#genfic

[alvivaarts]

A literally GORGEOUS work I commissioned from @kasphacked on twitter for my Stranger Things longfic on AO3, Don't Be a Stranger, Chapter 22: Buried the Hatchet, It's Coming Up Lavender

(Mostly gen vibes, with background slowburn steddie, Steve and El siblingism, Dad Hopper, and a dose of surprise lycanthropy? Of course, mind the tags and chapter warnings!)

I can't wait to commission again!

[judymarch15]

Babysitting

Just a bit of nonsense inspired by this BTS photo from 9x18 of Ryan and Jennifer that @911onabcbts posted.

Read on AO3 or below.

Eddie walked into the station with his work bag on one shoulder and a diaper bag on the other. He had one hand wrapped securely around the handle of a bulky, awkward baby carrier. He was trying to be careful because the baby had fallen asleep on the car ride in.

He stepped into the locker room, setting the carrier down as carefully as he could, leaving the diaper bag beside it while he went over to his locker to change.

“Hey Eddie,” Buck said far too loudly with his usual big smile as he did up his belt.

“Hey,” Eddie said quietly, hoping Buck would catch on and mirror his volume.

He didn’t.

Buck chattered away while he tied his shoes. When he was done, he got up and slammed his locker door shut.

The noise was loud enough that the baby started crying. Eddie let out a frustrated sigh.

“Is…is there a baby crying?” Buck asked, looking around in confusion.

With his pants undone and shirt only half buttoned, Eddie went over to the carrier to fetch the crying baby and haul it up onto his shoulder, patting his little back.

“Buck, meet my grandson,” Eddie said, turning around so Buck could see the baby doll’s face over his shoulder.

“Isn’t Chris kinda old to play with dolls?” Buck asked, his brow pinched in confusion, then his eyes widened and he added quickly. “I mean, I’m not judging. B-boys can play with dolls. And…and he’s not too old i-if this makes him happy.”

Eddie laughed, the amusement of Buck’s scrambling winning out over his general annoyance at being in this situation at all.

“It’s for school. They have to take care of a baby doll for a week,” Eddie said, patting the baby’s back until the crying stopped.

“Man, that sucks,” Buck said, eyeing the thing. “Shouldn’t Chris be watching him then?”

“Here, hold him so I can get dressed,” Eddie said, handing the doll off to Buck. “And yeah, Chris should be watching him. But the geniuses who scheduled the assignment forgot to take into account that the PSATs were happening today. They told the kids to find other arrangements. They called it a ‘good life lesson’.”

Buck rocked back and forth while holding the baby, keeping a hand on his back. “There’s no, like, pause button?”

“No pause button on the real thing, is there?” Eddie said, bending down to tie his boots. When he was finished, he reached out and took the baby back from Buck. He shifted it around to the crook of his arm. “Can you grab the diaper bag for me?”

Eddie and Buck walked up into the loft. Hen was sitting on the couch and turned to look at Eddie.

“You too, huh?” Hen said. She had a pillow wedged under her elbow and was feeding the baby from the plastic bottle that came with it.

“Karen couldn’t take it?”

“No, she’s in meetings all day,” Hen said, checking to see if the baby was done with the bottle yet. It was not and made some fussing noises to tell her so.

“So…what’s the plan when we get a call, you two?” Chim asked, folding his arms. “Can’t have both my paramedics on babysitting duty. And no, you’re not bringing those things out into the field with you.”

“We’ll figure it out, Cap,” Eddie said confidently.

As if on cue, the tones sounded and both babies started crying.

“Diaz, you’re staying behind,” Chim called out as they all started to scatter.

Hen gave Eddie a victorious, though slightly apologetic, look before foisting the baby onto him and jogging down the stairs.

Eddie sighed, the sound of both babies crying audible over the tones.

***

The apparatus bay was empty when Maddie walked into the 118. She was off work today, Jee and Nash were with the Lees, so she was taking advantage of the child-free, work-free day to run errands at her leisure. Since she was in the area she thought she’d pop in with some lunch.

