Author's Note- Okay, we all know I do not own this nor make money from this. Also, two of them (27 and 28 I think) are a bit connected. More of a canon divergent, but both realities could have happened. Otherwise, I also decided to post this all together on , but if you want this in chapter for easier reading, head on over to AO3. I think that covers everything.
Okay, and it's not letting me double space between snapshots.
1- It was such a little thing, handing the man the penny he had picked up from the ground. He had been digging in his pockets to come up with the last cent at the checkout line. It's not until Yama gets home later, that he realizes the soul mark on his wrist is gone. He remembered the man wore designer cologne. He sighs, shrugs his shoulders, and unloads his groceries. What brings Yama out of his consolation ice cream is a pounding on the door, and the man with the cologne on the other side. He's holding a marriage certificate up.
2- Harlock thrusts into his hand, grunting as his orgasm washes over him. "Two minutes." Miime intones as she flips a page in her book. "If you want to impress Yama, get the tissues and go again." With a wordless noise of frustration, Harlock grabs the box. It's annoying, being over 150 years old with no stamina. To Harlock, there is no greater humiliation than to finally take his long time co-captain to bed and then have it over in quick succession. Everything will be perfect for Yama's first time. Harlock will endeavor to do no less than exemplary.
3- The church is full of lies and deceit. A succubus can't actually drain a human through sex, same as how a human eating apples isn't equated with chopping down the tree. Harlock stares at the young cleric before him, the amber eyes gazing up at him. "I'm telling you, the book you found is not heresy, it is fact." The younger, Stars Above, so much younger male chucks the book at him. "I know that, I'm the one who translated it." His sharp glare cuts the gloom to pierce Harlock. "And introduce yourself, you trespassing idiot."
4- Yama swears his neighbors did not need to wash their car at the same time he was gardening. This was the fifth time he'd been hosed down on 'accident' by Mr. Phantom and he couldn't remove his pants as well. Not that the wet material hid much, as Yama glares at Mr. and Mrs. Phantom. Mrs. Phantom beckons him over with a treat of iced lemonade and the shade. They always made schemes for him to visit. He already knows he'll host dinner again, so Yama heads over. How much longer could he feign disinterest to their offer, another week?
5-Usually people didn't hire a sex worker for their wife's birthday, but Yama wasn't saying no to the extra cash when he had student debt to pay off. Of course, maybe the husband who hired him mentioning the sweet lady Yama'd been helping for months while her husband was overseas was Harlock's spouse would have helped. But as Maya giggled as she ran another feather across his bound body, Yama just hopes that he'll leave safely after the session. Men like Harlock have been known to vanish people, and Maya had remarked for months about Yama just 'moving in'.
6- Yama is asexual and just doesn't care for sex, but when Harlock walks by, he wants to throw on comfy pajamas and cuddle the man well into the evening. But Harlock is the Captain, and he has duties to the crew and the ship, so Yama works himself harder and trains and learns. Months pass, with the Captain never taking anyone to bed for 'stress relief'. Yama hopes, just hopes, that maybe he has a chance of cuddling with his captain. One night, late in the Captain's Quarters, Harlock takes him to bed in pajamas and comfy blankets.
7- Maya is a war journalist, digging through different sides and all sides and risking her life and several captures, but there is power in her stories. The news and politicians can't shut her down, not with a pirate bringing her supplies and a source close to the Emperor airing her news on sanctioned channels. The war drags on, but she is determined to outlast it and see peace. In the end, peace is a hard won existence. Maya hangs a picture of the three of them, with a caption reading, "The pen is mightier than the sword."
8- Yama walks Nami down the aisle to Ezra, before taking his seat in the Church. He truly is happy for them, having buried his feelings in favor of seeing how the two of them glow together. Perhaps, one day, he'll meet someone that glows when he looks at them, someone who makes him glow when they look at him. But for now, the music starts, and Yama pulls out his handkerchief in preparation. Long after the wedding, the papers run an article on wooing Yama, especially if they can make the young man 'glow with love'. He never meets them.
9- Captain Harlock is a fierce and brutal pirate, murdering his way through the whole Emperor's family to stop their tyranny. It is not until months later, when the food supply to the rebels has long run out that he traces the source to the night he killed a young man, sheltering a comatose friend as the building failed around them. He swears not to repeat such a mistake as his men die from starvation until they can raid a heavily armed food merchant. It is the beginning of the end for Captain Harlock.
10- She is captured. She is brought before the fools and despots that rule the world, the ones that silence critical thinkers and well-wishers. Maya stands proud before them, spying a young Captain by the second prince, still a child, on the royal platform. They will execute her before them, an example of what happens to resistance. She must make her spectacle count, to counteract against their message. Her voice cannot reach them over the swell of crowd cheering for her death. The prince's eyes are wide and young, and the Captain's are filled with absolute loyalty to her killers.
11- He is a simple farmer with acres of land and a brother that improves tools. He sells most of his food to pay his debts, and gives the rest they cannot eat away. When pirates attack the coasts, he always negotiates as ambassador and barters with food. Few realize his once noble heritage. But his luck runs out when the pirates of the one eyed, dangerous captain before him realize he is the better prize than red apples and good bread. Neither he nor the pirates return. His brother marries and lives on, reading the letters his brother sends home.
12- He's a pop star. There is no poverty, no overtly controlling governments, and all is peace, love, and heartbreak and lonely feelings while humanity marches on. War is fought in political rooms, and insults repaid in verbal spades. But he sings and dances and brings a piece of joy into the world. But sure, when he drops a single using his classical training and a different name, it opens doors. Namely, the doors of one very influential couple over the past decade open to him with warm light and smiles. Yama takes their hands and they forge an album together.
