#// They probably could shift back into their more mortal looking form but there still would be this difference in power. This weird holynes

[astrumborn]

// Letting Lucen reach their full magic potential regardless if they're a villain or in their main verse, it would have some pretty intense consequences.

After all, they would change and morph into something that almost cannot be comprehend by the mortal mind. And there would be something alien to them. Not only that but their love and warmth would be addicting.

They love and you and their blood is now yours as yours is theirs.

[hopepetal]

Chapter One | Chapter Two

Boatem Knights AU fic masterlist

Read on AO3!

Reblogs and comments are much appreciated :)

@applestruda

“Impulse!”

“Scar!”

Cub scrambled forward, falling to his knees next to Scar's limp form. He wrapped his arms around Scar and pulled the other close. He carefully brushed a hand over Scar's face. “Scar? Scar, man, can you hear me? Scar?” His movements became more frantic with each passing moment, and he gently shook his friend. “Scar, c'mon. C'mon. Wake up.”

Pearl, still in her Watcher form, knelt by Impulse. Her hands ghosted over his body, finding his neck (he had a pulse, good), his forehead (no fever, though she wasn't sure what she was expecting), before she finally searched for magic. 

There was so much. 

It surrounded his body and wrapped around like chains. It stretched up toward his neck and wrapped around him like a collar, with another strand of magic connecting him to Grian. A quick glance told her Scar had similar magical bonds. If she looked more closely, she could see several more magic strands connecting to Grian, stretching out into the distance before fading away. 

Oh, void. 

Stay calm. Don't panic. Breathe in. Out. In. Out. In, out, in, out inoutinoutinoutin–

“Pearl? Pearl? Oh goodness, oh, I don't– Cub–!”

Warm hands took her own, Cub shifting out of his vex form as he knelt in front of her. “Hey, Pearl. Can you look at me?” Void black eyes met his. Cub smiled softly, giving her hands a gentle squeeze. “Okay, good. Can we match our breathing? In… and out. In… and out. You're doing so well, Pearl. You're doing so well.”

Pearl slowly got her breathing under control. She felt her watcher form fall away, tears making tracks down her cheeks as she gazed at Cub. He was crying, too, though he made an effort to smile. “...I'm so sorry,” she sniffled, “I couldn't– I tried, I couldn't protect them…”

Cub nodded. His hands trembled slightly as he glanced over at Scar. “They're alive,” he whispered, as though speaking too loud would cause their sleeping friends to shatter. “They're alive.” It was a desperate mantra, a chant, a reminder to keep calm, don't break down, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay. 

Pearl swallowed thickly, blinking away tears that clumped her eyelashes together. “I know. I– I saw magic. It was like chains and they all connected to Grian. I…” 

Cub’s eyes widened. Pearl paused, leaning forward slightly. “Do you know what's happening?” she asked. 

Cub pressed his mouth into a thin line, nodding. “I think so. One moment…” He shifted into his vex form. His eyes glowed softly as he scanned Impulse and Scar's bodies. “...oh, no. Ohhhh, no.” He pushed his glasses up, sighing heavily. “I was right. They're in a shared dreamscape.”

Mumbo paled. “A what?” he asked, wringing his hands together. “Are they okay?”

Cub gave a helpless shrug. “I don't know, man. I don't know. But shared dreamscapes– basically, Grian's magic pulled them into his own dreams. Judging by the violent nature and everything that's been happening, I doubt it was his doing.”

Pearl nodded, trying to think. “Could I override Grian's magic with my own, then?” she suggested, wings fluttering softly behind her. “Do you think that would work?”

Cub shook his head. “Dreamscapes are tied to the soul, something we don’t really want to damage. It’s probably best not to attempt that.”

“Then what do we do?” Mumbo asked. “Just wait for them to wake up? It can't be that simple. Can it?” 

Cub shook his head. “Unfortunately, unless we find another way to wake them up, they'll remain in the dreamscape until…” He trailed off. The implication was clear. 

“We can't let that happen,” Pearl decided, the others nodding. “Cub, do you know anything else about the dreamscapes? Anything at all?”

Cub hummed thoughtfully, shifting back into his mortal form. “Long ago, there was a civilization that boasted superior knowledge of the dreamscapes and souls. It's where I've gotten all my information from– but given how remote and run down their temples are, not many people have tried to venture in.” 

Mumbo tilted his head. “I think I’ve heard of those before. Aren’t they… well, cursed?”

Cub sighed. “There are quite a few rumors of a curse surrounding these places. I’ve never been to one myself, but I have reason to believe these rumors are due to the incredible amount of ambient magic there. Stay in the area for too long and you’ll probably start hallucinating.” He pushed his glasses up his nose. “The connection to the void in these places is strong. We don’t know enough about this civilization to be certain, but I have a few theories that the civilization worshiped the void.”

Mumbo frowned. “So this is the best shot we have for finding something to help our friends wake up?”

Cub nodded. “Like I said earlier, the amount of information we’ve retrieved from these places is minimal. There’s a good chance that you’ll be able to find something in one of these temples– anything would help. From there, we can try our best to work out a solution, but if we’re lucky we might just find one.”

“So we find one of these temples and look for answers, then. Do we know where they are?” Pearl asked. 

Cub chewed on his lower lip, thinking for a moment. “If I had a map of the realm, I could probably give you a rough estimate of where one is. They were pretty secretive about where their temples were, but I got my hands on some books that helped me piece together where the main ones were. I believe the closest one would be about a week's journey from here.” 

“That’s wonderful and all, but, uh, we should probably–” Mumbo gestured at their fallen friends– “probably get them somewhere more… comfortable? Before we continue, I mean. It can't be too nice sleeping on the ground. Or healthy. I mean… yeah,” he finished awkwardly. 

Pearl and Cub stood, the former nodding along to Mumbo's words. “Good idea. Should we move them all into Grian's tent, do you think? It has the most space.” She turned to Cub, wordlessly asking for his opinion. 

Cub nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense. We'll move some bedding in there first, and from what I've seen there will still be enough room for us to sorta move around, y'know?” 

Mumbo and Pearl nodded in sync, and the three began to move. It was a quiet task as they worked through the numbness that had settled within them as the panic slowly left. Every now and again, Pearl would sniffle softly, Cub would choke back tears, and Mumbo would mumble something under his breath. They felt hollow. Just this morning, things had been fine– as fine as they could've been, at least– and now they were down three knights, and void knows who else was affected by Grian's magic. 

Once they finished setting up the bedding, it was time to move Impulse and Scar. “I got him,” was all Cub said before he went vex and hoisted Scar up in a bridal carry. 

Mumbo glanced up at Pearl from where he stood next to Impulse. “I, uh– I don't. Got him, that is. If you couldn't tell.”

Pearl gave him a weary smile. “You got his legs, then?” She knelt by Impulse, sliding her arms under his back and shoulders. It was nice to see how much he had improved since the incident several months ago– when they'd first rescued him and brought him back, he'd been starved and fatigued, and had lost quite a bit of weight. He'd slowly regained his strength as he healed, and trained himself back up to where he'd been before. Pearl was proud of him for this. Even if it meant he was a little more difficult to pick up and maneuver. 

“Alright.” Mumbo got himself situated. “We lift on three. One, two, three!” With a soft grunt, he carefully helped Pearl lift up Impulse. Slowly, they brought him into Grian's tent and lowered him down onto the bedding they'd placed.

Cub looked up from where he had knelt by Scar, brushing the other's hair out of his face with a gentle hand. “All good?” he asked, humming softly when he received confirmation. “Okay. Do you have a map of the realm?” 

Pearl thought for a moment. “Mm, I think I should have one in my tent. I'll be right back.” She ducked out of Grian's tent, jogging over to her own and quickly digging through her storage. She easily found what she was looking for– pros of an organized storage system– and hurried back to Grian's tent with the map in hand. “Here.” She handed it to Cub, who unfurled it on the ground. 

“Oh! And!” Mumbo handed him a pen. “So you can mark it down,” he explained. 

Cub tapped the pen twice against a point on the map. “This is where we are right now, you see?” He traced the pen over the map. “And this is where I live. So you're going to start your journey as if you're heading to my place, and then…” He carefully drew the pen across the paper. “You'll be traveling through a forest, then a plains area, before running into a village. I recommend leaving your horses there– you'll be heading almost immediately into a thick jungle. I imagine it'll be about a day's travel before you reach the temple, but it could be more if you get caught up in something.”

Pearl exchanged glances with Mumbo. She reached up to nervously fiddle with the red crystal that hung on a string around her neck– it had become a bit of a nervous fidget for her over the past few months. “And this is the only lead we have. To fixing this whole thing,” she confirmed, frowning slightly at Cub's nod. “I hate to put all our diamonds in one chest, but if it's all we have, then we have to try.”

Mumbo nodded as well. “Yeah. I don't– we can't just sit around and do nothing. That would be absolutely bonkers.”

Cub nodded. “I feel like it could go unsaid, but I'll be staying here to watch over these three. If anything happens, I'll do what I can to help. And of course, I'll be protecting them and keeping them as physically healthy as I can.”

Pearl let out a shaky sigh. Her shoulders relaxed slightly. “Oh, thank you. Thank you so much. Cub, mate, I don't know what we'd do without you.”

“Scar's my friend too, Pearl,” Cub gently reminded her. “I know him better than anyone else. I have to look out for him.”

“Of course,” Pearl quickly responded, “I just– still. Thank you.”

Mumbo nodded. “Yeah, mate. You've really done so much, without you we wouldn't have our only lead.”

Cub frowned, anxiety shining in his eyes. “It may not lead you to anything of value,” he admitted, “but it's the only thing I know of that could possibly be of help. Other than traveling into the dreamscape itself, which would be a last resort if anything. Outside interference tends to change the dreamscape, and that could end up damaging not only their souls, but yours as well.”

Pearl hummed softly. “It makes me feel a little better, knowing we have a last resort at all. Two options are better than one.”

“Right on,” Mumbo agreed. “Though, it's still quite nerve-wracking, isn't it?”

Pearl let out a breathy laugh. “Just a bit.”

Cub smiled gently. “It's going to be alright, you two. Now…” He turned back to the map. “Where was I… the jungle. I've traveled this far, went right up to the village. The only reason I'm really giving any credit to this option at all is because I sensed a strong source of magic in the jungle. I wasn't able to make it there, but I know…” He tapped the pen against the map before circling an area. “The temple should be around here. Pearl, you'll be able to see the magic as a Watcher, I'd imagine, so I'm not too worried about you two getting lost. It'll still be quite the long journey, and you may run into danger along the way.” Mercenaries went unsaid. 

“I won't let anyone hurt you,” Pearl promised Mumbo. “We'll be alright. Even if we're down three knights, we're still strong. We're still– we're still knights.”

Cub handed the map to Pearl, giving her a weary smile. “I recommend you start packing for the journey. It's going to be a long one, and you'll need to be well prepared.”

Pearl and Mumbo nodded, both standing up. Pearl carefully pocketed the map as Mumbo ducked out of the tent. She glanced back at their sleeping friends before exiting the tent. 

It was quiet in camp, quieter than it had been in quite some time. As the adrenaline from earlier began to wear off, the weight of their situation truly began to settle on the three still awake. 

Pearl's hands shook as she carefully packed medical supplies. What if they never wake up? 

Cub hesitated as he carefully wrote notes about the sleeping knights' health. What if he made a mistake that he couldn't fix?

Mumbo tried to stay calm as he worked on sorting items to take for the journey. What if his lack of strength caused them to fail?

It took the two knights about an hour to finish gathering everything they'd need for the journey, and by then the sun was beginning to set. Mumbo took Pearl's hand and led her to where they always sat and watched the day give way to night. The two stood, silent and grieving, and Pearl wished she could wrap a wing around Mumbo and hold him close. She settled for giving his hand a slight squeeze, returning the teary-eyed smile he gave with one of her own. 

“It'll be okay,” she whispered. “It has to be, eventually.”

Mumbo nodded, swallowing the lump in his throat. “I certainly hope so.”

The two slept in Pearl's tent that night, desperate for the comfort of each other's presence, clinging to the familiarity that they had come so close to losing altogether. Their sleep was dreamless, and they woke up with the sun the next day. 

“Good luck,” Cub wished them, pressing a potion of health into Pearl's hands and one of regeneration into Mumbo's. “Be safe.”

“You, too,” they responded in sync, unable to hold back smiles at that. 

Pearl quickly ducked into Grian's tent to check on her brother (his fever had gone down, at least) and say goodbye. Then it was time to leave, and the two knights mounted up. 

“I don't know if it's just me,” Mumbo pointed out as they rode out from their home, “but we seem to be a magnet for trouble.”

Pearl let out a weary chuckle. “Nah, it's not just you. Never a dull moment around here, is there?”

“You could say that again,” Mumbo muttered. 

Silence fell over the two, the only sound being the horses' hooves against the ground and the soft chirping of the early morning birds. Pearl couldn't help but be reminded of Grian, with how he would sometimes instinctively respond to the birds with little chirps and trills. 

Mumbo seemed to notice how the mood sombered. He delicately cleared his throat. “Weather's been nice, lately,” he said quite awkwardly, and Pearl started giggling. “What? I was just– I was trying to lighten the mood, is all! It's good to try and keep our spirits up!” 

Pearl shook her head, blinking away tears as she laughed. “No, no, thank you, I just wasn't expecting that. Consider the mood successfully lightened.” 

Refusing to just wait around and hope for the best, the two knights began their journey. 

“The king has collapsed!” 

Doc strode through the palace halls, following the harried footsteps of the servant. “Tell me more,” he instructed briskly. “What happened?”

“The king, his advisor, and the head of the royal guard have all collapsed after an extreme magic surge that broke past all warding sigils. The royal medic and magical specialist are on their way,” the servant explained quickly, panting slightly. 

“And who else is aware of this?” Doc pressed, rounding the corner with the servant. Up ahead was the door that led to the main meeting room, and the servant paused before entering. 

“Only those I listed, sir. As well as you and I.” Their eyes flicked nervously up to Doc's before they quickly looked away. “I'm magically sensitive, sir. I was nearby when I felt the surge.” 

Doc nodded curtly. “Listen here. You will tell no one about this,” he instructed. “If word got out that three high ranking officials– including the king himself– had collapsed after a possible terrorist attack, there would be chaos. You will be compensated as necessary.”

The servant's eyes widened as they shook their head. “Oh, no sir. I don't need compensation. Just… is his majesty… will he be alright?”

“Only one way to find out.” Doc pushed the door to the meeting room open. 

Just as the servant had told him, the three had collapsed. Martyn's nose was bleeding slightly, likely from the extreme amount of magic that had been involved in the attack. Ren had slumped over in his chair, and BigB had fallen to the floor beside Ren's chair. 

