#//he's still mad at the other Kieran he watched

[ghost-kid-kieran]

From @professor-parasol

I... Didn't know you could Mail yourself though other dimensions. I was just checking out this blog out of curiosity, I didn't expect to have to worry about someone possibly mailing themselves to me for not good reasons.

Although that one guy definitely deserved what they got.

Yeah, I'm sure others could try, but I don't recommend it. I can get away with it by going "into" the box. I also can't feel pain, or get tired so the travel isn't too bad for me.

And yeah, he kinda asked for it. This is the only time I did it for a not good reason. The other time I mailed myself I was looking... after....

Hmph! Well! I've only done it twice! I won't try to make it a common thing!

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

Could you do some headcanons of a Mc reader dating the BB League Elite 4 + Kieran but miraidon gets super jealous.

It gets to the point where they get out of their Pokeball to growl á them.

Amarys

While she isn't too good at expressing emotions herself, she can read the emotions of others quite well.

Apparently this extends to Pokémon, especially after she notices your Miraidon acting rather irate around her. It even got to the point where they kept bursting from their pokeball to growl at her whenever you're together.

"It seems your Agias has suddenly grown a dislike for me, [y/n]." She remarked one day. "But I cannot figure out why..have I done something to upset them recently?"

"Nothing that I know of. Although I think it's worth mentioning that they're actually called Miraidon, not Agias."

"..is that so? Then I will correct this error right away."

Both of you think that after she apologizes, the problem would be resolved...yet it continues, with Miraidon always budging into your conversations, trying to get you on their back and fly/drive off without warning, etc.

All of this happens despite there being no danger present.

Eventually, you chalk up their protective nature to one probable cause: Jealousy.

You were spending more time with Amarys, and perhaps that made your futuristic companion worried you'll spend less with them.

When you brought this up to your gf, she's surprised and isn't too sure how to resolve this..

Considering she's new to relationships, she didn't expect a Pokémon of all things to become so jealous of her.

You end up suggesting that the two bonded (outside of timed flying trials of course) so that they could learn to trust her more.

Despite lacking emotional depth, she still tries her best, knowing this would greatly benefit all three of you in the long run if you were going to continue dating.

Crispin

"Hey uh..your Pokémon is giving me a funny look again.....w-was the sandwich too spicy for them? I can always turn down the heat."

He's straight-up convinced that Miraidon is mad at him because he's making their sandwich the wrong way.

So he keeps changing up the ingredients, hoping to satisfy them (yet it doesn't help when they keep popping out of the pokeball and scaring him).

You've figured out ages ago that they were simply jealous of how much time you were spending with your new bf.

Alas, you're dating a chef who's not only a hothead, but an airhead as well.

"Do you think your Miraidon and Magmortar got into an argument? Because they keep staring at him like they wanna rip him apart..haha.."

"No, honey..it's you, not your Pokémon."

"....ohhh so you're saying I got into an argument with Miraidon! Yeah that makes sense..I did sorta lose my cool with them the other day..."

Sometimes you wonder if a bonk from that frying pan of his would help knock some sense into him....

Instead, though, you just have him sit down in the club room while you explain Miraidon's jealousy in detail.

Crispin finally understands and immediately feels bad (and a little dumb knowing it took him this long to realize it). He's rushing to apologize to your companion, promising to make them the best sandwich possible--hot or not.

He still gets nervous about kissing you/holding your hand when they're nearby, often feeling the need to hide behind the pan.

But you reassure him it's okay.

Drayton

Tbh he kinda relishes in the huffy demeanor your Miraidon has been displaying in recent days.

The way they gnash their teeth, circle around him, make sparks fly, hover over you, and light up their eyes as though preparing to use Electro Drift...

Yep, despite how flashy and futuristic they are...all Drayton sees is another dragon type Pokémon who's throwing temper tantrums.

And being such chill guy around dragons, he has no fear and instead teases them behind your back, getting them riled up.

"Oh c'mon. You don't scare me. I know you've been looking out for [y/n]...and watching them hang out with Kingdra and Archaludon-"

"Agiiaaassss.."

"...there it is." He laughs. "Look, I'm not "stealing" them from ya. So let's just try to get along for their sake, alright?"

"......"

"Right. I knew we'd come to an understandin'."

Somehow, the two are VERY good at hiding this little grudge from you, although you have noticed Miraidon being more protective than usual over you whenever Drayton's around.

But it boils over when they saw you shining his Archaludon's armor while on a picnic date, throwing a fit and almost having a fullblown battle with each other without either of you at the helm.

Luckily, all the other dragons on your team diffused the situation...

You're a little bit outraged (pun not intended) that Drayton never told you of Miraidon's jealousy issues--and that he was taunting them for it.

"C'mon, they know I'm only kidding around."

"...our Pokémon almost broke the damn table."

"I'll pay for the damages."

"I think you're missing the point here, babe.."

Lacey

From the moment she started showing you around the school...she wondered why Miraidon was acting weird.

Her first thought was that they could sense her being a fairy type trainer, but she isn't sure what to do about that, so she keeps quiet.

But after you two started dating, they grew more protective of you and jealous of her..and it's something she notices waaaay before you do.

After it gets to the point of them jumping out of their pokeball to scare her (and quickly go back in without you seeing them), her nerves were shot.

Even so, she doesn't want you to worry. So she keeps trying to be friendly towards them, but it's hard.

Doesn't help that Granbull is being quite sassy towards the electric/dragon type, too, growing just as protective over Lacey as they are over you.

And ofc she has to quell their argument before things turn ugly...and one day, it almost did.

"I'm sorry, but this is NOT right!" She crosses her arms, standing between the two Pokémon. "Granbull, I know you're better than this. And Miraidon, I know you don't trust me, but you need to-"

"What's going on, Lace?"

"!!!"

You were gone for all but two minutes, and you come back to your poor gf trying to stop a Pokémon battle from taking place.

Finally, she admits that Miraidon has been acting extremely jealous and it's made her nervous.

You feel terrible for not realizing this sooner, and promise to speak to your companion about it.

Least to say..you wind up coddling them and giving them treats, reassuring them you'll still pay attention to them--but they had to be nice to Lacey and not antagonize her fairies.

Reluctantly, they agree on the condition of getting a sandwich everyday.

Kieran

Considering Miraidon saved his life, it was definitely strange when that same Pokémon now seemingly hated his guts..

This all happened the moment you and him starting dating, with them popping out of the pokeball (and not because he mentioned sandwiches) and growling before you could share your first kiss.

It was embarrassing for Kieran, and he doesn't know how to earn their trust back.

He just muddles over the fact that he was...definitely less-than-kind to you, their trainer, back before the trip to Area Zero.

He said things to you that he didn't mean, things he regretted saying..and suddenly he wonders if Miraidon could have possibly heard all of that.

If they could hear you both discussing sandwiches, then surely....

It genuinely starts to stress him out, as he's trying so hard to make amends with everyone and not be hated anymore.

And yet he seemed to be forgiven by all...except for Miraidon.

Maybe they even regret saving him

You notice that your bf is starting to cower behind you at their presence, being scared to look them in the eye, etc.

Eventually, you get him to confess that he thinks your companion despises him, and the guilt resurfaces enough to make him cry, kneeling and pleading for their forgiveness.

But you comfort and reassure him that Miraidon's only jealous of you two spending so much time together.

"R-Really? That's all it was...?"

"Yep. I already gave them a stern talking to." You help him stand up. "I'm sorry they keep coming off as aggressive. They just gotta warm up to you a little more, that's all."

"So they don't..hate me?"

"Nope."

After that, Kieran tries his best to earn the dragon type's respect, becoming a bit braver with each interaction.

[microwave-core]

DLC Girlie Headcanons

Happy Valentine’s day. Happy early birthday to me. Happy late first anniversary of this blog. Don’t expect this to be as profound or long as the first scarvio post, but it is a post, so have fun with it.

Also, I didn’t include Briar here because I wasn’t satisfied with what I wrote for her and just ended up scrapping it. Might come back to her one day. And yes I know the Carmine gif is big but I liked it and couldn't find one I liked more.

Carmine, my love. I know I already made a whole post for her not too long ago, but I can still add more (and there are also only three others on the list sooo). This time, though, things can take place post Kieran joker arc.

Of course, she’s still Carmine. She’s a bit overprotective and jealous and kind of a bitch, especially when at the academy because a certain Drayton will lazily and jokingly flirt with you just to get on her nerves. Don’t play into his flirtations, or else she’ll be mad at both of you (temporarily at you, permanently at toothpaste hair). She won’t stop you from hanging out with other people, though. That is, of course, unless it’s Drayton, who she will literally drag you away from.

 She doesn’t really boss you around like she does her brother, but she will often ask you to help her with whatever she’s working on. It’s totally because she needs you to lend a hand and not because she likes having you plastered to her side. Sometimes she’ll ask you to come help her with a task and the task in question is just hanging out with Amarys.

Carmine does actually take her studies fairly seriously, especially when she’s helping Briar. Spends a good deal of time studying, and might pressure you to join her if you are falling behind. Surprisingly, she’s a pretty good study-buddy. If you’re really struggling with a subject, she can probably explain it in pretty understandable terms, as long as you can brush aside her occasional insults, of course. Might reward you with a kiss or two if you do really well.

You’re allowed to be a little mean to Kieran, as a treat, but know your place. She loves you, yeah, but she’d probably side with her baby brother over you if push comes to shove. You can tease him a bit and slide in some snide comments here and there, but if you take things too far she will be upset. I know I said you could be a little mean, but don’t be, like, mean mean to him. He’s been through enough.

Speaking of, Kieran thinks you’re pretty cool. Little guy doesn’t really have friends, and being a recovering joker acr victim doesn’t help that fact. He knows you, you’ve been in his life’s peripheral vision for a good deal of time, being attached to Carmine and whatnot, and he thinks you’re wicked cool. No matter how much time passes, he will always watch on with stars in his eyes when you are showing off your skills. He’d love nothing more than to have a match with you sometime.

I wouldn’t say Kieran’s like Hop is for Sonia, where he would go out of his way to play matchmaker, but he does silently lay in hope that you two stay together, and their grandparents feel the same. They might partake in some light teasing whenever they see you together, which is often, but they aren’t really pushy with it. Not the kind of people to press Carmine about when you’ll get married or give them great grandchildren or anything.

When Kieran is in his villain arc, Carmine will ask you to help keep an eye on him. She’s worried out of her mind with how odd he was acting, and really wanted to find the root cause. Once the whole Terapagos ordeal blows over, expect the two to come find you and tackle you into a group hug, both blabbering on about how they almost died and how much they care for you. A similar thing probably happens after the Pecharunt situation ends, as well.

You know… a lot of scarvio characters could totally be melded into yanderes if you just exaggerated their traits a wee bit. Not saying that any of them are, we’re not doing the whole “Nemona’s a yandere” bit, but Carmine could easily fit the bill. She’s bitchy, a bit overprotective, and can easily become violent. Nothing more to add here, it's just a passing thought.

Following my original scarvio post, I am morally obligated to include a point of slander for each girl. Carmine has said at least a few slurs in her life. In, like, a Lana del Rey way, specifically with that one kid who was in Stranger Things (why did she do that it was just completely unprompted). Would casually drop a slur in someone’s general direction for literally no reason. Hater energy.

Perrin’s pretty cool. I don’t like her as much as her supposed great great great grandmother, but I’m not here to pin two bad bitches against each other. Regardless of her ancestors, she’s still cute and artsy, and we love that for her.

She’s kind of funny to me more than anything. She would just go up to you one day, saying shit like “Hey babe, I’m feeling really unmotivated right now :{ so I’m gonna take a trip to a small, distant island to take pictures of a fucked up beast”. Don’t try to talk her out of it, she’ll already be on the plane.

When she’s feeling low, she likes to take pictures of you. They aren’t used for anything, not making their way into her portfolio, just her little personal collection to look back on and smile at gently. She’ll start by mopily taking half-assed pictures with her phone, but steadily gets more and more into things, setting up her shots and having you pose, eventually pulling out her camera.

Although, it is a bit embarrassing for her after the fact. When she gets really into her shots, she gets super enthusiastic and constantly makes cheesy remarks. Please don’t point this out while she’s working, she’ll get super flustered and totally thrown off her game. She might be able to recover, laughing her comments off sheepishly, or she might be too far gone to continue, dramatically laying down her camera in defeat, hoping you'll give her some affection and out of pity.

However, her love for you, and love for looking at you, isn’t always enough to get her out of a slump, hence why she goes to Kitakami to look for a fucked up beast in hopes of finding her spark again. Getting out and searching for something interesting can help her get back into her groove, and she’ll keep you posted the entire time if you aren’t by her side.

