a1c0bb: otter wearing a rilakuma hat (Default)
micah ([personal profile] a1c0bb) wrote in [community profile] yurishippingolympics2025-05-25 10:23 pm
Entry tags:

BONUS ROUND 1: THROWBACK PROMPTS

bonus round 1 prompt infographic, lists the themes of all old bonus rounds: fanmixes, mythology, genre fusion, prompt fusion, dialogue, flower language, historical fiction, competition In this round, we'll be using prompts from last year's bonus rounds! You can either come up with a prompt based on the previous themes, fill a prompt from previous bonus rounds, or fill a prompt that's been posted this year!

Here is the tag with all the previous bonus rounds!

Fills can be in any format, and you can fill your teammates prompts, but you cannot fill your own prompt.

You can post as many fills and as many prompts as you want!

for your prompt post title, please use the following format:

PROMPT: TEAM [TEAM NAME]

for your fill post title, please use the following format:

FILL: TEAM [TEAM NAME]

If you're filling from a 2023/2024 prompt, please link to their prompt in your post!

To participate, reply to this post!

tabby_shieldmaiden: (Default)

PROMPT: TEAM SKYLANDERS

[personal profile] tabby_shieldmaiden 2025-05-29 11:15 am (UTC)(link)
For Historical fiction: The Aztec Empire
tabby_shieldmaiden: (Default)

PROMPT: TEAM SKYLANDERS

[personal profile] tabby_shieldmaiden 2025-05-29 11:17 am (UTC)(link)
For Historical fiction: Republic Era China
tabby_shieldmaiden: (Default)

PROMPT: TEAM SKYLANDERS

[personal profile] tabby_shieldmaiden 2025-05-29 11:18 am (UTC)(link)
For Competiton: Arm wrestling
tabby_shieldmaiden: (Default)

PROMPT: TEAM SKYLANDERS

[personal profile] tabby_shieldmaiden 2025-05-29 11:19 am (UTC)(link)
For Competiton: Shipping war to make a femslash ship the top ship in a fandom's AO3 tag
eloquentalias: (Default)

FILL: Tokusatsu Yuri Ships United Front

[personal profile] eloquentalias 2025-05-29 03:42 pm (UTC)(link)
I realize in retrospect there's not much of a competitive element here but listen. I thought about "who's a character who would care about their ship's AO3 numbers" and just started writing.

Fandom: Blue Reflection: Second Light
Ship: Kinjou Yuki/Miyauchi Rena
Words: 1,034

Yuki usually found it pretty cute when Rena got worked up about an anime.

Rena liked magical girls, slice-of-life hobby stories, and just about anything with a cast of cute girls she could draw. It ran so contrary to her self-image as Serious and Intellectual that Yuki, despite knowing nothing about fandom before dating Rena, found herself goading Rena on when she was explaining why her cartoons were the best thing ever, and then she’d enjoy the show that was Rena when she allowed herself to be enthusiastic, forgetting to be dignified at all when telling Yuki about the touching story of this character or the sheer moe of that one.

Recently though, Rena had gotten into a shonen series, and it was giving her rambles a bit of a different flavour.

“I just don’t get why people even like Ayumu so much, he’s just a male audience self-insert.”

“Uh-huh,” Yuki said, watching across the kotatsu how Rena started to clench her fist as she said it.

“Mr. Deguchi is always joking in the author’s comments that really, he just wants to draw girls, but I think that’s true? I just think that’s true, and it’s obvious both in the art and the way he writes that he has no real interest in Ayumu. It makes absolutely no sense to me that so many fans get fixated on him anyways, they held their first popularity poll recently and he was ahead of Sorapyon! You know, the “villain” from the first arc who’s stuck around through the next four because people liked her so much? How on Earth is Ayumu more popular than her?!”

Rena was bringing her laptop out now to gather evidence for her points. Yuki leaned forward on the table, resting her chin in her hands to look appropriately attentive.