Doc strode over to Ren. He gripped the king’s shoulder, giving him a light shake. “Hey. Hey, man. Wake up.” He heard a soft, shocked inhale come from the servant, likely at the casual form of address he used with Ren. They had dropped the formalities with each other a long time ago, becoming close friends as Doc advised him and helped work on inventions together. 

“Sir, I don't think…” the servant began hesitantly, “I don't think they're going to wake up. Whatever magic that caused this is strong. I can't tell any more than that.”

Just in time, the magic specialist burst in through the door, followed closely by the royal medic. From there on out things became a blur. Ren, Martyn, and BigB were moved to the private infirmary, and Doc eventually found himself standing in front of the council. 

“As of right now, the king is incapacitated. As your acting regent, I will take his majesty's place.” Murmurs of assent and concern rose from the council, but Doc quieted them with a raised hand. “All you need to know is that the king is alive and healthy. I’m sure you’re all aware that the public must not know of this. There would be chaos, and we cannot afford for the kingdom to be in disarray at a time like this.”

The meeting concluded shortly after, and Doc left to go check in with the royal medic and magic specialist. “How are they?” he asked quietly, glancing over at his friends' sleeping forms. 

The magic specialist pursed their lips, before sighing. “I'm afraid there's nothing I can do. The magic used is more powerful than anything I've ever seen. As of right now, they are unharmed, but have effectively been put into eternal slumber.”

Doc frowned. “And is there anything we can do to help them?”

“Keep them under close watch. I'll continue to carefully study the magic affecting them, and call in those from the guild who specialize in these kinds of spells. Other than that…” The magic specialist shook their head, shrugging slightly. “All we can do is wait.”

The forest was unusually quiet as the queen of the fae stepped out from the shadows. She had been drawn to her husband by a sudden surge of foreign magic. Looking around, Lizzie was quick to find Joel. He lay on the ground, limp, surrounded by his dogs. 

Geraldine, who was pressed up against Joel's side whimpering and nudging him gently with her nose, looked up at Lizzie. She wagged her tail once, twice, before nuzzling against Joel's side with a whine. 

Lizzie quickly made her way to Geraldine, flowers blooming at her feet as she walked. “Oh, Joel…” She knelt by him and gently felt his forehead, then glanced over at Geraldine. “What happened?” she asked, and brought her hands up to rest against Geraldine's soft fur. “Tell me, my darling.”

Geraldine closed her eyes, and Lizzie saw. 

She saw Joel walking through the forest. She saw magic, surrounding him and binding him, pulling him to the ground. Her heart ached at his fear, at the expression of terror on his face right before he collapsed. “I'm so sorry,” she whispered. Tears made warm tracks down her face as she pulled herself from the memory, “I couldn't protect you.”

Geraldine whimpered, placing her head in Lizzie's lap. Lizzie gently stroked her soft fur as she took deep breaths. “Good girl,” she murmured. “Thank you for staying by him.” She carefully picked her husband up, closing her eyes and bowing her head. 

In a flash of light and shower of flower petals, Lizzie and Joel, as well as his animals, disappeared. Whisked away to the fae realm, where Lizzie could keep them safe, and wait out whatever curse had taken her beloved. 

Iskall had been cleaning the counters when three of his patrons– one of his best friends included– collapsed after a rather terrifying explosion of magic. Dropping the rag they had been using, Iskall ran to where they had fallen. “Etho!” He grabbed his friend's shoulder and roughly shook him. “Etho, are you–?” They cut themselves off. Carefully, they turned Etho over and checked for a pulse. 

Okay, good. He had one. Now for the other two– Cleo and Bdubs, Etho had introduced them to him earlier. They had pulses too. That… was good. Okay. 

What now?

“I should move them somewhere more private,” Iskall muttered to themselves. “Yeah. Good idea.” 

It certainly took more than a little effort to move all three to a room– thankfully, there was an open one on the first floor, and Iskall heaved a sigh of relief when they had gotten everyone settled in a bed. “Now… what do I do?” they asked no one in particular, before sighing. “Probably call a doctor. I'm not qualified for this.” 

In the end, all Iskall could do was wait. 

Zedaph was having… a day.

He would've called it a good day on any other occasion. Skizz had found him! Somehow, the mountain guide had managed to track him down and bust into his super secret science spot, which Zed swore he'd hidden quite well. No matter. Skizz was a friend!

A very angry friend, who, given what he was ranting about, had a very good cause to be upset. 

Something had happened with Impulse– a demon had possessed him, apparently, and had come very close to dying. When Pearl (one of Impulse's new friends, Skizz had explained) sent out letters contacting the rest of Team Z.I.T.S, Zedaph had never gotten his. Most likely because he practically lived in a cave, hidden away from the world. 

(Tango had lived in a cave, too, but he had recently moved in with a friend after a creeper incident.)

“And look, man,” Skizz was saying, talking more with his hands than anything, “I'm all for living out in nature. But c'mon. We needed you!”

“I'm sorry,” Zedaph apologized, “but everything's fine now, right? Impulse is alive and safe?”

Skizz hesitated. “Yeah, he is. But I'm still mad at you, because that was a real jerk move of you. Y'know, the rest of us kept in contact! Somewhat! You just dropped off the map to do your crazy… experiments!”

“It's not crazy, it's science.”

“Oh, you–”

And then there was magic, purple and screaming and swirling around Skizz. Zedaph felt something tug at his core, but it slipped away before it took hold. Skizz wasn't as lucky, and collapsed. 

Then there was silence.

Zedaph blinked. “Oh, that's fascinating.” And slightly concerning. Actually, mostly concerning, if he thought about it.

He should get Skizz some blankets. He didn’t want one of his friends sleeping on the floor, after all!

“Alright, you two, follow me…”

Jimmy and Tango did as Scott instructed, walking down a carefully manicured path to the large structure in Scott's yard. They'd come to buy flowers for their place in the city– it would liven the place up, Jimmy had promised, so Tango had reluctantly agreed to come along. Scott grew flowers as a hobby, so they'd made the trip to his cottage. 

They stepped into the greenhouse, Scott closing the door behind them. “Come right this way. Did you have any preference on the type of flower, colour, size…?” 

Jimmy shook his head. “Probably shouldn't be too big, though. I'm not trying to grow a whole tree here.”

Scott laughed. “Shame. Trees are quite lovely this time of year.”

“With how often Sparky over here starts, well, sparking, I don't think trees would be a good idea.” Jimmy nudged Tango, who groaned. 

“I don't spark that much! And things don't catch fire, Jimmy!” he protested. 

Jimmy was about to respond when he felt a sudden surge of… was that Grian's magic? “Hold on, what–”

Pain flared in his head, and Jimmy cried out. Tango called his name, but Jimmy couldn't hear over the ringing in his ears. He felt blood trickle from his nose, and then…

Magic.

He barely had time to cry out Tango's name before something tugged on his core, and Jimmy collapsed. The other two soon followed. 

Three fell asleep in a flowerbed, untouched and unseen, with only the flowers as witness.

[coldbronzemoon]

Danny Fenton, Totally Mortal Hero Consultant (DPxDC)

Snippet for an AU I'll probably never fully write where Danny takes a job as a consultant for the Justice League to help with ghost and demon bullshit. It's a pretty good cash flow to help him with college, after all, and very flexible hours.

He just claims all his knowledge comes from his parents. Unfortunately, the JL has caught word of the elusive yet active hero Phantom, and want Danny to help them meet and assess him. Whoops.

Over the phone, Tucker sighed. “Good Christ, Danny, why do you keep doing this?”

“I’m not doing anything,” Danny said immediately. He winced at the vague sound of screaming below. Demons sucked. “I didn’t know the JL thing was gonna have me finding Phantom. How would I? They were talking about tracking down powerful ghosts, I was assuming Ancients!”

Tucker sighed again, which was really quite unfair of him. “Mhm. Well, Fenton Catcher?”

“Probably not. They know me pretty well at this point, and unlike what Sam says I can be professional. I’d confuse them with the… uh…”

“Stoner shtick?”

There was more screaming happening, but judging from the pitch it was a demon screaming this time. Danny checked the situation. Yep, demon getting their ass kicked. He didn’t need to get involved with a blaster. Yet.

Instead, he scowled at his phone. “Stop calling it that.”

“You’re gonna tell me flanny Danny wasn’t a pitch-perfect stoner, huh? With the chill vibing and the dopey look?”

“I hate you.”

“Love you too, bud.” 

The sound of a clacking keyboard that had underlined their conversation stopped. “But seriously, Danny, what the hell are you gonna do with this?”

“Uh, lie, probably,” Danny said, because it was very likely.

“Alright, smartass, what are you going to do when that lie backfires on you like literally every other one does?”

“That’s when I start gaslighting, gatekeeping, and girlbossing, babe.”

He had a hard time hearing Tucker’s distant groan of “Why am I still your friend?” on account of the sudden explosion. Danny checked again. Hm. Demon dude had a nasty fire thing going on.

Danny switched on his Fenton water gun—holy water included!-- and shot the demon in the face. They let out a cracking hiss of rage, but dropped the fire spell thing. He waited for them to stop looking around wildly for the culprit for a moment. 

He went back to the call. “‘Cause you loooove me, Tuck. From the bottom of your twice-dead heart.”

“Unfortunately,” Tucker deadpanned.

Danny just cackled. It was lost amongst the sound of supernatural bullshit below.

“Anyway, I’m still figuring out my plan A, honestly. Might bring in gray-man?”

“Amorpho’s an asshole, though. He’ll ruin the whole thing by taking the opportunity to shift into a JL member for a bit.”

Hm. True.

“Yeah, but he’s the main guy I know with that power set.”

“Ask after Desiree?” He could hear the immediate distaste in Tucker’s voice. “Ugh, pretend I didn’t say that. That’s worse than Amorpho.”

“It’s awful,” Danny agreed easily. 

Desiree was actually pretty alright nowadays, mostly on account of Danny remembering the last couple minutes of Aladdin and wishing she could refuse wishes she didn’t want to grant. That had made her happy enough to stop actively picking fights. 

Unfortunately, spending the entirety of one’s afterlife twisting the wording of wishes to their worst form made it hard to stop being an asshole. Who knew! So getting Desiree to split him in two for like a week had a 50/50 chance of fucking up his work relationship with the literal league of superheroes irrevocably. And this was his main cash flow right now.

So, no Desiree, no siree.

“Come up with something better then, asshole.”

Danny hummed and, since the heroes below were focused on the demon, lifted up a little and did a thoughtful back flip. What to do, what to do…?

Oh!

“My cousin!” he exclaimed.

“What cous—? Oh, Ellie.”

“Yeah, Ellie, Tuck. Which other cousins do I have?”

Tucker scoffed. “You literally have that whole Nightingale thing going on through your dad?”

Danny couldn’t help the face he made. The remaining Nightingales were worse than his parents somehow. “The Nightingales don’t count.”

“You can’t just say they don’t count.”

“I can say that, actually, and I will. They’re, like, cousins through my great-great-great-grandpa anyway.”

“Isn’t there a fight going on over there? Should you be shooting someone?”

 “Yeah, probably.”

He peaked down through the window once more. The heroes must have gotten the first demon to leave while he was talking, because the horned demon fighting them now was a truly unfortunate shade of yellow-green instead of purple. Or maybe it had transformed for some reason? They had it about as in-hand as the other one, though, so Danny definitely didn’t need to go down there. He shot the maybe-new demon in the face real quick.

“Anyway, Ellie can totally help out, she’s been practicing with changing up her looks. She’s also more, uh, malleable than me, what with her situation and all. Looking fully like Phantom shouldn’t be hard.”

Tucker hummed. “She’d try to embarrass you though.”

“Yeah, that’s a problem.” Danny spun in place. “I could bribe her?”

“With what? Her life doesn’t involve needing much cash.”

“She doesn’t get out to the Zone very much. Not many of the inhabited places, anyway. I can promise her the weird apple things Dora’s been growing with Sam’s help, she loved those.”

“If you think that’ll work…” Tucker trailed off dubiously.

Danny laughed. “She’s annoying sometimes, but she’s not gonna fuck over my job if I ask her not to. I’ll just bribe her extra hard for resisting the temptation to mock me.”

“Fair enough.” The clacking of keys resumed. “I’ve really gotta pay attention now, someone’s trying to stop me from getting into this database. Someone half-decent, actually, did they upgrade? Hm. Make sure no one died, yeah?”

“They’re alive. Bye, Tuck,” Danny said, and ended the call.

He shoved his phone back into his jacket pocket and made his way down the stairs. The fight outside he had been stationed for was basically over—Captain Marvel and Green Lantern (Danny was pretty sure he had accidentally learned the dude’s actual name at some point, but hell if he could remember)—had pulled out the magic restraints one of the other consultants had handed out.

That had probably been Constantine. Ugh. Constantine. Dude could stand to lighten up a little; skulking and smoking all the time wasn’t the base state of someone enjoyable to be around. Then again, Danny knew he annoyed the shit out of some of the league with his own attitude, so he maybe shouldn’t talk. But at least he was annoying with a smile!

Case in point: Danny grinned at the heroes. “Got it handled?”

“Suppose so,” said the Green Lantern, “though a little more help would have been nice.”

Captain Marvel was too busy getting in a minor tussle with the demon to say anything either way.

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’m like, pretty mortal,” Danny said. “I’m not fucking with demons right where they can hit me. And I did shoot him!”

Green Lantern rolled his eyes, but admitted the point. Danny cheerfully flipped him off anyway.

“I’ll be heading out, then, the hellmouth this guy crawled out of is like three miles away.” Captain Marvel said, hauling the handcuffed demon over his shoulders like a very angry backpack.

“Oh, one more for the road!” 

Danny hit the demon with a final water gun shot. Hissing and scrunching their face like a cat, the demon tried to lunge at him. It wasn’t very successful. Weirdly non-verbal for a demon, who usually had to talk to make deals and steal mortal souls, but Danny wouldn’t judge. Might be a minor demon. A really basic imp? Who knew.

“Stop being a little bitch and you won’t get spray-bottled, asshole,” Danny chided.

With a loud laugh, Captain Marvel sped away.

[torveiglyart]

I had this idea that when the paladins are really connected to their lions and they’re in mortal danger or something, the lion can actually take over the paladin. This would only be in dire situations as the rush of quintessence from the lion would do irreversible damage to the paladin, but would save them (or someone else) from certain death. Of course I used Lance as a basis for this, because he’s the paladin I know how to draw best, and the Red-Blue double channeling looks cool. Being a puppet for two lions at the same time would probably kill him though. I also couldn’t decide on the regular white armor or a blackout version.