She let the plastic bag of sandwiches hang from her wrist while she started a text to Howie. If they were coming back soon she’d stick around, otherwise she’d leave his sandwich in the fridge for him.

”Oh, come on,” she heard a voice say from upstairs, followed by the sound of a baby crying.

Maddie abandoned her text message and shoved her phone into her back pocket to go see what was going on. Maybe someone had been dropped off in the baby box?

“Hey, everything okay up here?” she called out as she reached the top of the stairs. Her eyebrows shot up when she saw a baby with a blanket over it, laying on the kitchen island unattended.

“Oh my god,” she said, rushing forward.

Suddenly, Eddie’s head popped up from behind the kitchen island. “Maddie?!”

Maddie startled, then put a hand over her racing heart. “Eddie, what’s going on? Is that…?”

“It’s not real,” Eddie explained quickly, then stood upright. In addition to the baby on the counter (that, now that Maddie gave it a good look, was definitely not real), Eddie had a baby strapped to his chest. His uniform shirt was unbuttoned and he’d taken some paracord, a harness, and some carabiners to jerry-rig a baby carrier. There was also a big strip of medical tape across the baby’s head to keep it up against his bare chest.

“Oh my god,” Maddie said, laughing and shaking her head. “What on earth are you doing?”

Eddie sighed, looking incredibly frazzled and overwhelmed. “Well, the only way I could get Hermione to stop crying was to strap her to my chest. I couldn’t keep her head from flopping around so…” he gestured to the tape.

“But why is your shirt half off?”

“Babies like skin to skin, right? I thought it would help,” Eddie said, looking distressed when the baby on the counter started crying louder. “I’m trying to make Hermione a bottle and Grogu needs a diaper change.”

“Grogu?” Maddie asked incredulously, daring to approach the mayhem.

“Yeah, you know, Baby Yoda.”

Maddie actually didn’t know. At all. But she picked the baby doll up off the counter. “Grogu isn't a baby name.”

“It is according to Chris,” Eddie said, filling a plastic bottle with tap water, then he frowned. “No, that’s too hot,” he mumbled to himself

“Class project?” Maddie asked as she held the baby in one arm and started rifling through a diaper bag with her free hand.

“Yeah, Grogu is Chris’s and Hermione is Denny’s.”

“I see,” Maddie said, taking a diaper and some wipes out of the bag before setting the baby back down on the counter. She certainly wouldn’t change a real baby up there but it seemed good enough for…Grogu.

“I’m not calling him Grogu,” Maddie said, unsnapping the onesie. “What about Greg?”

Eddie looked at her like she was crazy, which was hilarious coming from a man with a fake baby strapped to his bare chest. “Who names a baby Greg?”

“At least it’s a human name,” Maddie said, taking the wet diaper off the baby doll with a grimace. “So these dolls actually pee? Please tell me they don’t poop too.”

“No poop, thank god,” Eddie said, testing the baby bottle temperature on the inside of his wrist. He looked down, seeming to realize now that he had to unstrap the baby to feed it.

“This is what my tax dollars are going toward? Fantastic,” Maddie said. She winced sympathetically as she heard the rip of the medical tape separating from Eddie’s skin. Based on the hissed curse that followed, it probably took some chest hair with it.

Maddie finished cleaning up baby Grogu and got a fresh diaper on him. “Does this one need a bottle?”

“No, that one’s good,” Eddie said, piling up rope and carabiners as he removed them, the baby crying louder and louder.

Maddie kept Grogu in the crook of her arm, then scooped up Hermione in the other before Eddie could drop her.

“Thanks,” Eddie muttered as he finished untangling himself, then buttoned up his shirt.

It took a few minutes, but soon enough Eddie was sitting on the couch, giving Hermione a bottle. She didn’t think she’d seen anyone look so awkward with a baby - including Buck the first time he held Jee.

“You know, if my high school had had these my life might have turned out differently,” he said, managing to spill half the bottle down the side of the baby’s head. “I mean, I wouldn’t trade Chris for the world but I probably would have been a little more careful, y’know?”

