Hello again! Konductor is back with a new little one-shot! I'm not sure how I survived this week of classes and I am tired. Tired enough to post this without triple-checking everything, so if some parts are off, please tell me? Thanks for taking the time to read and I appreciate any comments you have!
Comment responses at the bottom if you wanna look also.
This one is, again, a Superdimension AU with a couple of changes as you shall see in the chapter. Containing an amnesiac and thoughtful Nep and an exhausted Noire ready to help with her troubles! Well, mostly.
Posted: 10/18/18
Edited: N/A
She probably didn't think the plan through. Actually, no, she never thinks the plan through, that did not happen, like at all. Neptune was more of a doer than a thinker most of the time anyways, why stop and ponder it when you could go for it then and there?
Maybe, that's why everybody got frustrated with her?
Huh. Whatever. As if that would stop her from doing what she thought was perfectly fine.
They'd get over it eventually. Her way of life was fine from her perspective too, so not a lot that needs much improvement on, right?
Anyways, boring things aside, Neptune had been given some unpleasant news from the local book fairy butterfly person that was her oracle. Something big about a ball and meetings and old fuddy-duddies trying to kiss up to her and desserts and then the kicker: dancing.
She did not know how to dance. Or, well, remember how to dance at least. Amnesia was a foe the lavender-haired protagonist had yet to steal a victory against, unfortunately.
Not even saving the day got her memories back to snuff.
Which Neptune really didn't mind, but occasionally it came back to bite her in the butt. The Purple Heart of the past had done a lot of things and with minimal writing behind the reasoning made looking back on past legislation and laws real wonky. Good news was she had Noire. Their resident tsun was a major help as Purple's former partner.
It was why she was going to Lastation's Basilicom in the first place. If Noire, as Black Heart, knew her super well before, then she could help her out with it too! Or something like that at least.
Noire didn't say no to her either. The raven couldn't resist her charms, of course! That was why she always went to Noire first when things happened, she was reliable and always helped her out when she really needed it, a real Goddess send that one was.
Asking Blanc or Vert would've been too awkward in her opinion. Those two were their own pair, the same with Noire and her, and everybody was comfortable with those two pairs. Apparently Purple and Green — and now Black and Green, even — did not get along, which is why the current pairings were what they were.
Vert was nice to her, though. Ignoring the whole poisoning thing her church did without her approval and the whole teaming up with mortals to kill her thing. A bit clingy and huggy, but there was nothing wrong about that.
But she wasn't teacher material. As much as she hosted events and was the life of the party for many, Vert wouldn't go above and beyond for her.
And that was the same with Blanc. Kinda hard to keep up a friendship when so many memories were gone, but Neptune wasn't the quitting type. She kept at it, visiting and reading with the brunette while juggling her duties in Planeptune and they were still friends, despite the incident. Just, not in the way Blanc and Vert were friends is all.
She slams open the door, skipping into the office as a mop of dark hair jerks up. "Good morning to you, Noire!" The girl comes to a halt in front of the desk, wearily eyeing her partner's disheveled state. "Did you spend the night sleeping on your desk?"
As luck may have it, Neptune always had the chance to see Lastation's guardian goddess in her vulnerable and less professional states. One that would never failed to pop up over time was when she was sleep-deprived or exhausted. Nep endorsed neither of them, though.
"Mmh, yeah, just." A yawn, "Finished paperwork for the.. month and," she rubs at her eyes, groaning. "I decided on taking a nap after, only to sleep."
"That isn't really healthy, Noire." Weird, how she was the goddess scolding her other. Then again, Black Heart wasn't the type to think much about herself so long as her nation ran smoothly, huh. "You're a CPU and all…"
Crimson eyes roll at that, "Yes, yes and Vert is a CPU too and she goes on gaming marathons, completely disregarding her nation in a moment of fanatic obsession. Tell me, am I as bad as her? At least I'm focusing on the paperwork and finishing beforehand to focus on more important things at hand."
Oooh, prickly morning tsun, it is then. Neptune points at the door on the wall beside the desk. "You have a bed in the other room and yet, it's the desk you sleep on instead?"
"It's not my fault it's more comfortable then moving."
A dull stare. "If I wasn't the lazy one, you may be in the running for it."