13- When Yama is not being fucked over the king's desk, he is kneeling like the queen's dog awaiting the occasional pet or question. When not engage in either, Yama slips away to a garden he made inside a broken wall, just big enough for him alone. His only respite is transplanted into the king's garden once the man finds out, and the grass is stained white and sweaty as King Harlock reminds him that he lives only for him and Queen Maya. The queen joins too, raking nails down his chest. Ours, she tells him. Ours alone. Yours, he cries, yours.
14- He wakes to Skype calling him; the hour early in the morning. He answers to hear 'go back to sleep, I just need to see you' and angles the camera to do just that as he falls back asleep. Maya watches her husband over her afternoon tea, glad that she can do even this across the vast ocean. The pirate she's interviewing comes back from his work, settling into the chair across from her. "Married?" Harlock rumbles.
"Do you see a ring?" She rejoins.
"Not when you're protecting him." He replies. Then, "I'd like to meet him."
She smiles. "Okay."
15- They are in high school, in the bathroom, mouths sloppy, hands running over zippers and under skirts as they try to figure out what they are, what they mean, why they are all together. They are told 'man and woman, not man and man and woman'. They decide the rest of the world is narrow-minded. No one talks about poly or asexual or pansexual or demisexual, only that Maya is a whore and Harlock is a senior stringing freshman Yama along. But they talk amongst themselves and Yama transfers with Harlock and Maya to college. They live happily ever after.
16- He thinks they are beautiful for their insides. Harlock's ideals and conviction shines through his one eye, a scar marring his face, and his jaw too square to be handsome. Maya is pale and sickly, but her voice rings with determination and perseverance that she battles through her ailing body and into the world with. Harlock and Maya agree that it was Yama's attitude of hope and preparation that drew them to the shy, standoffish man. All three are not beautiful, but their ideas bring to life a different beauty of their humanity.
17- They are gods, ruling over Man. They are many, some beneficial, some cruel, and they span the night sky. Maya rises in the morning with Harlock, and beds for the night with Yama. Only for an hour each day do they have all three together, Man whispers. The rift was brought by jealous others, because Maya wanted both and defied the world to have them. Perhaps, some think, in another time, all three would have each other all day and all night. But perhaps, the myth will have a happy ending yet. The world is only beginning to turn.
18- Harlock runs his fingers through his conquest's hair. The young male had been meant to serve as mayor for the coastal town, stunning everyone with his open door policy and pouring his own funds into repairing the town. New tax system meant less beggars, and more education brought about more reading about. However, the young man (Logan, he demanded to be called) brought too much attention to himself. The wrong kind of attention as Harlock and his pirates swept the evacuated streets to plunder the mansion. Logan offered no resistance to the ransacking and none when Harlock had kissed him breathless.
19- Maya is the Queen, Harlock her privateer and Yama kneels before them with bound hands and a defiant glare. His kingdom may have fallen, his brother killed, but he will not go screaming to his death. Instead, his is brought screaming to humiliation in the court, trousers stained as the demon Captain chuckles into his ear. The Queen bids them both join her for tea when Yama is feeling civil. Harlock takes his time to earn him over, and Yama joins them for tea inside his own garden of poison, fond smiles through wisps of steam as they sit and plot.
20- Harlock moans, his sense gone as the executioner swings the axe down- into the neck of his beloved Yama. Ezra would sooner kill his own brother than tolerate the thought that Yama may love another man, a successful merchant. His fiancé Maya stares on, her gaze turning to glaciers Harlock once navigated, and then they both look at the man responsible for their loss. He will hang for this, for taking away the sun of their world. They had the means to stop him, now they will put their wills to ending him.
21- Harlock's tongue delves into Yama's ear, twisting and twirling as the would-be assassin squirms to escape. Maya giggles and runs nails lightly over his sides. They will break him, break him free of his brother's control, and then they will have the strongest, cleverest assassin on their side. Harlock slides a wet palm over the erection straining under simple pants, and Maya joins him. Yama keens, bucks, and twists an arm free that flails about before grabbing Maya into a kiss. Yama starts giggling and thrusting after wards, enthusiastically joining them for life.
22- Magic swirls around them, protection after protection hailing down unto his ship. Unlike normal Casters, Yama is an Abnormal, only able to focus through plants. Harlock thinks that perhaps, the thinkers of old were wrong to classify Abnormal as weak. For he sees Yama is strong, and clever. The bundles of herbs Yama had strung in doorways and windows magnify the spells to ward off danger are stronger than the city's own protection. Yama Casts multiple spells, while Harlock feels the wind slip away from him, returning to his enemies' sails. Let them come. They are prepared.
23- All three carry a vagina between their legs, and while Harlock carries himself as a man, he certainly doesn't complain about the extra orgasms, and most certainly does not perfect the bitch slap in his spare time. Yama rolls hir eyes, figuring out which days are female, which are male, and which are just not anything but Yama. Maya sighs and pops another pain suppressor as blood leaks down into the bath. Oh, the joys of being born with a vagina. But she doesn't complain later when Yama and Harlock snuggle into bed to alleviate her pain.
24- The arrow sticking out of his leg prompts a slew of cursing as Yama breaks the shaft. He has to finish fetching herbs for the apothecary, and a field dressing was not his immediate concern. The rather handsome Officer Harlock that comes galloping up to him, however, makes a nuisance of himself and takes Yama back to the doctor's before the work is finished. Yama argues the whole trip, demanding to finish his work because the wound isn't bad. But Officer Harlock makes a bother of himself throughout their married life too, fussing over every cut and nick.
25- Yama slurps blood from the cow's side, licking the wound closed. Fingers curl into his hair, yanking his head back. "Do you think meager amounts of cow blood will sustain you?" The other figure must be an older vampire, or a hunter. Yama whimpers as his neck is stretched, before a hot tongue traces over the front. This will be how he dies, his neck bitten clean through. "I am Harlock. Stay put until I bring you a human." Yama bucks and thrashes, but he cannot disobey. When the older vampire returns, he forces Yama to drain the meal completely.