I was thinking something like this:

The paladins are infiltrating an Empire land base and got split up. Lance and Allura got caught up with a ton of sentries but were able to destroy them and are headed back to the Green Lions as per pidge’s instruction, when out of a corner comes (Insert Galra character). They are forced to fight more, but are already exhausted from the dozens of sentries prior. During the fight, Allura gets harmed enough to be down for the count, leaving an angry Lance to deal with their opponent. In his desperation, exhaustion, and rage, the Red Lion takes over. The next thing Lance knows is that he’s waking up from a pod and falling into Hunk’s arms. The team congrats him on his bayard upgrade, but Lance has no idea what they’re talking about. They claim he was shifting his bayard fluidly mid fight and was able to use their bayard forms as well. Lance denies it, saying at one moment he was fighting with his broadsword, the next he was waking up in a pod. They spend the next few quintants trying to figure out what happened, why Lance’s armor is now red and blue tie-dye (But normal white with no stars), and why Lance has burned-in lines under his skin.

I have way too much time on my hands but I hope you all enjoy it 😂. I’ll probably draw the side effects next week because I’m going on vacation this weekend. It’s my sister’s birthday and we’re going to Disney to meet her and spend it with her. I’m so excited! I’ve been to Disney A TON but I could never get tired of it. One time in September 2020, y’know, covid, my dad got us a week stay at one of the resorts and my brother and I did our online school from the hotel rooms. Even though we didn’t do any parks, it was still a great ‘stay-cation’. Disney holds a lot of nostalgia for me and my family, so every trip is another addition to the memory book. Okay, okay, I’ll stop with the Disney stuff now. Hope you all liked my idea!

[mysticalsoot]

heaven is you (godbur au)

first installment of my godbur au & gift to my sister <3

➸ note; i wanted to finish this for @lillylvjy. lillys been a big play in why i still write and why i haven’t given up on shifting or given up on myself or this account. thanks to her i don’t impulsively delete things and i move forward. a few months ago i threw the idea of godbur at her and we talked about it and formed this character, she gives me the credit but she deserves just as much credit as i do. she’s my sister, regardless of biological attachment, she is my sister. i love her and i will protect her for as long as she’ll let me. she’s always there for me, holding me up and supporting me. if i’m upset or hurt, she’s there to listen and offer support. she also spends way more money on me than she should. and i love her, so a little note, don’t mess with her. thank you lills, i love you and enjoy this lil fic i somehow managed to finish in a day! also big thanks to @sleeby-anon for helping me pick out the photo and just helping me with this fic- tysm! you’re very cool and i love u (thank you for being a good friend to lilly :3 )

➸ pairing; godbur x gn!reader

➸ summary; after a few (actually, many) instances where you risked your life in order to reach your beloved wilbur’s world, you have a final disagreement that brings him to a few realizations and maybe some more effort to bring you want you want

➸ warning; kinda hurt but comfort at end, illusions to suicide but not flat out said, probably swearing, is there an unbalanced power dynamic? probably, uses of baby (i’m sorry i’m a sucker for it-), i think that’s it!

➸ age-rating; 15+

➸ wordcount; 2k

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"darling," the word rolled off wilbur's tongue with ease, like it had been spoken millions of times. perhaps it had been, but your mind was too foggy with fear and desperation to think clearly, "you can't keep doing this."

he pleads for you, hands on your shoulders and eyebrows pulling together as he looks down at you.

"what else am I supposed to do?" your voice cracks as the words flow out, and he frowns, shaking his head and looking to the side.

"live," he pauses, turning his head to face you. his grip on your shoulders tightens just a bit, "there's more to life than seeking refuge in my world. be alive, live in mortality."

he's begging you, pleading for you. he hates to see you hurt, and he hates the way his world's laws are. you can't be thrust into immortal responsibilities yet, and you can't stay long as a mortal with purpose. you have to go, but you would rather die a million more times before you accept that.

"can't you just let me stay? what's the problem in letting me be free where I want to be, with you," you're pleading with him now. on your hands and knees praying to the god before you to just let you stay. you're standing, knees going weak just a smidge. your eyes are burning from tears and your cheeks are wet with a desperation.

"I can't, I really can't," his frown deepens and he pulls you into his chest, face in his white ruffly shirt. he smells like home, but a home you can never truly have. he cups the back of your head with his hand, rubbing at your scalp with his fingertips as you sigh.

"it's the rules," a kiss to the top of your head and you want to scream and cry and bang at his chest. but you don't, you stay still in his grasp, holding your calm in your hands so tightly.

"the rules are stupid," you mumble into his shirt, he moves a hand to rub your back.

he chuckles, nodding in agreement before speaking again, "I agree, love."

days pass after he sent you back, you mulled over ways and methods you could reach him again in desperate hope he'd finally give in to your pleas and let you stay.

you were wandering the woods, pacing between trees as you tried to narrow down your plans. you could try summoning him, but it wasn't fool proof. you could try to speak to him through meditation, but he sometimes ignored you 'for your sake'.

you weren't sure what would work, and you were kicking yourself for not knowing. but also for the doubts that filled your mind. what if he kicked you out again? told you to never see him again and made sure you couldn't? what if he forced you to live out your mortality purely out of his anger at you. what if he was angry?

you sigh, resting your head against the tree, sighing as you screw your eyes shut, banging your fist against the bark before stepping back.

"what more do you want?" you beckon up at the sky, he's not listening, you're sure of it but you need to be angry at something, somewhere. it's unfair.

"for you to listen," his voice mumbles in your mind and you scoff, shaking your head as the memory of his accent echoes in your mind.

"yeah well, you don't have the best ideas, now do you?"

"y/n.." he murmurs, his tone a gentle warning to you so you don't say something you'll regret. or do something, for that matter.

"wilbur," you copy his tone, mocking it almost before you groan, falling to sit on the ground.

"you know you can't do this, you know that," you can hear the strain in his voice, the way he draws it out and softens it just to reach out to you and make amends for it.

"but what else am I meant to do?" you want to scream at the top of your lungs, cry to him and bitch about the situation you're in. how you're continually denied what you want. you thought you proved yourself, you thought you proved that you could handle immortality. that you could handle him.

it's silent, not a sound is made around you or even echoed in your mind. you wondered if his methods of communication were a curse or a blessing. it felt more like a curse at the moment. it felt like a taunt to you, how powerless you felt down on earth, in morality. you felt so out of control, like a puppet. and maybe wilbur was the puppeteer, but who’s to say it wasn’t someone else? maybe he was just an illusion, a hallucination that controlled your motives and thoughts simply by the prospect of maybe having some hope to grasp onto. a nice, soft candle in the middle of a dark and empty room.

he was the light you couldn’t quite reach.

he finally speaks up, his tone rushed and worried, but his words keep you from second guessing it, “i have an idea.”

“what?” you mumble, nearly tripping over the single word.

“you want to stay with me, yes?” he sounds almost frustrated for a moment before sighing almost exasperated.

“yes, yes, that’s what i’ve been saying. you never listen-“

wilbur cuts you off, “i listen, i promise. okay? i listen to you, now, listen to me for a second, okay baby?”

you ponder for a moment before giving in, “fine.”

“i’ll let you come back, under a few conditions,” you wait a moment, giving him time to list his conditions but he doesn’t seem to budge on his own.

“and what are those?” you fold your arms over your chest, huffing as you imagine wilbur pinching the bridge of his nose and sighing at you.

“i’ll tell you when you get here, okay?” he pauses, sand surprisingly you can hear the hesitation almost as if he were there with you and not just speaking through your mind, “there’s a tree-“

“a tree? wow, so fancy,” your annoyance bubbling up at the way he wasn’t being direct.

he warns you again, a whispering of your name to keep you in line before he continues, “there’s a tree a few minutes in front of you, there will be lilliums around the base and a circle door in the middle. it’ll take you here, no need to do what you normally do, okay? please just, don’t do something stupid and get up here, okay?”

you take a moment before answering, wondering if you want to believe him or ignore him at the moment, “okay, fine.”

you wait a few minutes, making sure he doesn’t have anything more to say before standing up and beginning the walk over to the tree. it feels stupid, how hopeful you are and how confident you feel over walking to a damn tree as if it’ll fix your biggest qualm with the way your god’s world works. you stop short, maybe a good eight feet from the base of the tree, your eyes dancing around and staring at the lilly flowers lining the base and spreading over the roots. you play with the idea of turning around and walking back, abandoning him and any loyalty you had to him. but then you look back at the trunk before you and sigh, giving in and stepping back towards it. your fingers reach out to grasp the hook on the corner, pulling it back and crawling in, not without doubts of course but you aren’t sure what you have to lose.

you pull the door back to close it and turn around, darkness encompassing your whole being as you feel a sort of light feeling take over your senses. are you dreaming? it doesn’t feel like a dream, but it seems like one. are you real? is this real?

your thoughts shut off, cut like a guillotine, but the blade being the darkness and silence. you no longer felt anything but a void, and then you began to feel warm fabric, and then a whiff of cologne hit your nose and then you were finally able to open your eyes.

“i see you’re awake?” you peek up, rubbing your eyes as you take in your surroundings, eyes catching on the familiar figure of wilbur, sitting in a reading chair in the corner of his bedroom. you’ve been here before, you’ve slept in this bed but now it feels different. it’s a good different, but it isn’t the same.

“i am now,” you pause, tossing the covers over and off your legs as you sit up against the ornate headboard, gazing over at him as he meets your eyes and sets down his journal, “what happened?”

“i convinced myself that i could manage switching your role to immortal,” he sighs, moving his gaze to the floor as he chews his lip, mind reeling as he lists off all the rules he broke just to bring his love into his life.

“mm, was it paperwork that kept you from it?” you chuckle, much too happy at the moment to even think of how angry you were and still are at him.

“no,” he chuckles dryly, shaking his head, “it was.. more serious than that but that’s no talk for now. how are you feeling, love?” he stands from his chair, finding a spot on the edge of the bed by your feet and resting his hands on your legs.

“i couldn’t be more tired, what the hell happened? how did i get here?” you murmur, rubbing your eyes as you take note of the pulsing ache at your temples.

“i guided you through a dream, to get here, and once you reached this world, i switched some things around in your file,” he squeezes your calf, his eyes staring at the wall for a good minute before meeting your gaze.

“so that means…?”

“you’re immortal and no longer have any ties with your old world, you’re mine now, just the way you wanted,” he sighs, lifting your legs to lay over his lap as he reaches over and kisses your forehead. there’s a sort of calmness about him that you’ve yet to see until now. you never knew such peace could exist in him.

“i’ll answer any question you have.” you nod to him, acknowledging his offer but not knowing where to start,

you have too many questions to even verbalize, or let alone ask, and the growing headache isn’t helping either. so after a moment’s contemplation, you decide to let the piles questions take a rest while you enjoy your wilbur’s company.

you lean forward and kiss his cheek once, and you watch as a gentle rosiness floods the pale skin that he adorns and his lips curl up in a smile.

“how about we have a day to ourselves and celebrate?” you suggest, grabbing his hand to play with his fingers, chewing on your lip as you keep your eyes down.

“okay, as long as you promise to ask questions later?” he tilts your head up by your chin, a loving care in his eyes.

“promise,” you smile, kissing the tip of his nose before continuing and jumping off the bed, “now show me that pretty garden you have, yeah?”

he smiles, standing up and meeting you where you stand. he leans down, hands resting on your cheeks with giggles escaping his lips at your excitement, “may i kiss you first?”

“yes, sir you may,” your fingers wrap around his waist as he brings his lips to yours, smiling softly as your mouths move in sync. a moments pass before you both need air and you pull back, moving to tug on his hand, “now come on! show me the lilliums!”

he leads you out to the garden, smiling the whole way as he can’t help but to think how grateful he is that he broke a few rules and let heaven be you.

taglist; @lcvejoy @lillylvjy @ella-fella-bo-bella @lotusanonymouse @willgoldszn @whos-nicooo @zebonos

[arcade-chaos]

Eldritch Scritches

Everyone say ty daycare friend pickup for this drabble

First person POV, eldritchy mer moon x reader, a tiny bit of 'last day on earth' before 'the sacrifice' but its not for long and theres nothing too scary beyond Moon shenanigans. Very silly and indulgent, enjoy!

You quite literally signed up for this. The village was sad to see you go, but you had offered yourself up and no one could think of anything to say to convince you. Everyone knew this needed to be done, you were the only barrier between the things beyond and your home. 

Those who were rich enough left you all behind, desperately hoping to outrace the end of time itself, but this was your home and you were willing to do whatever you needed to stop it from coming to an end. 

The town wished you the best of luck, treasures and sweet treats to make what they assumed would be your last day as lovely as possible. When the sun set you set off towards the beach and the endless dock, the wood worn but surprisingly unrotted by the tide. The ocean grew quieter the further you walked out, it took a moment to realize the stars were blinking down at you. You would show them no fear, even if your heart was racing. 

When you reached the end you merely waited, glancing around for a toothy maw or an echoing voice. Instead the first thing you noticed was how black the ocean was, swelling not like a wave but as a mound. A spill of inky blackness pushed up through the water, little starry lights on its body winking and flickering as two larger ones opened. One red, one white. 

“Mortal.” The world whispered, no other sounds daring to cover the ancient voice. “What do you have to offer me?”

Tales of escaping death flicker through your mind, of Scheherazade and her many stories, of trading souls of crows and deer to quell death's hunger, even Sisyphus's tricks (even if they did bite him in the end). All of those ideas escaped your brain as your mouth opened. 

“I could give you some scritches.” The coil of blacky ink stopped moving for only the briefest flicker, the cool rush of air that slipped off his coils stilling. 

“What.” It asked, quiet and disbelieving. Your hands came up to where his probably-eyes shimmered, grabbing at the frigid air. 

“Y’know. Scratches. Pets.” With that he began to shift again, the eyes coming closer down, zeroed in on you alone. A god looking down at an ant. 

“You think me a pet?”

“Afraid you’d like it?” An ant with hubris apparently. The air hummed as it thought, the fabric of space itself splitting as rows of teeth shimmered in the moonlight. 

“You have one of your ‘hours’ to convince me this is a worthy sacrifice.” You have half a mind to make up some lie and say you can’t possibly touch him from here, but he coils again before you can think, the cold air that had been rushing your hair back suddenly turning as he shrinks down in on himself. His new form is more humanoid, with tendrils of that inky blackness instead of legs and a mouth far too wide. He grins, eyes red as the devil as his long arms come to rest on the dock. You don’t let him have the satisfaction of whatever line he's thinking up, instead you sit down on the worn wood and pat your lap. 

Like calling a cat.

An ancient terrifying kitty who only wants food and prey. 

Just like a cat actually. 

His grin waivers for a moment before shooting back up, the night sky warping behind him as he moves too fast to hover over you. Even when making himself small he still needed to be bigger than you. Go figure. 

“Hurry hurry.” He crackles, his head tilting at an unnatural angle. 