Speaking of, she loves to send you pictures. Constantly. She’ll send breathtaking scenery shots, gorgeous skylines, diverse and adorable wildlife, and Growlithe. It’s mostly just Growlithe if we're being honest. Usually paired with a caption like “he misses you” or “stinky little bastard man has committed a heinous crime (he rolled in the mud).”Particularly loves to send glamor shots of him.

And said stinky little bastard man loves you so much. He likes to follow you around when nearby, trotting on your heels, curious as to where you’re both going. He’ll sit patiently at your feet whenever you have food, and curl up in your lap when you’re sitting down. Perrin’s his favorite still, but you’re a close second. But if you pass him enough scraps under the table and give him good enough scratches, you might be able to sway his opinion.

I don’t remember if the game ever states where Perrin is specifically from, but she gives off country girl energy to me. Maybe it’s just the song that plays when you talk to her, now that I think about it. I don’t know. I think in general she’s also pretty laid back, the kind to go with the flow. Unless she’s in a rut, where it seems like her entire world is falling apart.

She’s not super into PDA, but she doesn’t really get embarrassed with excessive affection, either. She’d prefer to just hold your hand when around other people, maybe rest her arm over your shoulder, but she wouldn’t argue if you wanted more affection than that. Not to say that she doesn’t have any limits, she’s just pretty lax.

However, I also think she’s suave. Not afraid to surprise you by pressing a sudden kiss to somewhere on your face-forehead, cheek, lips-when you lean in close, like if you lean over her shoulder or something along those lines. She does like to see you flustered, but she doesn’t do it too often. After all, if she does this all the time, you would expect it, and then you wouldn’t get flustered at all.

Slander devil emoji. Perrin feels like she’d own a shit ton of shoes. Mainly tennis shoes, methinks. Most of her funds are funneled into her camera and lenses, since she’s a photographer obviously, but her second biggest money sink is her shoe collection. Is kind of protective of them, too, because Growlithe will chew on them if given the opportunity.

Lacey’s just cute. Which makes sense, because being cute is, like, her whole thing. To her, most everything has some cuteness in it. Nothing can be spared from her cute-detecting gaze.

What more should I really say for her? She’s just a super sweet and kind person and I would kill for her. Actually, I wouldn’t do that, because if I did she would look at me sadly and tell me what I did just wasn’t right. She might be incredibly nice, but she ain’t a pushover. Daddy didn’t raise no bitch.

She’s super touchy feely. Always touching you in some way. Prefers to drape herself over you whenever possible, usually by wrapping herself around one of your arms to lean in close. If she can’t, then she’ll gladly link pinkies with you, as she believes that’s way cuter than just holding hands.

Massive cuddlebug. Whenever you are sitting or laying down, she’ll immediately jump into the spot next to you and hold you close. She’s practically nodding off by the time she gets comfortable, too warm and comfy to want to get up. Her pokemon, especially her Granbull, tend to pile up around you as well. Will complain and beg you to stay if you try to get up before she’s ready (she will never be ready). She’s also guilty of baby talk. Take that as you will.

Her pokemon in general are pretty cuddly, as well, but some are better snugglers than others. Like, Excadrill is a real sweetheart, but she’s also got massive claws and hard noggin made of steel, which aren’t the most um pleasant. And Slowbro is a little bit toxic, so be careful. Omg I forgot she had a Primarina. I love Primarina, that's my favorite starter. I’m gonna end this point here before I ramble into infinity, sorry.

Feels very into arts and crafts. She’d break out the macaroni and Elmer's glue unprompted in the league club room and everyone flocks to her, watching her and her art supplies like impoverished children about to receive their daily rations. Everyone joins in, even if they don’t want to or don’t see the point in it. Drayton loves the crafts more than anyone else, barring Lacey herself, but he usually tries to get other people to do the work for him.

I also feel like she would try to turn the league club into a band at least twice. Imagine Lemonade Mouth (aka the best disney channel original movie), but with the BB elite four. No matter how hard she tries, it always devolves into absolute chaos. Maybe one day she will get to live her band kid dreams to their fullest.

ASMR Clay kills you via excruciatingly intense eye contact because you’re dating his baby girl.mp4. He is prime overprotective dad material, and he is so stubborn at first. He acts all big and tough in front of you when you first meet, mainly because that’s just how he is, but eventually warms up to you. Don’t expect to be too close, though. “Warming up” just means that he tolerates you.

Anyways, thinking of Clay makes me think of “Heartwarming: Watch this dad totally accept his gay daughter coming out then eat 12 tacos”. He’s very accepting of anything she does, even if he’s hard on her when it comes to actually dating. He’s just hesitant to let her grow up, is all. Also, he radiates massive divorced single-dad energy.

Lacey doesn’t like to complain that much, but she does on occasion. In particular, she tends to complain when a certain school director dumps his duties onto her. It’s usually not very heated, just a brief vent about how it totally wasn’t right, hand gestures and all. 

When venting, she usually prefaces that what she says might be a little mean or too much, but then she says something very reasonable and tame. Also seems like the type to apologize when she rambles on about something or other, no matter how many times you tell her that she’s fine.

Lacey slander is that she absolutely uses Texan slang. What in tarnation is the one she uses the most, but do not doubt her ability to spout country slang out of nowhere. Also owns at least one cowboy hat. And a pair of cowboy boots. She’s got the whole cowboy ensemble, actually.

Amarys, while not outwardly emotional, is also a very sweet and caring person. Facial emoting just isn’t her thing. I’m struggling to put my thoughts into words with her, because my mind is just automatically defaulting to “Amarys my beloved” instead of forming actual, tangible ideas.

I don’t think Amarys is terrible with emotions, she just isn’t good at showing them. Particularly on her face. She prefers to express her feelings through words and actions, even if they come off as robotic and stringent. They’re coming from the heart, honest. She does like to make fun little gestures with her hands, as well, like making hearts.

Despite being relatively fine at navigating her own emotions, there are certain concepts that stump her, mainly concepts that are more abstract, one’s that lack clearly defined definitions. For instance, she asks Lacey in the league room what constitutes being cute. Sometimes, she’ll approach you and ask questions about these concepts, just to gauge your expert opinion on such topics.

I feel like she has a hefty pocket watch collection. I don’t have much more to add, mainly because I don’t know much about pocket watches outside of them existing. I don’t think she’s an avid collector per say, I feel like she’s just accumulated them over time, mainly from getting them as gifts over the years.

She comes off as someone who’s a little hard to shop for, so most people tend to just get her a watch when gift giving because it’s something useful and she clearly likes them. She doesn’t mind receiving them, even if many of them don’t get used because she just has too many. At the very least, she has plenty of backup replacements if the one she uses breaks, and is also willing to share if you ever wanted to borrow one.

Lowkey a worrywart. If you mention feeling wrong or down or just have issues in general, she’ll keep checking in with you until she’s certain you are doing better. Not in, like, an overbearing way, though. She’s not hounding you constantly, just bringing it up when she sees you, or texting if you haven’t seen each other in a bit. It’s a good way to see how much she cares for you. It’s part of her love language, if you will.

Amarys is a very good person to confide in, regardless if you’re dating her or not. She’s a great listener and is always level-headed. She doesn’t have advice for every given situation, but her calm nature can help keep you grounded when venting, which really helps on top of the effect that venting generally has.

I’m split between thinking Amarys spends at least an hour in the morning styling her hair or believing that’s just how she always looks. I would assume that she takes her hair down every night, because her hairstyle doesn’t seem very comfortable to sleep in, and also seems like it would be messed up pretty easily. But the idea that she just always exists with this very specific hairstyle is kind of funny to me.

On that note, she is pretty good at styling hair in general. You don’t get that hair without having dexterous and skillful hands. Show her a picture of the style you want and she can probably get pretty damn close. Also good with hair dye jobs, as I assume she dyes some of her hair gray. Actually, maybe she doesn’t, because her eyebrows are gray. I don’t know what to believe anymore.

Gets dragged into Carmine’s antics a lot. She usually plays the straight man in comparison to Carmine’s… Carmine-ness. She can talk her friend out of her more ludicrous ideas, but she joins in on Carmine’s antics every now and then. Has had to talk Carmine out of chopping off Drayton’s massive hair tuft on multiple occasions.

While writing this I came across the idea of Amarys being the child of Lenora, the black and white normal gym leader, which I like. Mainly because I like Lenora a lot and she does canonically have a husband, so it would check out pretty well. I have nothing else to add to this, just wanted to mention it because why not.

Amarys slander? Amarys slander tonight queen? I’d say she’s the type of person to correct people’s grammar whenever they make a mistake, in both writing and conversation. This does include using it to “win” pointless arguments online, although she’s also the type to write lengthy responses in those types of arguments, so she already has all of her bases covered, but that doesn’t change her grammar correcting ways.

[allzelemonz]

Horses: Kieran Duffy X Male Reader

Pronouns: None Mentioned, Reader referred to as ‘sir’, ‘mister’, and ‘man’ Physical Sex: None Mentioned Rating: T/Violent themes, language Warnings: Chapter 1 setting, kidnapping, very fluffy Kieran Duffy, Kieran loves horses, passing joke about bestiality, Reader is kind of an asshole Summary: You volunteered to watch the O’Driscoll prisoner and all he seems to want to talk about are the horses around him.

He really does look pathetic. Bill had told you as much but you didn’t think an O’Driscoll could look so small. Since Charles has gone out hunting with Arthur, someone has to watch the prisoner and you jumped at the excuse to be away from the boys’ little building with all of their bickering. You’ve barely opened the door and his eyes have already found yours and looked away quickly. You decide to pay him little mind and go over to your horse, they need attention after all.

After a few minutes he speaks up. “A-Are you gonna hurt me?”

“No.” You say plainly. “Unless you give me a reason to.”

He hunches his shoulders, making himself look a little smaller. Another few minutes pass as you pet your horse and idly give them a few treats.

“Your horse is real pretty.” He says before hunching on himself again. “Sorry.”

You stare at him for a moment, a little baffled by the confidence to compliment a horse of all things only to go back into his little shell. “It’s fine… thanks.”

He perks up ever so slightly and watches for a moment as you pick a piece of hay out of the horse’s mane. “Seems like a good horse.”

You eye him and he shrinks again. “You got a thing for horses or something?”

“I-I,” He shakes his head. “No, sir. N-Not like that…”

You smirk to yourself as he trails off and stares at the floor. “You like them though?”

He nods.

“Well,” You walk around to stand in front of him and point to Baylock who stands just a few feet away. “That one’s the only one that might not like you, best to keep your distance.”

Kieran looks over at the black stallion then down at himself. “Kinda hard ta… ya know.”

You smile. “You’re funny, O’Driscoll.”

“Mister… I-I ain’t an O’Driscoll.”

“Really?” You mockingly tilt your head. “Because I distinctly remember looking through a pair of binoculars and seeing someone that looked a hell of a lot like you down in that little camp.”

“I-It ain’t like that!” He whines. “I… forget it…”

You sigh as he slumps in his bindings and sobs quietly. “Just keep quiet, I don’t wanna deal with you more than I have to.”

He sniffles, stifling the next sob as he nods.

You shake your head to yourself and go around to the horses, giving treats where you can. The Count seems colder than the others but he’d never let you put a blanket on him, you’ll have to go tell Dutch about it so he can. You give Brown Jack an extra treat because he looks uncomfortable all crammed into the stables. He’s always appreciative of treats anyway, even if Bill spoils him with them most days.

Only by the time you’ve seen every horse does the O’Driscoll speak up. “Can I ask ya somethin’, Mister?”

You let your hand drag down Maggie’s flank as you walk away from her to stand by the prisoner. “What?”

He wavers in his stature, the pole he’s tied to likely not making it easy to stand upright. “Could ya tell me about ‘em… the horses?”

You give him an odd look. “You wanna know about the horses?”

“I-I told ya, I like horses…”

“What is it you wanna know?”

He looks over his shoulder at a few of the large steeds. “Just, I don’t know, their names n’ such.”

“You don’t wanna ask for food or something?”

“I know ya ain’t gonna give me any… but ya seem ta like the horses.”

For a moment you consider if he could use the information against the gang somehow, if Dutch would be mad if the O’Driscoll suddenly knew things about the horses, or if he’s trying to weasel his way into something. But you determine all of those to be untrue enough to cave. “Fine.”

He cracks a smile, a broken one but still a smile.

You walk over to the generally threatening black stallion first. “This is Baylock.”

Then you walk to each horse in turn, introducing them. The Count, Silver Dollar, Brown Jack, Nell II, Old Belle, poor Ennis and the Callander boys’ horses without their owners. All except for Taima and Boaz who are out doing work or settled outside. Then you stop at your horse and say their name with a pat to their nose.