26- Unrequited love sucks, which is why Yama had taken Harlock up on the post wedding drinking binge. Ezra and Nami married. He was burying the hatchet after erroneously receiving an invite, and taking Harlock as his plus one for friend status. Harlock makes appropriate hums and grunts while drinking, and in the early morning, he makes different grunts and rhythmic poundings as Yama loses his mind atop white bed sheets. Yama doesn't remember much in the morning, but the new ring on his finger has him blushing all the way through making breakfast and getting answers from his husband.
27- His brother brings the pirate to the stage in chains. Yama interrupts the execution to take him as a servant. Ezra lets him. Over years, Yama learns about foreign islands where people live without rain bringers. Yama thinks one night that he would like to go there. In moments he and Harlock escape to travel the world. Harlock is always greeted as an old friend, but Yama never fits in. He returns home without Harlock or telling him, to a country that needs a rain bringer that fits nowhere else, and a brother that embraces him after a public whipping.
28- Harlock raids and razes an island, with rain, wind, and lightning threatening to drown him, until he holds a scared young rain bringer in his arms again. The decapitated brother kneels where he fell. Perhaps in another life, he had noticed Yama not feeling accepted in the outside world and could have prevented this. But in his reality, Yama's tear stained face becomes buried in his chest, the sniffles dying out as Harlock carries him away from the barren island. His first mate sees to the new addition settling in well as Harlock sets his gaze on a brighter horizon.
29- He just needed to steal two copper coins from the scarred face man, but his instincts had kicked in and he bartered his share of the food away instead. The inn keeper let them stay in the stable, Monono and Rebi huddled to him for warmth. When the same scarred face man sets fire to the stables later, Yama steals a horse and rides with his children as far away as he can. It is not far enough to lose the scarred face man, who takes them into his family of thieves. Neither Yama nor his children go hungry again.
30- Okay, so he sucked a fairy dick one time. But then the fae prick shows up at his wedding, praising his skills in the bed during the harvest moon. Yama has to explain to him that it is his wedding because he planned it, not that he was getting married. Although any woman who wanted a sexually satisfying man clearly knew where to find one now, he snapped. Ezra and Nami both remind him he now has the house to himself as they move out. The damn fae moves in to live with him, and they get married that winter.
31- Ruling as emperor was tiresome. Fixing the roads and generating income alternative to taxing were all that held the empire together, that, and the pirates let him live after finding out he slept on a bed of straw. He had actually chucked his crown at the captain and raised his voice, thundering about how his people deserved better, and he would not forget them. The pirates had sobered up and left without another word. But the captain would visit. And one day, the pirate would visit by a man made channel that connected the country and improved trade.
32- His voice is stern and distant when they first meet. His voice is a thunderous roar that can shake battlefields and rouse the crew when they fight invaders. His voice is a crooning, lilting tune around children. His voice is a low murmur in the engine room, meant for his friends alone. His voice is warm, sibilant, and incessant when he stops by your room in his walks. His voice is tight, angry when he finds you bleeding on the floor. His voice is soft, cracking, when you open your eyes, and greet him, your voice warm and soft.
33- Yama adores cats and dogs, even going so far as to petition the city to create a dog park. He graduates college before he ever sees his dog park, and adopts a dog with scarcely hour old permission from his landlord. He finds an older Doberman, forlornly lying in his cage. The previous owner, one military captain, had died. The dog is heartbroken, and will die soon they tell him. Yama decides the dog should not die in a cage and adopts him immediately. Phantom lives to see Yama achieve his dream of becoming a veterinarian, before dying quietly.
34- She meets her husband through a mixed up café order, and his horrible puns make her laugh. They didn't mean to, but meeting up at the café becomes routine, until Yama offers to meet the rest of the family, and she realizes that Yama has a life outside of her. But of course he did, he wasn't a character in her book. Her therapist, Harlock, tells her she's doing better, but it's easier to have Yama as a part in her book and a part outside it, and Yama helps by understanding her. They both love her, in their own ways.
35- It is the 1920s, when speakeasies abound, and Yama works as a cop, trying to shut down illegal booze trade because the law says to. Even Yama knows the structure is failing to contain the flaws of humanity, and that his brother is working himself harder and longer and coming home later each night to his wife. Oh, what would Ezra think about him getting shot at on a simple stake out, all because Yama couldn't let the law breaking criminal get shot? Perhaps not as much as Yama nowadays running his own speakeasy with the same criminal Yama saved.
36- He's working as a doctor, as his mother before him, when a man with half his face bleeding comes in, signs in, and sits in the waiting room. Yama nearly breaks the door demanding to know why the man didn't request immediate aid, when the guy calmly explains that the blood on his face is stage makeup, he hurt his wrist taking a fall the wrong way, and dress rehearsal can go on without him for the last act. Yama calms down and agrees to see the show the next week. He shows up with flowers for the whole cast.
37- She's luxuriating in her bath after finally returning to what is termed a first world nation, when the lights go out and the earthquake hits. In the rubble and ruckus that follows, she manages to throw on simple clothes and her boots before trekking for safety. She meets looters, patrolling gangs giving aid to the elderly in escaping, and Yama, a plucky botanist she wants to keep in touch with after everything settles down. She sits and waits for the fire men to come dig Yama out, and they both meet firefighter Harlock, who Maya insists on taking out to lunch.
38- Yama is not the best man at Harlock's wedding as that would be Tochiro. Nor is he Maya's Maid of Honor, that's Emeraldas. Nor is he the ring bearer, that's Monono. He certainly is not a flower girl, Rebi and Mayu look stunning. No, he is going to officiate the wedding of the two people he loves most in the world, and he should be happy. He will not object the wedding. He will offer counsel throughout the rest of their married lives, and he will be happy for them. But Maya and Harlock object that Yama can't marry them.
