Hey, it's @hello-universe lovers. If writing requests are open, can you do anything related to stubtunist or cheatedbroken? They don't gonna be canon to any fic, just something fun and potentially wholesome
(Of course! You actually got me into Cheabroken and now I think they'd be really sweet together, and I already loved the dynamic of Stubtunist, so you're getting both! A two for one deal just for you! Enjoy @hello-universe-lovers !)
Cheated groaned, watching as the petals fell apart in his hands, along with the rest of his failed attempts.
Broken smiled in sympathy next to him, the shade of the tree they were under hiding the small shine of his eyes that most didn't notice.
Cheated sighed, then carefully scooped the petals back into the pile, starting what felt like his fifth attempt at a flower crown.
"Don't worry," Broken said, looking down at his own work, at the intricate and beautiful flower crown he had been working on, "it took me days to get it right as well. Smitten had a lot of patience for me."
Cheated smiled softly at the smaller bird, remembering how he would look out and see Broken and Smitten in the middle of a flower field, and they would be out there for hours, and would come back with petals and pollen stuck to their feathers.
Cheated hadn't known what they were doing at the time, but it was always nice to see Broken try new things and to put himself out there, instead of making himself as small and as invisible as possible.
It was actually Broken that had asked him to come out and make flower crowns with him, and Cheated had been so overjoyed at the invitation, that he didn't realise how hard this would be for him.
They've been sitting out on the field for maybe twenty minutes, but Cheated still couldn't get the hang of this. Either he couldn't tie the petals the right way, or his stupid fingers would cramp up and the whole thing would fall apart in his lap.
Cheated started to carefully pick out his new selection of petals for his crown, going for soft pinks and whites this time.
"Yeah," Cheated said, "but you're just better at making stuff in general." Broken looked up at him in surprise, and Cheated just shrugged. "What? It's true. I always see you drawing little doodles whenever a lot of people are talking, and they always look really good."
"Oh," Broken quietly said, a blush staining his face. He shifted slightly so that his small wing could hide his face, but Cheated just thought it was cute. "I didn't think anyone would care about what I made."
Cheated softly shoved his wing against Broken's, a quiet warning in his voice as he said, "Hey, you know I love spending time with you. Stop bringing yourself down." He then pointed at the crown in his hands. "How can anybody not be impressed with that?"
Broken studied his work for a few seconds, then shrugged and said, "It's easier to make things when I'm doing it for someone else. That's when I finally started to get it with Smitten."
"Really?"
"Yeah," a rare, soft smile graced Broken's face,and Cheated found himself freezing in place, gazing at how brighter Broken looked when he smiled. It wasn't fair to be that pretty.
"Smitten and I would take turns making flower crowns and putting it on each other's heads, until the flowers were practically covering our eyes," Broken said, before a soft giggle escaped his lips, sending Cheated's heart soaring at the sight.
But then Cheated saw his smile begin to dim, and that gloomy aura return to him, and he opened his mouth to ask what was wrong-
"Hello boys!"
-before they were rudely interrupted.
Broken flinched in shock, and Cheated glared up at a grinning Opportunist, who was standing over them both with his hands on his hips.
He sounded out of breath as he said, "What are we doing today?" he glanced down at the colourful petals in their hands and went, "Ooh, flower crowns? How cute." Opportunist then glanced over his shoulder nervously, then said, "Say, if you two see Stubborn and he's asking for me-don't tell him where I am."
Cheated grinned deviously. "Sure thing."
"Here," Broken quietly said, reaching out to hand Opportunist a single poppy flower, an unreadable expression on his face.
There was a moment where Opportunist's big smile fell, and all Cheated could see was genuine surprise at the gift, and he silently took the poppy, staring down at it in awe, before seeming to come back to his senses, plastering that shiny smile back on his face.
His voice felt confident, but with a twinge of something raw as he said, "Thank you so much for this gorgeous flower. I'll make sure to take very good care of it. Be seeing you two!" Then, Opportunist quickly twisted around to leave, and Cheated was already turning to look back at Broken before Opportunist even began walking away.