“R-Real pretty…” The O’Driscoll mumbles to himself.

Now Kieran has never called a man pretty before. He never thought he would. But after watching you treat each and every horse with such a fondness before even getting to your own, he can’t quite make his brain think of the right word to describe you. So when you stop right in the light of sunbeams and your face is illuminated just right as you smile at the horse in front of you, pretty is the only word that comes to mind.

[verdemoun]

is there some info about your timewarp au that you really wanna talk about?? if so i am all ears

bless one of the core timewarp au scenes is really the moment they are all just settled and okay and don't really know when it happened but realizing yes this is good this is the life we were meant to have the gang together again

it was meant to be one of their usual family bbq gatherings but grimshaw couldn't get out of work and in no man left behind fashion they decided they would crash the bar. open mic night

sean and lenny meant to be singing a ballad to their respective wives but instead just staring at each other while karen and jenny are entirely amused/delighted over how in love they are with each other. most wholesome dynamic

jack being too young to buy drinks and grimshaw not willing to lose her liquor license for him. big bossy rule enforcing queen entirely undermined by isaac persistently buying himself double shots and slight of hand sliding them to jack until they are both plastered.

hosea just being old this is post 1911 gang warping so he is approaching 70 bessie is retired they are sitting in a comfortable booth enjoying pub meals and whiskey watching their massive family be happy but also just in their own loved up world where they are the only two people that exist

someone with a spray bottle trying to keep javier and kieran off each other for 10 minutes ffs there's children present

john thinking he is the best parent letting his daughter sip beer while abigail yells at him because she's only like 8. he argues they were both already drinking at that age. fighting like an old married couple but also can't stay mad at each other. abigail rolling her eyes but smiling as john kisses her. addie jr helped herself to a whole beer while they were fighting

arthur and charles both responsible adults still getting white girl silly drunk. tripping over each other cackling arthur trying to catch charles and instead completely faceplanting himself. drunk dancing together not realizing they are the center of attention

micah and bill leaning on the bar having the 'why are you gay' 'who says i'm gay' 'you are gay' but also micah in a trying to be a better person/must prove he is the best at everything giving bill dating tips despite being the worst straight man in history

dutch being allowed to come along (molly and her wife were busy being lesbians elsewhere. if molly is coming dutch is not invited (for His safety, not hers)) dutch having a few too many drinks and slipping into 'y'know maybe we could overthrow the government' and annabelle having to play babysitter 'No Dutch'. Hosea still likes listening to Dutch's tangents he may have his arms around his wife but he is just smiling affectionately listening to Dutch go off

no one realizing just how happy but also out of hand things are getting until jake adler pulls out the fiddle playing live music while his beautiful immaculate stunning spectacular bisexual wife sadie adler sings hell's coming with me. everyone just vibing until she switches the line to 'then colm o'driscoll was hanging by a rope'. hollering cheering screaming drinks being raised noise complaints being filed it is never too late to celebrate colm's execution

poor eliza pulling out the 'oh arthur' as she tries to get arthur, charles, isaac and jack home because they are all blind drunk. john having to help force them all into the car. jack and isaac are attached at the hip he is going home with them

also drunk jack going through absolute swings and roundabouts one second it's 'fuck you dad i'm gonna start my own gang with blackjack and hookers' isaac in the distance 'fuck yeah sex work is real work' only to be 'i'm sorry i let you down and i made mistakes and i keep making mistakes' as john carries him over his shoulder to the car. john very tentatively trying to assure him he didn't let him down and it's just further proof he is his son and that he's sorry jack inherited making the same dumb mistakes from him

uncle eating every single bowl of peanuts at the bar and falling asleep in a booth. grimshaw still closing and locking down the bar with him still inside to try and teach him a lesson

[rainbowsandwhumperflies]

The Winged Servant - 9

content warnings: dehumanization/insulting the whumpee, threatening many characters, discussion of murder, breaking and entering, life threatening situations, yet another sword injury, dissociation

prev chapter | masterlist

There were more footsteps. Not loud, not close, but loud enough. Close enough.

“Your, um, Your Highnesses-”

“Stay out of this, you stupid bird,” Prince Cardan growled at me, and I nodded quickly.

“My apologies, Your Highness.” I pressed my back up against the wall as the footsteps got louder.

“See? You can’t even keep your stupid pet quiet,” Prince Cardan snapped at his brother. “Do you really think you two could take care of Kieran as well as I could?”

“He’s not a pet, Cardan. Oh my god, you’re insufferable! I forbid you from trying to kill Kieran in my place.”

“Forbid me? You’re not exactly in any position to stop me.”

“Yeah, because you attacked me! Do you even hear yourself?”

There was a gun pointed at my head before I'd even realized anyone was close enough to point one. “No funny business, or I shoot you.”

 If someone aims a weapon at you, then you do your best not to let that weapon touch you. That had been almost my only order tonight. That, and follow the prince. I wasn't supposed to let the gun rest against my temple the way it did now, but if I moved away-

I took a shaky breath, opening my eyes despite the fact that I hadn't really noticed them close. The princes were in a similar predicament, frozen in place while guards pulled guns off of their waists.

“Your Highnesses,” I whispered, trying desperately to find out what I was supposed to do, but the guard with a gun pointed at me squeezed my shoulder.

“Stay quiet if you know what's good for you.”

Prince Cardan scoffed. “Yeah, right. Kieran isn't consistent enough to run a country, and this is proof! He's got free speech protected in-”

“Yeah, not for you. You are being searched for weapons right now, and I won't have you conferring with each other.”

He opened his mouth, but Prince Ryan interrupted. “Cardan, I implore you not to do anything stupid right now.”

“You know what, Ry? That’s your other problem. You use big words that no one understands and get mad that no one listens.”

“... Implore? That big word that no one understands? Seriously?”

“Please stop talking,” the tallest guard said wearily. He stood watching in the corner, his hand resting on a weapon but not yet pointing it at any of us. “Every day I thank my lucky stars that Kieran took over. Wright, will you handcuff them?”

Prince Ryan glared as his arms were pulled behind his back, but he didn’t resist, didn’t flinch when fingers dug into the gash on his arm.

“What about the angel?” the guard—Wright?—asked.

I hadn’t been searched. It was obvious, probably, that I didn’t have a weapon, that I hadn’t moved an inch. Not since those first footsteps, when Prince Ryan had told me not to move until he said otherwise.

“What about the angel? Handcuff him too. If he somehow is innocent, we’ll find out at his trial.”

Wright tilted her head at me. “Angel. Did you help the twins break into the castle or not?”

I blinked slowly. “Break in?”

She glanced at the other guards. “He might be in shock or something. In which case, he’ll need medical care sooner rather than later.”

“He’s not in shock,” Prince Ryan huffed. “He just doesn’t know what’s going on. Yes, he helped us break in, he just didn’t know we were breaking in.”

“You watched them kill people and didn’t realize they were breaking in?” she asked me, and I frowned.

“The royal family doesn’t need explanations to carry out their will, ma'am. I'm supposed to do as they say without question. It's not really- it's not my business if we're breaking in or not.”

She promptly handcuffed me.

Prince Ryan had let himself be handcuffed, so I held still and went where they put me.

Prince Cardan did not.

He didn’t stand a chance, without weapons and surrounded by so many guards, but that didn’t stop him from trying. That didn't stop him from punching two people in the face and lunging toward me and shoving me in front of him.

I didn't move away when a weapon swung towards me, barely flinching as a blade hit my arm. I was good, I was a good servant, I could be good and hold still when I was punished and-

“Onyx,” someone snapped, and I looked up.

There was blood running down my arm. Prince Cardan had been apprehended and was in handcuffs. I was in handcuffs. Prince Ryan was in handcuffs, and glaring at me.

“Come on, Onyx,” he said. “Don’t start letting your brain drift now. You’ve been doing well tonight; you need to do well for a little while longer.”

“Apologies, Your Highness,” I managed to whisper, bowing my head toward him.

He glanced at the guards around us. “Well. No time like the present to throw us in the dungeon, hm?”

~

We weren’t taken to a dungeon, or a jail, or anywhere else that I would’ve assumed that this Kieran person put people who tried to overthrow him. Maybe he wouldn’t bother putting us anywhere—maybe this was a temporary fix while we awaited execution.

In any case, the guards brought us to what looked like… a guest bedroom.

The princes both looked upset, but stayed compliant as they were brought to their knees on the carpet. It was- it was nice carpet. Our carpet was not this soft, not this plush. I would kneel on this carpet for years if they'd like me to, I thought. 

Prince Ryan did not look as happy as me with our conditions. “Is your king too much of a pussy to put us in a real prison for grown-ups? Or does he think that he can give us hugs and words of affirmation and we'll realize that we've been bad people all along?”

“He doesn't think we'll be able to shut you up, that's for sure,” Wright muttered. “Here's the thing. The king has never once tried to convince someone to work overtime when they didn't want to. That's not a grace you'd ever extended, but we've gotten real fond of him. If he doesn't want to work overtime, we won't make him.”

“He hasn't stopped searching for us for five years. He won't wake up from his beauty sleep to say hi now?”

“Nope,” Wright agreed cheerfully. “He won't. He can deal with you first thing in the morning, and not a moment earlier.”

“And we'll all just… hang out here until then?”

“Mhm!”

“And the other people you've caught?” Prince Ryan’s eyes were narrowed, glancing at the obvious exits of the room. “They're in prison?”

“Some of them. Lucia is on her way here to wait with you—you three are a bit more of a priority than everyone else you roped into this.”

Suddenly, the prince’s eyes snapped to me, and I whimpered a bit. What was I supposed to do right now? It was treason to refer to the royal family with their first names, but I hadn't been the one doing that. Should I have been telling the guard not to? It wasn't my place to correct humans on what to do. Was it?

“The angel,” Price Ryan finally said, and I let out a breath of relief as I realized he was still talking to the guard. “Is he… priority? Like the royal family?”

“The Rao family,” Wright corrected. “You're not what we consider royalty around here. But the angel is… well, we're not sure about him. So Kieran gets to decide when he gets up.”

“What about-”

“Mr. Rao,” she said slowly. “You're being a little too nosy. To the point that I think I might need to worry a bit about what you're planning. I suggest you shut up until Kieran comes. You might be able to get a few hours of sleep if you start now.”

He swallowed, but leaned back against a wall silently.

Something was wrong. Something had gone very, very wrong. We'd been breaking in, the princes had said, and we'd gotten caught. And this place was under Kieran’s rule, which was ridiculous because everything was supposed to be under Her Majesty's rule.

The guard here had not called her “Her Majesty.” She'd called her by her first name. That was treason, and yet no one had seemed surprised and no one had contradicted her.

The princes were being quiet, like they'd been told to. And the princes never did what they were told to, so something was wrong. Something was wrong and I didn't know what and I needed to stay quiet and I needed someone to tell me what to do.

And all I was allowed to do was wait.

~

Taglist (lmk if you'd like to be added/removed!): @kaleidoscope-of-thoughts @toyybox @rainydaywhump @risk606

[lovepotionnumber5]

inside out

[5k, supercorp-y, his dark materials meets supergirl, basically. or a daemon au. i had fun w this, might continue it! I guess rated t for luthor fam creepiness]

Supergirl is a woman apart.

She swoops regal and steadfast above the city she’s sworn to protect, her cape flapping with a quality that’s somehow just over the line of not-from-this-earth. Her gaze scans through crowds, buildings, the very sidewalk beneath National City’s feet. The heat of her eyes is too bright to be looked at directly, the force of her muscles so great that she seems perpetually gentle in all her interactions.

She is beautiful. Her hair glints golden in the sunlight, and she offers help with no expectation of thanks or reward. On days when the streets are quiet and calm, she cleans out the gutters of an older woman’s house, or plays a game of basketball with a lonely teenager in his step-dad’s driveway. She can change the weather with a breath, the surliest citizen’s day with a smile.

If she seems super-human, that’s because she is; she’s beyond humanity, but still close enough to touch. Always within reach, holding out a hand, asking if you need help.

And, of course, she doesn’t have a daemon.

//

Kieran settles fourteen days after they arrive at Luthor Manor, exactly one day before Lena’s fifth birthday. She wakes in an unfamiliar bed (and room, and house, and city, and country—) and she just knows. Something inside her that was malleable and questioning has turned to stone as she slept.

Kieran sits on the unused pillow on the other side of Lena’s new, too-big bed. She reaches out and slips a few fingers through his ink-black feathers, soft as silk.

“You’re very pretty,” she whispers, “as a raven.”