“I was thinking about it because of this, just look,” Rena turned her laptop around and showed Yuki a website with a grey sidebar she was pointing to… Written entirely in English. “Aren’t those numbers such a travesty?”

“Um,” Yuki took a moment to recognize the text she was looking at as names written in romaji, then recognized the first item in the list had the name “Ayumu” in it, “they’re just five apart?”

Rena turned the computer back to herself, “Exactly! AyuMatsu shouldn’t be ahead, and KikuMatsu should have waaaaaay more fic than this, it just makes no sense as it is right now. Kiku’s five times the character that Ayumu is! The way she overcomes her shyness to help Matsuri win her first match!… That’s love, not a surface level crush like Ayumu has on Matsuri”

Yuki now knew the English website was for fanfiction, which was a step up for her being able to understand what Rena was talking about, “Why are you checking an English site for fic, though?… I thought you like manga doujin more anyways.”

“I do like manga more,” Rena seemed pleased that Yuki remembered, “but I’ve run out of doujin from the last event and I’ve read through all the Japanese fic too, I thought this would be a good opportunity to study English and get more KikuMatsu at the same time.”

“Studying and fangirling at the same time, huh.” If anyone could do it, Yuki thought, that “anyone” was Rena. “That’s very you.”

Rena was in full ramble mode though, and ignored Yuki’s very sweet and insightful compliment, “I thought it would be just perfect, but then I saw these numbers and thought ‘no, I can’t let this stand!…’”

Once she took in what Rena said, Yuki sat up at attention.

“Wait, Rena, are you saying you-“

Rena smirked at Yuki’s attention.

“Yes, the last six fics in the KikuMatsu tag were written by me.”

“In English?!”

Rena nodded, and Yuki laughed in delight, “No way, Rena!! When did you even have time?!”

“On my lunch breaks,” Rena said proudly. “You can post really short fic on this site, as long as you’re posting in good faith then-“

“You gotta translate them for me.”

This time Rena blushed, “What? No no no, you haven’t read the canon yet, and I’m not that good at writing, I’m kinda going for quantity right now and it’ll be really embarrassing for you to-“

“Too late,” Yuki said, getting up from her seat so she could scoot in beside Rena, “I have girlfriend privilege, if you’re writing something I wanna read it.”

Rena belatedly shut her laptop, just as Yuki sidled in on Rena’s side of the kotatsu and leaned her head against Rena’s shoulder.

“Just tell me what they’re about?” Yuki said, turning her eyes up at Rena in a way she knew Rena was weak to.

Rena didn’t even look, just sighed and opened the laptop again, “Okay, you can read the summaries.”

“The summaries?!”

“You tell me what they say and I’ll tell you if you’re wrong.”

Yuki pouted, “Now you’re making me study…”

“That’s how I’m getting past this being embarrassing,” Rena said. “If you’re studying too then I know you got something good out of reading them.”

“Taskmaster Rena strikes again…” Yuki continued to pout to herself. “Aren’t you like, proud of them though? You’re working towards a victory for KikuMatsu nation after all.”

“In that sense I am, but… I’m not good enough at writing for you to read them yet. You deserve my best work.”

“I want all your work, though,” This time, Yuki smiled and Rena looked down at her in surprise. “Isn’t that the point of being partners, sharing everything?”

The word “partners”, even after everything they’d been through still made Rena blush. She looked to the side, and Yuki thought she might have won this argument.

“That’s true, but… Maybe not my fanfiction…”

“You tell me everything else about your fandom life.”

“Just forget about it!”

Rena closed her laptop again, and Yuki would have protested, but Rena went in for a kiss instead and at the end of the day, no matter how cute Rena’s hobby rambles were, Yuki would always take a kiss they shared over an interest they didn’t.