“Eddie, you’re…you’re missing her mouth.”

Eddie looked down and sighed. “Dammit,” he said, shoving the bottle a little more forcefully into the mouth hole. “I kinda missed this stage with Christopher. I don’t really know what I’m doing.”

“Well, getting the bottle into the baby’s mouth is a good first step,” Maddie teased gently. “You’re doing fine.”

Maddie looked down at Grogu, whose eyes were closed so he must be asleep. She had no idea how these dolls worked or why Eddie had two of them.

“Sorry, taking care of another baby is probably not how you wanted to spend your day off, huh?” Eddie said as he set the empty bottle aside.

“Probably not how you planned to spend yours either,” Maddie said. “Don’t forget to burp her.”

Eddie hoisted the baby up onto his shoulder and started patting her back. “Thanks for your help.”

“You’re welcome,” Maddie smiled.

***

Chim jogged up the stairs to the loft eagerly. Maddie had texted that she was there. Of course he was excited to see his beautiful wife, but he was also excited for the beautiful sandwich she’d brought with her.

He reached the top of the stairs and Maddie looked over from the couch and quietly shushed him.

“What’s going on?” Chim whispered as he approached.

“They’re sleeping,” Maddie said.

Chim looked and saw Maddie had a fake baby in each of her arms. On the other couch, Eddie was sprawled out, mouth hanging open, sleeping hard like he’d exhausted himself.

“Parenthood is not for the weak,” Chim smiled as he bent down and gave his wife a kiss.

[baldurs-writers-3]

February with all of its romance and rair pairs and other sexy times stuff is over! Seems like a good time for another round of Gen Fic recs!

Gen Fic is fic where the main focus of the fic is something other than romance or sexual themes. These fics might contain a pairing, but something else is taking up the majority of the work.

You're not imagining things, we've run this theme before and will run it again! This is a recurring theme as a lot of people search for fics based on pairings first, so we want to highlight things that may slip through the cracks.

99 Times Zlorb Successfully Shapeshifted, and One Time It Didn't by emfirebender (1000, General) Content Notes: None

Instead of a 10x100 format, this is a 100x10 format, with tiny snips of moments from Zlorb's experience during game events. (that's the shapeshifting Ox, btw)

Reccer says: 10 words isn't much to work with, but the author makes each one count. The moments are short, but poetic, funny, and thoughtful - and make you point excitedly, like the DiCapprio meme, when you recognize the game-thing being referenced from only a few (10, actually) words to go on.

Gale Dekarios and The Pussy Palace by GinaTeeth (3097, Teen) Content Notes: None

Gale Dekarios, feeling a little down, slips into a place he thinks is a cat cafe. When he discovers a pole dancing class, he lets a little loose.

Reccer says: Gale gets out of his comfort zone in the best way. Jaheira is a boss.

17 Things That Made This Kobold's Day PERFECT (Number 12 Will Make You Cry) by dramatic_chipmunk (2613, General) Content Notes: None

This fic is a fully-realized Buzzfeed article, written by Popper the Kobold, and realized with a HUGE amount of skin-work in AO3.

Reccer says: It's an absolute treasure chest of delightful treatos. The individual articles, the comments, the WORKING AD LINKS, it's just fun fun fun to pour over.

Fallow by Aqeldroma (1604, General) Content Notes: None

When Shadowheart's companion leaves her unexpectedly, she mourns through gardening.

Reccer says: A bittersweet story of Shadowheart moving on after having lost everything. Again.

Lies of Omission by ACrowsRockCollection (7509, General) Content Notes: None

Three vignettes about moments when Tara protected Gale

Reccer says: In addition to being a tender and intimate story about Tara's fierce loyalty to Gale, the writing quality is fantastic, and extremely effective in pulling emotions.

Promises by ACrowsRockCollection (3265, Mature) Content Notes: None Pairings: Orin & Friendship

Durge made an agreement with Withers to revive Orin. Jaheira and Gale promise to help her. Then the former chosen of Bhaal dies in the final battle. Jaheira and Gale keep their promise.

