries to name as conviction but easily crumbles to fluster.
then the idea wasn't so bad considering this young child has proved to be raised dutifully, correctly without any worries of what he used to be burdened with as a child.
it gives way to curiosity.
despite his incredulously, riddle queries. “the gardens.” he starts with a measured narrow to his eyes, not too intense to possibly upset this.. future child of his whose eyes are strikingly familiar enough to halt the normal circulation of his heart once more for half a second. “were you responsible for the destruction of some hedges I've come across?”
alice shrinks into themselves. “i'm sorry papa.” they pursed their lips, voice genuine by the lower tilt. “i thought i could use my card soldiers to look for you, and mada. you told me about this place called heartslabyul before?”
“i have?” riddle blinks. the idea isn't too bizarre, it's only natural to think back on such things.
they nodded. “yes, papa. you talk about it a lot on our friday’s. about how it looked, how you were as it's dorm leader…” alice peeks a glance at you. “and your parties with mada.”
“unbirthday parties.” trey corrects. “sometimes birthday parties if it really is someone's birthday.”
ace perks up. “let me tell you then! from first hand experience!” he blanched. like opening light about his own struggles in heartlsabyul magically meant the truth to riddle’s own kid. “labyul is really strict on rules. you know on my first day, I ate a tart and—”
deuce stirred slightly.
at riddle’s glare, ace visibly wilts to which cater snaps a picture with snickers. “I mean… the tart was really good, made by riddle and all…” he sweatdropped.
“you shouldn't eat a tart that is not made by you.” alice replied thoughtfully. riddle can't resist a light smile at her words, feeling a sense of accomplishment as he nodded along. his hand hovers for a moment before it pats down on their hair. “that's right. I must have taught you well.”
you absentmindedly patted their head, taking turns with riddle to do so while expertly avoiding his gaze. “you said friday though, why?”
“on friday’s we don’t go out.” alice says.
“that isn’t a rule by the queen of hearts.” riddle points out.
“you made that rule papa.” they replied innocently. “in our home, so we get to spend time together as a family.”
silence reigns.
“wow.” you cough. sparing riddle an approving glance. that… sounded nice… domestic, and nice. you supposed even as an adult riddle would still have some sort of grip on rules, considering he grew up with them, it helped him live.
and now rules he shaped helped him live with alice, and you apparently.
tick.
tock.
tick.
tock.
alice peers down at the watch they pull out from under their little adorable coat, oblivious to the stunned silence they left behind. hesitantly, they place a hand on your knee, legs swinging as they rest the other on riddle’s. “mada.” they smiled, this time widely. “papa. I gotta go.”
“what?” riddle's eyes widened. “you haven't finished your tart yet.”
“it's okay. I already ate a tart earlier, papa.”
“you can eat another, just this time. if you want.” he insisted, strangely worried.
cater raises his hand. “can I?”
riddle disagrees immediately. “no.”
muttering something about favoritism, cater looked away with a long sigh.
riddle's eyes lingered on the roundness of alice's face. from the shape, to the more detailed parts of their features. eyes, your eyes. the lushness of their hair, the soft curve of their lips tilted with innocence sends an unexpected grip in his heart, like it's heart stopping.
gosh. his heart just stopped. would he really have his own alice? his eyes darted to you. with you?
alice huffed lightly, skin glimmering lightly as their shade slowly grew transculent and faded with each blink of your eyes. “I can always eat papa's tarts. they're so delicious.”
“don't use too much magic.” riddle scolded with a crease in his brows.
you add. “don't anger riddle too much.”
“please eat his tarts.” ace encouraged.
trey shot him a look. “don't teach alice bad things.” he sighed, glancing at said child with a smile. “I'll teach you how to make your own tarts, ask uh… future me?”
cater, not wanting to be outdone quickly perked up. “as a future magicam star, I'll make you one too. little alice!” he added, self assured of his future fame.
when it all settles, all that remains is a space between you and riddle that feels too little than vast. and a remainder of your future.
“atleast we know what name we'll choose.” you can't resist but tease. riddle does not blow up like you would have thought from your remark, only sparing you a look of feigned annoyance with warming ears that doesn't support the idea of his irritation.
he resigns to a small nod. “I am assured they are taught well.”
ace glances between you, and riddle. “I miss alice already. riddle seemed a lot more lenient with them around. you think they got embarrassing stories from the future?” he comments off-handedly, leaning back against the couch and blowing on the fringe over his forehead. “when are you guys gonna make an alice? please make one now.”
cater whistles out of there.
trey shakes his head.
deuce–still passed out is thankfully considered by trey, who dragged his limp body with a nod of goodluck to ace.
you waved at ace. F indeed.
wait! don't leave me, upperclassman! ace cried in his mind, feeling the panic splinter his state of mind.