Broken was staring off at the retreating bird in concern, before lowering his gaze back to the flowers in his lap, and Cheated scooted closer and asked, "What's wrong?"
Broken refused to look up, but Cheated saw the way he started to glare down at his flower crown as he quietly said, "I really like flowers. I really like making flower crowns to give to others."
"Okay?"
"It's just-" Broken sighed in frustration, then finally looked up at him, and it became an effort for Cheated to focus on the conversation with those eyes, "-It's just that I always feel weird when I give people gifts."
"Really?" Cheated said, puzzlement all over his face. "But you said it was easier to make stuff if it was for someone else." Broken nodded, grazing a finger through the petals in the grass. "I did, and it is-but sometimes I can't help but feel like by giving people gifts, I'm giving them a part of me for them to use however they want-like how she used to do."
Cheated froze at the mention of her, the princess that was responsible for beating the other bird so low into his own self-loathing. Broken never liked to talk about her these days, lest it send him down a dark spiral that had everyone worried for his safety. But he had been getting better, and Cheated was so proud of him, for fighting for a joy that he deserved more than any of the others.
So to hear him talk about the Tower had him seeing fucking red.
The only thing that remotely calmed him down was Broken's gentle voice, as he said, "I guess it's hard to feel like I deserve to give people anything."
"But anyone can give gifts to people," Cheated protested, "friends, families," he paused before bashfully adding, "or lovers."
He ignored the heat on his face as he continued, "Giving gifts means you care about people, and you want to show them how much you mean to them. Like this-" and without any time to doubt or hesitate, Cheated lifted up his flower crown of pink and white petals that he had been making during the conversation, the crown loose in some spots, or with a petal sticking out at an odd angle.
It was still a crown that he had managed to actually fucking make, so he was damn proud of it, and he gently placed it atop of Broken's head, who had gone deathly still.
He smiled fondly at how much the colors suited Broken, and proudly declared, "I dub thee-King of the Flowers, so the King must wear this crown to show his title."
He was so busy admiring his flower crown,and getting lost at what other colours would look nice on Broken, that he was taken aback when Broken suddenly shot forward, leaning in close enough so that their feathers were tickling each other-and also so that he could press a soft and fleeting kiss to Cheated's cheek.
He was stunned into silence, so much so that he didn't realise that Broken was placing a flower crown on Cheated's head as well-all he saw was a blur of bright orange and yellow, and then there was a light weight resting on his head.
Broken's face was as red as Cheated's felt, and his feathers puffed up as he stared intensely at the grass he was clutching, then stuttered out, "N-Now we're both Kings of the F-Flowers, and now we're equals-that's-that's fair, right?"
His face was aflame at this point-at Broken's adorable face, at how he was trying to relate to Cheated's way of thinking, at the kiss, the kiss, the kiss-and then their eyes met, and Cheated didn't realise he was leaning forward, until he could feel Broken's breath against his cheek, and then Broken's eyes fluttered shut and-
"Hey lovebirds!"
They both yelped and launched away from one another, faces burning and feathers flying as Stubborn looked down at them with a pissed off expression. Cheated gritted through his teeth as he asked, "Yes, Stubborn?"
"Either one of you seen that trickster Oppy by any chance?" Cheated was going to rat him out anyways, but now he held absolutely no mercy as he pointed and went, "He went that way."
Stubborn flashed them a toothy grin ."Thanks .Cool crowns, by the way," and then he marched off.
The two of them just sat in shock for a few seconds, before making eye contact, and then bursting out laughing.
Cheated's eyes lingered on Broken's smile as he laughed, the flower crown seeming ethereal in the sunlight, and he would do anything to stay in this moment forever with Broken.
-
Almost there.
He was almost there.
Just a little further-
"Oppy!" Shit.
Opportunist swore under his breath, clenching his fists, then threw a glance over his shoulder, to where Stubborn was racing to meet him up the hill. He looked back ahead of him, up at the house where he had been trying to get to all day, then back at Stubborn.