Reccer says: I wish we could help Orin in game, this is a peek of what the might be like.

Pals by Lord_Miraak (3648, Teen) Content Notes: None Pairings: The Dark Urge & Enver Gortash

Everyone thinks that Durge and Gort are having a wild, torrid, passionate sexual affair. But the truth is, they’re just really good work pals.

Reccer says: This is a very funny story!

Caricature by Bogpaddle (984, General) Content Notes: None Pairings: Astarion & Karlach

Karlach convinces Astarion to have himself caricatured at the Lower City market.

Reccer says: A great little look at Astarion having a good time with Karlach with a sweet ending

Regret by AlwaysMauria (2628, Mature) Content Notes: Mentions of Astarion's past sexual assault

A series of vignettes whereby Ascended Astarion considers if maybe he's made a huge mistake.

Reccer says: I cannot see Astarion actually being happy in that horrid mansion that was his prison for so long, joining the high society that were his tormentors... this is a great look at how Ascension might not be all he thought it would be, perhaps it is just new chains around his wrists.

The Loot and Luxury Club by aqeldroma (1303, General) Content Notes: no Pairings: Piddle & Klagga & Gribbo

Three goblins who love art and poetry create a club to celebrate the finer things in life.

Reccer says: A sweet and funny story with an interesting look at the ordinary life of goblins.

No Prattle by Gally (44875, Mature) Content Notes: Ableism

What if, after Astarion was beaten by the Gur, it was his mother who found him, not Cazador? He lives, but comes away with injuries that will never fully heal, including a traumatic brain injury.

Reccer says: Author has a great Astarion voice, and we get to see Astarion be Astarion but from inside his head where the flaws, ugly thoughts, and incredible vulnerability lives. Also funny ASF.

A Singing Scam by Tavylia_Sin (1688, Mature) Content Notes: Alcohol Pairings: Olly & Rugan

Rugan and Olly find their coin purses on the lighter side, but MidWinter is a time for giving...so surely there are some more fortunate souls willing to part with their money somewhere in the city. The pair come up with the perfect plan, and head off with a few other Zhents to see what they can make of the night.

Reccer says: A funny story about another scam devised by our beloved Zhentarim gang

[sol-el]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Superman - All Media Types, Superman (Movie 2025) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Clark Kent & Jonathan "Pa" Kent & Martha Kent Characters: Clark Kent, Martha Kent, Jonathan "Pa" Kent Additional Tags: Whump, Angst, Hopeful Ending, Nanites, Stream of Consciousness, Inner Dialogue, Childhood Memories, Introspection, Character Study, Shame 

Summary:

I don’t belong here, he says finally, wipes his sleeve across his nose. I don’t belong here. They told me so.

[lotr-sesa]

FIVE DAYS to the Lord of the Rings Secret Santa deadline!

Our goal is to make sure every prompter gets at least one fill. Currently, 10 of 27 prompts have been claimed by 10 of the 17 participating creators. (7 creators have not yet claimed anything; time's a-wasting, folks!) The remaining prompts run the gamut from The Silmarillion to The Lord of the Rings to The Hobbit to The Rings of Power, so come have a look. Maybe one of them will tickle your fancy? Or tell a friend. 😉 All signal boosting is much appreciated. ❤️

You can find all the prompts HERE as the prompt meme format doesn't allow for linking to individual prompts.

Claiming a Prompt: Use the "Claim" button next to the prompt you want to claim. (You can find open prompts under "Prompts" in the sidebar.) Several people can claim the same prompt. You can also claim a prompt without having submitted any of your own.

If you are new to the format, AO3 has a helpful FAQ here.

This year's timeline (2025):

Prompt Posting: November 5th to 27th.

Claiming: November 28th to December 28th.

Collection Open for Posting: November 28th to December 28th.

All Fills Due: December 28th.

[somuchfangirling]

Avatar the Last Airbender Fic Recs - Fixed.xlsx

In Honor of the recent news about a new Avatar series being made, I decided to fix up my AtLA fic rec spreadsheet. This spreadsheet has even more fics on it than my lists and it is organized beautifully if I do say so myself. Plus, all the links are attached in this spreadsheet, unlike on my General fics list. (I have officially attached all the links for the fics on my Ships list though).