“ACE!” riddle gritted his teeth. “i'll hand down my sentence, the verdict comes afterwards–”
ace paled.
“off with your head–!”
trivia
alice’s name is very much inspired by alice from the one and only: “alice in wonderland”.
their unique magic is called: under my decree which is simply being able to summon card soldiers, and command them at their will! (in this case, after being sent to a maze and finding their way out thanks to the hedgehog. alice was able to discern that this was heartlsabyul, and figured they might be able to find their parents here, hence, why they used their magic.)
alice is written to be a well-behaved 8 year old.
the watch is a nod to my previous commissioned work who also dealt with the concept of time travelling and related to going back (ha, ha).
alice woke up by the sound of a clock ticking, and knew that hearing it again meant that their time was up.
the entire thing happened due to alice helping untangle a fae who happened to get stuck in their gardens at the backyard while they were looking for a hedgehog that had not yet eaten (spoiler: hedgehog was hiding in a small crack under the tree) the same fae visited them at night whilst sleeping and granted them a dream of whatever they wanted to wish. alice, feeling swayed by the magic despite being not aware made a wish to fulfill it.
boom! baby rosehearts in your faces!
alice woke up and immediately said young riddle was funnily shy to yuu. much to the confusion of actual current riddle!
their favorite tart is: anything with strawberries, like riddle.
rule 13, and rule 102 are entirely fictional and made up by me… for plot purposes…
not deuce = is actually yuu
not yuu = is actually ace
not ace = is actually deuce
deuce been sleeping for the entire time lol.
ace got roped into fixing the gardens with the collar on #thatswhatyouget
riddle invites you to study for the nearing quiz season the following day.
In regards of the Trump government scraping all trans inclusion in its queer information portion of its websites I have made this thing. Spread the word. Don't let them pretend we never existed.
❥Warning: mentions of blood but very brief, mentions of killing, mentions of kidnapping
❥S: Damian worst fear is losing his beloved wife (I wrote this in an hour. It’s 3:20 am rn☹️)
“This is so unlike you” Damian grumbles under his breath as he lies on a bed, a green silk robe hanging off his shoulder as you tend to a deep wound on his midsection with a needle and thick thread in hand. There’s sweat dripping down his forehead. A part of you feels bad but at the same time, he decided to have you tend to all his wounds after coming home from a mission his mother or grandfather sent him on.
Some days he’ll come home with a scratch or none and other days he’ll come back with gashes and marks that’ll stay permanent on his tan skin. As the needle in your hand digs into his skin once more—it hits a nerve that has him griping your wrist tightly and hissing loudly. Despite being an assassin, despite going through every single hard training process there was, a torture process, he still feels his pain.
“I’m sorry” you watch as Damian lets out a heavy sigh, letting go of your writs and gripping a metal handle beside the bed. “Just a few more so please bear with me” Minutes had felt like hours to Damian once you finished. And with your help, he sits up straight, groaning as we do so. One last step was to wrap the now stitched-up wound with bandages. His arms are up slightly as you reach over his back with the long white strips and bring them back to his front repeating the same process a few more times.
Once done, you help with his robe, gently as ever. You pat away any dust that drapes his shoulders. There’s still anger that clouds his eyes when he looks down at you “What happened?” Your hand grazes his cheek softly before placing your cold palm up against his warm cheek.
“It’s nothing, Zawjati. Come let’s go to bed” Your heart throbs at the sudden name. His hand reaches up to your hand, the sliver hand on his finger shining brightly as you gently peel it off his face, kissing it softly before he places it back down at your side. A visible frown finds its way on your lips as he walks past you with his head down.
“It’s clearly nothing. I can see it in your eyes” It’s a mumble but Damian can hear it loud in clear. Your eyes connect for a moment before you sigh—averting your eyes away from his “Let me clean up first, I’ll head back in a bit”
Damian leaves without saying a word to you. It takes a bit longer, mostly because you take your time cleaning and sanitizing. It takes thirty minutes before you’re heading back to your shared bedroom. You expect him to be asleep after being away for so long, but he’s wide awake when you enter the room, sitting upright on the bed rob long gone and with a book in his hand waiting for you. He places it down, on the nightstand beside him.
“You should be asleep” You shake your head, making your way to your side of the king-size bed.
“I can never sleep peacefully knowing you aren’t by my side” he lifts the silk blanket from your side—waiting for you to get in the covers.