Yeah, he could make it.
He felt a ball of nerves in the pit of his stomach as he struggled to rush forward, the pain in his right foot sending his whole leg aflame practically.
He had been hanging out with Stubborn this morning, when the big brute accidentally pushed him hard enough to send him sprawling to the ground. He twisted his foot wrong as he fell, but the only thing he made sure to show the other bird was a big-albeit strained-smile.
All he had been trying to do all day was get home, so that he could get to the comfort and safety of his bedroom. There, he could relax and let himself actually feel the pain and deal with it. He couldn't let others know he was in pain while out in the open. He had to be seen as strong and resourceful, not weak and frail!
So he had been attempting to limp his way back home. He couldn't fly with an injured foot, he'd be off balance and shaky as hell. He's pretty sure he would've had this whole thing taken care of by now -if Stubborn wasn't being a huge pain in his ass.
The moment he fell, Stubborn somehow knew that he was hurt, no matter how much Opportunist tried to reassure him and give him a sweet smile. No, true to his namesake, Stubborn wasn't having it. He was convinced that Opportunist was hurt and he desperately wanted to make it up to him by helping.
He was injured because of Stubborn, but he couldn't let that idiot know that! Because he'd be damned if he was going to show weakness in front of the insane fighter of the flock, the most determined and courageous one of them all. Oppportunist needed to show Stubborn that he was tough and capable of keeping up with all the insanity that gets thrown their way.
It definitely wasn't because he didn't like seeing Stubborn worry about him, or that the thought of Stubborn caring and fretting over him made his heart beat faster.
No way.
So he had spent the entire day avoiding him, limping around when he was sure nobody was looking. The only reason that Opportunist had talked to Cheated and Broken was because he needed to take a breather. But a small smile graced Opportunist's lips as he reached up to touch the little poppy flower that he had tucked behind his ear wings.
He doesn't get given gifts often.
It felt nice.
"Oppy! Get the fuck over here!"
That wasn't nice, though.
He had almost made it to the house-why did they decide to live at the top of a hill?-and he was gritting his teeth as his foot sent wave after wave of pain through his body, especially since he's been trying to make it look like he wasn't limping at all.
But eventually, his energy ran out, and a huge shadow engulfed him.
He spun around on his good foot, giving Stubborn the most confident and joyous smile he could muster to drown out the excruciating pain he was in.
"Hey big guy-"
"Don't!" Stubborn snapped, glaring down at Opportunist with a red face. "Don't act all cute and friendly now after I know you've been avoiding me all day!"
Opportunist smirked. "You think I'm cute?"
Stubborn's face only darkened in shade, but he didn't take the bait, taking a step forward, and he was close enough that normally Opportunist would've taken a step back, but of course-he can't do that right now. So he just let Stubborn tower above him with a scowl, forcing Opportunist to crane his neck back to look him in the eye.
They held each other's gaze in tense silence for a few seconds, until Stubborn's annoyed expression softly broke into a guilty one. He sighed, then asked, "Why won't you just admit it?"
Opportunist ignored how much he hated to hear Stubborn in pain in any way, keeping his trembling smile glued to his face. "Admit what, big guy?"
"That I hurt you!"
"What? Are you kidding?" Opportunist forced a chuckle out and looked away, as if he couldn't care less about this. "I'm a tough bird. I hate to bruise your fragile ego, but it'll take more than a puny shove to knock me down. I'm fine, Stubborn."
Opportunist gave him a reassuring smile while patting his chest in comfort, resisting the urge to leave it there for a few seconds longer. The guilt disappeared from Stubborn's face ,and he thought that finally he had gotten the other off his back.
But then Stubborn raised a brow and bluntly asked, "So you were just ignoring me for no reason then?"
Horror gripped Opportunist, and his face was stuck between a mix of shock and confidence, but he was sure he just looked like a hot a mess at this point.
"What?" he blurted out, then quickly added, "What?No, no, no! That wasn't the reason at all!" Opportunist tried to grab Stubborn's hand, but the larger bird easily leaned away, taking a half step back, but it felt like he was halfway across the forest to Opportunist.