39- He runs a theater in the south, showing banned movies at midnight and hosting book discussions in the lobby an hour before show time of the movie adaptation. People agree he runs a quaint little theater, modeled in a vintage style. When they ask Manager Harlock why he does it, he lies and says he always dreamed of running one, and now he can. He doesn't mention his lovers living locked away from the outside world, under penalty of death from the government he hides them from. He must endure, for the time is coming for their escape.
40- He is a simple son, born on a farm, learning to read from a woods trapper named Harlock and his wife, a school teacher named Maya. His parents fall ill then die that winter, and relatives only want to take his skilled brother Ezra with them. Harlock and Maya offer to adopt him, but his relatives leave without signing the paperwork. He should have run. Now, it is too many years and he's too scared to leave, as Harlock and Maya trace their hands on his body, welcoming him to life as an adult. Everyone just assumes he's their son.
41-Yama stirs from his pedestal, sweeping the wisps of burning herb away. "The pirate continues to change his mind and alter the future at his whimsy. My Sight cannot predict him, or what he wants. From the grain, to glory, to needless slaughter…could we not send a messenger to ask him what he wants?" Ezra shakes his head. "The greatest pride of our city sits before me. There can be no doubt to my mind what he is truly after. And he closes our bay and escape route with that damnably fast ship of his. No, we draw him out."
42- Yama tidies up the cabin, minding the made bed and the book shelves stacked as their occupant wanted them. He glanced about quickly, before picking up a hidden book under the shelf and snatching a page of reading. Footsteps alert him, and the book is back under the shelf while he scrubs the floor. "Cabin boy." The Captain calls. "Stow that and meet me in the infirmary." Yama hurries to obey, finally slipping past the wooden frame into the sun lit infirmary. The Captain is holding a salve in his hands. "You are going to learn to make this, now."
43- He dives, deeper and deeper into the depths, his goggles protecting his eyes- so he sees the shark heading for him from meters away in the sun drenched depths. He moves, and so does the shark and he prepares to lose an arm, maybe his life, when another diver swims up and rams the shark. They both escape into the nearby coral. The other diver has an oxygen tank, but Yama doesn't. When the mermaid joins them, blonde hair turned dark red with blood, she kisses Yama first. Well, both divers figure there are worse fates than becoming mermen.
44- He is young, working with his mother in the garden when Knight Harlock strolls by. He glances over and greets them, before going to meet with Lady Maya. The next time, Yama grabs a bundle of flowers and twine for Knight Harlock to give her, since she is too ill to leave the garden. The third time, after his mother died many winters ago, he lays flowers on the graves of the brave Knight Harlock, and wise Lady Maya. He returns to work in the destroyed castle, turning the grounds back into a beautiful garden, fit for a Queen.
45- Ezra was meant to be Emperor, and Yama was meant to advise him. Now, with Ezra at war Yama governs, and rumors begin to spread. Rumors, that the good people of Gaia prefer the younger to be Emperor, and for Ezra to die on the battlefield. Yama frets about the rumors, before deciding to make a seat next to and lower in the back than the king's chair, but on the platform. The rumors die away, but Yama feels as though people still plot to see his brother dead. History alone remembers that Harlock killed Emperor Ezra, and married Emperor Yama.
46- Yama dances with Maya at their wedding, unable to believe that such a wonderful woman sees the world in him. The widow had pursued him months ago from their friendly chats to making their relationship more. Yama was the happiest man in the room, he was certain. He later also became certain that lying about being a widow and kidnapping were the least of Maya's faults as she and Harlock toasted about finally having Yama with them on their private island. Yama knocked back his whiskey, laughing his head off as Harlock slid fingers under Yama's shirt. "Oi, ladies first!"
47- They all straggle out of the plane crash, Yama clutching the hand of the little girl he'd allowed to sit in the window seat next to him. Her mother's body is lying in the plane, neck bent at the wrong angle. The pilot that emerges from the cockpit has blood running down his face, and a woman in white emerges. "Is it just the four of us?" Yama croaks. After emergency treatment, the pilot sets about finding other survivors and the woman pulls supplies out. Yama finds his bag, and starts taking down names. They are rescued after ten days.
48- The groundskeeper in the graveyard is familiar with Yama's visits. Yama visits his mother, Nami, and Ezra who already share adjoining plots. Yama buys the one next to his mother in a pre-emptive move. The groundskeeper tells him he should travel the world, have a family, and go live life. Yama smiles and pours him more tea from Yama's thermos. Eventually, the groundskeeper shakes his head and tends to the plot of his own friend and goddaughter, muttering to them about how Yama really should travel the world. One day, Yama tells Harlock when they have their passports, "Let's travel."
49- He is swinging in a cage over the ocean, and Yama feels his sweat drip into the shark infested waters. They leap out, trying in vain to reach the lowering cage. Then finally, one shark slams into the side hard enough to tip the cage. They hadn't thought to tie Yama to the structure. He falls in, and another shark immediately snags his bound hands in open jaws and dives. Yama feels his gills pumping, cloth fading as new skin, grey and white overtake his fragile flesh. Kei swims down to join them, congratulations on her saving leap pouring in.
50- "You betrayed me." Harlock intones as a man who has lost all hope. He turns and sinks down, collapsing to the floor, his one eye misting faintly with tears. Yama chucks a popcorn kernel at his head. "Stop being dramatic and admit my love for bagged microwave popcorn on occasion is not something to be melodramatic about." He punches a few more buttons. "I mean, I got that expensive all-natural stuff you like for you- ack." Harlock bear hugs him and buries his face in Yama's neck. "Did I say betray? I mean love. You love me."
"Yeah, I do."
51- Weaving dreams takes time, skill, and dedication. Usually, dream weavers were assigned to small groups of humans, to tend them throughout their lifetimes. Dreams of ambitions, fears, and stuff the brain needed to sort passed through their nimble fingers and back to the human. Yama tended to work with only one or two humans, especially the ones with drive to change the nation and reshape the world. Currently, he tended the dreams of one Harlock F. Phantom and Maya Phantom. Both had the ability to shape the world, and dreamed of a bright future. Yama weaved and weaved for them.