“Eager.” Your hand meets his jaw as you stretch up, feeling the way the flesh ripples under your touch. Like petting a waterbed, surprisingly not as chilly as the wind he had been pushing around, that was a boon. He stayed quiet as your fingertips rubbed careful circles, glad you cut your nails prior lest he think you were trying to harm him (you doubted he would let you anyhow). 

It took a moment to register what you were hearing, the chilling silence had been put away in favor of the normal sounds of night. The waves lapping at the beach far behind, the crickets even further, and the strangely comforting sound droning out of the body in front of you. 

Oh gods he was purring. 

His eyes that had slowly begun to shut opened to frown as you tried to suppress a smile, your other hand moving to cup his face. He shuddered beneath the little touches, leaning more and more of his weight into you until he literally fell into your lap. You snorted at the sudden intrusion, moving a hand instead up to his head to smooth it back. His hands clawed at the wood on either side of your legs, the purrs vibrating through your knees and legs. 

His head was devoid of hair, instead topped with another tentacle. Little wobbly yellowish spots occasionally opened to peer at your face, forcing you to stroke his head with single digits unless you wanted to poke one of them out and ruin any chance you had at saving the world. 

If they had told you it was this easy you might’ve actually let someone else do it instead.

Eventually your hands went back down onto the wood, the feeling of something not giving under you was both grounding and strange. The ancient one let out a louder rumble, then a louder one before popping up, glaring at you with the heat of a thousand volcanic vents. 

“Why have you stopped, mortal.” He hissed, getting as close to your face as he dared. 

“It’s been an hour, I figured I’d see if I’ve convinced you.” You were trying not to sound too cheeky, but he huffed and turned away anyways. 

“You have done… Well.” His grin grew again, one of his hands coming up to grip your leg. “However, that was not enough to put me to sleep for even a year. This token was hardly worth the day’s end. You have until tomorrow, then I will eat the whole world.” 

“I’ll see you tomorrow then.” You tugged away, dusting the splinters of wood off your legs as he watched. “Oh,” You turned, smiling as he straightened up a little under your eyes “They never told me your name.” His eyes tilted up at the question, his little tendril hat flickering about. 

“You will call me Moon.” 

“See you tomorrow then, Moon.” And with that you headed back towards the little town you called home. 

Days and, more importantly, nights passed like this for a long while. It seemed that Moon’s hunger wasn’t only for the world, but also for any form of affection he could get. Most nights he would rest his head in your lap and purr, clawing at the wooden safety of the dock. One night you decided to start bringing a blanket and were delighted when he started kneading it like biscuit dough. 

Little cat indeed. 

Sometimes you two would talk while you sat, he didn’t have a lot of experiences to talk about, but he seemed to like listening to you talk about your day. The goings on in your life, the shock of the town that he hadn’t eaten you or their world yet, what kind of treats you made for dinner. 

When you brought him a little pie he looked over the moon (ha), the cherry filling dripping down his hands would’ve looked a lot more terrifying if his ‘hat’ wasn’t wagging at 90 miles per hour. You made him wash the sticky mess before cuddling, and as a token for cleanliness you let him drag you into his lap. The vibrations from his mouth into the nape of your neck was ticklish, but not terrible enough that you regretted it. The little spines down his back curling into your fingers as though they were trying to snatch you up and hold you there forever. 

That was the first night you lost count of the time, staying almost two hours before you realized your mistake. 

“I don’t suppose you’ll let that count towards tomorrow?” Moon’s face scrunched more than you thought possible, making you giggle as you waved off the idea. “Guess not.”

The nights only seemed to grow longer from there, either by your own hand or by his (you suspected some nights he warped time to move just a little slower, but there was never any proof beyond his sly little grin and wiggling tendrils). 

“You fell asleep during our time little mortal.” He purred, his hand cupping your face as you tried your best to stay awake enough to hear. “You’ll owe me more time tomorrow.” You were too sleepy to argue (despite the fact he definitely knocked you over so you’d be laying down), nuzzling back into the blanket for five more minutes that stretched on for a bit longer than they should’ve. 

One night he was more riled up than you had ever seen, the ocean rolling as his tendrils kicked them up. He didn’t even straighten up when you called out to him, instead he seemed to pout even more.

“What’s wrong nighty?” Moon huffed, pulling you to the edge of the dock instead so he could keep kicking up the ocean (though notably the bubble around you two stayed calm). 

“The mortals have made a terrible treachery against me! After I have been so kind as to allow them into my waters!!” Ah yes, another hour in favor of him letting boats leave the harbor to look for more people. Your hands rubbed over his tendril hat, squeezing it back as it wrapped around your wrist. 

“Oh dear, what did they do this time.” Moon hissed, his fingers digging into the back of your shirt as he looked at you with an intensity that made your heart skip. 

“They have made noises at me.” Your brain fizzled out for a second before the giggles kicked in, Moon whining in indignation as he buried his face into your tummy. 

“Horrible! Cruel! Laughing at my pains! They make loud honkings at me like geese! After I was so kind!” 

“Aww poor baby, how could they honk at such a powerful thing?” 

“Terrible, laughing at my pain! You agree with their honkings!” 

“C’mon now, I’m sure they were just trying to get you out of the way. Maybe they were thanking you for not taking out your wrath on them?” Moon huffed, rubbing his face against your shirt. 

“A horrible offering. You owe me double for their treachery. 

“Alright, alright. Just for tonight.” 

It never was. 

[halsinsheart]

a/n: act 1 scene...but different, mild spoilers?

summary: astarion asks for a pick me up from reader but discovers much more in the process

tags: NSFW, MDNI, vag owning!reader, blood play, wound infliction(r), oral(r), manipulation, implied no aftercare(it's a lie), sarcasm

w/c: ~1.6k

kinkmas masterlist || reblogs > likes

A disturbance close to you jolted you awake, and you braced yourself to attack whomever it was that tried to take advantage of your vulnerable state. Your mind raced with worst-case scenarios about your assailant’s identity until your eyes adjusted and registered that Astarion was who stood above you. Several emotions are processed on your face in rapid succession until you settle on a mix of confusion and anger.

The pale elf was quick to try and excuse himself as he stammered and breathlessly clarified his actions. His reaction reassured you that you weren’t in any imminent mortal danger and you relaxed ever so slightly as you listened. Without much prying and pushing from you for answers, he explained everything you were curious about and more.

That vulnerability he showed you made your heart ache in sympathy for his predicament. What it must have been like to live a life so fraught with a need to kill that you couldn’t resist… And so, you offered your neck to him, convincing yourself it wasn’t out of pity but out of concern. He was right, you needed him strong.

“Is it… is it going to hurt?” you questioned in last-minute reconsideration as you laid back down on your bedroll, turning on your side to bare the flesh for him.

“Well it’s not going to feel like sunshine and rainbows, I am drinking your blood,” a harsh sarcastic tone left him that you hadn’t heard him use before he cleared his throat and changed his tonality, “but I will make it as pleasurable as possible for you, darling.”

You nodded and mumbled your thanks as you shifted into the fabric on the ground to find an ounce more comfort to prepare yourself. One of his hands rested gingerly on your hip, his touch soothing your nerves as his other hand brushed your hair out of the way. As he leaned closer, you held your breath in anticipation. Smooth, cold teeth brushed across your pulse sending a shiver down your spine before they punctured through your skin.

His hand on your hip tightened as you squirmed and the other wrapped around your neck from the side opposite being drained. It felt so cold. You could feel your veins throbbing throughout your body. The sensation was dizzying, electrifying, painful yet blissful; you lost yourself in the contradicting feelings as he drank from you. Your mind was fuzzed and tingling, not fully comprehending when you let a rather obscene moan past your lips.

The moan was unmistakable to the point where Astarion separated himself from your neck to glance down at you with a devious inquisitive look. A drop of your blood dripped from his mouth onto your hand and again, you moaned, albeit softer this time. Laughter chimed out from the vampire as he took amusement in the reaction.

“Are you actually deriving pleasure from this? And to think you were worried it would hurt. Please,” he rolled his eyes, a wide smirk still plastered to his crimson-dripping mouth, “I bet you wanted it to hurt, didn’t you? You wanted to writhe in agonizing pain as I took the one thing more precious to you than sanity itself. Didn’t you?”

Your chin was gripped roughly as he made you look at him, expecting an answer. His words made sense to you; despite them being true, you wanted to refute them. But when your mouth opened to try and form words around the woozy bloodless feeling, all that came out was another pathetic noise. Another fit of laughter overtook the vampire as he guided you to your back so he could hover above you.

“Gods, you are one sick little freak. I love it,” his eyes darkened to a point that would probably instill fear in anyone who wasn’t you, who got off on how intimidating and helpless you felt in the situation.

He leaned down and licked the blood that had dripped from the wound when he pulled away, grinning when you moaned for him again and arched your back off the bedroll. Oh, this was just too easy! Teeth brushed against your skin again, further down past your collarbone now before they pierced the flesh, earning a shocked gasp and pitiful plea from you.

“Astarion…,” his name escaped you as a euphoric sigh and he struggled to prevent it from affecting him.

Biting you again, he aimed to recreate the sound and once you did he bit you a fourth time. By the time he was panting himself, your entire front, now free of clothing, was littered with his bite marks and your smeared blood. Yet still as he breathed heavily against your abdomen, his eyes were blown wide with hunger of a different nature. His cold, deft hands left no inch of your torso untouched and further spread your blood. 

“You look absolutely divine like this, darling,” he leaned back to admire his work while also allowing you to do the same to him, who had also long been shirtless and was almost equally as covered in your blood.

If you could form coherent sentences through the constant pang of being bit and the cloud of blood loss, you would have told him the same. You would have told him how ethereal he looked illuminated by the moon overhead, his pale skin glistening with your blood, with you. Still, he wasn’t done with you. He had lost himself to the moment but rationalized that this licentious liaison would only solidify his place within the camp and your thoughts.

Slowly, teasingly, he slid your pants off and his eyes raked over every new piece of flesh he exposed, envisioning how it would look peppered with his bites. Fingers brushed along your sensitive spots and made you shiver as he parted your legs, biting into the flesh of one thigh and then the other. His teeth dragged along your skin, scraping and tearing ever so slightly before digging in again and again until he circled back to the apex of where your thighs met. With his eyes level with your cunt, you felt embarrassment warm your cheeks and you attempted to close your thighs only to be stopped by the firm grip of his hands. 

“Ah, ah, ah, you’re not hiding from me now. It’s far too late for you to run,” his voice was lower than usual with an undertone of warning should you try to conceal yourself from him again.

Exposed and at his mercy, you watched as Astarion licked up your pussy and you silently prayed he wouldn’t tease you about how wet you were. His tongue stopped to pay extra attention to your clit, flicking against it while he maintained eye contact with you. Lithe fingers moved to join his mouth’s ministrations, teasing as they circled and prodded at your entrance but never entering. You huffed in protest and hung your head back while his lips wrapped around the bundle of nerves, earning another sweet moan from you.

“Stop teasing me… Astarion ple- ohh,” he interrupted your sentence with a softer nip of a bite right above your cunt.

The soft muffled snicker didn’t slip past your notice and you reached down to tug on his hair, attempting to put the gorgeous face where you needed it most. In a rare moment of obedience, Astarion moved with your guidance and focused his attention on your throbbing core. Two fingers pressed into you, exploring your insides and just exactly what made you tick, what made your bloodied thighs twitch, and what made your breath hitch.

To your agony, when he did find a movement of his fingers you enjoyed, he changed it in favor of seeing if the next movement would also have the same effect. You could feel yourself winding up and getting close, only to have it ripped away with each variation he tested. Astarion was more than aware of what he was doing, just toying with you one more time tonight.

He realized when your anguish crested and right before you were going to whine, his experienced tongue began to work at your clit again. This time, he teased it with added fervor all while finally keeping his fingers in a consistent movement. The hazy filter over your mind only became heavier as your body throbbed with pain and pleasure. The two became indiscernible as the knot in your stomach tightened until it snapped into numbing bliss.

Your thighs shook as they pressed against each side of Astarion’s head. He more than welcomed the feeling as he aided you through your high and back down. When his mouth parted from your cunt, he made a show of licking his fingers clean and smacking his lips as your juices mingled with your blood. Sitting up, he looked over his final work on your now battered body with a smug accomplished look.

All of the pain inflicted upon you throbbed in recognition after the pleasure faded and it left you squirming slightly on your bedroll. Though even squirming subsided quickly as the fatigue set in. Come morning, you would wake covered in bites and bruises, but somehow clean. For now, Astarion had the decency to at least help you cover yourself before you began to slip into a sweet sleep.

“Thank you, darling. I do so look forward to exploring your twisted pleasures further. And perhaps next time we can cover you in even more bodily fluids.”

©halsinsheart ~{2024}~ you do not have permission modify, copy, repost, or enter works into AI.

[izvmimi]

cw: gods au. fem!reader and izuku are both gods, although izuku is now a human. pining. part 2 of this.

“You should stop watching.”

The sudden voice behind you shocks you out of your reverie, and the gash that you’ve formed in the veil between your world and the human realm shrinks to almost imperceptible, yet your best friend can tell you’ve been peering behind the proverbial curtain again. You haven’t spent a millenia together for nothing.

You frown. 

“How did you know?” 

She scoffs, gliding over to you along marbled paths to where you sit, legs folded to the side and tucked beneath your robes, in your garden of never-wilting flowers. 

“How don’t I know? You have that look in your eye.” Her voice lowers and softens as she circles around your chair, placing a gentle hand on your shoulder as she stands behind you to see from your vantage point. “There’s no use watching,” she continues, “I understand that you want to keep him safe, but all humans will deteriorate and die eventually. You cannot stop the natural flow of time and circumstance.”

As expected from one who hails from the clan that stitches the thread of mortal life into the tapestry of Fate.

You shrug her off; it’s not meant to be an act of aggression but she frowns even deeper before raising her hands in feigned surrender and letting out a sigh. 

“He’s not a mere human and you know it,” you reply as you turn to glare at her. 

“Yes… right.” 

It’s a statement that she offers you that also is not meant to be condescending, yet somehow is. It’s been like this, for the two of you, any time he is brought into conversation. Although it’s been nearly a century since the transmutation of your lover’s soul, you have failed to come to terms with the fact that your partner is truly not ever coming back. 

He’d disappeared out of the fabric of time and space after the event, and you’d been so numb from tears that you were not sure you’d make it through the next millennium without letting your soul rot from bitterness, but just a couple decades ago, you had felt him reborn, his light, although significantly dimmed reappearing again in the womb of a young woman. And although his signature was nothing like you’d known of him your entire existence, it still burned brighter than the typical human, likely owing to the fact that he was once a god. You’d wondered if there was a loophole to the punishment - this was not something that was supposed to happen - but things were different for those immortals who descended directly from the Sun, more powerful than the rest.