(Yuki knew Rena’s username anyways. She could always check out Rena’s writing on her own.)
tabby_shieldmaiden: (Default)

PROMPT: TEAM SKYLANDERS

[personal profile] tabby_shieldmaiden 2025-05-29 11:21 am (UTC)(link)
For Competiton: Two one-woman bands competing for the coin of an audience member
tabby_shieldmaiden: (Default)

PROMPT: TEAM SKYLANDERS

[personal profile] tabby_shieldmaiden 2025-05-29 11:22 am (UTC)(link)
For Competiton: Race to the bottom (can be taken literally or metaphorically)
tabby_shieldmaiden: (Default)

PROMPT: TEAM SKYLANDERS

[personal profile] tabby_shieldmaiden 2025-05-29 11:24 am (UTC)(link)
For Competiton: Hot dog eating competition
tabby_shieldmaiden: (Default)

PROMPT: TEAM SKYLANDERS

[personal profile] tabby_shieldmaiden 2025-05-29 11:26 am (UTC)(link)
For Competiton: They got third in the competition! Sure, there were only two teams, but pft, who cares?
Edited 2025-05-29 11:32 (UTC)
shadowrat: (Default)

FILL: TEAM VISUAL NOVELS

[personal profile] shadowrat 2025-05-29 11:47 am (UTC)(link)
realxeyez: (Default)

FILL: TEAM VISUAL NOVELS

[personal profile] realxeyez 2025-05-29 02:29 pm (UTC)(link)
Ship: Natsuhara Eri/Yuri (Persona 5: Tactica)
Prompt: Prompt Fusion - Put a ship that isn't from a rhythm game universe into a rhythm game universe

Toshiro spins Yuri into a dip, and the crowd roars.

Eri is the loudest, because of course she is. She’d been cheering for the two the entire song. How could she not? It’s not everyday you’re sucked into an alternate dimension and get to watch your friends dance to save the world. You especially don’t get to see your 30 year old best friend and girlfriend parading around in their highschool uniforms to do so.

“Woooo! Go team!” Eri wolf-whistles, earning Toshiro’s ire much to Yuri’s amusement. Once steady on her feet, she gives Toshiro a playful nudge and pulls him into a bow. The Phantom Thieves and their allies shout and cheer, and the sight really warms her heart. To think these two used to be outcasts, huh. “You guys see that?! That’s my girl! And, er, Toshiro I guess…”

“Hey! You could try to sound enthusiastic!” Toshiro retorts. Eri just blows him an embarrassingly over-the-top kiss. This leads to a round of teasing that Toshiro pretends to be annoyed by, but Eri can tell he’s having fun.

With that, Yuri jumps off the stage into the awaiting arms of her lover.

“Yuri!” Eri coos, hugging her with one arm. She can’t lift Yuri up and spin her like she wants, so she settles with a rib-breaking side-hug. Yuri lets out an ‘oof’ but hugs Eri back just as tightly. “I mean, wow, you two were great out there! I didn’t know you had it in you!”

Yuri laughs, tinged with embarrassment. “I’d be a bad bar owner if I didn’t know how to dance.”

Being a bartender for a lesbian bar doesn’t give you moves like those. Though, given Toshiro somehow knows how to dance, it may be the influence of the weird god that keeps haunting his brain. “But not like that! Oh man, I think I’ve fallen for you all over again!”

It’s not just the dance moves, really. Seeing Yuri unabashedly enjoying herself like this is just so… Eri doesn’t even know the word, but knows how it makes her feel. Light. Fluffy. Like she wants to scream to the heavens that this is her girlfriend and fuck you Nakabachi, sucks to suck! But instead, she pulls back to give Yuri a probably-inappropriate-for-the-current-moment kiss, Phantom Thieves be damned.