Stubborn's voice was flat and devoid of his usual passion as he said, "Oh yeah? Then tell me the real reason." Opportunist opened his mouth to respond, but no words came out.
He didn't want to seem weak. He didn't want to seem useless.
His silence was good enough of an answer for Stubborn, who shrugged and said, "Okay then, if that's how you feel, then I won't bother you anymore." He took another step back.
Opportunist tried to reach out and grab him, but he had stepped out of his range. "Stubborn, wait!" He didn't want him to leave.
"It's fine, Oppy. I'll get out of your feathers." Another step back. He didn't want this to be Stubborn's final impression of him.
"Stubborn-wait-just stop-" But Stubborn kept moving away, and Opportunist's heart was panicking over losing this little warmth so quickly, so for once, he didn't think about his next move-and blindly took a a step forward.
"Aah!"
One moment, pain was erupting up his leg ,like it had been stuck in the middle of a blazing fire. The next-Opportunist was suddenly floating, but with more warmth and safety than flying could ever bring.
He blinked-and then he realised that he was in Stubborn's arms.
He blinked again-and he saw Stubborn giving him a smug look.
That bastard had used his tricks against him.
Opportunist gripped the feathers around Stubborn's broad shoulders tight, for security and to annoy Stubborn, and he leaned in close to snap at him, but Stubborn beat him to it, glaring at him as he said, "So you're fine, huh?"
He started marching up the path to their house, nodding his head down at Opportunist's swollen foot and said, "I dunno about you, but that sure as fuck doesn't look fine to me!"
Opportunist sighed, desperately willing the heat in his cheeks to die down. "It's not as bad as it looks."
"Why the hell didn't you just tell me? You were being so, well-me!" Stubborn said, and Opportunist lifted a hand to keep the poppy from falling out. He avoided Stubborn's intense gaze as he replied, "It just wasn't something to bother you with."
"But I hurt you, Oppy!"
"You didn't mean to.I didn't want to make a big deal out of it."
"You made it a big deal by avoiding me!"
"I didn't want to seem helpless, okay?!" Opportunist finally snapped, yelling in Stubborn's face, who actually seemed surprised at this rare moment of honesty from Opportunist. "I didn't want to worry you, or make it seem like I couldn't handle myself!" Because there was no way that Stubborn would like someone that wasn't tough and ready to get back in the fight, no matter the wound. Stubborn needed someone that could match his energy, not drag him down.
He panted, then crossed his arms in frustration, glaring down at his lap, wishing for this day to be over already. But then he felt Stubborn jostle him lightly while in his arms.
"Hey," he softly said, "I don't think you're weak for getting hurt. That's fucking stupid. I think you're one of the most resilient one of us." Opportunist lifted his head in shock, only to find Stubborn giving him a soft yet playful look. "Don't get me wrong, you're annoying as all hell, but the last thing you ever do is back down, if today wasn't evidence enough of that. Just because you get hurt doesn't mean you don't deserve to be carried every now and then-and I'm strong enough to bear anything for the whole flock, so-just fucking lean on me, Oppy, is what I'm trying to say!"
Stubborn ended his rant in frustration,and Opportunist could feel the other's feathers fluffing up in embarrassment, not used to this kind of talk. But Opportunist couldn't help but want to hear more, for forever even.
Stubborn thought he was tough. He thought Opportunist was good enough the way he was.
He couldn't help but swoon.
He shoved his face into Stubborn's fluffy neck, to hide his face and to hide away from this new emotional territory. He pressed his face closer, then muttered against Stubborn's neck, "Thank you."
He could almost feel the cheeky grin Stubborn was giving him, and his heart began to pound faster as Stubborn pressed him closer to his chest and whispered, "Anytime, Oppy."
With all of the voice talk I did today, I decided to show a page that's just filled with designs (as I get used to drawing em). Some of em are just tests, and are not final. But hope you enjoy my vision (I am procrastinating in Hunted and Paranoid lol)
Transcript (in case my Handwriting's shit):
Top left:
- Contrarian (Connie): the BEST part about Masks is that no one can tell where I'm looking~
- Hero: Connie...
