Allen let out a content sigh as he finished washing his face. The street perfomance of earlier had given him decent money, however it also meant he needed to move. He didnāt want to risk the wrongs ears hearing about the street performer, even if not many knew how good Allen was with acrobatics. More than that, the recent weeks had taught him to be cautious, too many close calls in the first few days had made him unwilling to get cornered.
His eyes stopped on the shadow watching in the reflection, grinning at him. Allen had grown used to it, and even used to the vicious attempt at taking over. It didnāt mean it wasnāt hard to push it back when it happened; and Allen appreciated any amount of time passing with the 14th remaining tranquil.
He sometimes wondered if Apocryphos hadnāt triggered the 14th to try harder to take over, which how close Allen had come to being... absorbed. What is it with people wanting to erase me?
Nuzzles in his hairs snapped him out of his thoughts, lips forming a genuine, fond smile at the reflection of Timcampy in his hair.Ā āTime to go, right?ā The golem only fluffed the white strands more, making Allen chuckle.Ā āAlright, alright.ā
Dressed plainly, Allen left the inn he had been resting in behind, musing over which direction to take now. As usual, he paid no attention to the shadow in any reflective surface. If he did though, he would have seen the gaze it send elsewhere, to a familiar blond.
Alas, only Allen could see the 14thās shadow, and so both remained oblivious to the fact Nea knew that they had been noticed. It wasnāt as if he could communicate with Allen yet though; but he was ready to try and do something, if the manās presence spelled bad news.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
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REPOST. DONāT REBLOG. post TEN characters youād like to roleplay as, have roleplayed as and might bring back, then tag ten people to do the same. Ā ( If you canāt think of ten characters, just write down however many you can. Feel free to go over ten, too. )
All of my blog themes have been minimal and muted because I like it that way. And like, I know everyoneās allowed to make their own fun, but I kinda wish those super fancy themes didnāt exist sometimes.
The thing I canāt stand the most is when the navigation links are scattered all around the page or blending into the background.
Send āāā and I will write 10 headcanons about our muses interacting
1. Link can use his baking as āpositive reinforcementā to get Allen a bit more tolerable to be with, but only to a certain extent-mostly if Allenās getting huffy are annoyed about something. But since both he and Allen have limited free time he canāt use this offer lightly.
2. If Allen stretches out Timcanpy too much Timcanpy might flee to Linkās head instead.
3. Sometimes Link lets some physical distance grow between them in order to observe what Allen does when he thinks heās by himself. Allen hasnāt done much except interact with other people in the order, mostly his friends instead of strangers as rumors about him spread.
4. Allen has volunteered numerous times to sleep on the floor and let Link sleep in his bed but Link has refused.
5. If Allen starts getting seriously tired of paperwork he will write so fast that Link canāt even decipher his lettering or his grammar. After a period of time his handwriting and grammar have gotten more neat and efficient.
6. Link usually stays with the finders when Allen goes off to fight akuma nearby.
7. For the sake of convenience Allen and Link have quickly gotten used to changing in the same room.
8. Sometimes Allen feels restless if he hasnāt exercised all that much for a few days, and will quietly try to sneak out of his room. Link pretends not to notice but follows him soon afterwards. Allen usually goes off to the training room to blow off some steam. Other times Allen sits somewhere and quietly talks to Mana. Link usually pretends he had found Allen at some point.
9. Although Allen does not want conflict with Link, if Link gets in the way of one of his promises he wonāt hesitate to get angry and push him aside.
10. Allenās gotten to a point where heāll talk to himself even if Link isnāt there, because heās gotten a bit too used to being around someone who will question and listen attentively to him all the time. When Allen was on his own and running from the Order, Link might have thought he was found out a few times but it really was just a lonely Allen just saying things he would say if Link was really there.
// Hi I just wanted to say your layout, icons and color scheme look amazing!! Legit gorgeous '3'
// *wheezes a little loudly because cake mum blog* Thank you so much! However I do have to credit my amazing friend @bkmnjr and her many blogs for making all of it for me. I really cant code or do anything for the life of me and her works is so amazing! She even did all the work on my Alma blog and she is too sweet!Ā
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Food means different things to different people. Sometimes it has a religious meaning. Sometimes it carries childhood memories or comforts from a life once forgotten.Ā
Steward Howard Link returns these small comforts to his friends.