Yuri is smiling wider than Eri has ever seen when they part, even as Toshiro dashes over to berate them for public displays of affection in front of minors.
yurigi: (Default)

PROMPT: TEAM ACE ATTORNEY

[personal profile] yurigi 2025-05-29 03:34 pm (UTC)(link)
Dialogue:

“Stay with me, hold my hand.”
baradhiblue: portrait art of Ultraman Zero with a neutral expression looking at the viewer (Default)

FILL: TEAM TOKUSATSU

[personal profile] baradhiblue 2025-05-29 06:09 pm (UTC)(link)
For 2024 prompt:
"When you pick up a gun, you shoot to kill. Or you don't pick up a gun at all."


Fandom: Kamen Rider Ex-Aid
Ship: Nico Saiba/(Fem) Taiga Hanaya
Words: 460




Training modes are an important part of any competitive gamer’s tournament preparation routine. It’s essential to achieve one’s best reaction time and muscle memory, so of course Nico Saiba would take all the time she could to learn her way around Taiga’s Gashacon Magnum for better performance at clearing Kamen Rider Chronicle.

“Straighten your back a bit more. Set your shoulder like this so the recoil won’t luxate it.” And of course it came with hands-on instruction, for the sake of gun safety. “Now for aiming—”

“I know how that works, I’m not stupid!” Nico bristled in the older woman’s hold, but did not bat her away. “When you pick up a gun, you shoot to kill. Or you don’t pick up a gun at all. That’s truth in television for you.”

“Having 3,000 hours in GTA still doesn’t give you the same physical aptitude as actual experience.” Taiga’s rough hands very delicately adjusted the angle of Nico’s face on the side of the rifle-mode Gashacon Magnum. “It wasn’t even the same for me until I had to pick up real guns out here. You don’t want to be facing high level enemies with just that.”

“I knowwww…” That was why she was letting Taiga help in the first place! It definitely wasn’t because… this was kind of nice. (Taiga was too keen on protecting her, so deliciously easy to manipulate in that, and maybe it was more than Nico could chew, but she wouldn’t acquiesce to a skunk-haired thirty year old woman’s overbearing concerns.) “You don’t have to be a bitch about it.”

“I’m just doing my job as your doctor. Game Disease is easy to solve, but I can’t magically cure any physical damage you do to yourself by being reckless.” At least, she was done fiddling with Nico’s posture. “If you know how to aim already, try taking a shot.”

They had spray-painted some Bugster silhouettes on the Clinic’s back wall for training purposes, with some dyed water balloons attached to nails for “vital points” (if Bugsters had such things; probably it was more like hitboxes, but this was Taiga’s idea).

Trusting in her expertise, Nico took her first shot, aiming for the red dye balloon at the Bugster’s head.

It was a narrow miss. Only just slightly grazing the top of the balloon, but not popping it.

“This is bullshit, your stupid posture stuff is throwing off my game.” Nico complained, now really batting her very dear doctor away. “Lemme show you how a Genius Gamer does it.”

She shook her shoulders to take out the stupid tension and settled into a relaxed and comfortable posture.

“Bang!”

It was a bullseye hit.

But her shoulder did hurt like hell, yeah.

“What did I tell you!”

taakotaaco: (Default)

PROMPT: TEAM JACKIESHAUNA

[personal profile] taakotaaco 2025-05-29 06:15 pm (UTC)(link)
for prompt historical fiction:

edwardian winter fashion

FILL: TEAM TOUHOU

[personal profile] lumileex3 2025-05-29 06:27 pm (UTC)(link)
Prompt: 40's Mobster AU

Ship: Mainly Megumu/Tsukasa with slight Momoyo/Tsukasa and Momoyo/Megumu/Tsukasa

-

Tsukasa races down the city streets, clutching a pistol and running as fast as her legs can carry her. Trying to play both the Kiketsu Family and the Keiga Family against each other had backfired horribly, and now each of the matriarchs are calling for her head.

Suddenly she hears approaching footsteps from ahead, so she quickly ducks into a nearby alley to hide behind a dumpster. Just barely peeking out, she watches as Enoko runs past with a group of wolf spirits on the hunt for her. Tsukasa sighs in relief, just to yelp in surprise when a hand grabs her shoulder from behind, causing the kuda-gitsune to whip around and aim at whoever it was.