Anyway, I still have to go through an organize the General fics and finish adding summaries and such, but I have noticed that most of the attention that I get on these lists/documents that I post are usually when it comes to the ships. Those are mostly done with. I might organize them a bit more, especially since there are now separate tabs for both Zutara and Kataang that I plan on trying to sort. Also, I plan on eventually adding more as I have several rec lists from other people that I want to add.

Also, one other thing, despite being the same way about fics, I would say, you should definitely check out the general fics. There are some really interesting fics on there plus a few that are some of my favorites on there.

Also, as I added to a previous post, I planned on making a google spreadsheet. Well, I did, although I don't think the online version of excel is all that bad. Still, google is free, so here you go. :)

Avatar the Last Airbender Fic Recs

In both spreadsheets, the general fics are still undergoing changes, I am currently in the process of sorting all of them. Please still check them out, there are some really good ones in there.

Also, as I am still going through all of my bookmarked fic recs from other people as well as my own favorited fics, keep in mind this list is not the final product I am still updating it constantly, at least for the time being.

If you have any issues, let me know by either commenting on the google sheet or sending me a message on here. I hope you all enjoy all these fics.

PS. Lately I've been getting into NCIS again so I've been working on a spreadsheet for that fandom, I've got quite a bit of that finished already so be looking for that maybe some time soon.

PSS I have also been getting into Supernatural lately too, so I may or may not create a rec list for that. Most of it I will say will be Destial <3 tho.

[tinylongwing]

Ok so I promise I will finally finish this fic, and my promise to all of you comes in the form of posting a chunk of it as a chapter 1. Enjoy and let me know if you did, you've all done so much to motivate me already!

It's Gonna be a Long Night, part 1, in which Rigo Sandoval first arrives in Los Angeles as a teen and meets the World Enders.

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

[stray-adventures]

A Different Game 🏐[Event Day 2]

Written for #ASplashOfSummer2025 Yugioh event.

@asplashofsummer2025

Day 2: Volleyball Tournament 🏐

During the gang's vacation on the Kaiba brothers' private island, Jounouchi not-so-intentionally challenges Kaiba to a volleyball match. Is he going to accept it and put his pride on the line, even if his secret weapon is the clumsiest being on Earth? Of course he is!

Characters: Seto Kaiba, Original Character (Nyra), Mokuba Kaiba, Yugi Mutou, Anzu Mazaki, Katsuya Jounouchi, Ryou Bakura, Marik Isthar

Pairings: Seto Kaiba/Nyra, Yugi Mutou/Anzu Mazaki, Ryou Bakura/Marik Ishtar (but this is rather a genfic honestly)

Beach Holiday, Slice of Life, Slight Romance, Humor

Note: This is a translation, the original was written in Hungarian.

Read it on AO3, or here, under the cut:

The tropical sun was bright above the Pacific island owned by the Kaiba brothers. They were well into the first afternoon of their two-day vacation when the group decided they’d had enough swimming and card games for now, and it was time to look for a different kind of fun. When Mokuba informed them that there was a beach volleyball court just a little further up the shore, the choice was obvious.

“I’ll pass,” Kaiba dismissed the idea immediately. He had just settled back onto his sun lounger under the shade of a parasol and was about to reach for his laptop to finally get some work done.

“Come on, Nii-sama!” Mokuba begged. Right beside him, Nyra, Kaiba’s white dragon in human form, had her pleading, icy blue eyes fixed on him, while Yugi, Anzu, and Bakura lined up behind them.

Jounouchi remained in the background, tossing the ball from one hand to the other.

“Y’all just wastin’ time on beggin’ Moneybags if he ain’t wanna play. Besides, it’s better for everybody if he don’t kill the vibe on the court,” he said, but his expression betrayed just how much he wanted to face Kaiba in a volleyball match.

“How about we do three-on-four rotating teams?” Marik suggested as he returned, sipping on a Sex on the Beach and handing another glass to Bakura.