"Perish the thought," she stretches, using a hand to run through and attempt to tame the dark waterfall that was her undone hair. "I'm a very productive person, Neptune. You wouldn't be able to handle my schedule, the same goes for the other two."
"Not everything's a competition, you know?" The smaller of the pair says, grabbing ahold of the blanket that was slipping from her friend's shoulders and quickly folding it. "Proper sleep's important."
"I am sleeping properly. The only problem is that you have a thing against hard surfaces, I don't particularly care as long as I don't get a cramped up neck." Noire gets up with another yawn being covered up, "Also, what was it you wanted?"
Inwardly grumbling over the topic change, which was normal and a wall the heroine was still scaling, she answers, "Dancing."
"Pardon?" The darker deity turns, halfway starting in putting up her hair in a ponytail.
Neptune looks down, gaze shifting away from the goddess who now had her full attentional focused solely on her. Purple Heart had known how to dance then. "I need help with dancing."
Silence sorta swallows the talk after that. Noire hums something in response, fixing up her ponytail to be the lower variant than the one that Green usually had up. And it's just embarrassing because neither one of them were talking and Nep wasn't sure what to say in turn. Dancing was just such a pain to do, practicing was just so stiff on her.
A lot of staff members in Planeptune told her just how good she was at it. Purple Heart commanded the ballroom with the same charisma and presence and untamable force she had on the battlefield. You know, stuff Neptune didn't exactly possess.
She didn't like being compared to herself.
Things were different now.
Different and would continue to be different, no matter what.
Yet, very few actively acknowledged the change that happened. Compa and IF had known only Nep and were fine for the most parts, but the rest weren't so lucky there.
Histoire, after awakening, expected so much from her. It was crazy and some days the church felt more of a prison than it did as a home.
How was the protag supposed to adapt like that? How?
She was left scrambling for parts that weren't there anymore.
Noire, though, Noire didn't mind. She didn't care that parts of her from back then weren't there anymore, she didn't mind that Purple was not the same Purple, she didn't critique everything that had changed. She just waited and watched and responded afterwards.
At first, she thought Black Heart would be the worst. She was her rival, her partner, and her half, if she remembered what Blanc and Vert used to talk about right.
And yet, Black remained and helped her along whenever she came asking. Her unbending pillar in the changing world of Gamindustri. When people came to talk with her about policies and laws and regulations, Black was there and giving her advice or was verbally tearing an unlucky politician or smooth talker apart.
Planeptune wouldn't have remained its stable self were it not for her interventions. She was an advisor that helped while simultaneously leading her own nation to the top, which sounded crazy on paper, but worked really well in practice.
Histy actually disproved of the practice. Letting Black help her and keep the land afloat, saying something about it being a security risk and foolish to trust a competitor. But Black loved to prove her wrong. Actively pressing the buttons to get Histy worked up and smiling with a dash of superiority to have her point officially sink in.
Black — Noire, whichever name fit — just genuinely wanted to help her.
She was growly and competitive and a total tsundere if you managed to get close enough. And yet, Neptune still hasn't gotten why she's helping out of her.
Funny, how someone so open and blunt with you can hide so much. Nep wasn't arrogant to think she knew everything about her. There was a knowledge gap the size of centuries.
But she knew the basics and how to respond to her. 'Cause some days Black didn't do talking and just worked without a sound. It didn't feel weird or wrong, the exact opposite, really. Nep was so much more at home with tugging and silent commands. A sense that it was a norm.
So, not every bit of her past self was gone… just a large and mystifying majority. But before Neptune could dig any further into her thoughts, a hand had already intertwined itself with her own and was pulling her towards the bedroom door.
She looks up, "Uh, Noire? Why are you going to your room?" Or, rather one of her rooms, her friend had a lot of weird sleeping habits and apparently, the church building somehow accommodated the entirety of them.
"You need clothes. Proper formal clothes if we want to get you to dance right. Purple always insisted on dressing right and dragged me into whatever footwork she wanted to practice." Noire says, opening the door without much of an issue. "Figures that it came in handy."
Neptune takes a seat on the bed, pouting a bit that the hand holding was dropped not long after entering. "So, do most things I used to do come back and pop up like this?" Considering how nonchalant she was being, probably yes.
Then again, Noire was fairly calm when surprises or chaos wasn't involved. "Yes. You have a tendency to repeat your actions, despite the personality differences."