“Hey now!” Momoyo exclaims, putting her hands up to show she means no harm. “I come all the way out here to find you and that’s how you greet me?”

Tsukasa lets out a heavy sigh in relief, stowing the pistol away with shaky hands before speaking. “Miss Momoyo… what are you doing here? Did Megumu send you?”

“Again with the ‘Miss’, I told you to drop that.” Momoyo responds, glancing over her shoulder before continuing. “And no, I came here by myself. I don’t think Megumu’s gotten word of the hits out on you yet.”

“Ah…” So Megumu hasn’t sent anybody to help her yet… that was worrying for her chances. “Well Mis- ahem, Momoyo, would you be able to help me get to Megumu’s office?”

“No.”

“Wh-What?” Tsukasa’s eyes widen, looking panicked for a moment before Momoyo speaks again.

Momoyo takes Tsukasa’s hand, pulling her forward and beginning to lead her down the alley before responding “Don’t misunderstand, I am here to help you, but Megumu’s office is the first place they’re going to be looking. Nah, you can’t go there.” She says as they make it to Momoyo’s car. “I’ll take you to the mine, you can hide out in there until Megumu figures out what to do.”

“I see… that makes sense, thank you.” Tsukasa replies as she goes to open the door, just to be pulled back by Momoyo. “Huh? What are you…” Tsukasa trails off as Momoyo pulls her to the back and opens the trunk. “... You can’t be serious.”

Momoyo nods, failing to hide her amusement while nudging Tsukasa towards the open trunk. “I am. If they see you riding in my car, we’re both screwed. This is the only way to get you out of town.”

“C-Can’t I just-” Momoyo cuts Tsukasa off with a shake of her head, causing the white fox to sigh and reluctantly begin to climb in. “Fine… but don’t take too long to get there!”
“I might. I have to stop by to tell Megumu what’s going on so she doesn’t worry her head off about you.” Momoyo says as Tsukasa lies down in the trunk, smirking down at her with one hand ready to close the trunk. “But don’t worry your pretty little head, I’ll keep you safe.” She says while teasingly squeezing Tsukasa’s cheek, laughing at the growl she gets in response. “Maybe we’ll finally be able to spend a night together without you running off before I wake up.” Momoyo’s smile grows seeing the realization in Tsukasa’s eyes and the resulting blush, but she shuts the trunk before Tsukasa can protest, whistling a jaunty tune to herself as she walks to the driver's seat and starts the car.

-

‘How much longer is she going to be?’ Tsukasa thinks to herself. The car had stopped what felt like ages ago, but there had been no sign of Momoyo returning. ‘The two of them better not be-’

Tsukasa’s thoughts are interrupted when the trunk suddenly opens, the sudden sunlight blinding her for a moment. A squeak of surprise escapes her when a Tommy Gun is suddenly thrown in beside her, but she's even more surprised when she looks up and sees Megumu climbing into the trunk as well.

“What are you doing?! Why are you-” Tsukasa's words are cut off by Megumu’s knee slamming into her stomach, causing Tsukasa to yelp in pain.

“Sorry!” Megumu exclaims as she continues to climb into the trunk, her body forced to press against Tsukasa’s smaller one due to the size of the trunk. “Momoyo told me what's going on. Firstly, you're a pain.” Megumu says as she flicks Tsukasa’s forehead. “And secondly, I'm coming with you two. You can barely protect yourself, and if people can't find you they'll come after me instead anyways.” She finishes as she fully settles into the trunk.

Tsukasa’s ears flatten back and she blushes profusely from being pressed against Megumu like this. “I-I appreciate the concern Miss Iizunamaru, but there's not enough space for us-”

“Looks like there's enough to me.” Momoyo interrupts, stepping into view and smirking down at the entangled duo. “She's gotta stay hidden, just the same as you.” Momoyo says before glancing over her shoulder. “If I keep talking to my trunk people will get suspicious. You two lovebirds behave in there.”