(Mainverse drabble with @wachhvndās Link. All other characters are from this blog. Mihaiās friends are here. Nastusia is here.)
Kneading bread is almost therapeutic for Link. Itās a mindless activity that helps him clear his head from the dayās work of carrying news, tending to the Hunters, washing linens, and delivering supplies. Even though his arms will be sore in the morning, itās worth it.
He frequently checks a list in front of him to ensure heās making the bread by the recipe as requested. Link has a line of requests from various Hunters in the Compounds for foods from their home countries. He is more than willing to oblige.
The smell of fresh bread wafting through the kitchen is a familiar and comforting scent to Link as he pulls out a batch of cranberry muffins. Heās barely put them on the cooling rack when a figure approaches the doorway. Link recognizes Sarah and gestures for her to sit down at a stool while he fetches her batch.
āIst Fritz nicht bei dir?āĀ
āNastusia hielt ihn auf dem Flur, um zu reden.āĀ Sarah speaks a different dialect than Link, but they work around their linguistic differences well enough. Itās comforting for Link to converse in his native language when French and English are the prevailing languages in Avignon.Ā
Link doesnāt miss the way Sarahās gray eyes light up when he returns with a basket of pletzel. She doesnāt wait for him to go to her; Sarah immediately hops off the stool and takes the basket from him. She closes her eyes and inhales deeply, savoring the smell of the onion and poppyseed bread.Ā
When she opens her eyes again, Link sees tears glinting at the corners.
āDanke Link, es ist genau so, wie ich mich erinnere.āĀ
Linkās heart swells with pride to hear Sarah say that. Even though he never became a Hunter (although he had ample opportunity) he always wanted to support the warriors who sacrificed their livelihood to keep the peace. He canāt give them a normal life, but at least he can renew their memories of a time long gone.
Fritz arrives soon after, and Link fetches a basket of laugenbroetchen for him. He sprinkles a little coarse salt on the rolls to finish them off, and heās rewarded with a rare smile from the stoic man.
āNastusia wollte, dass ich dir das gegeben habe.āĀ Fritz accepts the basket and hands Link a strip of parchment with a recipe for povitica. Link takes it and bids the two Hunters farewell.
The next batch fills the air with the smell of tomatoes and roasted garlic. Link is just taking out the focaccia and putting it on the cooling rack when Nina comes in to see him.
āYouāre a little early,ā he says.Ā āI just took it out of the oven. It needs more time to cool.āĀ
āIām sorry. Should I come back later?ā Nina fidgets with her hands.Ā
āNo, itās fine.ā Link gestures to the stool where Sarah previously sat.Ā āPlease, take a seat.ā
Nina obliges and watches Link as he rolls out the next batch of dough and cuts it out. Somewhere between twisting the dough into circular shapes and sliding it into the oven, Link gets the feeling that Nina wants to say something to him.
He waits patiently for her to speak. Nina is the most anxious of Mihaiās friends--sheās not bold like Mihai, not confident like Sarah, not blunt like Fritz and Nikita. Link busies himself with cutting up a few cloves of garlic and putting together an egg wash.
His patience pays off when Nina hesitantly asks,Ā āwould you come to Good Friday Mass with me?āĀ
It catches Link off guard but itās not exactly surprising. Nina is the only Catholic out of Mihaiās friends, and because she renounced her previous pledge to take back Rome, the other Italian Hunters shut her out. He feels a kernel of sympathy for her.
The focaccia is ready now. Link places it in a basket, sprinkles it with Parmesan cheese, and hands it over to Nina. Even when sheās turned away from her people, she deserves a connection to her culture and previous life. Link hopes to give that to her.
āI would be honored.ā
Nina smiles broadly at him as she accepts the basket.Ā āGrazie mille.āĀ
Itās early in the afternoon the next time someone enters the kitchen for bread. Link barely hears his guest enter but they give themselves away when they knocks over a mixing bowl. It clatters onto the floor and spins in a circle before stopping.
Link turns around and folds his arms over his chest, his expression shifting into disappointment.