Huh. So, not everything was different. "Oh. Is that a bad thing?"
A chuckle. "Not at all, really. You are who you are, I have no problems with it."
Lilac eyes stare up at the deity ruffling through her dresser, it seemed like a normal thing. Felt like a normal thing. "Oh."
"Are you confused with that answer? Most of my responses are from the top of my head, so you won't be getting anything detailed this time around, dear. Besides, the faster you get back into the steps and the tempo, the less depressing you are overall, no?" The raven pulls out a particular dress, one too small for herself, yet she nods and tosses it on the bed and continues.
What sort of thoughts were wandering in her head to come up with ideas like this? She didn't mind them. They were engaging and not completely out of her league as most conversations about the past-her tended to be.
Black knew her. Knew her so well that it scared her.
But it makes sense, doesn't it? To know Neptune when Nep herself couldn't remember? Black wasn't some mindless monster or a reckless member of humanity trying to help, she had experience and had some idea on her reactions. The duo rarely ever got into serious arguments due to the latter being overly accommodating.
If someone were to say there was something underlining the help, she wouldn't lie on saying yes. The truth was the truth. Yet, it was made clear that Black would remain professional and a friend for her to lean on if the need came, she didn't care about her own selfishness; what the snowy-haired CPU cared for was Purple Heart and, by extension, Neptune. There was no misinterpretation with the deal at play.
Noire was a wildfire. Warm and willing to devour whatever she found in her path and make it into sustenance to live another day. She was caustic, brutal and a natural disaster in itself.
Nep didn't know what she was. Something about water, she knew. Everybody loved to talk about how unpredictable and ferocious she was once, but that wasn't the current Neptune way, yeah?
She was a chill person, willing to let what's supposed to happen play out as it should. Well, so long as nothing happened to the violet deity's important people. The calm seas with a frighteningly dangerous depth, capable of turning men into ice cubes in seconds. That's what Noire described her, at least. It was nice, being complimented by her friend in such a way.
Knowing that Noire meant what she said and would believe in it, no matter what anyone thinks about her. Neptune just appreciated it.
A dress of pinks and violets collide with her face. "Gekh!" Unfortunately, the hanger was still attached to said dress, leading to her head colliding with plastic. Obviously, it didn't hurt that bad, but she didn't exactly enjoy it. "N–Noire, why did you just—?"
A hand suddenly grips her head as the patron whispers into her ear. "You're thinking too hard."
"No. I was just thinking!" Thinking about herself, her memories and Noire. "You didn't need to throw it at me, that really was mean! I'm delicate!"
"Delicate?" Noire cocks her head to the side, face blank. "You toss yourself at the dogoos and proceed to make their lives a living hell while swinging around a wooden sword. I've pushed you into rivers after you fall atop me. Is that truly delicacy?"
"Uhhh, it doesn't matter, really? I mean. It could…" she trails off, looking up to see unamused crimson staring back at her. "B–Besides, you aren't being very Noire-ish, either!"
"Noire-ish? I'm just tired. This is my off day.. or is it, you want me to snap at you for being overly depressive and uncharacteristically quiet?"
She huffs, "No, of course not. You're just being intense is all."
"And you are putting that dress on and we are going to be dancing."
Neptune glances down at her lap where the clothing had landed. A dress about her size, the colors reflecting Planeptune without a second thought and it was inside of the goddess' closet? She looks back up, only to see the curtain of dark hair sashay into the bathroom. Ah. She was supposed to get dressed in this, then?
Had… had her friend known and made this for her? Or did this belong to Purple to start?
The lavender-haired immortal hugs the cloth to her chest, breathing in the scent of minor decay and coming up with nothing. It was a soft thing, though. Its fabric not too rough against her skin and coloration matching with her appearance..
Too personalized. Too well-done. Too warm. Too close to her preferences. Hahaha, so, Noire did make it for her, she should have expected that. Silly Noire.
.
.
.
.
.
It was.. a lot easier when your partner was patient and happy to help fix your mistakes. Her dance instructor — which was basically Noire in a suit and looking super boyish — never ended up getting annoyed and start shouting at her for every mistake, so it was pretty nice to just glide across the ballroom floor.
"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight." She whispers to herself, careful not to get too engrossed in counting to remember to move. "Eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one." Counting the beats of movement to the music helped a lot more than just memorizing moves.