You waste zero time as you jump in, head landing on the soft pillows. A sigh of relief leaves your lips once he throws the blanket over your shoulder. He watches as you snuggle closer, eyes closing. Damian’s arm reaches for the small lamp on his nightstand. The once-dim room turns dark within an instant as he turns it off. The wound on his midsection has Damian getting under the covers carefully. The shuffling stops and the room goes quiet. Damian thinks you are fast asleep, but when he feels your fingers tracing gentle shapes on his biceps he thinks otherwise.
Goosebumps cover his body. He can’t sleep either, not because of you tracing his skin, but because his mission early has him thinking. His target threatened you, threatening to take you from his side permanently. The assassin can handle petty little threats, but when they’re about his wife, all he sees is red. His wound was just the aftermath of his outburst. They’re all dead—every single one of them.
He has nothing to worry about—so why is he still worrying about it?
How many others, how many of his enemies feel the need to target you just so they can take him and the rest of the league down?
How much more does he need to paint his hands red just to keep you safe and sound, far away from harm's way? Damian would never say it out loud, out of fear and out of his reputation, you are the most saint and innocent thing to ever happen to him in his life. Someone so innocent and pure belongs to him, someone who’s the exact opposite—someone who can paint an entire city red with his bare hands if he needed to— have you sound asleep beside him—acting like he can’t break you with just his thumb.
When he looks at you—all his worries disappear just like that. Your breathing clams him down. Why worry, when he has you safe and sound right beside him? He takes one glance at your sleeping figure beside him, so peaceful and beautiful, curled up against his arm. His other arm reaches over to brush a few strands of your hair out of your face. He lets out a small breath as he watches you snuggle closer. He moves a bit, arm sneaking its way under your neck and over your shoulders, head on top of his arm using it as a pillow.
“I promise I would never let anything happen to you, beloved. Not now nor ever” A single kiss goodnight on your forehead and he closes his eyes, the darkness following soon after.
For Tmnt 2012, Tmnt 2016 and rottmnt fans, I need your opinions on this. I have watched the 2012 version of Tmnt and thought that "Wow, why do I think a turtle is so visually appealing in a cartoon despite seeing how turtles look like." I know some of you know who I meant.
It's the leader in blue, Leonardo. I thought I was weird until recently I told my siblings and they agreed. It's because his head shape is soo symmetrical pretty compared to his brothers. Not to mention to his personality and voice in the 2012 version. He straight up looks very visually appealing.
Then things feels weird for me when the 2016 version aka Bayverse was out.
To be honest, the designs for them was ick. The lightning and background sometimes make them repulsive to look at when I was younger. Obviously, I rewatch with my siblings just recently. The first thing they introduced the main characters was showing Raphael's foot and panning upwards to his face. Then he intimidate April. Suddenly, Leo steps in to stop his brother.
Don't tell me that didn't gave vibes of main love interest in a romance genre.
Not to mention the way he says his lines to April which was practically threatening her and telling that they will find her. Yet his voice and tone makes me go 😊😊😍😍😍😳😳
Then the best version of Tmnt (in my opinion) , solidified that fact that Leo is the face of the group. I LOVED THIS VERSION BECAUSE HOW DYNAMIC THEIR DESIGNS ARE AND YOU CAN STILL RECOGNISE WHO IS WHO BY SILHOUETTES, NOT BY COLOR!
Other than the designs, the fact that Leo is aware he is prettier than his brothers really fucks with my brain. It's like confirming that there ARE versions of Leo that many fans considered attractive.
So do we agree that Leo is the face card of the group?
Vil Schoenheit.... I am so sorry but my heart is currently stolen by a guy who's motif is skulls and halloween. He looks like he is a little weird, eccentric and fan boyish. Probably whimpers. He managed to stole my heart even though he shares similarities with Idia Shroud.
Before him, Idia Shroud and Jamil Viper were the ones my heart is at risk for the mere fact they have luscious long hair albeit unique for Idia's case. I am a simple woman who's attention can be taken away through beauty. However Skully J Graves is not a matter of beauty but rather my fascination and love for Halloween, Horror and Gothic themes of aesthetics.
My heart is indefinitely stolen by a guy who looks like this:
This could be rose tinted lens because how the fan do makes delicious fanfics about him being utterly in love with the reader. But Like???? I AM VERY CONVINCED THAT ONCE HE LOVES YOU, HE DON'T CARE WHETHER OR NOT YOU ARE A WOMAN, MAN OR NEITHER. HE WOULD SHOWER YOU WITH LOVE AND AFFECTION.
And then there's his family, I seen how the fandom picture them in dynamics where "She falls first, he falls harder" and "He fell in love when she fell out of love" or something like that. I forgot the exact words but there is a Tumblr post. When it comes to Jason Todd, apparently he is the type to "he falls first and falls harder as he knows you". So among the bat family, he's like a green flag enough???
vaporwave
germansingergirl
annaxmalina
areudirty