“Is he still feeding the cat?” your companion asks. Raye comes to sit besides you, shifting your legs so that they lay on her lap. She wants to understand. She has tried to understand for so very long now, but she fails to understand why you haven’t given up the part of your heart that longs for him. There are rituals to harden your heart that she knows very well and have often been prescribed to people with your plight, and yet you prefer to suffer this way. 

So instead she indulges you with questions like this. Her gray eyes shift and watch your profile as you widen the gash between realms and watch the mortal once more. Raye peers into the hole to see from your vantage point.

Izuku Midoriya, the man, is not doing anything very interesting at this moment. You watch him on his couch, opening up a plastic bag containing a prepared dinner he must have picked up from a convenience store a few blocks away. Earlier today, he had a fanmeeting where he’d smiled and signed hundreds of autographs, and only now was getting the opportunity to eat. Sleep would probably occur to him soon and you would have to find something else to do aside from watching him tirelessly. 

“I didn’t descend today,” you reply. 

She lays her head on your shoulder and the two of you lay in silence. There’s a gentle warm breeze that runs in your garden and in the snap of your fingers, you could request some music to fill the pregnant pause between you too but you refrain. Your heart doesn’t hurt right now so you don’t need it. But it will soon.

“What would you do if he stopped?” she asks.

It’s a question that makes your heart pound ever so slightly in your chest. The idea of your Izuku walking by you, without even noticing, without any offer of attention to you, seems far too much to reconcile in your conscience.

But you lie.

“I’d have to accept it.”

“You wouldn’t turn into anything else?” she asks.

You pause, and lie again. “I wouldn’t.”

She blows out air from her nostrils in a slow, deliberate sigh.

“Liar,” she hisses before straightening up to a sitting position. She pauses, and then instead decides to stand before marching off to your front gate. 

“I’m not-” you call after her.

“You are such a bad liar! You would never let him go, face it.”

Her lips are pressed into a tight smile, and she’s somewhere between amused and annoyed as she runs a hand through her orchid-pink hair.

And you have started to get angry too, but you bite your lip so as to not let the honeysuckles that sprout around you wilt in your rage. 

“Why should I?” you demand.

“Because he’s a HUMAN.”

You grit your teeth but let your rage simmer. You can see that there’s an edge to her voice, a small plea to come back to your senses. 

It’s your turn to sigh.

“He isn’t meant to be…” you try to ignore the tears that well up in your eyes, aware that by now you’ve cried a flowing river over the years. 

She scoffs - not because she no longer cares but because the outcome of your moroseness is no longer beneficial to any of you. She misses him too, believe it or not, but she cannot watch you deteriorate forever. 

There’s an eternity that remains, and she wants you to be happy.

—

Izuku Midoriya, aged 27, dreams of fire and felines.

He wakes up in a cold, uncomfortable sweat, panting heavily in a too-sticky mess of matted bedsheets. It’s not the first time and it likely won’t be the last time he wakes up in a shock like this.

Izuku steadies his breath and grabs his phone from the end table, rubbing his eyes as he brings himself to a sitting position before checking the time and any pending notifications from overnight. There’s a text from his mother, reminding him to eat breakfast every morning. He smiles, then immediately frowns as he remembers that he actually has nothing left in his fridge aside from ketchup and katsudon leftovers from the night before. 

It’s Saturday morning, and he’s not sure what to do first, but there’s a long list of tasks and upkeep that he has to perform before the week starts. Laundry piles up in the corner of his room, overflowing from his laundry basket and he’s pretty sure the dishes in the sink have been there since last weekend. These are the moments he’s reminded that, despite being admittedly lonely in this apartment, he’s not equipped to take care of much else aside from himself, especially not a pet.

However…

There is a jet black cat that he’s been seeing constantly since he moved to this neighborhood several months ago that seems to haunt him, although it should be a sign of good luck. Golden eyes watch him, glowing and far too intense, enough so that the first time he met it, he wondered if it would speak to him in formal Japanese.

It seemed to be waiting for him, the way it sat perfectly still on his route home from work. He had been mostly lost in thought when he suddenly encountered the animal, trying to decide if it were a good idea moving so far away from his mother when he had no other compelling reason besides asserting his independence. He saw the cat from a distance - rather felt compelled to look - and stood just as still. The two beings faced each other, and the cat seemed to size him up, as though hesitating, with far more interest in him than strays usually do. Perhaps it was hungry, he figured, and that made it friendly enough to beg for scraps, but its movements towards him - when it eventually decided he was worthy - were too graceful for a being humbled by starvation.

It passed between his legs once, then twice, then stood before him with far too much familiarity in its eyes. Squatting to his knees to look at it more closely, he decided eventually to pet it, gingerly placing his hand on its fur to test the waters. It purred to his touch, its coat again far too soft for an animal that wasn’t being taken care of somehow, by someone. He looked around for a collar and saw nothing on first pass, but as the animal continued to mew, he noticed an inscription behind its ear. 

It was a symbol he couldn’t recognize but felt intrinsically like he should be able to read. It bothered him for a split second, that feeling of uneasiness, but he soon forgot it, eventually realizing he had to get home. He took his time however to say goodbye to the small creature before he continued on his way, leaving the animal to watch him with newly shiny feline irises.

It almost seemed like it was sad to see him go.

As he stirs his protein shake, Izuku ponders on that symbol again, recreating it in his mind’s eye on his counter with the pad of his finger. It seemed not to be shaved in, but rather etched into its very flesh. Did it hurt? Who would brand their cat like this? Is that why it’s so oddly trusting?

He takes a sip of his drink and lets out a sigh. This is a lot of energy to be wasting on a stray and he has things to get to. 

But first, he needs to make a phone call to a friend.

—

Ochaco is far better at grocery shopping than Izuku is. 

“Buy the organic eggs, they’re better for you~”

“These snack bars are on sale if you buy two packs, and you can always save some for later!”

“The produce at this store isn’t high quality enough to be this expensive! Let’s go to the farmer’s market three blocks down!”

Ochaco reminds him a lot of his mother, Izuku thinks, and all he can do is nod and smile as she drags him from place to place that morning.

“I have an incredible recipe for an apple pie, “ she chirps, holding two apples to her face with a grin. The light red tones of the fruit compliment the pinks of her cheeks well, he notices, and his own face reddens ever so slightly as he realizes he’s staring.

He should tell her how he feels, he thinks. One day, when the dust settles, and his dreams are no longer dreams, he should tell her what she means to him. She’s always been there for him after all. The one constant in his hectic life, the only person he has never had to prove anything to.

Someone who knows all of him.

Izuku digs through the first heavenly bite of his longtime crush’s apple pie and excitedly exclaims that it’s the most delicious thing he’s had in a while. Ochaco beams, and she cuts herself a piece before slipping into the chair next to him and taking a bite. 

“It’s best with vanilla ice cream too!” she adds. “We should get some next time,” she hums, kicking her feet as she enjoys her pie. 

Izuku nods emphatically and Ochaco grins widely, brushing a few crumbs off his mouth. Her eyes linger just too long on his lips, but then she looks away and smiles. The air in the room gets quiet and he wonders if now is the time to kiss her. She tenses and right before he considers holding her hand, she jumps off the barstool and circles back around to the freezer.

His heart slows and then he chuckles gently to himself before occupying himself with finishing his desert.

In the skies, millions of miles above, pink hydrangeas wilt to nothing.

[alovesongtheywrote]

OTL waiting for the fluff to return 😭 obviously take your time though omg, i’ve started writing again myself and this shit is hard work but the spencer angst is killing me dead 😫

♥ Summary:  The fluff is returning! Slowly! In this chapter of nightmare academia, Spencer goes to the hospital, and you fill out paperwork. [Prof!Spencer Reid x GN-Prof!Reader]

♥ Warnings: hospitals, guilt, alcohol mention

♥ A/N: here's a slower chapter, just so we can process the whole. stabbing incident.

♥ Word Count: 1367

Series Masterlist

♥♥♥

You fucking hated hospitals.  It was the lighting.  Goddamned fluorescents.  

After Spencer had been whisked away by the paramedics, you remained at the university for a few more hours.  You called Garcia, like he’d asked, and even though you told her not to worry, she told you to expect her presence by the end of the day.  You’d wanted to head over to the hospital as soon as you hung up the phone, but you were held back.  The police wanted to speak with you.  Joy.  Then, there were forms for you to fill out.  Turns out it’s hard to have a violent incident in your office without paperwork miraculously appearing on your desk.

By the time you actually made it to the hospital, the sun was going down.  You made your way through the long hallways lit by shitty fucking fluorescents until you found who you were looking for.  Reid was fast asleep, surrounded by the soft beeping of various machines.  

Honestly, he probably needed the sleep.  His lips were still chapped, and the dark bags beneath his eyes looked darker beneath the cruel lights of the hospital.  He looked so still, so lifeless like this- and you fucking hated it.  You needed him to be awake.  You needed him to tell you some obscure hospital facts.  You needed to know that he would be okay.

You moved through the room silently, taking a seat next to him without making a sound.  You sat there for hours, listening to him breathe- listening to the beeps of various machines that promised you he was alive.  You wished that he was awake to make that promise himself.

Occasionally, his fingers would twitch, but he didn’t move.  He just slept peacefully while you experienced immense torment at his side.  Eventually, you took one of his hands in yours- and god fucking damnit did he have nice hands.  His fingers were long and thick.  The back of his hands were decorated with veins.  There were bloodstains beneath his nails.  Part of you wanted to hold onto his hand and never let go.  You tried to ignore that part.

You tried to ignore most parts of yourself, honestly.  You were trying to ignore the parts of you that felt guilty about the stabbing.  You were trying to ignore the parts of you that knew this was your fault.  You were trying to ignore how devastated you were, how distraught the image of Reid in a hospital bed made you.

You were doing a terrible job.

With a sigh, you let yourself slump over in your chair.  You shifted against the vinyl seat, trying and failing to get comfortable.  How could you be comfortable?  Your mortal enemy/friend/stupidly attractive coworker got stabbed because of you.

Now what could you do?

Your eyes roamed over Reid’s body.  You drew in a sharp breath.  

You didn’t know that Spencer could hear you.

He’d been awake for a while.  A short while after his admission to the hospital, he pretended to fall asleep.  Part of it was him actually trying to sleep.  The other part of it was avoiding conversation.  When he heard you come in, he assumed you were a nurse or doctor.  Then you took his hand.

Now he knew it was you.  He was desperate to open his eyes and see your face.  He wanted to squeeze your hand and make sure that you were okay.  He wanted to do a lot of things, but he kept still.  He wasn’t sure you would stay if he moved.  He wasn’t sure you would say what you wanted to.

He lay there, motionless, listening to the sound of your voice and gazing into the darkness behind his eyelids.

He’d missed you.  It had only been a few hours, but somehow, he’d missed you.

“Hey, Reid,” you kept your voice whisper quiet, “It’s me.  Sorry I’m late, I got held up back at work.  You know how violent incidents are.  They generate paperwork like crazy.”

You weren’t wrong.  You weren’t wrong in the slightest.  You paused for a moment, and Spencer could hear your soft breaths over the beeping of all the damn machines around him.  He could hear you trying your best to control your emotions, to keep from crying.  You weren’t doing a great job.

“Hey, uh, thank you, by the way,” you cleared your throat, “For getting stabbed.  The cops weren’t listening to Missy.  She tried to report Jason before, but they, uh… they didn’t listen.  And I don’t think they would have listened to me, but now?  Now they’re paying attention.  And they’ll listen to you.”

He felt you squeeze his hand.

“I wish it hadn’t come to this.  I- god, I really- I didn’t want you to get hurt.  It- if anyone had gotten stabbed, it should have been me.”

No.  No, it should not have been you, Reid wanted to snap his eyes open and make you take that back.

“But hey, it was you, and now Jason’s gonna go away for a long time.  So… thank you.”

Reid didn’t say anything, but he thought, ‘You’re welcome.’

“And this isn’t forgiveness, just so you know!” you said, though your tone was very forgiving, “I’m still mad at you.  And you should be mad at me, too.  Not for being objectively right about how fucked up some of your friends are- not for that night, but… for telling you to die so many times that you almost tried it.”

That wasn’t why he’d done it.  You hadn’t made him try it.  He wanted to tell you, but he stayed silent.  He wanted to see what you said next.  He also wanted to squeeze your hand and tell you that this wasn’t your fault.

“Do me a favour, when you wake up,” you pressed your lips to his knuckles, “Be angrier with me.”

Reid had no fucking clue how he was going to do that.  He had no idea how he was supposed to get up and out of this bed and not make sure that you were okay.  

Your hand slipped out of his.  He could feel you placing it back over his chest.  Your touch lingered, even after you’d gone, and Spencer’s fingers flexed in the absence.  The room fell silent for a minute, and he was pretty sure that you’d left.  

He heard your voice again, by the door.

“By the way, I called Garcia like you told me to and uhhhh.  She’s coming here anyway, she’ll be here soon, okay bye.”

And then you were gone.

-

You ran into Garcia outside of the hospital.  She winced when she saw you and you couldn’t blame her.  You were sure you looked like shit.  Even if you didn’t, her friend had been stabbed because of you.  In her position, you probably would’ve thrown a few punches.

Garcia did not throw punches.  Instead, she placed a cautious hand on your arm, and she spoke to you kindly, and you felt like you didn’t deserve it.

“Hey Doctor Gorgeous, is everything okay?  I mean, of course everything isn’t okay, Reid got stabbed and you were in danger, but you, physically, how are you doing, are you okay?”

You gave her the best smile you could muster and placed a hand over hers, “Physically, I’m fine.  Mentally?  I’m planning on going home and getting drunk.  Thank you for asking, Penelope.”

She winced again, and this time, you could identify the emotion behind it.  You could see the sympathy, the pain in her eyes, you shared it.

“Y’know, if you want to, I’m gonna grab a coffee before I go see Spencer.  You can join me, if you want, instead of uh, drinking about this.”

You smiled, letting out a half-breath of a laugh and looking at the ground.

“That sounds like a good idea, actually.  Thank you.”

“You don’t need to thank me,” Garcia’s smile was blinding.  She took you by the arm and led you to the coffee shop, talking about the reviews she’d seen for it the whole time.

You stayed with her until she went to see Spencer.  When you went home, you drank coffee instead of wine.

♥ Tags: @icarusignite, @usuallyunlikelyfox, @maraudersforlife2005, @fictionalcomforts, @morgthemagpie, @iiheartbowie, @digitalhearts, @corpsebridenightamare, if you asked to be tagged and i forgot, pls let me know!!

[mythicamagic]

Skin Hunger: a Xiaolumi oneshot

Summary: When immortals fall in love with each other, they have all the time in the world to explore their relationship; but first comes the insecurities.

Totally inspired by this - gorgeous fanart

--------

Warning: some angst. No smut despite the nudity.