52- Yama moans and stirs, the pirate attack leaving him unconscious on deck. Well, the soft feeling under his head was not hard wood planks. Lifting his hand, he pushes the material away from his head and finds it to be a black and red cape, folded over for comfort. Yama searches for clues, taking in his surroundings with his one good eye. The man patiently watching him wearing Yama's body startles him into flailing off the bed. The hand he stops himself with is scarred. "I'm going with the obvious- a witch switched our souls." Yama hears his voice say above him.
53- Her phone rings in the early evening. "Gaia PD, this is Emeraldas speaking. Yama, slow down."
"A wedding invite. From Harlock, he looks so happy with her, Em. I know he didn't mean to send me one. I swear I was fighting for hours not to cyber track them about their whole lives, which is the reason he left me. Because I couldn't get off the computer, couldn't stop tracing information. I just…I finally remembered calling you was an option."
"You did the right thing, calling me."
"I know. But it's difficult."
"Stay on the line, I'm on my way."
54- Werewolves are such tedious beasts. They outran their enclosure, forcing their elven caretakers to track them down and bring them back safe. Yama sighed, feeling Harlock press against him for more tummy rubs. At least, that's what the other elves had problems about. No, his charge shifted once a month and wanted nothing other than to play with Yama. It made the elf wonder what caused the change in the usually stoic man. If anything, Harlock still retained determination, as he wiggled to get Yama's hand back on him. "I swear you do this on purpose." Yama breathes and begins scratching.
55- Yama ran the bleach through his hair, dying and stripping his locks blond. This assassination required blending in, and what better way to blend in than to stand out? He was stopped by nearly all the crew on his way to the hanger. The double takes everyone was having were confusing. "You really look like her," they would say before moving off. Yama decided to ask later, after finishing a mission that could push integration of a planetary system forward. The captain looks like he saw a ghost. Harlock wished him luck, and watched him fade from view onboard Arcadia.
56- Yama is average in height. But each passing day he lives with his husband and their alien girlfriend, the more he finds he is relatively short. Even when wanting a blanket, he had to jump and grab for it. Harlock put items in his easy reach. Yama's easy reach tends to stop a shelf below Harlock's. Perhaps moving into the Captain's Quarters would take more thought, or remodeling, but not a stepstool. Stepstools meant kisses. Or maybe Harlock could put items Yama frequently used in places Yama could reach. After mentioning this, Harlock agreed to divide the room up horizontally.
57- Kissing a target in the bathroom of a dance club was not previously on Yama's list of ideal escapes. But the other assassins were dead and Yama really liked the French kissing he was getting more of. Hell, Harlock could skip out on him, and Yama wouldn't even be mad. He'd just miss these kisses fervently. Yama was aware that Harlock had manipulated him into saving him, but his mission hadn't been to kill Harlock to begin with. All he had to do was confirm if Harlock was headed to a secret rendezvous.
"Coming?"
"Anywhere you lead."
"Then keep up."
58- Yama padded through the castle's hallways. There had to be a weakness, some way out of the building. Instead of snooping at night, he slipped past sunbeams. Being able to outpace nearly all in the castle's service without running helped. But out maneuvering the castle's Lord Harlock was proving harder than finding an exit. He just kept finding excuses to run into Yama, like some infatuated twit. Yama continued to turn down offers to be the castle gardener while idly pruning. Finally, Harlock asked him to consider tending one small plot until next spring. "But it's always spring." Yama answered.
59- Yama stared down at the three green hearts on his desk. They read 'Sweet Pea' 'Don't Tell' and 'Soul Mate' in succession. Did Harlock not want Yama telling Maya that they had dated during Harlock's and Maya's off time? Did Harlock consider Maya to hold a more important place in his heart than Yama? And why did Harlock pick Valentine's Day to tell him?
"Aren't those your favorite? Huh, I thought Harlock hated sweets." Warrius comments.
"Uh, I think…" Yama struggles to answer.
The door slams open. "What do you mean, message? It's three candy hearts for each of us….oh."
60- Harlock scowled at his inbox. Yama had sent him various picture shots of his drafted Valentine cards. Yama even flirted a bit with the client, asking if 'too hot' and 'too cool' and 'xoxo' were still in style. The finished cards were stated and refined, but Yama clearly had fun while goofing around and finishing the product. Harlock decided then and there, they were not designing company cards for mailing next October. The cards would be DIY kits sent to the employees. Miime and Maya sighed about how grumpy he was. "You do realize Yama made those thinking of you, right?"
61- Maya glanced over her love letter. This confession was meant for the ears of one, not the masses her aired speeches reached. The words 'be mine' 'so fine' and 'my boy' jumped out at her. Banishing her blush, Maya hoped that Yama would enjoy the latest treat from his girlfriend. She loved Yama, and he expressed his love to her by sending her rose bushes to plant in free cities. She sent him secure letters that he loved to read while imagining her voice. The relationship was difficult, but they managed and cultivated their feelings for each other.
62- She is eight years his senior, and the other, a whole decade. Sometimes it sucked being born after the war, especially when Maya and Harlock would attend memorials and know why they were important, while Yama learned about them. The war had ravaged the landscape, reducing forests and fields to terrifyingly scant resources. Home gardens were not a luxury, they were a requirement. Yama learned fast that having a talent at gardening got you elected like the Mayor, and expected to lead bigger crop yields. His best support came from his two older friends, who helped his plot and plan.
63- Harlock could define three turning points in his life that came about from his now wife. They weren't influenced by his career, or his hobbies. Maya would have still been there without those. When she first told him 'I love you' he fought like a devil to make it home from sea. When she slapped another woman and said, 'He's mine' he carried her home like a princess over five miles, crossing a national border without dropping her. When she whispered 'Marry me' on her deathbed, he became the longest married man after Pastor Yama nursed her back to health.