For the majority of their dancing, and even their water breaks, her buddy remained quiet. She complimented her and praised her for repeating the right steps and corrected what she got wrong, but that was about it really.
Instead of talking with their voices, they just let their bodies decide.
Which wasn't as sensual as it sounded, no. It was more calming, in her opinion, letting herself drift with the melody caressing her ears. Neptune can't even recall how long the dancing has been going for, a big difference to her lessons in Planeptune.
The constant repetition was for muscle memory. The counting was for her head to keep the beat intertwined with her body. Everything else just had to flow.
There was just a stiffness when being instructed by those people before, they didn't understand the way she moved and focused on giving their patterns to her. Noire kept on spinning and spinning, yet she wasn't dizzy from the info.
If Black knew Purple this well to set their practice up with this much success, well, this was awfully kind of her. But she was nice to her ever since the accident that resulted in her amnesia. Histy called it Black trying to take advantage of her while Blanc and Vert called it making up for failing to help her. Was she actually guilty for what happen?
Neptune can never tell. Not with the soft smile on her face and the joy brimming from her eyes. Noire was happy and never showed signs of guilt.
Just tiredness, exhaustion and utter silence. Those days were few in between the good ones, though, not that she stopped being attentive for any issues. They were in harmony with one another. Moving, breathing, spinning in sync as music plays in the background.
"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight." And she looks good. Pretty even in a dress that was a gift and yet never saw sunlight until now. It's a wonderfully sewed thing. Very pretty on her and it's hard to see herself in the mirror in such a way.
"You're thinking hard again, I hope they're happy thoughts." Noire says, eyes closed and body just reacting with hers.
"They are. Thank you for the dress, Noire, you've… you've been taking care of me a lot." It's actually tough to say aloud. Ha, who would have thought she would be embarrassed? Her, the protagonist of protagonists.
"It's fine." And it's always those answers that get her twitchy.
It's a weird feeling. The way her nerves just tingle and she can't focus while her body just automatically moves around. She's still moving, still in tandem with Noire as her mind fizzles on answers, on questions. How is she supposed to talk about this?
How to say this? "You're… you're always here. Always. And it's always for my sake. I'm, I'm not saying I'm ungrateful or anything, you've saved my life a bunch of times.. I–I'm just.. confused. Why you care. Why you do so much to help me when it's not necessary, when I'm not the woman you stood beside for centuries." It's almost as though Neptune replaced her past self.
Nobody has gotten an answer out of her. Nobody has dared question the Lady of the Regality. But it doesn't help her. The silence, the unwillingness to ask has only left Nep wondering what the truth behind it all; how uncharacteristically unlike herself, right? Her minor quest for answers leading her here.
Was it ungrateful of her? To want to know when Noire was not herself and tired and vulnerable? Making her happy and then demanding answers..
She didn't like it. She didn't enjoy using this for herself when they can be dancing the day away. But she wants to know, wants to hear it from her mouth and not Histoire's. Neptune had to know and the immortal only hoped Noire wasn't disappointed with her actions.
"I'm selfish."
..What? What did that mean?
Neptune can only gape as she is twirled, the warm shades of the room twisting in her vision with the darkness that was Noire in her entirety. She had nothing to fear. Noire wouldn't let her go, she wouldn't fall to the floor from a faulty spin.
And Noire continues to talk, the tempo gradually quickening with each word. Neptune doesn't know how she keeps up with this. "So very selfish, you see. Practically heartless of me."
"It'd be foolish to say I care about most things. The world could burn around me and my gaze would remain on one thing: my things. Why should I give a damn about the world that dared to strike down my half, my partner, my rival, my confident, my mongrel?! It's those mortals' faults for being erased, they deserved every last minute of their deaths. Not to mention the other two's involvement..."
Hate bleeds from her expression, a visage of cruelty and arrogance mimicking Black's worst days emerging. Still, she remains gentle, she doesn't tug, she doesn't hurt her. "You're my everything. Same as White being Green's everything. And they tried to take you away from, they tried to make you fall and I… and I failed to help you." She spits out.
It's sharp, it's cutting, but her anger is like glass. Beautiful and fragile. "I was supposed to be targeted. I'm the most dangerous. I'm the one who killed those maggots for ever laying a hand on you. I'm the biggest threat against the other continents. I wasn't supposed to be the who had to pick you up again."