They’re all over Luthor Manor, the ravens, always driving the groundskeeper mad by lining up on the eaves. Lena’s spent two weeks watching them, listening to them caw to each other, sitting on her hands and trying not to cry as Greza prowls back and forth below them.

“I’m going to fly us away from here, Lena,” Kieran promises. “Up into the sky.”

Lena thinks of Eoghan’s rust colored plumage, the black and white tips of his wings, the way he had dissolved into dust in midair and drifted like snow down onto the lake her mother had disappeared into.

“Okay,” Lena agrees. She’s still whispering. “Fly us away, Kieran.”

When Tantox slithers down Lillian’s arm and flicks his tongue at them, Kieran digs his talons into Lena’s shoulder. Sometimes, on nights when the stars twinkle the brightest, he circles the Manor with powerful flaps of his wings. He’s always by Lena’s side when she finally drifts off to sleep.

Some nights, when Greza stalks them down the carpeted halls all afternoon, when she hears the quiet, occasional tap of Lex’s oxfords against the hardwood where he missteps in pursuit of his daemon, Lena finds her bedroom door locked from the outside. 

It’s only when she returns to the Manor for holidays as a teenager that the cage appears in her bedroom. It’s brass, large and beautiful, and the aesthetic curves of the metal match the new bars outside of her window. Lex’s smile is different, and he had greeted her car at the end of the driveway without Greza anywhere in sight. 

“We’ve tightened up security,” Lillian tells her, waving the hand that doesn’t have Tantox wrapped around it towards the foot of her bed, where one of the butlers places Lena’s trunk. “Let’s not make a fuss about it, hm?”

There’s an ugly wound, stark red against Tantox’s white scales, only visible in flashes when Lillian moves and her shirt sleeve rides up. Lena, thirteen and surly, with a daemon settled for nearly a decade, bites down hard on her tongue to keep from fighting back.

That night, Kieran cautiously hops onto the perch in the cage. 

“It’s only for a week,” Lena promises. “Then we’ll be back at school.”

“Keep me close,” Kieran pleads. “I haven’t seen Greza yet. I don’t know where she could be.”

Lena sits on the edge of her bed and crams her hands under her thighs. “Lex is here, so she can’t be far. Maybe she spent the day napping on the patio. There’s that sunspot she likes.”

Kieran fluffs his wings. He doesn’t have to say anything—Lena knows it’s a weak suggestion.

Only a decade later, fresh from testifying against her brother in a crowded courtroom, will Lena wonder if it was him who locked her bedroom door, or if the click-clack she heard against the hardwood outside had been her mother’s heels all along.

//

“Don’t look at people’s daemons,” Alex tells her. “Or ask about them. And never even think about touching them.”

“You touch Q,” Kara points out, still confused. She doesn’t know what Q is short for, because Alex gets mad whenever she asks. “And Eliza touches Wrenott.” 

Alex makes a kind of growl-scream noise of frustration. “That’s because Q is mine,” she seethes, “and I’m Q’s, and it’s the same for Mom and Wrenott.”

Q, who is currently a frog and peeking out of the breast pocket of Alex’s t-shirt, says something that Kara can’t hear.

She frowns. There’s a pod of dolphins around three miles off the coast that she can pick out just fine, but Alex’s daemon manages to sneak something past her newly sensitive ears from only a foot or so away. She tries to hear his heartbeat and finds that she can’t—just Alex’s and her own, and Jeremiah’s downstairs. 

“But we need to figure something out,” Alex begrudgingly agrees. 

Q wiggles his way out of Alex’s pocket and transforms into a sparrow right before gravity takes him down. He flits around the room, Kara’s eyes tracking him despite Alex’s warning.

“Q has an idea,” her sister says. “Since he hasn’t settled yet, we can fake it. You like wearing long sleeves better, right?”

Kara shrugs, focusing her attention back on Alex’s severe expression. “The sunlight makes my skin tingle.”

“Right, well, if you wore—I don’t know, a hoodie? Yeah, with the hood pulled up—then Q could sit on your shoulder in English. I’ll be right next door in AP Calc, and you’re young enough to have an unsettled daemon, and everybody knows about me.” She nods jerkily. “Alright, let’s try it out. Just on the edge of your shoulder, over your shirt. Q?”

“Wait,” Kara says. 

Alex’s arms are crossed, her shoulders hunched in. Kara opens her mouth, then closes it, not sure what she should say. 

“This feels wrong,” is what she settles on. “Are you sure?”

“It was Q’s idea,” Alex says, now chewing on her bottom lip.

“But is it alright with you?” Kara asks.

Q zips right over Kara’s shoulder and shifts into a lemur right before he collides with Alex, wrapping himself around her shoulders, his striped tail curled protectively under her chin. Alex’s posture relaxes with one big exhale.

“We’ll figure something else out,” Kara decides. “I’m supposed to blend in, right? My daemon will just be…shy.” She thinks of Q. “He hides in my pocket.” 

The week before Kara finally starts school, she befriends a whip-quick, only slightly mangy cat in the backyard. Streaky follows her everywhere, and loves more than anything to sit on Kara’s shoulders or take a quick nap on top of her thighs. Some days, he comes to school with her, and she focuses on making sure he doesn’t try and brush up against anyone else instead of on the math equations she was doing before she was five revolutions old.

Years. On Earth, they call them years, and they wander around with their souls outside of their bodies.

Kal-El has a rescued African Gray Parrot he calls Jane. Jane never makes a sound, bird-caw or mimicked words, and stays perched on his shoulder whenever he’s his true self.

Whenever he’s Superman, he flies alone.

//

Lena builds Kieran a special perch with a vacuum seal base that can attach to any flat surface. She brings it with her to class, glares her best Lillian-glare at any classmates who open their mouths to complain. 

He’s big, if the looks that linger on him for longer than is polite indicate anything. Lena always bites back remarks like you’re probably thinking of crows—ravens are larger and quite a bit smarter, actually. It’s rude to talk about someone’s daemon, but that never seems to stop people from staring at hers. The one time she hadn’t watched what she said, it had been to the daughter of some business partner of Luthor Corp, and the amount of time they both spent cooped up in Luthor Manor because of it—

Well. Lena bites her tongue, and counts the minutes until class lets out, reading college level calculus textbooks under her desk. All of the athletic girls are on sports teams and are excused from P.E.—Lena never joins the other girls in trying to get out of participating, never feigns cramps or pretends she has a migraine. She never goes faster than a stroll on the track loop either, but she never sits out. Kieran soars over her head, a black smear against perfect blue, and Lena swears she can feel the stretch of his wings in her own shoulders.

“How does it feel to have settled?” Andrea asks one hot Wednesday, walking at Lena’s same glacial pace around the track. Her voice is toeing the line of timidness. About four paces behind them is her daemon, currently in the form of a sleek fox. 

“I’m not sure,” Lena answers. “It’s all I remember.”

She’s not sure it’s the truth. She thinks, maybe, there’s a memory of her sitting on the shore of a lake, dust in the wind, Kieran in the form of a golden retriever puppy and splashing in the water. But if she talks about that, then she’ll have to think about how even with fish and dolphins and whales and cephalopods at her disposal, Kieran had shifted to a spiky ball of a hedgehog and trembled in her lap. 

//

Q follows Alex into the cemetery the day of Jeremiah’s funeral in the form of a German Shepherd and never shifts into a different animal again.

Sometimes, Streaky curls up with him on the couch, tucks his dark little head under Q’s chin. For the first time, Kara wishes that she also had part of herself wandering about in the world. She settles for wrapping Alex in carefully gentle hugs, cries with her on the roof outside their bedroom window, and makes sure she never spends too long looking at Q’s adorable dog face. 

Sometimes, Wrenott will rub at Q’s cheeks with his little sea otter hands that Kara always tries really hard not to squeal over. Kara watches carefully at the way Alex’s shoulders droop, then stiffen back up again too quickly. Q always jerks away at the same moment. When Alex rushes out of the room, Eliza sighs so deeply Kara’s ears hurt. 

//

“They’re composed of Dust, Lena, I’ve been telling you—it’s like your head is always in the clouds with Kieran.”

Lena’s skin prickles like it does whenever Lex says her daemon’s name. “My head is on this game of chess,” she counters, moving her bishop to d5 and claiming his rook. “Unlike you.”

He huffs. With a movement that’s too forced to be casual, he moves his pawn out of the line of fire of her knight.

The monologues that Lex delivers over games of chess become less tethered to reality each time. Lena usually tries to focus on the chessboard between them, but Lex doesn’t always let her. 

“Dust is impermanent by nature. Shifting daemons when we’re young, sure, but not just that. Look at Superman.” He spins his Luthor heirloom signet ring around his pinky finger, his eyes suddenly very far away. “No daemon.”

“That we know of,” Lena points out, moving her own pawn to try and trap his queen. 

Lex rolls his eyes. “Okay, that we know of. But we can’t ignore the implications.” He takes her pawn with his bishop, falling right into her trap. 

“Implications?” She asks a little too innocently. 

Lex is too focused on his lecture to hear it, parroting her pawn movement with one of his own. “We’re not the only species out there, Lee-loo. There’s an expanding universe of potential, and we’re the only ones who have daemons.” He says it like it’s the winning argument of a national debate competition. 

Lena moves her own queen, lightning quick, forcing eye contact and tilting her head in confusion. Kieran hides his face by the nape of her neck, chortling softly. “So?” She asks. 

“So?” Lex echoes incredulously. “Are you even listening?” He moves his knight to f3. “We’ve been operating under the assumption that daemons are necessary to intelligent life for thousands of years. Clearly, that’s not true. It changes everything, Lena.”

Lena strikes. Her pawn takes his queen with one smooth movement, her fingers curling around ink-black crown on the piece’s head. “Check,” she says. “Checkmate in four.”

Lex opens his mouth, then closes it. He scowls at the board. With a huff, he knocks his king over. 

Lena grins at him. 

“Don’t be smug,” he says. “It’s why you don’t have any friends at school.”

Kieran tugs at a group of hairs at the base of her neck. “Lex,” Lena says, her smile fading. “Where’s Greza?” 

“None of your business.” He gets up and adjusts the sleeves of his sports jacket. “Mother says we’re having dinner as a family tonight. Don’t be late.”

That night, Kieran hops to his perch in the cage without Lena having to utter a coaxing word. 

//

Alex sits with her on the roof in silence. Q rests his face on the windowsill behind them, his dark eyes focused on the stars above just like Kara’s are. 

Alex looks at her sister instead of the cosmos. Her fingers tap at her knees as she struggles to find the right words. She wishes that Q could sit on the roof with her, that his paws—now permanently paws—didn’t slip against the shingles. 

“He was a good cat,” Alex finally says, more than a little awkwardly, patting Kara on the shoulder. Streaky wasn’t Kara’s daemon, but Alex knows just how much her sister had come to lean on his presence. 

Kara only nods in response. Her throat aches—she isn’t sure she’s able to speak. 

“Have you thought about…”

“Yeah. Not many mute African Gray Parrots out there.”

“True.” 

Kara leans her head against Alex’s shoulder, the pressure of it so light that Alex can barely feel her weight at all. 

“What about a snake?” Alex asks. “A little one.”

“I like snakes.”

“You like every animal. And every animal likes you,” Alex adds, only a little bitterly. It’s like her sister’s a Disney princess. “You could carry one around your arm, wear long sleeves on days the snake isn’t into it.”

“I could carry him around in a little fanny pack with a hand warmer,” Kara suggests, sounding perkier than she has in days. 

Alex doesn’t bother hiding her smile. “Yeah,” she agrees. “You could carry him around in a fanny pack with a hand warmer.”

//

It’s only when Lena’s school comes into view at the end of the impossibly long, manicured driveway that Kieran’s stubborn eye contact compels her to speak. 

“Mother,” Lena begins quietly. 

“Speak up, Lena,” Lillian says, not taking her eyes off of the medical journal in her lap. She’s spent the whole drive like that, just like every drive to and from school. Lena doesn’t know why she bothers to come. 

Lena’s hands twist her in her lap. Kieran’s head nudges under them and they relax. 

“Something’s wrong with Lex,” she forces herself to say. Then, quieter again, “with Greza.”

Mr. Bates, her mother’s driver, pulls up to the drop off point. The inside of the car stays quiet while he gets out and retrieves Lena’s luggage from the trunk.

“I’ll see you in the spring,” her mother says. She’s looking at her medical journal. “Bring that B+ in Physical Education up to an A.”

“I don’t even know why you bother coming,” Lena spits out, suddenly furious. “It’s not like everyone else’s mom drops them off at the start of term.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Lillian says airily. “When else am I going to get two hours of quiet to myself?” 