“No promises.~” Megumu responds as she wraps her arms around Tsukasa.

“Wait! We should-”

Momoyo doesn’t let Tsukasa finish before slamming the trunk shut. She takes a moment to stretch before moving back to the front and opening the door. Before getting in she pauses for a moment, staring back at the trunk longingly. ‘... Maybe I could convince Chimata to drive so I can slip in there.’ Momoyo stands silently for a while longer before sitting down and quickly starting the car, peeling out of the parking lot and towards Chimata's office.
baradhiblue: portrait art of Ultraman Zero with a neutral expression looking at the viewer (Default)

PROMPT: TEAM TOKUSATSU

[personal profile] baradhiblue 2025-05-29 07:42 pm (UTC)(link)
Location: Where is your unemployed friend at 2pm on a Tuesday?
arsquare: (Default)

PROMPT: TEAM YELLOW TANABE

[personal profile] arsquare 2025-05-29 08:58 pm (UTC)(link)
For Fanmixes:

1. Miseen/balloon & nuyuri ft. flower & Kaai Yuki [Translation]
2. Hated Person Song/164 ft. GUMI [Translation]
3. Mabel/balloon ft. Eve [Translation]
4. CUT/Yoh Kamiyama [Translation]
5. A Mysterious Phone Call (Kaidenwa)/r-906 ft. ROSE & POPY [Translation]
arsquare: (Default)

PROMPT: TEAM YELLOW TANABE

[personal profile] arsquare 2025-05-29 09:17 pm (UTC)(link)
For Fanmixes:

1. Mozaik Role - Deco*27 feat. GUMI [Translation]
2. A Born Coward (Amanojaku) - 164 feat. GUMI [Translation]
3. Ghost Girl (Shoujo Rei) - mikitoP feat. Hatsune Miku [Translation]
4. About me - Chouchou-P feat. GUMI [Translation]
Edited 2025-05-29 21:25 (UTC)
arsquare: (Default)

PROMPT: TEAM YELLOW TANABE

[personal profile] arsquare 2025-05-29 09:26 pm (UTC)(link)
For Dialogue (shamelessly taken from Goncharov, of course):

“Of course we’re in love. That’s why I tried to shoot you.”

“If we really were in love you wouldn’t have missed.”
arsquare: (Default)

PROMPT: TEAM YELLOW TANABE

[personal profile] arsquare 2025-05-29 09:31 pm (UTC)(link)
For Dialogue:

"If I die before you, don't you dare try to bring me back."

"I can't promise anything."
arsquare: (Default)

PROMPT: TEAM YELLOW TANABE

[personal profile] arsquare 2025-05-29 09:36 pm (UTC)(link)
For Prompt Fusion:

Walmart AU (your characters work at Walmart or equivalent chain store) + Enemies to Lovers
heymacareyna: (Default)

FILL: TEAM CAITVI

[personal profile] heymacareyna 2025-06-01 03:32 am (UTC)(link)

ship: griddlehark | words: 1500

The particular shade of Walmart Blue was the bane of Harrowhark’s existence. She put on the uniform every goddamned morning and regretted her life choices. Not because she was above retail. She’d take a paycheck where she could get one, and frankly, she was good at the work. No, the problem with her Walmart manager position was her assistant manager. 

Gideon fucking Nav.

The towering, brawny redhead was second-in-command of the entire superstore, and she made no secret of how much she hated working for Walmart. She’d tried to quit eight-six times. (Harrow counted. It was her job to know.) But Harrow always snagged her on the way out and put her back to work, and Gideon always grumbled, and the next day was always more of the same.

Harrow once visited the Walmart on Sixth Street, where manager Palamedes and his assistant manager Camilla worked in perfect harmony. Harrow had been a little jealous, but mostly disgusted. Still, she wanted an assistant manager who listened to her. Respected her. Harrow was competent; what else could one ask for in a direct superior?