Nobody mentioned it. Nobody said a word about Black's feelings. Blanc and Vert would give Neptune hints and looks to get her started, but never spoke. It was a sacred thing. The silence that surrounded this bond of theirs. It was a private thing — the way they danced together in harmony, the way they protected each other, the way she had eyes only for her.
"But, I'm selfish." The speed drops as the music nears the end of line. Neither goddess making a single misstep with their frantic energy. "I'm selfish and I stayed when I deserve not to. I stayed and am keeping you all to myself."
Was her friend selfish? "Mmh, I don't think so. You've been pretty selfless if your complaints about me are true." Snarky Noire was a fun Noire to annoy. "You care deeply is all. Real deep if you weren't exaggerating about what you said."
"I'm not one to make hyperboles, dear. I make promises." The sense of tiredness returning on her features instead of that anger.
"So, it was a confession?"
Flush starts to invade her partner's face as they reach the final part. "You really are pushing it now, Neptune. Drop it before I drop you." Still, the two of them spun in tandem, the number of each step ringing in the back of her mind. "I be nice and this is how you reward me?"
Yes, achieving a blushing tsun is key to victory in life. "Wellll, you were rather furious and scary… You aren't going to actually drop me, are you?"
"No, that would be counterproductive to teaching you how to dance. I help you and then I'll have you punished for this. Maybe, I'll just drop you off a cliff later, you can survive that much, can't you?" That was probably not a joke.
"I'm going to wake up at the bottom of a cliff, aren't I?" That'd hurt.
Chuckling, now without the darker context involved, Noire grins. "Of course not. I want you experience falling without a living landing pad to save your pretty little head."
Wait, wait, wait. "You think my head's pretty? Awwh, I didn't know you thought of me that way—!" Neptune squeaks, finding herself spinning out of nowhere. The music was hitting its climax as she found gravity pulling her down in a dip.
Crimson stares down her, impervious. "See? I didn't drop you. Have more faith in me, dear."
"N–Noire.. can you pull me back up? This position…"
A dark eyebrow is raised as the goddess fails to pull her up. "What is it?"
"You're doing this on purpose!"
"Why else would do I this? Teasing me after such an emotional moment too.."
"I was trying to lighten your abysmal mood!" The CPU insists, carefully not to move with Noire holding the majority of her weight. "And how are you holding me up for so long?!"
Her partner looks away, before sighing and pulling Neptune back up. The latter has no time to relax, however, because as soon as both feet are back on solid ground, the darker CPU is quick to yank her into an embrace, an action that has yet to have been prompted by the taller half of the pair. Surprises, physical contact and Black Heart normally did not mix.
It was like mixing oil and water. Nothing good happened, except for the cute animals getting covered in the oil and a mess eventually needing to be cleaned up. And she didn't even want to think about the effects of that on monsters...
Before her thoughts stray any further, the arms around her tighten, pulling Nep back.
"You probably don't remember this, but I told you after you were found that I wasn't going to be letting you fall again. I keep my promises." Noire whispers into the lavender-haired divinity's ear, not even acknowledging the blush spreading on the latter's face.
"Y–You're such a softy." Neptune mumbles, not entirely sure how to react to the hug. Lastation's ruler wasn't exactly partial to physical affection.
But it said a lot that Noire would do this. A lot of courage had to be gathered up and whatever hesitation the deity had to be dealt with beforehand… Just the thought of her being a touchy-feely sort of person was weird. Care and affection was expressed in banter or the occasional peptalk, not hugging or head-pats.
Her feelings were genuine, though. Neptune knew that in her heart, memories or not. "Thank you for this, seriously. I really appreciate you helping me with this, Noire.." No reply, but she was listening. "Where'd you learn to dance?"
Because Noire was a good teacher and, she assumed, a good teacher came from an even better teacher? Right? Anyways, the raven couldn't have been good at everything in the beginning. Hearing a story from her would be nice, especially when Noire enjoyed herself today.
It took a bit to get a response. "I'll tell you on a later date."
Which wasn't a no.
"Oh, okay." So it was a story type of explanation, then? Huh. Sounds like fun. "Do you wanna do anything? Or is napping after a shower sound good?"
Noire nuzzles the side of her neck, getting a shiver out of the shorter half. "That sounds fine."