Middle left
Smitten: *Reading a poem for Tower*
Opportunist and Thorn: *Listening*
Second Middle left:
- Cold: I hate all of you (would die for them all)
if this doesn't bother you, can you please loredump about your stp voices
like, noooo I'm not here to steal ideas, why in the world would I ever do that
still, I am curious
bonus if you can talk about your ships
Honey, nothing is original anymore/hj
But I plan to have a whole ass au for my version of stp, which changes the voices and princesses. If you want to wait for that, you can stay tuned.
If not. I guess I can go more into my voice ships.
- Stubtunist: this started As a joke, but as I learned about myself: once a joke happens, it sticks. My version of Stubborn lives by KISS (Keep it Simple, Stupid), is Aussie-coded and INCREDIBLY strong. A guy like him would make for easy target for Oppy to weasel into for that extra protection. But overtime, Oppy's attitude changed significantly. Think of it like your Smittunist, except Stubborn is aware he wasn't being genuine, at first. Once Oppy makes an effort to do better, he was one of the first to accept his apology and ended up being his hype man/trainer. My version of Oppy tends to let analytics take over his brain (so he can think who to side with on the fly), to which Stubborn will literally knock him out of it, and keep him on the "not-so-straight-but-good-enough" road. Hell, Stubborn being so open and readable reassured Oppy since he doesn't need to pretend or be afraid of him. If he's upset, he'd let him know.
- CheatBroken: My version of these 2 are different. For one, both are disabled due to the princesses (Fury and Wild, respectively), and they are also girls, so this is Sapphic as shit. Just 2 people with varying degree of "I'm done with the world" getting together to bitch and moan, until something akin to mutual affection forms. They can understand each other physically and mentally, and that makes it so they are the comfort pillow and wake up call both needed. Neither want their attitude to drag the other down, and can recognize the signs of a mental spiral to wake em out of it. There really isn't anything too deep with em, they just happened as a joke (this is a problem/j)
- HeroCold (and basically everyone tbh): oh...them. I don't hate them, mind you. But this is pure crack, from the outside perspective. My Cold shows signs of depression and does the bare minimum to keep himself alive (not that he needs to, but it's a pain to listen to Hero rant about his "health" so he keeps it up). His care for the others are as muted as canon Cold. The only difference is that he has slightly more sympathy. When Hero is stressed from making sure everyone is OK, he is there to offer coffee that he always has. He talks Paranoid out of his own fears, he gets Smitten to tone back on the love poems, he gets Stubborn to stop punching the Wall, and so on. The reason HeroCold is the main ship is bc they somehow became the "parents" of this dysfunctional family. But that's not saying a lot, as they themselves are complicated.
- Smittunist: you must be familiar with this one ;). But mine is slightly different. Mainly, the dynamic is reverse. Instead of Oppy being jealous of the Princess, it's Smitten that's jealous. His main princess of devotion is the Tower, someone who, while appreciative of his company, is incapable of reciprocating his romantic feelings. She sees him as a disciple or priest or whatever, not a "lover". Meanwhile, Oppy has a girlfriend in the Thorn (the princesses are all poly too, your honor), who they treat with tenderness, even if their personalities clash. Sometimes they fight, make out, or just casually exist around each other. But it's REAL, it's DOMESTIC, and by GOD, if Smitten's heart craved it. He of course, never admits it out loud. To be loved by his Goddess is more than enough, why should he be greedy and think about another woman's man's man woman?! Meanwhile, Oppy picked up thst Smitten is faking his emotions (takes one to know one, and all) and since he still has to rebuild bridges, he and Thorn are on their own in deciphering what's wrong with their resident love bird.
And that's all for now!! I have more dynamics in between voices, but these are the ones I thought the most about. If you are OK with more dispersed thoughts on other ships, I am willing to put em here. ContraHero for one is smth I would want an excuse to think more about ;)