(Friendliness, she supposed? That wasn’t her forte, though, so here they were.)

Regardless of her shattered hopes and dreams, today, as always, Harrow arrived early and carefully prepped the store for opening. When Gideon arrived twenty minutes late, Harrow called, “Consider buying a clock, Griddle.”

Gideon flipped her off as she pulled on her blue vest over a rumpled shirt and cargo shorts that definitely didn’t fit the dress code.

Harrow delegated several tasks to Gideon the moment she clocked in, which earned her a long, low groan of pain. “I just got here!” Gideon complained. 

“Your shift started at five.”

“Yeah, and do you realize how insane that is?”

Harrow narrowly resisted the urge to throttle her assistant manager. Very narrowly. “It’s your job,” she said coldly. “Act like it.”

“Okay, but consider this: what if I jumped into traffic instead?” Gideon suggested.

What if I pushed you? Harrow almost replied, but she enjoyed being superior, so all she said was “I’d have to do a lot of paperwork about it, so I’d rather you wait until after your shift ends.”

“Oh my god,” Gideon grumbled, and then she muttered under her breath for a minute, featuring creative curses and physically impossible instructions.

Unimpressed by Gideon’s poor working knowledge of anatomy, Harrow turned on her heel and walked away. “I’ll check in on your progress at noon,” she warned over her shoulder, and she could almost feel the glare burning into her spine.

Another day in goddamn paradise.

***

Despite loud, extensive complaining, Gideon completed all seven tasks by noon, and Harrow only had to touch up one of the displays. It was good work, as much as she hated to admit it. Her assistant manager knew what she was doing, when she could be bothered to actually do it. So in a gushing, effusive display, Harrow told Gideon, “Good,” and handed her the corporate tablet. “Go in the back room and do your annual training. You can take your lunch afterward.”

Gideon made a face. “But I hate the corporate training. It’s boring as hell.”

Harrow enjoyed it herself, mostly because the hour of badly acted videos was an hour she didn’t have to spend talking to people. “It’s mandatory.”

“Your mom was mandatory last night,” Gideon grumbled.

Harrow sighed. “That retort was mediocre at best. Try harder.”

She expected more cursing and butchering-of-anatomy, but Gideon snorted. As in, a smothered laugh snorted. It seemed to surprise her as much as it did Harrow: she covered her nose and mouth, golden eyes wide with shock. “That wasn’t even funny,” Gideon insisted. “I’m not—I was just surprised. I didn’t laugh.”

“Of course not,” Harrow said faintly. She’d never made anyone laugh before, even unintentionally. She wasn’t sure what to do with that information.

“Jesus Christ,” Gideon muttered, though Harrow wasn’t sure why. Gideon shook her head, took the tablet, and strode to the back room. She glanced back at Harrow when she reached the door, and Harrow was still watching her go. Something crackled when their gazes met. They both looked away quickly. Gideon disappeared into the back.

Harrow pressed the heel of her hand to her sternum, trying to dissipate the warm feeling behind her rib cage.

It’s nothing, she told herself. Absolutely nothing.

***

The next day, Gideon was late again. Harrow glowered when Gideon finally strolled into the manager’s office, sunglasses still on, a Starbucks drink in each hand. Who the hell double-fisted overpriced coffees when the break room had a functioning Keurig?

“I need to take a long lunch so I don’t go into overtime this week,” Harrow started, but then Gideon plunked one of the cups down onto her desk. Harrow stared at it like it might be poisoned. 

“You take it black, right?” Gideon said instead of anything sensible.

Harrow nodded blankly.

“Nailed it. Okay, I’m gonna clock in. Go take your lunch.” And Gideon swept back out the door, leaving Harrow alone again, staring at the Sharpie-scrawled name and phone number on her coffee cup. Someone named Dulcinea wanted Gideon to call her, which was totally fine and none of Harrow’s business.