Xiao had witnessed enough mortal dreams to somewhat understand their desires, no matter what shape they took. Mora, fame, greed…

This was no different when it came to pleasures of the flesh. Two mortal lovers alone, and naked as they were now- would probably rush to embrace and fornicate.

Things were never that simple when it came to himself and Lumine. He should've known by now not to judge her by human standards.

They'd been caught together in the middle of a downpour near Guili Plains. Lumine had grabbed his hand, making a mad dash through the pelting rain toward an inn in the distance.

He'd followed without a word, unable to remind her of his teleportation abilities when she squealed and laughed so elatedly. 

They'd been received with a warm welcome by the innkeeper and provided with a fresh set of clothes each. Unfortunately, there was only a single room left available and no catering service since it was so late at night- but Lumine had accepted it without a second thought. 

He could see her profile now, hidden behind a partition screen in their bedroom. The warm orange glow of the lamps backlit her silhouette as her back arched. She stripped out of her soaked dress with a soft sigh.

Xiao fell still. His heartbeat stumbled. The rain was a gentle, tinkling patter in his ears, like playful fingers drumming on the roof tiles. 

Distant thunder boomed, signalling a storm's steady approach.

A good lover would have joined her by now. Lumine would be receptive. She wasn’t stupid: the show was meant to entice him. 

Xiao remained where he was. Pale, damp skin gleamed in the moonlight as he shifted his weight. His soaked clothes lay in a heap at his feet. He should change now. The innkeeper was nice enough to provide a Changshan. Their kindness should not be squandered.

'You are a coward.’

'The little Adeptus is too frightened to touch his woman. Scared you'll cover her in your filth?'

'Heh- should set her free already. You're a burden to her and everyone who knows of your pathetic existence. Disgusting. Weak.'

'She claims to love you but she knows nothing. Poor girl. Remember the time you ripped open a girl with blonde hair just like her? Those soft locks fell through your fingers so sweetly-'

Old memories assaulted Xiao's mind. He hissed out a breath, bowing his head and gnashing sharpening teeth together. He tried to focus on something else. Block out the karmic influences with good memories; the feast among friends at Liyue Harbour, lively conversations, Lumine's smile.

All of it paled to the tidal wave of loathing that swept through him. Lumine's enticing silhouette looked so far away right then. The cosy room way as well have stretched for miles.

Xiao looked down at his hands, sweat beading on his brow. He so rarely took his gloves off. Callouses and scars stared back at him, old and new. He'd dug those hands into skulls and stomachs once upon a time- ripped dreams and souls asunder in equal measure. Weapons were twirled through those fingers before they'd plunged into hide or bone. He'd clawed into blood-streaked snow just to shove it into his mouth and eat something. Anything. His former master had purposely starved him so that even snow felt like a treat.

Xiao shook his head, trying to calm his breathing. That was a long time ago now. 

'Yet it never stops running through your mind. There's more to consider too. You've waded waist-deep through the remains of Gods. You will never be clean.'

'You would inflict all that you are onto her? Infect her with your disease?”

“The selfish Yaksha who should be dead commits more sins, still. Your greed knows no bounds.'

The cool air settling on his nude form began to feel sickening. How could he ever think to touch another with a body as disgusting as his? He wasn’t even human. He was-

"Xiao."

A presence drew near. Xiao felt rather than saw how the air shifted. He sensed hands rising. Hands usually meant striking and clawing. Touch was for violence.

He sucked in a sharp breath, flinching as fingers lightly touched his collarbone. They brushed against the necklace around his neck that suddenly felt so very heavy. 

Xiao pried his eyes open, only to meet glimmering gold.

Lumine was there, completely bare and standing in the darkness with him. Her eyes held him captive in the gloom. Twin pools of warmth beckoned with all the welcome reprieve of a hearth offering sanctuary from the storm. 

"Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are?" She hummed, tilting her head with a smile. 

She always did say the most unfathomable things. Of course they hadn't. Only the foolish would call a bad omen beautiful. 

The beads clinked in her hands as she lifted them overhead- 

And everything in him held its breath. Xiao tensed up as the necklace was removed. He felt lost without it. Fumbling as if blind. He needed the necklace to aid him with exercising evil spirits. 

But that kind touch returned quickly. First at his shoulder, giving a squeeze that grounded him. The second is a light drag up his spine, settling beneath his shoulder blade. 

She knew. Of course she knew what heavy thoughts were holding him under. Perhaps that was why Lumine pressed herself against him of her own accord. 

Her kiss shocked him completely awake to the world of the living. Kind, soft lips ghosted along his neck in a gentle trail. Their chests met snugly, stomachs bumping. 

Xiao was wrapping his arms around her before he could even realize. It felt bizarre to be so close and vunerable. Strange on a whole other level. 

But it was also right and warm and tender. Lumine wrapped her arms around his neck in turn, stroking his damp, feathery hair. 

"It's alright now," she murmured. "You're alright. Whatever you were thinking about…you know it's not true. I’m here.”

His heart dithered and fluttered like a nervous bird. He expected to feel caged. Trapped. There is no such emotion to be found inside Lumine's arms. Xiao buried his face in the juncture between her shoulder and neck, inhaling. She smelled like petrichor and carried the scent of foreign flowers. He clutched her tighter if possible.

"Mn," his body wilted with the force of his sigh. "I know."

Lumine fell silent for a while, just holding him. Occasionally he felt kisses press to his neck, ear or shoulder- but it wasn’t a sign to hurry up and return her affection. The Traveller was always patient. Whatever she gave; she did so freely, without expectation he do the same. That was why their initial friendship had felt so…comfortable. 

No one had ever wanted to be around Xiao without demanding something of him. For some reason, however, she’d kept reaching out- an enigmatic smile on her face. Initially, he’d thought her strange, then slightly bossy, before finally settling on mysterious the second she’d told him stories of her past; how she’d journeyed beyond distant stars and witnessing their end. As an enigma- she only grew all the more perplexing when asking him to date her all those months ago.

His hands finally moved, sliding down Lumine’s back and running over her shoulder blades contemplatively. 

"That tickles," she giggled softly. Hot breath fanned over his ear, eliciting a shudder. "What's wrong? Are you looking for something?"

Xiao closed his eyes. She really had no idea of the effect she had on him. Was he allowed to be this happy? This content? It felt effortless with her, like breathing. Surely that wasn’t right. Nothing was ever this easy. "You said you had wings once. I was just wondering if you had any scarring…I'm sorry if that was presumptuous of me. "

"Don't be silly. And you don't need to be so formal, Xiao. Especially not when we're holding each other like this." A laugh was in her voice. It livened his heart to hear it. 

"The wings were more like…crystalflies. They were thin and shimmered like gossamer. You won't find any lost remnants of them on my back but I miss them all the same."

This gave him pause. Lumine often gently encouraged him in many ways, especially with verbally expressing his desires. However, she herself rarely took her own advice. "You miss flying…"

"Yes,” she murmured, a rare moment of visible melancholy passing over her face- but her expression shuttered as she quickly moved on. “How about you? As an illuminated beast- and a bird at that- you must have wings. Pretty ones, I’d wager."

He scoffed. "Don't speak of these matters so simply. Adepti are not like regular birds."

Lumine bobbed her head seriously. "True. You're much better.”

"I didn’t mean it like- gn…" he trailed off, clenching his jaw as she pressed a smile against his neck. Damn her. His face grew warm. In retribution for her little tease, he tightened one arm around her waist and teased the curve of her ear with a much needed nibble- thrilled by her ensuing yelp. 

The rain pelting the rooftop above their heads and crawling rumble of thunder felt muted in comparison to Lumine’s little noises. All he could see and feel was her, but he knew she’d done that on purpose. All of this; her embrace, kisses and conversation- were designed to put his mind elsewhere. Away from the smell of copper on snow.

Lithe fingers combed through his hair again as if on cue.

"Are you feeling okay now?"

"Yes," he rasped out quietly. "I always do, with you. It might take time, but eventually…when I feel you or hear your voice, it has a calming effect. To this day, I do not understand why."

She gave a soft laugh at that. “You’ll find the answer, one day.”

“Lumine.”

Xiao pulled away, gazing quietly at the woman in his arms. In truth, she could have almost anyone she wanted. The Traveller was not in want of suitors. Many offered to help her with commissions but she always took him along instead. 

He lifted a hand and ghosted his thumb across her lip once, before pressing down a little firmer and swiping it back, watching with fascination how she parted her mouth. Her lips looked so glossy under his touch, soft and yielding. Her cheeks grew red as they sometimes did in his presence. 

“I told you before that I was unfamiliar with the human concept of dating, or even taking a lover. As I am now…does it not frustrate you?”

Lumine sobered. She smiled and took his hand, shifting the palm to cradle her cheek as she leaned into it. “No. It never will. You’re worth the wait, Xiao- and we have more than enough time. Don’t rush things just because you think it would make me happy, that’s just a surefire way to make me sad,” she gave a wan smile, pressing kisses to his fingers. “You always put everyone else first, at the cost of yourself.”

Funny, he saw her the exact same way. 

Xiao fell into a contemplative silence, busying himself with stroking the length of her spine and revelling in her warm body pressed up against his. Lumine’s heartbeat thundered strong and fast. 

Perhaps the reality of their shared nudity had finally caught up to her. That heartbeat thudded a little quicker- before she pulled away a little in his arms. “Ah, now that I think about it- the room is getting pretty chilly. Let me grab a blanket for us-”

“Hold still a moment.”

Lumine quietly gasped as air rushed past her cheek. Something shot out around her, arching high overhead. Twin masses of dark feathers streaked with teal snapped open like regal fans, scooping her closer and threatening it sweep her feet out from under her. 

Proof of many hard-won battles lay bare on his body, but it was also a canvas of past sins. This was most prevalent on Xiao’s wings. What had once arched upward with fine pride and full plumage now looked bedraggled. To even the most untrained eye, one could correctly surmise they’d been torn once upon a time and then struggled to heal. 

Lumine beheld them with awe. She didn’t move from his embrace again, but reached out to stroke the cocoon of tattered feathers. 

“Amazing,” escaped her lips. “I knew they’d be pretty.”

His stomach twisted. He could bear her compliments for most things, but not for this. He hadn’t unfolded his wings in what felt like a millennia.

“I only brought them out because you seemed cold. It was not for praise,” he muttered. 

“That’s okay, they’re still worthy of it,” Lumine reached out, splaying her hands against the primaries and smoothing her touch down to the secondaries. Despite their bedraggled appearance, she seemed unfazed. “Do you not like them?”

His brows pulled down, complicated emotions flitting through his eyes even as his face remained largely passive. “You see the bright colour of my tattoo?” he nodded to his arm, waiting for her attention to return to him. “That was the original hue of my feathers,” Xiao uttered in a tight voice, avoiding her gaze. “So it was with my hair as well.”

Karma and other less-than-pleasant effects had seeped into him. His hair could pass for natural, but there was no hiding the effect of his deep-rooted filth when it came to his wings. If Xiao morphed forms completely and returned to his original state as a crane, the reflection he’d behold in the water would likely be a stranger.

Something bumped his lips once- and then again, longer. He blinked, becoming still as he focused on Lumine’s kiss. Before he could think to respond, she pulled away. 

"I didn't know you before, so I can only go off what I know,” Lumine lay a hand over his tattoo, gazing into his eyes meaningfully as she gave it a squeeze. “I love how you look now- even if you've changed."

Xiao stared. His breath caught in the back of his throat. He didn't know what to say to that. His eyes stung- throat becoming tight. Her unending acceptance of him, no matter the flaws or danger, was hard to grasp sometimes. He'd be thinking about her words for weeks after she'd spoken them.

He wanted to make her as happy as she made him- but lacked the knowledge of how to.

The only thing he could think of was to replicate her kindness. 

He took an unsteady breath. "I-it's the same for me."

"Hm?"

He gestured to her back, feeling heat warm his face. "With your lack of wings. I didn't know you then, so to me, you are not 'lacking' anything. "

Lumine blinked, lips pressing together as if fighting a big smile. "Hey don't steal my lines."

"Hm, too late," golden eyes glittered.

With a giggle, she sank right back into his arms, looping both arms around his neck and cuddling close. "Thank you all the same," came her muffled reply. Xiao’s teal lashes swept shut, breathing in her scent once more and curling his fingers into her hair. He pressed his forehead against the locks with all the reverence of a worshipper. For his kind; the act would be akin to the deepest form of affection, but she likely didn’t know that and he wouldn’t tell her- so as ever, his feelings remained unspoken.

At her suggestion, they finally moved to the bed and curled around one another for warmth. Cocooned in a nest of dark teal feathers and buttery blond hair, whispered immortal sentiments were exchanged, stories told and kisses traded- until Teyvats distant sun crested the hills once more.

End

[tyxaar-fics]

Hello it is I, I am writing vaguely uncanny Convex fanfic again! :P

Fandom: Hermitcraft SMP Rating: Teen No Archive Warnings Apply Other Warnings: Body horror, Disassociation, Identity issues Something I wrote about what it feels like to join the Vex and the Convex's transformation.

To Sacrifice One's Humanity It’s always the things that aren’t said that are the most dangerous. For instance, Scar was never told just what the process of joining a sinister order of otherworldly trickster Fae involved. He supposed it was the Vex’s own little revenge for Cub and him scammi- getting a good deal out of them.

Okay maybe Scar was starting to reconsider the Pact, but he always tried to look on the bright side! After all, regrets and sulking were useless in a situation like this, the change was irreversible and they both went into it knowing that. But, regardless of how certain they were beforehand, nothing could quite prepare him for the uncanny experience itself.

The deathlike pull of having one’s soul ripped out as payment, the rest of him ready to be hollowed out and made into an inhuman vessel for foreign magic. It was…? He sifted through words in his head a few times before settling on one. It was intense . To call the process painful would be misleading. ‘Pain’ was too physical of a sensation, too mortal. This was something deeper and far more spiritual, it was the cold burning of the mind and body transforming into something else, rending itself apart from the inside to prepare the shell for its new purpose. It was the creation of a postmortal and the presence of something new, something eager that now tugged at his mind and wasn’t stopping. It filled in the gaps left by his absent heart and it wove itself into him, shifting, changing.

The part that bugged Scar the most about this whole ordeal though, was he still felt like himself . Despite everything, lying collapsed on the planning room bed as his body twisted itself into a new form and every part of him was taken and destroyed, he was still Scar… At least, he certainly thought and felt and considered himself that. He logically knew he didn’t have a soul anymore, it was taken as sacrifice, so he should feel different somehow, right?… But no, no it was still good old Scar thinking these thoughts. The same person he was before… 

Maybe.