Lena opens the door with the goal of slamming it behind her, but Kieran has a different idea. He stays in Lena’s seat, then hops the tiniest bit closer. 

Tantox slithers out to meet him, tongue flickering as he goes. When Kieran tilts his head, Tantox blinks his albino-red eyes in response. 

It only lasts a second; Kieran is flying out ahead of her in the next breath. Lillian is frozen, her hands still against the pages in her lap.

“And make some friends,” she says before Lena can shut the door. “Dr. Perth says you could be stunting your own growth.”

Lena glares, then slams the car door shut. 

//

“Is your boss’s daemon still freaking you out?” Alex asks at sister night, stroking Streaky Jr.’s head where he’s curled up in her lap.

“Yes,” Kara sulks. “What’s his problem with my handsome baby sweetie-pie? It’s so insulting. So what if he’s a little shy? He doesn’t have to prowl around us. Stupid panther types.”

“Maybe he’s got some sort of weird daemon radar. It’s Cat Grant. I’d believe it.” She looks over at Q. “What’s the report on Streaks, huh?”

“He’s a snake,” Q says, completely deadpan.

Kara rolls her eyes. “You’re not funny,” she says.

Q puts his head on his paws and looks up at her. Kara points at him. “Enough of that.” She turns to her sister and gestures for her snake. “And enough for you, come on.”

“No,” Alex protests, her pout almost matching her daemon’s. “You just gave him to me, you come on.”

“It’s been seventeen minutes,” Kara says. “Your measly human body temperature isn’t high enough to handle him for more than twenty, it’s not safe.”

Alex hands Streaky Jr. over with a huff. He curls around Kara’s arm immediately, naturally seeking out the extra warmth in her skin.”You’re such a snake hog.”

“Get your own fake daemon.”

“I would, except I know he’d like you better, you weird animal magnet.”

Kara reaches for the little spray bottle she keeps on the coffee table and gives Streaky Jr. a few spritzes. “Stay jealous.” 

//

“If you could tell the court what you saw upon entering Luthor Corp sub basement 3 lab on July 23rd, please, Ms. Luthor.”

Lena leans in a little, to make sure the microphone will pick up everything she says. “I saw my brother and his daemon inside the DIC.” She winces, then clarifies, “the Dust Isolation Chamber.”

“Dust Isolation Chamber,” the prosecutor repeats. “Can you explain what that is to the court, please?”

“One of my brother’s inventions.” Lena’s fingers twitch towards the outsides of her thighs, but she resists the urge to sit on them. “It sends certain wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum through a confined space with the hope of further studying Dust as a scientific phenomenon. It…wasn’t made for people to be inside of it. Or daemons.”

The prosecutor nods. He has perpetually narrowed eyes and an opossum daemon, neither of which really give Lena any sort of ease answering his questions, even though they had prepped for days beforehand. “What form did the defendant’s daemon take, Ms. Luthor?”

“A leopard,” Lena croaks. 

The prosecutor turns in a circle, pageantry for the jury and the courtroom, since it’s quite clear that there’s no leopard sitting by Lex. “I don’t see a leopard.”

Lex’s lawyer—Colton, from their family’s usual legal team—stands. “Objection. Argumentative, your honor.”

The judge nods. “Sustained,” she says. To the prosecutor: “ask your question.”

“What happened to your brother’s daemon on July 23rd, Ms. Luthor?”

“He—” Lena clears her throat. Kieran, who has been calmly perched on the side of the witness stand through her testimony, puffs up his feathers a little. “He attempted to sever himself from her. It didn’t really��I’m not sure what his goal was, exactly, but he didn’t manage to do it all the way. If he had, he’d be catatonic.”

Lex, dressed in one of his finest suits and a sharp purple tie, smiles at her from across the room like they’re only playing a game of chess.

“Was this out of character for your brother?”

“No,” Lena admits. “He’s been training himself to be apart from his daemon for years now.”

“Did the time he began that—‘training,’ you said?—did that happen to coincide with the appearance of Superman.”

The smile on Lex’s face disappears. 

Lena swallows hard. “Yes,” she says.

//

“If you could talk,” Kara says to Streaky Jr.’s little face, “would you give me as much sass as Q gives Alex? I don’t think you would.”

Streaky Jr. keeps lapping at the water bowl in his terrarium. 

“Would you even be a snake?” She rests her chin on her hands, close enough to the glass that her breath fogs it up a little. “Alex says my daemon would be a bald eagle. Or a naked mole rat.” She wrinkles her nose. “It depends on how recently I’ve ignored her advice in the field.”

Streaky Jr. blinks slowly at her. His body curls together a little more.

“But I don’t think you’d be a bird. Maybe you’d be a h’raka. Or a rondor. A zuurt, even.”

Streaky Jr. leaves his water dish behind, retreating into his cave in the corner.

“Yeah,” Kara whispers. “Probably not.”

//

“Stop picking at it,” Lena says absent-mindedly, mostly focusing on the email she’s writing about that quarter’s budget reports. 

“It itches,” Kieran complains. It’s his first molt since they came to National City, and it seems to be taking all summer. It always leaves them both irritable. 

“I’ll take a look later,” she promises, “but not while we’re at work.”

The intercom on her office phone buzzes. Kieran falls quiet; Lena reaches out and hits the button.

“I have Dr. Ketterman up from R&D, Miss Luthor,” Jess says.

Kieran flies from his perch on top of the bookcase to come land on her shoulder. He settles there, nuzzles his head down by the nape of her neck, as though that makes the big black bulk of him out of sight.

“Send him in,” Lena tells Jess.

//

What Lena first sees when Kara Danvers sits down for their interview is her smile, her eyes, the kind curiosity that bursts both. 

The second thing she sees is the small red head of a snake peeking out from her collar before disappearing again. Only a few moments later, that same head appears at the cuff of her sleeve, slithering right into the open fanny pack around her waist. Lena is so befuddled that the tension that had bunched up her muscles at the sight of him begins to dissipate. 

“He’s shy,” Kara says when she catches Lena staring, her face pink. “Um, he likes to—I keep a hand warmer wrapped in cloth in there? He prefers it to, um, having to—”

“Kara,” Lena interrupts gently, the tension in her shoulders entirely gone. “I get it.”

Kieran is sitting out on the balcony, doing his best to fit in with a group of pigeons instead of standing somewhere Kara could look directly at him. Lena can’t exactly start throwing stones from within her very glass house. 

Probably sensing the way Lena is thinking about him, Kieran flies in from the balcony, through the window that Lena keeps open for him. It’s a lot easier than it was in Metropolis, when Lena had to bundle up in her office all throughout the winter. 

“He’s beautiful,” Kara breathes out. She blinks rapidly once she does, her face going pink again, this time even worse than before. “Oh, gosh. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to—”

“So is he,” Lena says, her eyes flicking to Kara’s fanny pack, now nearly overflowing with red scales.

“He’s a corn snake,” Kara says a little too quickly. “Um. Did you know that while the general collective noun for snakes is den, some snake species have their own? Like, it’s a generation of vipers. Or a rhumba of rattlesnakes.”

“Is that so?” Lena asks, too befuddled to say anything else.

“Is it ravens that have the collective noun of murder?” Kara asks. “Or is that crows?”

“Crows,” Lena says, more confident with a question she knows the answer to. “It’s an unkindness of ravens, technically.” She shrugs. “Most people just use flock.”

“That’s not right,” Kara says in that gentle way she has, the one that makes Lena feel like her chest is one touch away from shattering. “Your daemon isn’t unkind.”

Lena’s lip quirks into something similar to a smile. “That’s because we’re alone,” she says. 

Kara opens her mouth like she wants to say something else that will be psychologically damaging to Lena’s afternoon. Lena jumps in before she gets the chance.

“So, where would you like to begin? L-Corp’s rebrand?”

Kara deflates slightly, but nods. She reaches for her notepad, flicks to an open page, and looks up with those big blue eyes her glasses don’t do a good job of hiding. “Yeah, that’s—that’s a great place to start. When did you decide on a full rebrand along with the relocation?”

//

Kieran loops languidly around the sky above her balcony, a blur of ink against the royal blue of the early evening. Supergirl stands next to her, watching him. It makes Lena feel far too exposed, but given the way Supergirl’s made a habit of saving her life from the very start of their relationship, she tries not to be too offended. After all, dealing with daemon manners when you don’t have a daemon can’t be easy.

“You look like you’ve hardly ever seen one before,” Lena finally observes.

Supergirl shoots her a tiny smile. “Maybe he’s just particularly striking.” Her fingers tap against the railing. “When my parents sent me here, they told me of your daemons,” she adds. “They didn’t have much time, but…my mother, she called them your nahv-shesur.” 

“And what does that translate to?” Lena asked, curious how anyone who did not know the touch of their own daemon could try to define it.

Supergirl’s head tilts to the side as she considers that. “Made up of your soul,” she finally says, “but on Krypton we had two ways of saying that. My mother used the conceptual version instead of the spacial one. I still don’t know if she knew daemons were tangible.”

Lena shudders at the thought, and Kieran swoops down in response, perching himself on her shoulder.

“Not tangible,” Supergirl rushes to correct herself. “Of course, I don’t mean—well, you know what I mean, don’t you? They’re real.” She rubs a frustrated hand across her forehead. “I never manage to say it right when I talk about them. Even after all this time, they’re still foreign to me.”

Kieran nips at the top of Lena’s ear. He’s always quiet when there’s company, but they developed their own silent language well before Lena’s tenth birthday. Reassure her, he’s saying. Now. What’s taking so long? 

“Daemons aren’t foreign to you,” Lena finds herself saying.

Supergirl blinks. “What?”

“Just because you can’t see your daemon, doesn’t mean they’re not there,” Lena says. “Did you have Dust on Krypton?”

With a movement so fast Lena’s eyes can’t catch it, Supergirl looks away, leaving Lena only able to see the curve of her jaw and cheek. When she speaks, her voice is rough. “Yes,” she says. “Khir.” 

“Your khir,” Lena says, hopefully with an only slightly terrible accent, “could you see it?”

“Under the right circumstances.” 

There’s a creaking noise, and when Lena looks down to try and locate it, she sees Supergirl’s hands move from the railing to reveal imprints of her grip. 

“Sorry,” she says. “We could see Khir under certain light spectrums. Especially in low orbit, when Rao’s Light came through the atmosphere and—sorry, I’m getting carried away.” She laughs a wet little sound and then clears her throat. When she faces Lena again, her eyes are rimmed with red. 

“Did you ever see it?” Lena asks.

Supergirl’s eyelids slip closed. “It was the last thing I saw,” she whispers. “Khir rising up to meet Rao in the atmosphere. While Krypton still had an atmosphere.”

Kieran’s claws maul Lena’s shoulder until she reaches out and puts a hand on top of Supergirl’s. 

“There’s Dust everywhere,” Lena tells her, then repeats: “Just because you can’t see your daemon, doesn’t mean they aren’t there.”

[storiesabouthumanandthings]

The Punk and The Suit 2

A beat passes before the punk steps out, still holding hands.

The Punk angrily whispers, “I want an extra $50 for the last second change of plans.”

Kristoph smiles, “Seems fair. Just don't start an actual fight, we don’t want anyone to call the cops but try to get everyone as upset as possible.”

As Kristoph makes his way through the crowd with the punk people immediately begin to whisper and stare.

The punk grumbles, “I feel rather under dressed for this, whatever this is.” as he types and sends a message on his phone before putting it away.

Kristoph nods, “You are but that makes it better. Plus, you look pretty good like this just like normal.”

The punk raises an eyebrow, “Normal? Are you stalking me?”

Kristoph leads them to the buffet table, “No but you practice your board work in front of my work. You’re really good, you and your friends, I mean. Name is Kristoph by the way.”

“Kieran, anything else should I know, stalker?”

Kristoph makes a hesitant noise before handing Kieran a drink. Kieran quickly downs it before grabbing a second, “There is one more thing. You might not even need to say anything. You just being here is enough to make everyone mad.”

A woman who has been staring suspiciously at Kieran caught his attention. He turned to her and said “Boo!” She squeaked and shuffled away. He turned back to Kristoph, “You don’t say.”

“Well, I mean yes but uh also do you remember the guy you knocked down earlier today?”

“That jerk that ruined my trick because he wasn’t watchin…. wait….no…. don’t say it…”

“That jerk is the jerk this party is for, my jerk stepbrother.”

Kieran grabs Kristoph by the collar and picks him up on his tippy toes, growling through his teeth, “That’s a dirty trick, I ought to lay you out right now.”

Kristoph placed his hands on Kieran’s, “I agree with you. I did trick you. But if you do that, I can’t give you the other $50 you wanted.”