64- The smell of warm bread wound around aprons and open doors. The eight orphans had already been through, getting regular sized samplers from Yama. He always claimed he'd over baked and they wouldn't sell. Monono looked at him, and then accepted the vegetable stuffed roll. While the Mayor wouldn't house or employ them, Yama saw to them being fed at least once a day. His own apron strings were beginning to tighten. Help would come. Help had to come, as Monono set off as a bounty hunter and Yama stayed behind with the kids. Help came with a pirate flag.
65- Harlock always wore the yellow to the elbow gloves when he did the dishes. Yama dried and placed the dishes away, talking with Maya who did her paperback at the kitchen table. After dinner, it was the only table big enough for her work. The two bedroom house was small, but they made it functional. Harlock was back from war, Maya had her dream job, and Yama did crafts and gardened. Harlock navigated being the neighborhood handyman, while sending resume after resume out for jobs. Eventually, Yama said, Harlock would have a job. Don't rush the time we have together.
66- A list hung on the door began 'Honey Dew', and the paper ended with 'Honey Done'. Harlock stared at the grocery list, yard work, and the note about the cat going to the vet. Yama's little check marks went down the side, ending before 'cat to the vet at 4:30'. Harlock glanced at the clock. 4:50 PM. Groaning, he held his head in his hands. One night out with old friends and he'd gotten hung over on his day off. His boyfriends' passive aggressive tone soaked the list. He'd promised help Yama with this. He was in trouble.
67- Sunsets are romantic. Sunrises are times for reflection. Noon is the time of rest. Moonrise is for patience. Moonset is for rebirth. Midnight is for primal directive. Yama read over the cave's entrance, wandering if a cult or a drunkard had come by and written this. It scarcely made any sense to him. Perhaps it was a motto to live by? But it was all a cycle. The half elf didn't hear the other elf approach until he snapped a finger by Yama's ear. Yama glanced at his scared face companion.
"And what do you see?"
"I see…madness."
68- "I mean the most social interaction I have with Harlock after studying is a slow blink from him before he leaves!" Yama complained to his friends.
"Harlock, you've been around cats too long. Yama informed me you were flirting in cat etiquette at lunch." Tochiro announced to his roommate.
"I've been trying to tell you I like you for weeks and I just, well; my only friend told me that I was flirting with you as a cat." Harlock blurts out the next day. Yama stares at him for a moment, before giving him a long, slow blink.
69- Perhaps it was petty of him, but since he couldn't block Harlock's number after their divorce, he could still change the ring tone. Although, explaining to your adopted daughter that the sound of a braying donkey meant her godfather was calling was still an odd conversation. Apparently, one she had shared as they waited to see Mayu's teacher at parent teacher conference.
"Really? A braying ass?" Harlock started the conversation with.
"You skipped right past being a potential breakup song." Yama retorted.
After the conference ends, Yama finds out Harlock's ringtone for him is Fairytale by Alexander Ryback.
70- Would I marry for love or duty? Yama wonders as Princess Bride played in the background. "Mawwiage, Mawwiage is what brings us together, today." The priest droned. Would I marry first and fall in love afterwards? Will I be stuck in a tower forever.
"Okay, I am happy to be here instead of Nami, but while I am not bored I am lacking for human interaction." Yama hissed. He'd watched movies. He'd a routine each day of the week. He rewrote necessary laws. But he was still stuck in a tower.
When a pirate king rescues him, he goes with it.
71- Yama believed his first kiss would be romantic. He headed down the side walk, so happy to be home from university. The car that came around the corner surprised him. The thud of impact felt detached afterwards. Yama looked down to see red seeping through and the driver leaving. He couldn't scream. Death arrived in a moment on the empty street. He looked fearsome, wearing a skull on his chest. He kissed Yama's cooling lips. When Yama awoke, there was a skull blooming under his chest. Death began to walk away, and Yama followed him. He learned much of romance from Harlock.
72- Harlock adored slow dances. As in, he wanted waltzes, not that swaying from side to side stroll. Of course, the tango also proved to become one of his favorites. His wife, Maya is resplendent in her dresses, radiating from joy on their nights out. Their waiter, Yama, is an attentive and bright young man. He picks their food, drinks, and music for them most nights. "Ordering drinks are for bars where you aren't known," he'd chide Harlock. They were all happy, living their lives. Of course, Yama graduates and moves away, but they keep in touch. They are all happy.
73- Harlock glared at the stack of books Yama had. From Wine Tasting to Wind and Cheese, Yama had a sizeable stack.
"And why won't you let me teach you about wine?" Harlock growled.
"The last person you taught was drunk after three sips. You have to eat and drink, captain." Yam replied, slowly turning a page.
Harlock huffed. "He was a light weight. A few sips won't knock you over."
"After I eat a salad. I can't go around downing drinks on an empty stomach."
Silence descended.
Harlock glared at the books.
"Wait; are you jealous of the books?"
74- Of course, having words that are the first sentence your soul mate speaks to you is too easy. Instead, it's the last words spoken- to you, in private, or never uttered- that tell if they are your soul mate. Some phrases are telling- 'I hate you', 'go die' and 'fuck you' are common inking on skin. Soul mate does not mean lover or best for you. They have a piece of your soul merged with theirs. Yama watches as Arcadia sails from Mars, the last words Harlock would tell him ringing in his ears, and covered on his arms.
75- Yama lay back in the pasture. Clear blue skies, wide open hills, an idyllic day over all. If he could ignore his blood seeping out and the soldiers' dogs closing in, he could relax. A 'baaa' interrupts him, and a goat shows up. The goat is followed by a ram. And then more rams. They snuffle at Yama, who hears arguing beyond the flock. The soldiers leave, dogs leashed and whining. A beautiful woman appears. "Let's get you tended to. I'm Maya." Yama is sure he slurs something to her, as she heaves him onto her back and begins walking.