"Well, if we really can't convince Kaiba-kun..." Yugi turned back to his friends with disappointment. The others hummed and nodded in agreement. Nyra, however, kept her eyes on her rider, tucking a saltwater-dampened strand of wavy hair behind her ear.

At that moment, the ball popped out of Jounouchi's hand, and his attempt to catch it only made things worse: he accidentally smacked it, sending it even further away. The volleyball drew a graceful arc in the air, before landing on the top of Seto Kaiba’s head, then rolling across the laptop in his lap and down into the sand.

Most of the crew instinctively looked away, not wanting to see what was about to come. Anzu covered her mouth with her hand.

But much to everyone’s surprise, Kaiba didn’t yell, nor did he leap to his feet to lecture Jounouchi, who stared at him in shock with the faintest trace of guilt in his eyes. Instead, the CEO slowly closed his laptop, set it aside, then stood up with measured movements. He exhaled sharply, the sound loud in the tense silence.

“Should I take that as a challenge, Amateur?” he asked, his voice dangerously calm as his piercing gaze locked on the blond.

Jounouchi blinked in surprise, but a sly grin quickly spread across his face.

“Y-yeah, of course! In case you didn't know, I hit you on purpose, Kaiba! I knew you’d take the bait.”

The brunet chuckled softly with eyes closed, before bending down to pick up the ball.

“As clumsy as you are, I highly doubt that. But you know what? For your sake, Jounouchi, I’ll join in for a round, so I can prove that no matter the game or sport, I’m still leagues above you.”

“Do you mean…?” Yugi’s eyes lit up, while Mokuba and Nyra gave a high-five.

“Exactly.” Kaiba’s eyes burned with the same obsessive fire that they did every time he faced a worthy opponent in a duel. Only this time, it wasn’t about quick thinking, choosing the best strategy or having luck. Now they were going to play volleyball. 

 Without breaking eye contact with the blond, he issued his orders:

“Yugi, take the Amateur and two others; Mokuba, Nyra, and one more, you’re with me. Jounouchi begged for this, and now he’ll get it: I’ll crush him into the sand, once and for all!”

Soon, the teams took their places on the court: Yugi, Jounouchi, Anzu, and Bakura lined up against Kaiba, Mokuba, Nyra, and Marik.

“Is it really okay if I’m playing against you, Marik-kun?” the white-haired boy asked a little sadly, glancing at his boyfriend standing on the other side of the net, clearly eager to start the match at any moment.

“It’s just a game, Ryou,” the Egyptian waved it off, then did a few shoulder circles as a warmup. “But don't worry, I'll make it up to you after we beat you!” he winked at him.

“You wish!” Anzu shot back. “In case you didn't know, I'm pretty good at any sport.”

“You are a good dancer, I’ll give you that. But you’re no match for Nii-sama when it comes to volleyball!” Mokuba called over, his smug tone eerily similar to his brother’s.

“Not like he's got a choice. He gotta show off his talent, since he’s at a serious disadvantage with two midgets on his team. Especially with her.” Jounouchi jabbed a finger at Nyra, who pouted in response.

“We’ll see about that! Besides, you’ve got a midget in your team too!”

“Hey…!” Yugi began to protest, but Kaiba cut him off.

“Are you going to serve today, or what?” he asked dryly, rolling up the sleeves of his unbuttoned shirt.

With that, the first set began. Anzu delivered a flawless serve, the ball aimed to land right in the gap between the four opponents, had the CEO not jumped two steps forwards to return it. Yugi managed to save it from hitting the ground, though the ball lost momentum halfway, leaving it to Jounouchi to pass it back instead.

It should have been Nyra’s turn to return it next, but when Marik noticed the girl was nowhere near the ball, he acted quickly and helped her out. Bakura passed the ball back with some difficulty, and it successfully landed in the sand barely half a meter from Mokuba's feet.

“One point here!” Jounouchi whooped.

“Sorry, Nii-sama!” Mokuba turned back, but his brother only let out a low, displeased growl. It was obvious to the entire gang that if anyone else had made a similar mistake, they would’ve already gotten an earful.