Kieran slowly sets Kristoph back down. More people are staring now. Kristoph smiles and waves them off, “Isn’t he strong!”

Once people begin to leave, Kristoph grabs two plates and hands one to Kieran, “How about another $50 for tricking you?”

Kieran yanks the plate from Kristoph, “$100 and I still may punch you when the night is over.”

Kristoph nods, “Fair enough. Let me just take off my glasses first. Don’t feel like getting those replaced.”

Kieran stacks his plate high with food. Kristoph watches him balance the plate as they walk to a table near the front and thinks that it might have been easier just to pull up a chair at the buffet table.

After a few moments and more stares and whispers surrounding them, Kristoph leans in, “Want to hear something funny?”

Kieran rolls his eyes and chews the mouth full he had quickly “Cause you have been real funny tonight.”

“After you left, Eric, my stepbrother, ended up convincing everyone that you and your friends were a bunch of gangsters up to no good and he single-handedly fought you all off.”

Kieran snorted then let out a loud laugh, “Now that is hilarious. I’d bet he doesn’t know how to lift a finger, let alone make a fist.”

Kristoph chuckled quietly to himself, “Thought you would enjoy that. Can’t wait to see his face when he sees you. Wonder if he’ll even recognize you?”

Kieran let out another big laugh, “If he does he will be shitting himself. Might need to challenge him to a fight,” Kristoph shook his head, “at least an arm wrestle?”

Kristoph thought about it, “Doubt he would go for it, cause he would definitely lose but an arm wrestle I would be ok with. If you get him to do it, I’ll throw in a bonus for you.”

Kieran stood up at this moment causing Kristoph to grab his arm, “Where are you going? You’re not going to try and find him right now?”

Kieran laughed and gestured at his empty plate, “Nah, just getting more food, you said I could eat as much as I wanted right? I am eating till I burst. Don’t be acting like a jealous boyfriend.” Kieran gave a wink and kissy face as he walked away.

Kristoph could feel himself blush as he could hear the whispers around him began to raise once again so he turned his attention to his plate of food.

While he was picking at his food, Kristoph’s father, his current wife, Liz, and Eric showed up.

“Alone again? You can’t even get a date for such an important event?” Eric teased.

“Leave him alone. He’ll date when he’s ready,” John, Kristoph’s father defended, “though he needs to go out to be able to do that,” almost. ”Well, actually, I brought someone special with me tonight. Surprised you haven’t heard.” Kristoph stated plainly.

Eric scoffed, “Oh, and how much did you have to pay her?” It annoyed Kristoph that Eric was half right about that.

“Stop this fighting! We are supposed to be acting like a family,” Liz snapped at Eric, slightly surprising Kristoph, “We are in public. Don’t embarrass me.” Ah, there it is. More worried about the image than anything else. She turned to smile and wave at someone waving a few tables away.

“Well, where is this date then?” demanded Eric, ignoring his mother’s warning.

Being purposely cryptic Kristoph gestured with his fork, “My date is at the buffet, getting more food.”

“Well hopefully she doesn’t bump into the scoundrel. I heard that some street punk is in here. I tried speaking to the security to get him thrown out but apparently they are somebody’s plus one,” Liz cried.

“When I find out who invited such lowly scum in here, I will have them both thrown out,” John declared while comforting his new bride.

Kristoph took a bite of food to hide his grin, ‘would they really throw me out? That would be a win-win. Don’t have to be here and cause a scene either way.’

As they were pulling out chairs to sit Kieran arrived and sat on the other side of Kristoph, “The food is fucking amazing. You just have to bring me to more events like this.”

Kristoph looked up slightly to see the three go pale. “Perfect timing, Kieran. Kieran, this is my family, John, my father, Liz, his wife, and Eric, my step brother. Everyone, this is my date, Kieran.”

Kieran got up and leaned a bit into Kristoph’s space to flash him a sinister smile before putting a kinder face on and walking over to each one and shaking their hands, “So good to meet you finally. Your son is such an amazing guy. And look at you, you are just so sexy, there is no way you are old enough to be a mother.” He winks at Liz whose face does something strange before turning to Eric and grabbing his hand to shake it while placing the other on Eric’s shoulder, “And you, I hear this whole shindig is for you congrats,” Kieran kinda squeezes Eric’s shoulder, “man you feel strong, hiding some muscles underneath that suit?”

Eric sorta laughed nervously, glancing at Kristoph who was doing his best to keep a pleasant face and not burst with laughter, and nodded, “Yeah, I guess, I go to the gym when I can.”

Kieran doubled down, “It’s been doing you good, but not sure you’re as strong as me,” flexing his clearly exposed muscles in his fishnet shirt, “You know people often say skateboarders are weak so how about an arm wrestle? Let’s see if my board work is building muscle as well as your gym routine, what do you say?”

Eric shook his head quickly, “No I don’t think that would be a good idea.”

That’s when John joined in, “He’s probably still sore. He had to fight off a gang earlier today.”

“Really? A whole gang?” Kieran widened his eyes like he was in disbelief “Well I will keep an eye out for them then. Can’t be too careful these days. You know you really gotta watch were you’re going huh?”

Everyone agreed as Kieran retook his seat. Kristoph just slowly leaned over and whispered, “Well no bonus for you.”

Kieran stifled a laugh before leaning in and not really whispering, “Night is still young. We’ll see.”

Kristoph can see the recoil from his dad who was close enough to hear and peers over at Eric, who is sat on the farthest side from him, who is furious now. Regardless of what happens next, Eric’s night has been ruined.

Said night dragged on while Kristoph watched as Kieran seemed to never stop eating. In between they did talk, mostly about skate boarding. When his family got up to mingle and prepare for the big speech and photos, Kristoph admitted he loved to watch skateboarding but could never do it. “It’s seen as a commoner sport according to my father. So he put me in tennis, golf, and violin instead of course. Another boring useless thing for business reasons.”

Kieran nodded, “That sucks, being forced to do things just because it looks good for others. Have you even been on a board?”

Kristoph shook his head, “Never got one as a kid and no time as an adult.”

Kieran’s face squished as he thought, “Well, I know where you work and you know where I play. I can at least let you try my board sometime. Since apparently you watch me all the time, stalker,” he teases.

Kristoph smiles, “Maybe.” he says but thinks to himself that this will be the last time he probably ever sees Kieran.

A glass ringing gets everyone’s attention as Eric steps up on the little stage and begins his speech. He starts off by thanking everyone one for coming and leads into how he is excited for the promotion and is going to help lead the company into a new era.

Kristoph feels a small pull on his shoulder and leans back into Kieran who speaks into his ear, “So how bad do you really want to piss everyone off?”

Kristoph turns his face to Kieran and raises an eyebrow, “Really bad. But still no violence and nothing that would get cops called.”

Kieran grins and leans closer, his cheek brushing Kristoph’s cheek and his lips almost touching Kristoph’s ear making goosebumps travel over his skin, “So other than that, you are willing to do anything? Just to make them mad? For one night?”

Kristoph nodded his face tightening, “Yes, I want them to pay. I want to see them seethe in anger. They will never understand their mistakes so I want them to feel as angry as I do.” his fists curled into tight balls underneath the table.

With that, Kieran grabs Kristoph’s face, angles it gently and begins kissing him. First its kisses on the lips that Kristoph just accepts but as Kristoph soon starts kissing back, a tongue is pushing it’s way in his mouth. Kristoph can feel his fists relax and his shoulders melt. He shortly places a single hand on Kieran’s face and one on his thigh squeezing it as he leans in to the kiss.

Kieran pulls away first, leaving Kristoph to bite his lower lip. Kieran whispers, “I think that’ll do,” before turning back in his seat.

Kristoph blinks for a moment as the world comes back. He can hear that Eric’s speech is now over and music is playing. He blushes, ‘how long have we been kissing? What all have I missed?’ he questioned himself.

Kieran goes back to eating as if nothing happened, ignoring the stares from his father and Eric and the crowd. As his plate is emptied, Kieran’s phone goes off loudly, “Oops forgot to silence it. Sorry about that everyone, I have a prior thing that we must be getting to. It was great meeting you all.” Kieran stands and finger guns at Kristoph’s family, “Rain check on that arm wrestle, Eric?” before waving to everyone Bye!”

Kieran pulls Kristoph up and drags him out with him, grabbing him by the hand. As they hurry out Kieran drops his hand and grabs a large serving tray of food off the buffet.

As soon as the door of the elevator closes, Kieran howls with laughter, “Man that was amazing! Anybody else you need me to piss off? You think this is a business we can run? You be the office man and I’ll be the foot man?”

Kristoph laughs and smiles, “Nobody else, but I’ll get you your money. We can stop by an ATM or?”

“Can’t, I was serious about that other thing. You already made me late.”

“Well, how about lunch tomorrow then?”

Kieran raises an eyebrow, “You buying?”

Kristoph laughs, “Can you even eat anymore? But sure.”

Kieran winks, “Then it’s a date, and hey maybe tomorrow you’ll get more than a kiss,” the elevator doors open to a hallway as Kieran runs off leaving Kristoph standing with his mouth open, stunned.

First Next

[pigeon-wizard]

I watched a playthough of the Teal Mask and to me, (right now at least, we'll see if that changes after The Indigo Disk) Kieran and Carmine seem a lot like undiagnosed neurodivergent kids who don't know how to put their situation into words.

I relate a lot to both of them in very different ways, there was a long while in late elementary (and would have been middle school if i went to one) where I didn't know how to expresses how I felt and ended up lashing out in various ways. Carmine is a lot older then i was when this was happening but i still see my own experiences in her. I switched very often from mature and stable seeming to mean and aggressive and would often seem both ways at the same time. i'd go from eloquent to bratty at a moments notice. I was a real dick in general and i don't think any of what i did was good or 'justified' (my understanding of that word is starting to slip), but i was doing all this because I fundamentally didn't understand myself and what was "wrong" with me.

Kieran is a different side of the same coin, and a little bit more straight forward. He's a shy kid with an interest that very few around him share. He really likes it when the player character takes an interest in the ogre and gets mad when Carmine doesn't let him in on the plan to help it. He also relates to the story of the oger and sympathizes with it when others don't. His anger when Ogerpon likes the player more then him is understandable to me, not good at all but understandable.

A lot of this leads to my reading that Kieran is autistic, and I feel a lot of my experiences as an autistic person myself in him. I haven't quite pinned down how i feel about Carmine and interpret her other then a vague sense of 'she has issues and should probably get some outside help'.

on top of all of this I think it's interesting to see how they interact with each other through this reading. I was an older sister and see a lot of my situation with my brother with them. I had too many mental issues to handle inside so i ended up pushing away my brother because i simply couldn't put any energy towards being a good sibling for him. Carmine is rude to Kieran and is often surprised when Kieran says anything to defend himself. Much like my situation with my brother I hope we see them figure out their issues and understand themselves and each other better. The ending of the Teal Mask left a lot of this open so i'm exited to how this ends.

[t1meslayer]

Star in the Making

First fanfiction of 2024!!!

I've been playing a lot of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet DLC on my vacation (pretty much completely finished with the Hidden Treasure of Area Zero if my very popular Kieran post and less-popular Penny post are any indication), and decided to channel that energy into finally finishing my long-awaited TEAM STAR FIC.

Love these dweebs. But this is also a nice stepping stone for my brain to be ready for the next big thing...

In the meantime, come on down to watch some idiots at work!

===

Fandom: Pokemon Scarlet & Violet

Pairings: Florian/Penny (part of my "Paldea's Fearsome Foursome" series), also all of Team Star. Mela and Eri make out specifically but let's be real, it's one big polycule.

Summary: Florian seeks to survive an encounter with the bosses of Team Star — not as a Champion of Paldea's Pokemon League, but as Penny's significant other.

Spoilers for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet: The Indigo Disk (but not the DLC epilogue).

Click through the Read More below to get a preview of the latest chapter. Thanks for reading <3

"Oh." Florian clears his throat, mimicking Penny's nervous play with his sleek Blueberry Academy backpack. "Are they still mad at me about the whole…" He wobbles his hands in a noncommittal gesture. "… trying to disband their friendship club, thing?"

"Probably."

Penny swivels to crawl down the sandpaper walkway, her Eevee case Rotom Phone floats out into the open with a scrolling social media feed. Each step echoes creaking metal. She curls to keep an eye on the pavement below.

"Don't worry." Penny rolls her head along her shoulder. Red hair falls further than her broad forehead, obscuring parts of her trim spectacles. "If anyone gives you guff, I'll set 'em straight."