.
..
….
…
….
..
.
"Black~! What a surprise to have you coming to see me in Planeptune." A twin-tailed form leaps at her unsuspecting rival, causing the duo to land onto the plush floor of the violet deity's bedchambers. "You never visit me."
The snowy-haired woman struggles to push the clingy Purple Heart off of her. Eventually, she gives up, letting the mongrel have her way. "For good reason."
"Ignoring your most favorite immortal in Gamindustri is a crime!" Purple shouts, pinning the shorter goddess — which was only by a hand full of inches, regardless of what was spouted — to the floor. "You've been working too much in the office and haven't been playing enough with me!"
It was always a struggle. Always a time fighting off whatever the hell the strongest among the four demanded of her. Black was never not under Purple's administrations. A never ending cycle of being messed with.
"I need to deal with the opposing continents. I can't play around everyday, not with those maggots squirming around." Black hisses, teal eyes flashing red for a moment.
The one atop her pats the fuming snowball on her head. "Now, now, getting angry here won't help you any more than having a hissy fit. As fun as a violent counterpart is, I'm still very curious on what happened to make you come here. You visit on business and pleasure, and unfortunately, you rarely ever come here for pleasure."
Black twitches. "You are pushing it today, mongrel. I'm not that bad—"
"—You wanted to burn them asunder. And as fun as that sounds, I'd hate for you to get hurt because of the choices you make."
"They're planning something. How am I supposed to calm down— and watch where your hands are going, woman." Yelps the silvery-haired CPU after Purple makes a grab at her chest. "Why is it that you always try and grope me?"
"I was getting lonely." Cerulean seas stare down at the goddess. "Don't ignore me again."
She, inevitably, crumbles at the look. "Fine. I won't. So long as you help me with something and you don't mention it to the other two. This is a private affair."
The lilac-haired ruler happily agrees, letting her grumpy little half sit up before settling Black into her lap. She nuzzles her, smiling all the more. "Of course, of course. White and Green would only interfere with our bonding session, spending it with you alone would be nice."
"You're too happy to help me, you know?"
Black didn't know why exactly her rival was attached to her and wanted to help her as much as she did. In her eyes, she was stealing her time and energy for her own projects. The kindness was almost unreal with how Purple enjoyed being around her and fighting beside her. She cared for the mongrel, she did, but why did the idiot do the same for her?
Purple Heart never failed to make no sense to her. She was a drain to her resources, yet Purple kept on helping. What a frustrating woman to get paired up with. Being with her was never horrible, though.. Just exhausting on the mind.
Purple continues with her touchiness. "I'm happy because you can't be happy with yourself. You think too much, little Black."
And Black can't exactly deny that first part. "While you're wrong about the little part — I am not that short compared to you — I won't deny the rest of it… I need help with dancing."
"Now.. was that so hard for you?" She asks, laughing as her counterpart flushed. The latter didn't bother resisting what was slowly becoming a cuddling session, but her face probably said it all. As usual. "I'll help you. But first, do you mind if we stay like this a bit longer?" A simple question, really. It wasn't that big of a bother, so…
"Mmh, I don't mind." It was calming to listen to the beat of her heart, even if she didn't enjoy being touched by others very much. Black could stand Purple, though. Purple was always an outlier for things. She supposed that's what made her so special. "Thank you, dear."
Was it really alarming that she could never win against her? That would be as though the moon were challenging the sun for its place in the sky; it would never be done, it would never succeed, it would always fail as the moon could never muster the same brilliance the fiery orb did. There was never a chance at victory, not against someone so radiant and warm.
A hand runs itself through her windswept hair, the sensation sending her trembles from mere sensitivity. "It has always been a pleasure of mine to help you, my adorable little Black."
Guest 1: Thank you, shall do my best to continue!
Guest 2: Ehh, she wants a proper partner than a pet, Black's just stubborn and prideful. Though, the biting was more of a show to those watching them? Purple has a rep to maintain, but I'll try and shed some light there if I'm in the mood to continue Maelstrom.
xyzdreadnought: Yup, an AU, sorry about not saying so. Updated the last chapter to make it clear. Some of the stories will have similarities to the last one too, but not all them, I promise. Hope this one is to your liking, though? I've also been writing for a while too, been trying to work up the courage to post and, well, here I am. Thanks for reading!