Putting aside existential questions of identity, as were topics to consider after this was over, Scar forced his aching body to turn over briefly to check on Cub. Collapsed on the couch on the other side of their makeshift headquarters, he looked just as dishevelled. However there was a… strangely comforting feeling about Cub, cool and safe and familiar. It made a faint smile spread across his tired face. A weird blue mist surrounded Scar’s vision now, and he could feel something tug while hazily staring in half-consciousness at his friend… a dancing, captivating energy. Was it magic? Probably to be honest. It felt good. How long had they both been like this? Days? Weeks? Would the other Hermits try to look soon?

It whispered at him, that incessant force. It had been for a while now, but as Scar rolled back over in delirious exhaustion, it took hold. It wanted him to rest and this time, and so he gave in and fell back. A nap would do him good…

Dreams of laughter in the darkness, echoing through his skull. Wandering aimlessly. Hungry, hunting, patrolling the open air in search of a victim.

----------------------------------

Cub considered himself lucky to have slept through the first stages of the transformation. A waking mind would probably make the process more complicated, and he did not want to deal with the physical world whilst the most torturous part was underway. The dreams were bad enough already.

However, that phase was coming to an end, and upon stirring back into consciousness, the first thing he noticed before even opening his eyes was that something was gone from the room. It took him a moment to connect that missing presence to Scar, and he absentmindedly hoped his friend hadn’t gotten into too much trouble…

Cub slowly cracked open his eyes to check the bed, and yep, Scar was gone. The twisting haze over his vision had also started growing more vibrant. It wasn’t necessarily obstructive , just unfamiliar. It’d take some getting used to he supposed… In the meantime, Cub started taking stock of his other senses. A sweet taste in his mouth, as well as something weird and hard, a similarly sugary smell, a gentle storm of whispers in the mind, and itchy skin, like something trying to get out.

His head spun as Cub forced himself to stand up and stagger to the bathroom just off the main room, trying to avoid the loose paper and miscellaneous objects from their studies scattered around. He needed to deal with whatever was in his mouth, as well as maybe take a shower. Cub wasn’t meaning to look in the mirror, avoid it until the process was complete… but, once he caught a glimpse of what was on the other side, it was inevitable.

The creature was staring blankly at him in awestruck silence. It leaned forward on diamond-hard claws that cracked the sink’s ceramic in their trembling grip.

It had no eyes. In their place there were just soulless glowing pits of white light spilling out into the dark bathroom, illuminating it in a sinister glow. Its skin was peeling off in sheets to reveal an eerie grey-blue underneath, framed by hair that bled out colour to reveal an icy white. The teeth were…. Cub now knew what that sweet taste and weird feeling in his mouth was when he spat a handful of human teeth out into the sink, coated in glistening blue blood let out by the new deadly fangs growing in. They were sharp and strong, designed for ripping through flesh. He raised a hand to his face, gently running claws through his hair as the creature in the mirror moved in sync with him. 

No, no, it didn’t. He needed to stop dissociating, he knew what the Faerie in the mirror was, who it was, what he was. 

This was what Cub had become. Here he stood as one of the Vex, a freshly prepared vessel to host their magic. 

His face twisted into a sharp smile, and let a resonant chuckle echo through the dark room, newfound energy sparking on his voice. The onset of power was giddy, a sugar rush of laughter and voices and whisperings of chaos. They told him what he could become now, they promised to teach him their secrets for service and loyalty.

This is what Scar and him wanted, what they sacrificed themselves for, this form and its magic was their reward. 

Cub felt unstoppable.

(Or at least he would after having that shower and maybe another nap.)

[pool-floatie]

Starlet- Oneshot

Kids im back with the milk-

I am working on so much behind the scenes shit right now but this got done first, next we will probably get more bloodlusty vampires unless I suddenly decide different.

But GUYS I FINALLY WROTE COMFORT-

Like its angsty at the beginning but they need a reason to be comforted- d Uh

Please for the love of mE - emjoy :3

All Akari needed was the stars, they were a constant in an ever changing world, listened to her problems when she had no one else, creating beauty even in the darkest of times.

What she really needed right now though... Was a hug... A friend... Someone to tell her that things would be ok...

All she wished for in that moment was for that to be..

The trail of a comet flashed above her for a brief moment, wisping away almost as quickly as it had appeared.

she heard a vast wind rush overtop the trees, turning to look she couldnt see anything, -there wasnt any wind before... - She thinks.

A deep chuckle riverbates through the still air surrounding her, and she stiffens.

"So you're the mortal who summoned me... Such a strong pull, and such a bright aura, oh! lavender colored, what a sight ~ you certainly are quite a wondrous little thing, my, my...."

A shift in the air brings Akari's attention in front of her and her jaw drops taking in the sight.

There stands an enormous glowing being, bright white with flecks of golden stardust about them.

Their body starts to form and become more detailed and she can see their face and body take shape. Six limbs- four arms and two legs- take shape out of the glowing mass, Sharp white eyes open, a flowing tuft of hair floats above them, gently swaying like flames atop their head, and stardust dots their body like golden freckles.

"Oh, h-hello.." Akari said awestruck and nervous

"Hello little one, apologies for the exciting entrance." it said a bit embarassed trying to hide its excitement

It kneeled down and leaned forward trying to see the little human better, one pair of arms resting in their lap while the others rested, palms down in the grass

" its good to meet you, starlet, you may address me as Libra." it said in its airy tone.

Akari sat confused, but decided that this dream could be fun to engage with.

"Akari" she said, sticking out a hand towards the being.

Libra stared down at them and blinked in confusion.

" ah! This is your earthling welcome, yes!" they realised.

They reach out to the small woman, pinching her whole hand and part of her arm, before lifting it up and down slowly.

Akari grinns, the contact making her hand tingle with warmth.

Libra releases them and Akari thinks she sees a smile on their bright face.

"So... why exactly are you here?" Akari asks looking quizically up at them.

" you ,, dont know? You summoned me here with your wish!"

"My,,, my wish?? I didnt make any wishes ... "

Libra looks puzzled for a moment.

Akari goes to speak, but they stop as libras eyes glow blue, making a strange buzzing sound. They are no longer focused on akari, completely still.

After a few seconds Libras eyes blink back to white.

"ah! wow~ a rarer case indeed! It seems it was your emotion and thoughts that powered the wish, I knew I felt that strong energy in you, but enough to power a wish without a word being spoken ... " Libra said in awe.

"huh... Oh!- oh... "

Akari sighed, remembering her earlier feelings, her frustration and sadness.

"I, I think I know... what it was..." she said, resigned.

Libra tilted their head, giving the human a look of concern.

Akari didnt really want to tell a cosmic being a hundred times her size about her life problems.... But this was a dream anyway so...

"I have to move again..."

"mmm.. No thats not it .... Your aura didnt flare up...." they quickly interject

Libra looks down at the human with pity, truly wanting to help her. They lean forward a tad more.

" Whats really troubling you, little one?" they ask gently

Akari flushed in embarassment and shame, would this cosmic being judge her? Well...

"One of my roommates outed me as gay and now all the girls in my dorm think im a pervert-" Akari blurted

"They already started spreading rumors about me and reporting me to the landlord for stupid shit- so, I'm leaving before it ... gets worse...."

"Oh my... Thats certainly a predicament..." it sympathised but seemed confused , they continued.

"... Is humanity against happiness?" they asked mournfully, their light dulling a bit, seeming to know more than they were letting on.

Akari looked thoughtful for a moment, the cosmic beings words resonating with her.

"Wow,,, thats a... way of putting it... I mean, yeah, heh, every politician is against the queer community, anyone I try to get a job with or if I- lm just trying to find somewhere to fucking sleep, someone takes issue with 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 about me!... even when I tried to tell my family, they rejected me, too, haha! so yeah, your right, we fuckin' hate happiness."

She laughed a bit unhinged-ly while describing the absurdity of it all, the people she had encountered, the trials of her life, it seemed impossible to talk about without turning it into humor.

Akari rested her head atop her knees, looking goomily past the starlike being and letting out an indignant huff before falling onto her back and closing her eyes.

A moment passes and akari thinks she sees the immense light shift before she feels that same warm feeling, but, around her body?

Without a moment to think her body is hoisted up. As her eyes open she sees the towering form of libra, now holding her in their enormous open palm.

They flash her a pitying look before facing up, the other upper hand cupping around the confused human. Before she can even say anything, Akari is pressed down into the palm, the G force making movement near impossible, she cant see where they are going, only seeing the white light emenating from the enormous beings hands, she can only trust that the weird dream entity is as benevolent as they seem.

Akari can feel them coming to a slow stop as the force lets up and allows her to move again.

She tries to sit up, dazed , as Libra's hand lifts off her.

Looking around she can see nothing but immense darkness save for the being of pure light that holds her.

She turns to face said being, who looks excitedly at their passenger.

"hello little starlet~"

Libra said, its two overlapping voices echoing eachother.

"Hi, where the hell are we." akari snips, a bit jittery.

Libra dims again, shepishly pointing down with their upper hand while their lower pair fidgets nervously.

Akari gives them a confused look before they carefully creep towards the edge of her cosmic captors' hand.

Gripping the sides, they look over.

And immediately jump back, seeing 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢 below them.

" ah, I see." she says calmly.

"Just a few questions for ya;"

They inhale

"Why in the s h i t did you do this and also 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘯 𝘨𝘰𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘮 𝘐 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸 ?"

" aha! Its all ok! You can breathe just fine, please dont freak out!!"

Dispite being concerned about oxygen, Akari starts to breathe rapidly.

" theres no way im - in space right now - oh my god i - could die."

At this point they had completely forgotten that they were supposedly dreaming, focused more on the 'being manhandled by a cosmic giant' and the ' being in space millions of miles above the earth' thing.

"Human please relax, I brought you here to relax.." libra tries to explain

" this is not - relaxing!'

She says between breaths.

Libra looks disappointed, this was such a nice spot to stargaze, they really wanted the human to see...

But there was something else it Could try.

Gently, the glowing being closed their upper hands over the panicking form in their palm.

Before she could react to being enclosed, Akari again felt that immense warmth that could melt her, all over her body it felt tingly and content, she felt her muscles relaxing despite herself.

Finally she let herself be consumed by the feeling, relaxing and not worrying about any perceived danger that had her brain reeling just moments before.

Just as she did this, the lovely warmth started to dissipate, pulling off her despite her grabbing onto one of libras bright digits, a silent request for them not to stop.

Libra snickered at the cute display, bringing the girl out of her stupor.

She jerked her hands back and tried to suppress the enbarrased blush that filled her face.

" Sorry..."

Libra said

" N-no your fine" she said sheepishly

" No.. For scaring you..."

"Ah, that. Well,, uh I guess you can fly us to space and shit and im assuming you ...Magicked me to be able to breathe despite lack of oxygen?"

" you got it!" they affirmed, their cheerful tone reappearing.

"And I had good reason to bring you here! Look !"

Their lower arms gestured to the darkness before them as they beamed down at the little human.

".... Uhhhh... Wow?" akari said confused

"can you see something I cant?" she questioned, looking back at libra.

"Oh! right."

Libra dimmed, voluntarily this time, until they were only about as bright as a glow stick.

Finally, akari could see why even a cosmic being would appreciate such a place.

From earth, smog and light pollution would block most people from clearly seing such things.

But here, above the ozone layer, Akari could clearly see the milky way, its soft trail across the sky lived up to its name, fading softly at the edges into the rest of the cosmos.even still it was so stark, the white path cut the sky open like a geode, its center sparkling with stardust that flashed different colors as if it was being turned in the light.

She stared in awe as Libra looked on with a soft smile, occasionally sparing a glance at its little passenger to make sure they were alright.

They let the moment pass before speaking.

" Starlet. In the vast expanse of the cosmos, there are disasters , black holes, collapsing stars and other destructive things..."

Its three free hands gestured wildly, illustrating their words.

"But even from those, beauty is born. This nebula, your galaxy, was created from a collapsed star, it exploded, causing all around it to be thrown into chaos and confusion."

A look of sorrow flashes on libras face for a moment.

" But still, your planet thrived, using what was left to build a new world; one filled with life, with community, with love. Life does find a way."

They offer a gentle smile in reassurance.

" I believe you will find that.... your life does as well." they conclude.

Looking back to her newfound friend, akari feels her chest warm, swelling with an overwhelming feeling.

She lunges at the curled fingers, giving the pointer and middle the hardest squeeze she could manage, doing her best not to tear up.

Libra gushes at the adorably sweet gesture, and they cant help themself.

They pull the human close to them, belringing her into their chest, close to their glowing core.

Akari feels herself enveloped again, a simmilar feeling as before, but now filled with adoration and positive energy coursing through them, an immense, all consuming, all encompassing hug of pure affection and amorousness.

Unlike the melting, relaxing feeling before, she now felt a stronger sense, she felt Libras intention, its emotion and power guiding her thoughts and feelings, helping her to embrace and bring forth her inner strengths, akari could feel her self esteem break through the shroud of frustration and pain that had entrapped it, it swelled within her and she felt empowered, appreciated, and... 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥.

[khazadspoon]

ohoho!

12. a hoarse whisper “kiss me” for Manco/Mortimer. Bonus prompt: hurt/comfort

Sorry it took a little while - hopefully this is acceptable!

———

“Damn it, boy…”

He dragged the unconscious body from the back of his horse, hefted it over his shoulder and kicked the door of the abandoned shack open.

“Three weeks on your own again and this happens,” he grumbled half heartedly as he lay his burden down. “One of these days I’ll learn to let go.”

It was Manco, because of course it was. He had left the kid to his reward with the intention of never seeing him again. It was supposed to be simple, and yet he had found himself turning around one day and looking for his ex-partner. The silly notion that maybe they could stick together had formed in his mind and wouldn’t un-form. Mortimer was helpless to let it play out.

After far less searching than he had anticipated, Mortimer had found the boy only just holding his own in a bar fight. When some lumbering fool had smacked him on the head, Mortimer had stepped in. The fight ended and he claimed his ‘prize’, riding off to keep them both clear of trouble while he made sure Manco wasn’t going to shuffle off this mortal coil before they could talk.

“Mmf…”

He looked up at the sound. Manco shifted on the pallet that served as a cot, face twisting as he regained consciousness. His eyes flickered open, a hand reaching up to touch the back of his head, and Mortimer quickly moved to stop him.

“Stay still, my boy,” he murmured, “you were hit pretty hard. I’m sure you deserved it but we’ll talk about that later.”

Hazy, unfocused eyes gazed up at him for a long moment. Manco blinked slowly. “You’re… here?”

Mortimer couldn’t help smiling. He sat down, reached out, and stroked the kid’s hair back from his face. “Good thing, too. If I hadn’t come looking for you, who knows what would have happened.”

“Kiss me,” Manco uttered hoarsely. “Kiss me, then I know I ain’t dreaming.”

The request was strained, desperate, only made worse by the pain on Manco’s face. Mortimer knew it was probably a terrible idea to fulfil that request, but who was he to deny this boy? He defied anyone who could.