[yowzar--meow]

When I watched Torchwood's Countrycide episode I took notes

TW. Mentions violence and cannibalism

Owen

- openly blunt

- the smell of grass is disgusting

- doesn't like camping

- doesn't know to camp

- disturbed by bleeding carcass

- bad posture despite being a doctor

- secretly a sweetheart

- calls Toshiko "Tosh"

- knows when to stop when gets death stared by member *Gwen*

- a very good doctor

- worried about members *Ianto* *Toshiko* when not back soon enough

- doesn't stop worrying once he's started

- still worried about members *Ianto* *Toshiko*

- overprotective when members *Toshiko* are hurt

- calls people "mate"

-

Gwen

- is not surprised at Owen's remarks

- doesn't take offense when "no offense" is said

- has a good eye

- disturbed by bleeding carcass

- is surprised at the emptiness

- knows how to open a cash register

- retches at the sight of a dead person bleeding out

- furious when shot

- doesn't say not to a member *Owen* being a good doctor

- protects kids

- pushes through to help said kid *Kieran*

- super protective when members *Owen* are in danger

- wants to know why people do things they do

Toshiko

- second babysitter

- cautious

- worried when hears far away screams

- pulls out gun when hears a second screech

- tries kicking down doors

- when paranoid she draws gun

- tries to get guns when captured

- looks around when locked up

- protects other people

- empathy

- tries to protect member *Ianto* from looking at disturbing things

- tries to reason with people before violence

- kicks people *men* in the privates

Ianto

- babysitter

- brushes off far away screams

- strays

- is worried when member *Toshiko* is "lost"

- calls Toshiko "Tosh"

- when pulls out gun is shaky

- doesn't like camping

- aware

- worried "a little" when captured

- stays in one place

- protects other people

- gets mad when members *himself* *Toshiko* don't get saved

- doesn't like strangers touching him

- headbutts over people in protection

- gets himself in danger to help other members escape *Toshiko*

Jack

- does things the harder way

- isn't disturbed by a dead body bleeding out

- only then gets worried to when member *Gwen* gets shot

- super duper protective over his team *all of them*

- uses vehicles to burst into rooms

- shoots enemies without hesitation

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

Hi there! So i hope you dont mind me requesting the BB league elite four members + Kieran with a disabled reader who used to be a former BB league elite four member themself (Romantic for Drayton and platonic for the others)

So basically, the reader used to be the fifth ranked member of BB league elite four but after Kieran became the BB league champion, they lost their rank to Crispin and now is the sixth ranked member. Though, they dont have any hard feelings and still see the elite four members as their friends

the reader had an accident when they were younger and now uses a wheelchair to move around. They have a gardevoir who they raised since she was a ralts and now helps her trainer with stuff (so maybe there’s something the reader needs but it’s on the top shelf, Gardevoir will then just use psychic and bring it down for them or maybe the reader wanted to try walking with a cane, if the reader fall, Gardevoir will catch them with psychic) and a Hisuian Braviary to help them get to places in the terrarium (if some hisuian pokemon still exist in this generation, who’s to say that Hisuian Braviary still exist as well)

With permission from the director, Gardevoir was allowed out of her ball to help the reader which then leads to a misconception where people think the reader is a psychic type trainer due to Gardevoir and Hisuian Braviary, when in fact they’re not. They are actually a ghost type trainer but they never bother to clear the misconception bc its funny to see people’s faces when people see their ghost type team.

Hope you have a lovely day/night btw!

- 🪷 anon

Oooh in regards to Hisuian Pokemon, I have a hc that they are extremely rare and got isekai'd to the present via space-time distortion bubbles (like opposite of how Porygon and Johtonian Sneasel were transported to Hisui)

Anyways these hcs sorta took off on their own haha, so they're under the cut!

.....

Drayton

Despite being wheelchair-bound for most of your life, that never stopped you from joining the BB Elite Four and becoming the fifth ranked member practically overnight.

Around that time, you and Drayton were dating, and during his champion days, he always tried to make time for you and put his duties on the backburner.

He knows you value your independence and will only help you out with stuff if asked.

But usually it's your two psychic types that assist you. They don't battle much, but rather work as your medical support Pokémon.

Gardevoir, a sweet lass you've raised since she was a Ralts, uses Psychic to retrieve things for you that are just a little out of your reach in the store.

One good days, you could walk around with a cane...but if they turn bad (ie your chronic pain acts up) she'll use Heal Pulse as a temporary remedy.

She also pushes your chair around in case your arms get tired, taking you around to accessible spots.

Director Cyrano gave you permission to let her stay outside her pokeball 24/7 so she can properly work.

You also have a Hisuian Braviary--who literally travelled across time and space to meet you--that flies you around the Terarium, letting you climb on their back while their talons securely hold onto your folded chair.

With those two often out and about, there's a common misconception about you being the Elite Four's psychic specialist...when in reality you have a ghost type team.

Many challengers find that out the hard way when they clear your trial and send their ghosts against you....only for you to reveal your own ghostly duo that hit back twice as hard.

Drayton loves watching your matches from the sidelines and laughs every time he sees their shocked faces.

He even proposed an idea that your team should remain a mystery up until the moment of battle.

All is well until Kieran comes along and dethrones him, which demotes you to the sixth ranking member..while Crispin takes your spot.

It wasn't exactly a position you liked, since it's on the cusp of disqualifying you as an elite member.

But you weren't mad at anybody over this...if anything you had to make sure Drayton didn't get too mad at Kieran.

Eventually, though, he learns that he could spend more time with you and has less responsibilities on his plate (ofc he's still petty, as we all know during Indigo Disk).

Despite his lax personality, he wants to do all he can to support you and defend you from harassment.

This man would definitely find excuses to carry you around.

"Oh why don't cha give your Pokémon a break and let me help you over here?" He suggests and you end up accepting his offer, letting him carry you from your wheelchair to the sofa in the club room...which is literally five feet away.

Still, you let him do what he wants.

Plus getting to cuddle is a nice bonus.

Kieran

You once knew him as this sweet shy kid who used to be scared of your Hisuian Braviary, always asking if they're gonna hypnotize him.

"No, Kiki..they just help me get around places."

"...a-are you sure? Because they're starin' at me kinda weird.."

"That's how they normally are."

Plus he (like many students) falsely believed you had a psychic team when you're actually the Elite Four's ghost-type specialist.

He admired that "element of surprise" you brought to the table and dreamed of the day he could challenge you himself.

But one trip to his hometown and back later...he's suddenly the Champion, a shell of his former self, who only sees Pokémon as tools for battle.

You wonder what happened to him, although apparently he had a bad falling out with some exchange student and took his angst out on everyone at BBA.

Getting you knocked down to the sixth rank was something he never really apologized for.

Despite that, he didn't tolerate people who talked shit about you, your ranking, your medical condition, or why your Pokémon get to roam more freely than their own.

"At least [y/n] is still out there training their team every day. At least they're turning their hardships into strength. What's your excuse?"

"I-I didn't mean any offense, Kieran! Listen, I'll apologize to them and-"

"Oh, you will...after we have a battle so I can assess your strength. No potions. No moves that boost attack, speed, or defense. If you lose, you resign. You have one hour to prepare."

Sometimes, you're not sure if he's genuinely looking out for you...or if he just wanted an excuse to bully club members around.

While he's aware that Gardevoir and Hisuian Braviary are mainly your medical support 'mons, he still thinks they can always try out battling.

"They could be the ones who help you climb the ranks again [y/n]. Surely you're tired of being in last place, aren't you?"

Yet the advice he believes is helpful is usually unwarranted half the time.

You could just be casually talking to a friend about how your opponent out-sped you and/or used Light Screen/Reflect...

Only for Kieran to barge into the conversation with "well maybe you should've taught Braviary Tailwind/Defog..but I guess you don't have the time for that" or something passive-aggressive that just makes you both uncomfortable.

Your psychic types are honestly annoyed by his new attitude..and you're just disheartened by how he acts around Drayton now.

You and him dating never bothered Kieran before, but now he just glares at your bf 24/7 and scoffs loudly if you're talking about anything except battling.

Despite everything, you knew he was going through something difficult, so you tried not to take his words to heart. You still saw him as a friend.

Someone who was just misguided in his ambitions.

After his humbling defeat and adventure into Area Zero, he comes back with extreme guilt, with you being the first elite member he apologizes to.

He especially feels shitty for distracting your psychic types from doing their jobs properly with his constant nagging to battle them.

But you forgive him, thanking him properly for all the times he's stood up for you.

And you do end up taking some of his unsolicited advice.

You invite him to a friendly double-battle when he returns from break and brought out Braviary and Gardevoir, using Tailwind and terastalizing one of them into a ghost type.

It turns out that whenever they're not working, they battle in perfect sync.

Crispin

In the beginning, this chef boi wondered how your two psychic types help you with your daily life, and you just explain everything as simply as you could to him during a picnic.

"So Gardevoir pushes me around, retrieves stuff I can't reach, and helps me manage my pain. Braviary just flies me around the Terarium....any questions?"

"Just one......do you use Braviary because the taxis here don't accommodate your wheelchair?" He assumes, already starting to fume. "How outrageous! That's not-!"

"Calm down, Crispy..they do. I'm just saying that I'd rather fly with Brave most of the time. It's not only convenient, but more fun for me."

"...o-oh, right. Sorry for getting all fire-up back there.." He gushes.

After learning how hard they work, he absolutely wants to make sure they're fed well everyday! Snacks alone won't sustain them. He knows this for sure.

So he's always cooking them up something, often wanting their opinion on the meals and sandwiches: are they too spicy or not spicy enough?

The same goes for your ghost types, too (especially if you have a Chandelure, Ceruledge, and/or Skeledirge on your team).

But after Kieran becomes the new champion and Crispin takes your rung on the League's ladder..he feels really awful and constantly apologizes for pretty much replacing you.

He should feel good about climbing closer to the top, but he doesn't, as he cried over the possibility of you hating him forever or resigning from the club because of him.

When you confronted him, he tried blaming the onions.

But your Gardevoir--one of the most emotionally-intuitive Pokémon out there--saw through his lie, and you had to reassure him he was still your friend.

You kept telling him you weren't mad....until you almost got mad fr because he wouldn't stop asking if you were 100% sure of that.

To prove it you, your psychic pokemon, and your ghost team all split one of the spiciest sandwiches he's ever made.

By the time it was finished, you were convinced you just learned the move Flamethrower.

Yet seeing that bright smile return to Crispin's face made it worth the agony.

Lacey

She loves hearing that you have a Gardevoir (or just cute ghost Pokémon in general).

If you have a Mimikyuu on your team, that's a plus in her book.

But regardless, she's the first to give you a warm welcome into the Elite Four, explaining the criteria and tests you had to pass in order to be accepted as a member.

Yet even outside of battle, she quickly discovers that your ghosts are still mischievous at best--always playing pranks on her fairies with moves like Phantom Force, Shadow Sneak, Astonish, and Poltergeist.

Ofc they never mean any harm, but when she hears Whimsicott squeal in fright, she's quick to come to its rescue and scold the perpetrator.

If you have a Gengar, it just laughs and mocks them both until it hears you roll up like "that wasn't very nice, y'know...apologize to Lacey and Whimsicott right now, please".

Even if it's a little defiant, a glare from Gardevoir or Hisuian Braviary is enough to make it relent and apologize.

Speaking of whom, seeing an ancient variant of Braviary did frighten Lacey upon first meeting them (especially with their hypnotic-looking faux flaming "eyes").

But over time she grows to like them, seeing how obedient and gentle they are with helping you get you around the Terarium.

If you have any decal on your chair, she'll suggest adding a few more things to make it "cuter". Like stickers of fairy types or a soft pillow for your back.

When you get demoted to the sixth rank in the League, she bought you those exact things to cheer you up, feeling bad that things turned out the way they did

But you expressed zero grudges towards anyone and appreciated her kindness.

Her Granbull always offers his tummy to you should you wanna rest somewhere--even though this makes Braviary a little jealous bc they're supposed to be your favorite resting spot.

Their rivalry is amusing, but Gardevoir often has to come to her fellow psychic type's rescue.

Meanwhile you're just sitting back and snickering at their banter, while poor Lacey begs you not to encourage this behavior.

Amarys

When you both first met, you found her personality rather off-putting, assuming she was doubting your capabilities of being an Elite Four Member despite passing all the tests.

She never seemed happy for you, her face always blank.

Growing up, a lot of people have pitied you, given you odd stares, or thought you would've given up being a Pokémon trainer...and some even asked outright insensitive questions about what happened to you--and seeing how Amarys acted kinda brought some of those ugly memories back to the forefront.

But once she realizes this, she apologizes straightaway for giving you such a bad impression, clarifying that she fully believes in your battling abilities.

Since then, you've formed a better friendship with her.