So why did the idea of Gideon on a date with someone else twist sharply in Harrow’s chest?

***

For the rest of the week, when Harrow’s and Gideon’s shifts crossed, a black coffee appeared on Harrow’s desk. No more barista phone numbers, thankfully. Just plain hot coffee and the unsettling knowledge that Gideon was…being friendly, in this one single way. Ugh.

They still bickered, still fought. At one point, Gideon threw a skeleton stuffie at Harrow’s head with the accuracy of a professional pitcher. Not that Harrow had ever once watched a baseball game. She certainly didn’t have the muscle mass to play. But she knew the concept, and the velocity at which the toy collided with Harrow’s skull would have made a pro player proud.

It didn’t really hurt, but Harrow threatened to put Gideon on multiple double shifts when she planned the next work schedule, just on principle. (She didn’t do it.)

But Gideon kept acting up, and Harrow kept smacking her down—again, on principle. She didn’t understand why Gideon insisted on this nonsense. Any given workday would have gone so much smoother if Gideon just followed the rules and kept her head down. Instead, it was warfare, with a mischievous glint in those amber eyes.

And a black coffee on the desk every morning, like nothing else had happened between them. 

Harrow thought this might just be the new normal, and it wasn’t bad, even if it wasn’t quite…clicking into place as right. As what she wanted long-term. She didn’t know what she wanted, but she felt like she hadn’t settled into it yet. She was learning, though, how to handle it. Or so she thought. But then Gideon changed things again—Harrow was wavering in the break room on all coffee no food, having skipped her usual breakfast and worked through lunch to cover for a sick employee. She thought she was hiding it well, but Gideon passed by. With only a glance, she detoured to her locker. Then she handed Harrow something that crinkled and said, as if it were nothing, “Here, eat this. You’ll feel better.”

And heat prickled Harrow’s face, crawling up her cheeks to the tips of her ears, as her fingers closed around the item. She looked down. A granola bar. Such a small thing…and yet it was from Gideon, so it meant more than it had any right to.

So Harrow snapped at the one employee in the kitchen to go find something productive to do, Isaac. Once the area was clear, she turned and glowered at Gideon, who raised an eyebrow.

“What are you doing, Griddle?” Harrow demanded. “What is this?”

“A granola bar,” Gideon said lazily. “Pretty high in protein, actually, for not technically being a protein bar.”

“Why did you give it to me?”

“You skipped breakfast.”

It was miniscule. It was insignificant. It was…everything.

So—in a moment of absolute idiocy—Harrow fisted a hand in Gideon’s vest and dragged her down to crash their mouths together, her other hand coming up to cup the back of Gideon’s neck, to hold her in place (as if muscular Gideon couldn’t pull away if she wanted to). Gideon made a very un-Gideon-like noise, surprised and pleased and desperate above all, and then big, rough hands clutched at Harrow’s body, kneading like she’d been waiting for this for a while. And god, did it feel good.

Harrow climbed Gideon like a ladder as her assistant manager hiked her up and pushed her against the wall. She nipped at Gideon’s lower lip and then urged her to open her mouth. Gideon moaned when Harrow dared to dip her tongue inside, and Harrow wanted, wanted, wanted to—

Then a shocked employee’s voice broke through the haze:

“Gideon? Harrowhark?”

Shit.

arsquare: (Default)

PROMPT: TEAM YELLOW TANABE

[personal profile] arsquare 2025-05-29 09:40 pm (UTC)(link)
For Competition:

Ban'ei Horse Racing
arsquare: (Default)

PROMPT: TEAM YELLOW TANABE

[personal profile] arsquare 2025-05-29 09:43 pm (UTC)(link)
For Competition:

Two couples beefing with each other stake everything on a game of contract bridge
toffee7: (Default)

PROMPT: Team Murder Drones

[personal profile] toffee7 2025-05-30 01:29 pm (UTC)(link)
Dialogue Prompt!

"This changes nothing."

"You believe that if you want."

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