He leaned down, one hand cupping Manco’s jaw gently and pressed their lips together. A terrible, beautiful, wavering sigh drifted from Manco’s throat to Mortimer’s ears, settled in his chest like feathers on the wind. He moved their mouths together softly and felt clumsy hands hold on to his shoulders. They tugged him, demanded he come closer.

“Easy, boy,” he said under his breath against Manco’s lips. “There’ll be time for that later. You need rest.”

“M’not tired,” came the sullen reply.

Mortimer brushed his fingers through wind-coarse hair. “Don’t argue with me. I’m older and wiser than you’ll ever be if you don’t start being more careful.”

They smiled at eachother, twin expressions of soft, slow relief taking over their faces.

“Alright, old man… if you insist.”

He nodded, tugged off his cost and lay it over Manco’s lanky body. “I do.”

He watched over the boy as he rested, watched the lines on his young face soften. Manco would be aching and bruised when he woke, but he’d be alive and that was what counted.

[toasecretsanta]

The Winter Solstice

A/N: For @sierice [written by @sofia-not-sophie] and the prompt “Apollo’s relationship with the olympians.” I’m not sure how well this fills the prompt, but I’ve been sick and I haven’t written for a while so I’m glad to be back at it. I do think it’s an interesting slice of life type snippet with the Olympians though. Word count: 1057 Summary: A lot has changed since the last Winter Solstice council meeting Apollo attended. Most of that change being him.

“But he looks so cute like that.” Aphrodite whispered across the room, as if she had forgotten that Apollo could hear her.

“Well it’s unprofessional.” Dionysus huffed, “His punishment’s over. He should go back to looking normal, it’s only respectful to those of us still being punished.”

“Don’t you choose to look like that?” She asked.

Apollo rolled his eyes and went back to tuning his lyre. He was mortal sized and looked like Lester, which let him have the space to tuck his legs up and lounge on his throne. Lester’s skin had become more comfortable for him, at least when he was at either camp or was alone since become in a god again.

He was only wearing it in the throne room that day becasue whatever seasonal affective disorder sun gods get was at its worst. Luckily the part of him driving the sun could go curl up in bed after his shortest shift of the year listening to the new music his kids got him hooked onto the week before.

The rest of him was stuck at the meeting.

Dionysus was just putting on his usual stink, not that his little brother’s comments didn’t sting a little. Aphrodite’s cute comment was the best he would get in this form. She was pissed at him anyways because he hadn’t dated anyone in almost six months.

“Ignore him, you know D has been sober too long.” Artemis appeared, also human sized, across from him on the arm of his throne.

“You know I love you Artemis, but please get off my throne, you’re gonna stink it up with all your moon cooties.” He could feel her energy seeping into it and brushing up against his own in an uncomfortable way. He probably could have been nicer about it, but he was already feeling off from the solstice.

She hopped off the arm and went to her fifteen foot size. “Cooties aren’t real, brother.”

“I’m the god of medicine I could make them real.”

“That’d be fun, I’d definitely get more hunters that way.” She walked across the aisle to her throne and sat down.

Apollo strummed a chord on his lyre, the highest string was the tinniest bit sharp, the kind of thing Apollo was sure only he could hear, but it still bugged him. In the past he would usually tune with a wave of his hand, but ever since he had to painstakingly tune his ukulele every day as a mortal, he found comfort in the practice.

Hades stalked past followed by Demeter, they were arguing, as usual, “And you even cheated on her! She doesn’t deserved to be stuck down there with the likes of you and that son of yours.”

“Don’t talk about my son that way! And besides Persephone has grown quite fond of him, she’s planning a surprise birthday dinner for him next month.”

Demeter scowled.

“Nico’s actually a pretty nice kid Demeter.” Apollo said. Hades looked shocked, and a bit relieved.

“See even the sun and healing god, who am I most antithetical to likes my son.” Hades smirked and headed to his temporary seat.

“Oh. Apollo I didn’t see you there. Why are you mortal sized?” Demeter looked at him.

“More room in the chair.” Apollo shrugged, “And you shouldn’t pass judgement on demigod’s you’ve hardly even seen, let alone met. Although, I guess that would apply to your kids too. Meg’s still waiting on thirteen years of birthday presents.”

“Her birthday is not until next week. I planned on paying her a visit then, since it is not my busy season.” She frowned, as though she was considering going to harass Hades more, and then turned back to her throne.

Demeter had become much more wary of him since he returned, for good reason. He knew Meg probably wouldn’t talk to her even if she made an effort, but Meg also wanted to meet her. Apollo made a mental note to be with Meg on the whole day of her birthday, just in case he needed to tell Demeter to go home.

Apollo made an adjustment on his lyre and the chord rang out perfectly as he strummed it. He looked around the room to get a sense of when the meeting would start. Athena was calmly knitting, Artemis counting her arrows for what was probably the thousandth time, and Aphrodite was now sulking in her throne.

Apparently it was one of those years where both Hephaestus and Ares weren’t speaking to her since they looked like they were getting on better than normal. Ares was standing by Hephaestus’ throne and they were talking about something. Probably the world’s next new weapon of mass destruction, as if the mortals or demigods needed more of those.

Dionysus and Hermes were playing catch down at their end of the throne room. Only two years ago Apollo would have been a part of that game. The ball was almost the size of his current torso.

He could join the game, it wasn’t one of his bad routines as a god. The game helped him out of his darkest-day-of-the-year-induced slump. It had actually been a good way of bonding with his brothers. It was the twenty minutes of the year that at least a small part of Hermes wasn’t focused on messages in some way. The twenty minutes of the year Dionysus didn’t seem irritated with his punishment.

Sometimes they even got Artemis to join and she enjoyed showing off her trick shots.

A wave of air that smelled like rotting fish wafted over. If Poseidon had arrived, that meant Zeus’ fashionably late arrival, with Hera on his heels was soon.

Apollo should probably look more meeting presentable than a mortal sized teenager on a god sized throne.  He sighed and willed himself to be fifteen feet tall and to look like what the others expected Apollo to look like.

Dionysus had been right, his mortal look was unprofessional for a god.

Zeus appeared in a crack of thunder with Hera at his side and Apollo did his best not to flinch. He might not mind having human instincts still, but the Olympians surely would notice, and he’d rather if most of them didn’t.

“Alright settle down!” Zeus’ voice boomed, “Let us start this meeting.”

[the-darkness-does-not-bargain]

Scenes in Haven: Solas and Ava

Another individual scene.  Picture this like talking to Solas when he’s standing outside those houses in Haven.  I did my best to recreate his speech patterns and style of storytelling, so I hope you can easily hear his voice saying the words.  He and Ava have a discussion about spirits and her powers.  Enjoy!  Link to the AO3 side, as always! (x)

"Hey, Solas… you know stuff about spirits, right?"

The elf in question turns to regard you inquisitively (ha, inquisitively).  His eyes are too keen, too knowing.  You think you may regret this conversation later.  “I’ve spent a great deal of time walking the many paths of the Fade, varied as they are, and I have met many Spirits in my travels.  There is a great deal I still do not know, but I will offer what insights I can.”

‘Draste’s tits, he’s so wordy, but you soldier on.  “Have you seen anything like me before?”

His lips purse thoughtfully.  “No.  You are unique in my experience.  I have met those bonded to spirits in the past, enough to recognize the signs, but none of them had a connection quite like yours.  The Chantry would call you an abomination, say you are possessed, but that’s not the whole truth, is it?”

You shake your head.  “She doesn’t control me.  My Friend, I mean,” you explain, haltingly.  

He nods in agreement.  “She wouldn’t.  It would be antithetical to Her nature.”

“Her nature?”

“As a Spirit of Hope.”  A Spirit of Hope?  Have you ever heard of a spirit like that before?  You don’t think so.  Senior Enchanter Wynne taught your class about all manner of spirits when you were eight, but she never mentioned them.  

“How do you know?”

“I can sense it.  Different types of spirits tend to share some characteristics.  Spirits of Faith, for instance, often have wings.  But that’s neither here nor there.  Please continue.”

You rub your neck awkwardly, your gaze ricocheting around the surrounding cottages, unable to settle.  “I can feel Her with me, always, and hear Her in my head sometimes, but that’s all.”  As if on cue, a feeling of otherworldly warmth settles in your bones, as if She is embracing you from the inside.

“Not all,” Solas contradicts mildly.  “I know you have discovered new abilities you didn’t have before.  Tell me what you’ve experienced.”

“Well, I can use my legs, for one thing,” you start, waving down at them perfunctorily.  “But maybe that’s just a side effect of coming back from the dead.”

“Possibly, although your connection with a powerful spirit and your own natural talents could also explain your recovery.”

“I guess…”  Honestly, you’re not sure which explanation you prefer.  “I heal really fast, as you've probably figured out,” you continue.  “Like, immediately, if I somehow get hurt.  I don’t even think about it, it just happens.”

He hums.  “Hope is resilient.  It persists through hardship and bounces back when threatened.  I suspect if you channeled your mana deliberately, you could heal even the worst of mortal wounds, for others as well as yourself.  Go on.”

“I can pass through stuff.  Sometimes if something tries to hit me, like that big demon at the Breach, it passes right through me like air.  Oh, and I can levitate.  Or I did once.”

“Yes, I recall.”  He looks intrigued, slowly pacing a rut in the snow.  Holy shit, he’s barefoot, how have his toes not fallen off?  “That is fascinating.  Perhaps you are able to temporarily transmute the substance of your body, becoming like air for brief seconds.  An advanced form of shape-shifting maybe.  Or perhaps you become something closer to a Spirit in those moments.  Either way, an exceptionally valuable skill.  Hope can drive us to persevere and adapt to overcome otherwise impassable obstacles.  You may find with practice that you can control this shifting or phasing more precisely, to pass through walls or even magical barriers.  Anything else?”

You scratch your ear a little nervously.  “That’s it so far.  Could there be more?”

“Certainly,” he says, rubbing his chin.  “You already channel Her power unconsciously.  With time and practice, I imagine you will discover many gifts and benefits of your Bond.”

“You sound so sure.  Have you ever met a Hope spirit?”

He hums again, thinking.  “I did, once.  They are few in number, and they almost never cross the Veil, but I did have the honor of encountering one in a vast field deep in the Imperium.  I dreamed there, and witnessed the memory of an army preparing for battle.  All odds were against them, their enemies powerful and numerous, their allies distant, their resources slim.  The night was dark, and filled with uncertainty.  But stronger than their uncertainty, outweighing all doubt, was their hope.  Hope for victory, and the morning sun.  Hope for their leader to guide them to freedom and glory.  The spirit was there as I dreamed, reliving the memory with me.  It did not speak, only stood next to me as the soldiers rushed past us.  It took the form of a woman with flowing hair, wearing a white robe and a pointed crown.  Or should I say, it resembled more a painting of a woman than the woman herself.  Spirits can mimic just about anything, but without a proper frame of reference the result can be quite strange.”  He smiled then.  “She was beautiful, however, and She stayed with me the entire night, only leaving at dawn.  A sense of peace settled over the field as the sun rose, as though the souls of the long-dead soldiers were basking in its rays.”

He finishes his story, and you gulp down the knot that has suddenly occupied your throat.  “Does She… does my Hope feel like She did?”

“Yes, Ava.  Your Hope feels exactly the same, and is equally beautiful in that way.  Take heart, She will not abandon you.”  You didn’t say anything like that, you didn’t even suggest it.  How he managed to cut right to the core of your fear without a word from you is a mystery.  A scary mystery, if you’re being honest.

“Th-thanks,” you stammer, gearing up for an escape.  “I’d… I’d better go.  I’m sure Mother Superion is waiting to yell at me for something.”

He nods, smiling with too much understanding.  “Farewell.  Do come back to me if you have any more questions.”

[slaanxsh]

Northlands, Realm of Mortals

Winter had gripped the North. Always an icy land, the turning of the seasons made the unforgiving land even moreso. But still, life continued on, eking out an existence despite the deep snow and deeper chill. Nature contesting against itself. The sheer persistence of those with beating hearts and bright souls. The simple beauty to be found in fresh snow--

" S'ríash."

The godling twitched an ear, then turned around, meeting the baleful gazes of his sibling. Ïanesh and D'ýosh both leered back at him, the eldest and youngest respectively. Ïanesh sniffed. "We are not here to sightsee. Come."

" Oh-- we've been searching for father and that prince for ages. All of D'ýosh's tactics have gotten us nothing and nowhere!" S'ríash complained, earning himself an ugly look from the sibling in question. Ïanesh's stern look turned sly, his leaf-green eyes drifting over to catch the wine-dark gaze of his younger sibling, D'ýosh.

"Be that as it may, we do not have the luxury of time in the mortal realm."

" A pity. The snow is so beautiful." S'ríash stuck out his tongue, catching snowflakes upon it.

D'ýosh shouldered his way into the conversation, " If you two do not like my plans, you can damn well make your own!"

Ïanesh crossed his arms, " Are you not the so-called best hunter among us?"

D'ýosh's nose wrinkled, " A god is a different matter than a god-beast. And Slaanesh has forbidden the use of my Sybelliant, Plieth, and Caressa."

"Hah!" Ïanesh crowed, " Nothing without your precious Leapers? I should have expected as much."

The pair descended into bickering and not for the first time. S'ríash watched them, waiting until he could edge into the fighting.

" At this rate, our sisters will find the pair before we will. They will hold that victory over our heads for eternity and we will be lower in father's sight." S'ríash commented. That stopped the argument, though he could see both of his siblings were reluctant to abandon it (especially D'ýosh, who had been losing).

" You are right, baby brother. We are wasting time." Another cruel look D'ýosh's way. Ïanesh stopped, thinking, playing with a lock of his dark blond hair. His younger brothers looked at him expectantly.

"South."

"South?" D'ýosh and S'ríash parroted, one with excitement, the other with trepidation.

" If one were to hide themselves, to lose themselves...they would head south." Ïanesh looked at the two, waiting to be contested. D'ýosh didn't disappoint.

" A fine way to cast our uncle's gazes upon us."

" Nurgleth, Kharneth, and Tzeen'neth have bigger problems. And, we will guise ourselves, so they cannot detect us, obviously. Sésserish, T'tevtesh, and Ïéxiish are probably there already, closer to the quarry while we bumble about in the snow. So yes, south. Unless you have a better idea, D'ýosh?"

D'ýosh, again, did not disappoint, " Why don't be separate? That way, we will cover more ground. And, I can be spared looking at your ugly mug for a while."

Ïanesh looked absolutely scandalized, a sharp, dramatic gasp wrenched from his throat. Rage came out his beautiful, sharp features, and just like that, the older and younger were back dueling wits with one another. S'ríash sagged, rolled his pine-green eyes, and shifting surreptitiously into the form of a piebald serpent.

Whatever Ïanesh's feelings on the matter, splitting up was a good idea...