Anzu served again. This time, Nyra was the first to reach the ball on the other side, and with Mokuba and Marik’s help, they sent it back over. Jounouchi received it with ease, but Kaiba slammed it down hard with a powerful jump, and the ball crashed into the sand right between Yugi and Bakura. He then claimed the right to serve with a smug, triumphant grin. 

The back-and-forth went on for quite some time, during which it became clear that Seto Kaiba wasn't just talking big, he actually had some talent for the game. Perhaps less surprising was that Yugi Mutou proved to be a real threat to him only in Duel Monsters: this time, Jounouchi, or even the perpetual cheerleader, Anzu, presented a much greater challenge for him. Kaiba wasn't exactly happy that it was the Amateur whose moves he had to watch out for the most, yet it didn’t hold him back from spreading his sarcastic remarks. 

“Well, well, I'm impressed! Looks like there is something you're not completely hopeless at,” he scoffed.

"I'd hold my tongue if I were you, Kaiba," Jounouchi snarled. “In case you didn’t notice, we're just one point away from victory."

By the end of the first set, Mokuba finally started to get into it, and among the pair of Marik and Bakura, clearly the Egyptian was the more skilled one. Even so, the white-haired boy kept trying, occasionally scoring points, other times the ball ended up caught in the net.

The clumsiest by far, however, was undoubtedly Nyra, but no one, not even Kaiba held it against her. Except for Anzu, everyone present had already seen the dragon in her true form, and not for a moment did they question that her talent lay elsewhere, not in ball games. Which is why, whenever the volleyball came her way, she either let it land in the sand, screamed, or lunged in a desperate attempt to send it over to the opponent’s side, usually ending in an awkward fall.

The first set was ultimately won by Yugi’s team, while Kaiba’s took the second. Everything came down to the third, which had been intense from the very beginning.

At one point, when Yugi’s team was in the lead, the spiky-haired boy and Anzu — both in the front row — jumped for the ball at the same time: the result was a huge collision, and the ball landed on the ground behind them. Anzu tried to get up, rubbing her achy head, but the weight pressing down on her kept her pinned.

“Yugi…”

When she looked up, she was surprised and increasingly flustered to find Yugi sprawled across her, his bare torso pressing against her tummy. Everyone around them laughed, while her friend sprang to his feet as quickly as he could, his tomato-red face likely visible even from the neighboring island. Nevertheless, to satisfy the already impatient Mokuba, he helped Anzu to her feet and tossed the ball to the boy so he could finally serve.

Bakura passed, Marik returned it, and Jounouchi’s well-aimed shot was barely blocked by Kaiba. Neither team could be certain of victory.

But somehow, Yugi’s side pulled ahead again, and much to the CEO’s dread — who just couldn’t allow Yugi and the Amateur to beat him — the ball soared straight towards Nyra.

He watched with bated breath as his dragon prepared herself to receive it, her hands positioned correctly for once. Regardless, he was ready to jump in at any moment to intervene, even considering pushing her aside if he must. But there was no need for that: Nyra managed to send the ball cleanly over the net, and Bakura failed to catch it.

The dragon girl was so proud of having scored a point that she hardly cared that she staggered from the force of the hit, then promptly tripped over her own feet. Just as she braced for a hard landing on her bum, two strong arms reached under her shoulders, and her back collided with a firm chest. A shiver ran down Nyra’s spine. She didn’t even need to turn around to know who her savior was.

“Clumsy little dragon,” her rider murmured into her ear. Nyra spun around and, without a word, stood on her tiptoes, clutching at his shoulders as she planted a grateful kiss on his cheek.

“Kaiba-kun, did you just…?” Yugi exclaimed in shock, astonished to witness his old rival react just as awkwardly to Nyra’s closeness as he had to Anzu's. Marik laughed heartily at both of them before waving his arm.

“Hey, pass the ball already! Let me serve the winning shot!”

And he did. But dinner was still a long way off; there was plenty of time for a rematch. Or two.