76- Blood and smoke fill the air. Yama fights smartly. The pirates can't have a force large enough to invade the whole castle. His brother is dead in his study, and now Yama must escape. He grips the potted plant he was to bring to Ezra when the pirate captain surprised them closer to himself. He needs to find an escape, travel to another castle and prepare for invasion. But first- "Quite following me, you murderer!" He yells at the one eyed menace.
The captain huffs and vaults the low garden wall. "I'm not interested in killing you. Do surrender, already."
77- Yama struggles with his night gown. The orphanage was not the worst place, but neither was it equated with being home. Everything was fine there. Kids were adopted all the time. He would find a loving family too. Except Yama is 27 now, a graduate of the same orphanage, and now the groundskeeper. It did not allow a lot of time for dating. And the insipid rule about what to wear at night included him. He had always hated that rule, but he could not sleep naked. Harlock checked on everyone, and for some reason, insisted on the white shifts.
78- Rainbows led to leprechauns with pots of gold, they said. Yama remained stationary and watched as the steam and sunlight intermingled to create a rainbow that led to the hulking, crash landed Arcadia. At least everyone made it to an escape pod. He watched the crew roving across the landscape, headed towards the crash site. Harlock placed a hand on his shoulder, nonchalantly picking out debris from his ribcage. "You made the right call, getting everyone else off. They are slow to recover from death."
Yama huffed. He couldn't talk, with his other shoulder sheared off and a quarter lung left.
79- Yama finally moves back home, to tend the botanical gardens. He reads about his ex-boyfriend Harlock getting married. Looks like the jerk had finally sobered up. Yama's kids are quietly working on school projects at the kitchen table. He finishes drafting the plan for the next three years, and turns over the plan to increase attendance. The plan is to invite Harlock to perform his show at the gardens. Yama sighs, realizing he couldn't avoid Harlock forever. Maybe he'll even meet Maya, and not be introduced as an 'ex-boyfriend'. Apparently, Harlock had forgotten him after time, and Yama doesn't remind him.
80- Yama moans in pain, before a mouth trails over the seeping wound. Her hair is long and flowing, and Yama threads a hand through it. The spell needed a hair from a vampire, and she'd been the first he'd found. Three favors, she had asked to pay for her hair strand. He had agreed, and delivered. Now she fed from him before giving him a strand.
When Ezra walks again with the spells cure, Yama turns his exhausted body to delivering Nami from her coma. He had made this mess, he would fix it. He had promised a vampire he would.
81- Chef Harlock was legendary, and Yama knew going into the challenge he would lose. He ran a local grocery and simple eatery for a city block. But he would lose with grace and be the closest to winning against him, Yama vowed. When the judges enthused over him on every dish and tied them together, Yama learned it would remain a tie. He nearly fainted after he was congratulated, and again when he was made a formal Chef. Chef Harlock left his number with him, and dropped by later to visit Yama's grocery. Yama found himself hiring the man part-time.
82- The arena flashed by as Yama felt his feet leave the sand. The whip wrapped around his neck was the last of his problems, as the chariot dragged him across the sands. A twist and slash, his knife severed the rope before he was dragged further. The crowd roared as he found his footing and threw an abandoned spear into the chariot spokes. The riders were thrown. Yama began to advance. The crowd fell silent, and Yama saw the Senator make a sign.
The match was over.
Yama had won.
He had won the right to fight in the army.
83- Ballet was not for weaklings, Yama reminded himself. His partner lifted him up again, and Yama moved in tandem, the world fading away again.
"Yama!" Ezra barked. "Not yet! Perfect the routine, and then lose yourself to the music. Routine!"
Harlock huffed gently into Yama's hair. "You're doing fine. You know this. He just doesn't like your expression when you enjoy the music more than the dance."
Yama felt a smile twitch around his mouth. "I'd rather be designing the clothes and stage setting, but we both have the training. He's actually ticked about the twisted ankle holding him back."
84-"Little Red Riding Hood went through the woods to visit his estranged brother and sister-in-law. Along the way, he met a bandit wearing a wolf pelt. The bandit then threatened the story teller by reminding them he's a pirate. So, Red met a pirate in the woods far, far away from any source of water, and proceeded to be an utter gentleman. He walked Red to the cottage, waited outside, and walked him back to the main village. They dated, married, and had kids I babysit. The end." Ezra shot Harlock a look. "Go enjoy your honeymoon. They are safe here."
85- Yama moaned, thrusting back again before collapsing. Harlock caught the basketball, and launched into the air. The buzzer rang as the net swished. The clinching points were on the score board. Yama watched as Harlock was mobbed by teammates. Ezra would be happy; the team he wanted to play on had made it to the top. Yama tried to rise, and found his leg folded under him. Harlock caught him, hauling Yama up. The hug was unsurprising, but the kiss in public, on camera floored him. He shoved Harlock back, inhaled deeply, and hauled him back in for proper smooching.
86- Yama parked the ice cream truck, moving to the back. Mayu got her usual rose ice cream in a bowl, and Yama moved to grab the green tea ice cream for Tochiro out of habit.
"A black coffee, please." Yama threw the special ordered item at the tall man and choked back half a scream.
The man looked worried for a moment.
"You died!" Yama bellowed. Harlock looked apologetic.
Tochiro moved away after catching his ice cream. Better to leave the love birds to their squawking before they started kissing.
Soon indeed, Yama was feeding Harlock ice cream and kissing him.
87- Yama had never been fascinated by guns. They were efficient, occasionally quiet, and cold. He much preferred to talk his way out than shoot his way out. But the gun Harlock presses against his forehead is warm from being under a coat. The gun is jammed, he heard it click earlier. Harlock is bluffing. The gang war is over, Ezra is dead.
"In the car."
Yama nearly blanches. Harlock is kidnapping him out of the peace talks? But the gangs would devolve into war.