āIād appreciate it if you didnāt take anything from the kitchen that isnāt yours, Nikita.ā He taps his foot impatiently, waiting for theĀ āculpritā to reveal himself.
The small Hunter steps out from the corner, holding up his empty hands.Ā āI didnāt take anything; Iām just here for my bread.ā His blank face says otherwise, but Link isnāt about to interrogate him.Ā āWhat, do you not trust me?ā
Heās not wholly incorrect. Nikita is the hardest of Mihaiās friends to read; even harder than the closed-off Fritz. Nikita would make a great Investigator if he could follow orders. Only Mihai can break through Nikitaās walls and get him to smile and interact with the others. Even then, Link wonders if Nikitaās smile is fake.
But thereās nothing fake about the childish look in his eyes when Link produces a basket of Borodinsky bread and hands it to him. Nikita has a difficult relationship with food, namely not having enough food when he grew up. He takes too large portions and eats too fast until he winds up with a stomachache.
Nikita bites into a piece of the sourdough loaf and chews slowly, savoring the taste. Link tries to imagine what heās thinking of. Does the bread remind him of the food in his childhood that he struggled for? Is it strange to go from stealing your food to people just handing it to you?
āŠŠ»Š°Š³Š¾Š“Š°ŃŃ.āĀ Nikita cradles the basket close to his chest as if it were a small child. His smile is soft and genuine. āIāll tell Mihai you have his batch almost done.ā
Link hears Mihai before he sees him. Mihai enters the kitchen, singing a song in the Romani language.Ā
āHave you been in here all day? Itās your day off!ā Always expressive, Mihai doesnāt hide his concern. His brow furrows and a frown replaces his earlier smile.
āIdle hands are the Devilās playthings.ā But Link and Mihai knows itās more than that. Link isnāt the kind of person to sit around and do nothing. He enjoys being useful, especially while living and working alongside people who gave up their way of life so that others may live safely.Ā
Mihaiās expression relaxes slightly, but he remains worried for his friend and steward.Ā āNikita said my batch is done. Can I have it?ā
Link goes and retrieves Mihaiās basket of cozonac cu mac. He wonāt lie; heās a little worried about this one. There arenāt many Romanian Hunters he can test this recipe on, and Link never had it before. He got the recipe from Mihai himself.
Link highly respects Mihai as both his steward and his friend. After Nikita, Mihai is the furthest from his home and the most homesick. He hopes he can assuage some of Mihaiās homesickness.
Mihai flounders for words as he accepts the basket.Ā āItās...perfect.āĀ
āIs it?ā Linkās forehead creases slightly, giving away his worry.Ā
Mihai nods, shifting the basket to one arm so he can wipe away the tears in his eyes with the other arm.Ā āLa fel ca Či tatÄl meu a fÄcut.ā He misses many things, but his father Sorin and mother Crina are the ones he misses the most.Ā āMulČumesc.ā
A lump of tears wells up in Linkās throat and he forces it down.Ā āYouāre welcome.ā
Overcome with emotions, Mihai puts the basket down on the table and throws his arms around Linkās shoulders in a tight hug.Ā
After a minute of hesitation, Link returns the gesture.
As predicted, Linkās arms are burning and tense for days after his day-long bread baking. But everyone got their breads, and everyone was happy. Thatās what makes everything worth it.
Link returns to his room, tired and sore. Itās late and he has a full day of work waiting for him tomorrow.Ā
But thereās something else waiting for him. Sitting on his bedside table is a basket with a cloth napkin draped over it. Linkās curiosity overtakes his exhaustion and he steps towards the basket to lift the napkin.
A long-lost sight greets him: Bauern Brot. Link hasnāt seen the dark rye bread in years, and faraway memories of a once-happy home threaten to bubble to the surface.
The loaf isnāt perfect. Itās uneven on one side and slightly burned. Link breaks off a piece and puts it in his mouth.
It tastes just as he remembers, and itās warm. Itās a small comfort in exchange for all of Linkās hard work.
Send me āMUSICā and Iāll pick a song that reminds me of your muse
((Inhibition (re-Mastered) by Mili! I think the title fits Linkās restraint and the melody portrays his willpower. The blending of violin and piano just remind me of Link and Allen/Neahās relationship, although Iām not sure theyād be so in synchĀ yet))