"You will surrender your territory and merge with me. Yama, become my right hand man."
88- Yama pushed his reading glasses away, rubbing his forehead and running his hand through his hair. Editing was great, it was his favorite, and he was thrilled to have his dream job. But this was the sixth porn book some Phantom Blue had sent in. Yama wished someone else in the editorial department had a wider range of vocabulary than he did, because Mr. Blue kept using words rarely found in current use. Still found in the dictionary, but not in common vernacular.
Yama groaned. Now he was doing it too. He had to finish this book.
89- Harlock knew he would never forget this day. His senior year of high school would forever be burned into his brain. Yama had carried a locked box they found in the drama club, tripped on the stairs, the lock broke, and dildos went everywhere. Flying penises entered the air, and Harlock decided he never wanted to be slapped in the face by a fake rubber dick ever again. Instead, he learned later in college he'd rather be slapped in the face by Yama's dick, especially when Yama was yanking strands of Harlock's hair out to encourage him to give oral.
90- A rhinestone encrusted g-string lay on the floor of Yama's room. Harlock froze, a foot half in the doorway. The shower was currently running, with a trail of clothes leading to the en-suite. Yama was home, and there were clothes strewn about the floor that Harlock did not equate with the soft spoken, peace loving younger male. It looked like he had found the spy. Leaving quietly, he knocked loudly to announce his presence.
"Just a moment, I'm naked!" Yama hollered back. Harlock swallowed thickly. He would continue on as an oblivious captain, he decided. Yama couldn't truly betray him.
91- The worst day of Yama's life remained the one where the greenhouse exploded. The falling bombs in the mid-day astounded him, as German pilots flew over the city and the British Air Force engaged in a fight. Ezra bled out from a back wound, and Nami's body lay sprawled in two pieces among debris.
Yama found cover in an alcove, waiting for the fighting to be over.
When the war ends, Yama volunteers at an orphanage and gets a job making soup pots. He meets a POW German pilot named Harlock, who can't raise the funds to get home.
92- Harlock adored the horse farm he retired to. Tochiro lived in a second house on the property, tinkering the day away. Harlock used money from stabling horses and riding lessons to buy the property around him. No one was building anything that could spook the horses on the adjacent plots. Tochiro would leave for conferences and come back to find Harlock sleeping on the back porch. He covered Harlock with a blanket, and went to visit the two graves on the property.
Maya and Yama were precious to Harlock, and both original owners were buried in the back yard.
93- Harlock finished slurping blood from the warm body below him. Above him, his boyfriend manifested and began floating over to his grave marker. "This one will be found by his friends shortly. He ought to live." Yama commented before nonchalantly eating the take out Harlock had left before his grave. Harlock wiped his mouth with a handkerchief and retracted his fangs to a normal length. He joined Yama, eating the remains of the take out once Yama had finished. "I think it's time we left this town."
Harlock remained silent, before giving a slow nod. He needed new hunting grounds.
95- Unicorns from the western plains were not friendly, Yama decided. One had just gored a bandit, while others trampled the rest under their hooves. With his hands and legs bound by rope, Yama futilely tried to roll himself out of the way, but the nearest cover was a half mile away forest strip. The unicorns ceased attacking the bandits, coated in warm blood that dripped from white locks. One stepped over to Yama.
A sharp whistle from the forest and all the unicorns began to surround Yama. One nosed at him, and Yama gave a startled laugh. They were kelpies.
96- Yama thought the king was mad to have a pet bear, and one he kept in his personal chambers. Then again, Yama kept a pirate he had pulled from a ship wreck in his personal chambers. Harlock spoke some foreign language, but never tried to escape. Yama decided it was because he would take Harlock to the docks once a month. Harlock would slip away for a moment, but then he would be back. Yama had yet to find anyone who spoke Harlock's language, and he was slowly learning to communicate with Harlock. Still, the pirate remained with him.
97- Yama emerged from the water, gasping and swimming desperately for shallower water. The damn bull shark just came out of nowhere. The water behind Yama churned and frothed, blood filling the ocean. Yama cried out in fear as something grabbed his flipper. He was pulled under, and Yama found himself face to face with Harlock. The sharp teeth grin Harlock sends him reminds Harlock his boyfriend who trapped him on an island was a shape-shifter with a demented sense of honor. The other bull shark's corpse floated by. Yama pressed himself closer to Harlock in reflex, whose smile widened.
98- Harlock arrived home late after a long search. Maya woke up immediately and wrapped her arms around him, pulling his pajama clad body to hers. Yama snuffled and rolled over in his sleep, chasing the heat source. Harlock settled down between them, careful not to wake Yama. Maya signed that their day was good. Yama was adjusting to living inside full time rather well. The addition of an enclosed porch and indoor plants were helping him. Perhaps the zombie apocalypse would end soon. Harlock agreed, hoping to find a cure for them before they fully turned. There had to be one.
99- Yama remained in the tomb, waiting for someone to find him. He couldn't die here, sealed inside a royal tomb because some idiot closed the door. He fell asleep. When he awoke, sun light poured in and the paint on the walls was wet. Wondering what moron pulled this prank; Yama stood up and found he faced a very not mummified King Harlock. The man blinked at Yama's strange attire, before smiling and seizing his wrist. He said something in Old English, and Yama stared at him. "I have no idea what you just said." Yama answered.
Harlock kissed him.
100- Yama emerged from kissing Maya only to be pulled into kissing Harlock. It was a bit awkward, since he sat on Harlock's lap. Maya followed, spreading her hands over Yama's waist and leaving love bites on his chest. Yama keened into the kiss as Harlock kneaded his lower back, feeling himself be taken apart. Their next anniversary will be amazing for their marriage he knew. Harlock and Maya had almost missed this one, so they would outdo themselves next year. They were currently determined to take Yama's mind apart with his body, and Yama admitted shamelessly that it was working.