She asks you respectful questions about your wheelchair (ie if it's made from any strong alloys, how well it gets you around the Terarium's biomes, etc.) and how Gardevoir and Hisuian Braviary aid you in your daily life and listens well.

Learning that you actually battle with ghost types despite the misconception circulating around the school wasn't too surprising.

If anything, Amarys believes that was quite strategic on your part.

It's no wonder you have a lot of victories under your belt.

Even after getting demoted to the sixth rank, she's impressed you're still able to bounce back from such defeat..and that you didn't hold it against Kieran or anybody.

She believes he could learn a lesson or two from you and not take his loss against Florian/Juliana so hard...but knows that's not her place to speak.

[crystallineirises]

Emmy 2024 Liveblog

We high, we got snacks, we filled out a physical ballot lets see if i can figure out my mom's tv

heyyyyy a brother for MLK day

I do think about how he marched for me, a black girl, to say "step on me" about white women on the internet *black power fist*

I'm bored already lol

I turned the volume down lower so i can eat my little nosh

Why does the Fox camera never look as good as the other cameras, this has got an American Idol glow on it

I was like "is that Pete Davidson"

MOM

FOLLOWED BY SARAH

CHRISTINA why have not finished Dead To Me oh yeah cause I don't want it to end

ROUND OF APPLAUSE AND TEARS

TWO HITS DISABILITY AND OZEMPIC GO AWF

OH J - no it's not it's comedy

I'm rooting for everybody black actually I'm rooting for everyone this is stacked

AYO GET YR ASS UP HERE

Oooh Padma is looking fine

The energy of this is already better than the whole GG

CAAAAROOOOLLLL

They should just stay standing up

She looks so GOOD and that joke hit PERFECTLY women are better at everything

I don't really know which way this is gonna go

I still need to watch Poker Face I keep forgetting

QUINTAAAAA she looks so sweet

Damn Sarah got that ICE round her neck alright rap star girlfriend

SHERYL LOOKING REGAL

Didn't prepare nothing I love it

I really don't need to annotate the physical ballot and live blog but WHO CARES this is for me

Can these commercials stop the Discord said this is J's category and I know its not gonna be her but what if it *was*

I'm that meme of "Bruh thinks he's on the team" I've been nervous all DAY

Sam Seaborn what's up why are you hosting weird shit

*adds Sopranos to watch list*

Oh they have props money

OMG it's the mom from Rizzoli and Isles!!! OMG HEY

Hoooooo here we go

THESE GAYS

Eighty damn people in this category

GASP if you're gonna lose lose to Jennifer love this for us *CAW*

ALL THE EVIL GAYS

Your arm still broken damn

Someone give us the bleeped version plz but also he nailed that stare

Alan with his rocks and insects speech tho

SARAHHHH LOL TOMGREGS WINNING

DAMN that theme song sounds banging on this soundbar I really should learn how to use this tv

How is Curb still on the air? Not that it's bad, it just seems like it's been a very long time lol

Someone on Discord just said they wondered if they're gonna do a Friends thing for Matthew OH MY HEART in memoriam is gonna be roughhh

I'm not high enough lol

AYEEE EBON

Also that leather jacket is sickkk

I like the lack of commentary as they walk up, can we keep this shit classy

FIRST AD let's shout out the tech TEAMS

BLACKPEOPLEEE

I didn't realize Jeremy was also a small man lol I kinda would have loved for OMITB to win something but it's cool

sweet baby full of LOVE

AMY AND TINA

Smoke break

A pyramid lol

That woman behind him in the navy dress looked hot oh it's in a suburbs kinda way that's a great fucking dress though

OH she's not here? SHE ALWAYS HERE that's how black moms work

BEANS DONT BURN ON THE GRILL

Hannah's face and Kieran's face

BLACK DONT CRACK AND ITS NEVER TOO LATE

This is the blackest show i've ever seen without that many black people nominated

So many babes in this category

MORE BLACK WOMEN BLACK QUEER WOMEN

THIS SPEECH IS GOING OFFFFFFF

AND HER MOM I need to have all the black moms in the audience in a glamour shot together

oh and NOW we are high let's get into it YUH *rock on emoji*

WHERE EVERYBODY KNOW YR NAME

NORM

I love The Bear but I do like when things get spread out a bit? There's so many shows out there

*survivor yell*

YAY FOR THE GAYS AND GWORLS AND KWEENS AND THEYZ

Arsenio looks GOOD

Who is this beautiful woman

ALWAYS SUNNY THE KINGS AND QUEENS OF MY HEART and they look AMAZING

JUNO YOU LOOK SO HOT that hair swoop is STRONG

LOL can we get a full transcript of all bleeped things

shouts to all the negative bank account hoes out here

GREYZ BEBEZ where's Kate Walsh

BARZ

OH GOD GILLIAN i am about to lose it

Just kidding they just threw us off with x files theme that's fucked up

MAD MEN THEME ANOTHER BANGER

NOT THE HUG

*twerk team* also Sarah Snook

omg the boy from 30 rock his face is me

this speech was boring but that shot of J was great

Beef is so good so far but I'm only two episodes in

Not enough people have been chased off the stage honestly

Amy and Tina you look GREAT

ELTON JOHN EGOT GAYS IS WINNING

Ryan is chaotic evil lol but he sure has given us some shit to watch

Secondary Beef sweeeep

That's the thing, you get one good role and then you win all three awards it can get a little boring

you're gonna make it after aaaaaaallllllll

and a HAPPY MLK DAY TO US ALL

Jessica nominated for something in every awards show and every time she's just sitting around being pretty and chill

JOAN AND TARAJI DREAM BLUNT ROTATION

invited everyone you kneewwwooooooowww you would SEE the biggest gift would be from ME and the caaaardd attached would SAY thank U for being a friiiiieeeeeennnddddddEEEEENNDDDDD *dah*

How is there another 50 minutes of this I'm pretty much over it

Also this new show with Diane Lane *gay panic*

not a compilation video of TV lol

WAG THEME

*we ARE welcome*

GOD look at her why am I always in the room with my mother when she's on stage lol

Yay gay people winning again

YES THEY DID BABY TRENT DID HIS THANG

Looking at her titties looking at her nails looking at her ass looking at her dress i am so femme and so gay and also so femme

I love that *this* is why they had the WAG theme that didn't register at first lol

Is RuPaul singing this song in the background wait maybe thats Titus or Billie who IS that lol which black gay is that

What up Sarah Kate that's a very gay outfit lol

Okay we have another 40 minutes though so like...unless we're gonna have Sarah speak for like seventeen minutes

They also keep panning to Jessica Chastain because she just looks beautiful at all times at all angles in all and it doesn't make any sense

LOL they found Bella like quick where's an enby quick, lol panning to Jenna holding a girl's hand

OMG Babette from GG love her guitar jacket that's camp

"Why is this always so fuckin SAD" - crystallineirses on in memoriam segments

LESLIE

PAUL

IRENE

I am gonna CRY how dare they

not the collage like it's top model

I came back to some random dance sequence lol what up Calista

oh LORD it's Kieran's time *MANIFEST*

MY MAN MY MAN MY MAN

SO MUCH KISSING BRIAN WHAT

SHIRTS OFF SHIT

MO GAYS

THE DEEP SIGH

MANIFEST

TEAM SHIV

SHIV BABIES WE DID IT

THIS IS OUR TIME

EMMY WINNERS SARAH AND KIERAN

"MLK allowed me to celebrate a bunch of white people depicting even worse white people" - crystallineirses on the Succession wins

MEN KISSING ON TV

FX IS TIGHT

GO J GO

get your way to him lol

Why are they off screen lol

Not me just watching J and Kieran shuffling around

DAMN Hannah

it's been real yall

Just more hugs for all the boys

MLK IN THE CREDITS

[allzelemonz]

Finding and Feeling (3.1): The Move

Pairing Type: M/M Rating: M/Language, sexual themes Warnings: Wingwoman Mary-Beth, mention of gelding, Kieran being nervous, shopping, sapphic Mary-Beth and Tilly, mention of brothels, gift giving, theft, girls and the gays Summary: New camp means new clothes and a new chance. Other Chapters

Kieran never really imagined he’d get the opportunity to get new clothes, but when the gang got to moving camp he was all but thrown into the wagon by Miss Grimshaw. She claims that he stinks worse than the horses. Mary-Beth is all too enthusiastic to drag him into the general store of Rhodes for some clothes.

“I was thinkin’...” She mutters as she digs through the shelves. “Since ya ain’t too mad at Bill anymore-”

“Who said I ain’t mad at ‘em?”

“Well, yer back ta starin’ and blushin’, now aren’t you?”

Kieran’s cheeks heat at that. “Shut up…”

Of course, Kieran is still terrified of the bear of a man. However, after he caught Bill watching him open a bottle of coat tonic with a grin on his face, he’s gotten over the worst of it. Once he told Mary-Beth about it, she said she’d seen Bill snooping around Branwen quite a bit and that was more than enough proof for them both that Bill was the one leaving little gifts. Kieran insists it means nothing, Mary-Beth is certain it means Bill is smitten.

“I know Bill likes blue.” Mary-Beth mutters. “He wears it a lot at least. And he’s got this awful suit for fancy heists, blue too.”

Kieran shuffles awkwardly on his feet, wishing for just a moment that his eyes were blue.

Mary-Beth suddenly hands him an overshirt. “This one, perfect with that shirt he wears all the time.”

Kieran takes the shirt with a scrunched brow. “Ya think me matchin’ will make him not wanna geld me anymore?”

“It’s all about subtext.” Mary-Beth says, standing to look at the accessories. “I read a book last week and--”

“Aw, ya ain’t makin’ me inta one a’ them damsels, are ya?”

“Do ya want his attention or not?”

“Not if yer gonna make me look silly.” Kieran says, trying to forget the image of himself all dressed up in what Bill might like.

“Oh, you’ll look nice.” Mary-Beth smiles. “Pretty even.”

“I ain’t pretty.”

“Sure you are.” Mary-Beth shoves his shoulder lightly. “If I liked boys, you’d be my first pick.”

Kieran’s cheeks heat again and he looks at his shoes. “Just don’t go too crazy.”

“Just this.” She hands him a neckerchief and pushes him to the counter.

After a few minutes of fumbling with the new clothes in the alleyway, Kieran emerges feeling very unlike himself. He’s dressed in browns and blues, not unlike Bill’s typical outfits. New everything aside from the gunbelt he took off that O’Driscoll at Six Point. Like a new man.

It’s the squealing that makes him feel odd though.

Tilly has rejoined Mary-Beth in time to see him come out and both girls are chattering away at how he looks so much better than before. Karen, not quite one for squealing, just smiles and knocks his hat crooked.

“Aw, what’s the fuss.” Uncle mutters, woken from his sleep in the wagon.

“Go back ta sleep, old man.” Karen scolds. “Ain’t no brothels in this town.”

Uncle sighs, mindlessly finding the newly bought crate of whiskey and taking a bottle, paying nothing else any mind.

“Got an idea.” Karen mutters as she grabs his wrist.

They walk around the side of the general store, leaving Mary-Beth and Tilly to their own clueless flirting.

“Yer gettin’ Bill some presents of his own.”

Kieran furrows his brow and shakes his head. “I don’t got money.”

“I know.” Karen smirks. “And the feller in the store don’t got any sensibility.”

“What’s that mean?”

Karen stops, turning to Kieran and looking at him like he’s some kind of annoying clown. “It means, I’ll go in there and show off a few things while you find something nice fer Bill and slip out with it.”

“I-I thought Dutch didn’t want any trouble here.”

“Won’t be trouble.” Karen smiles. “Long as you don’t get caught.”

With that, Karen slips inside. Kieran waits until he can hear her boisterous fake laughter, then he naked his way inside. The owner is obviously enamored by the busty blonde snapping his suspenders and pays Kieran no mind. Looking over the shelves, Kieran finds that the only things he knows about Bill are his drinking, his affinity for torture, and his love for his horse. He doesn’t want to make Karen flirt forever, so he settles on the safest bet, alcohol. He can’t read the labels, but he finds the bottle that looks the fanciest and grabs it before making a hasty exit.

On the ride back to camp, Tilly says it’s some kind of rum she’s seen at rich folk’s parties. Mary-Beth takes the ribbon out of her hair and makes a pretty bow around the neck of it. That night, while Bill is on watch, Kieran leaves it on his bedroll and hopes for the best.

[morendodifame]

joshua latched his eyes onto kieran, he watched as they slipped away from the crowd, away from the leech that seemed keeping them exactly where they were and out the back door. his heart belonged to them, and he felt it leave with them. josh frowned deeply, looking to riley, who seemed to soon realise the issue here. they'd been found, and even though josh wanted so desperately to mend what was broken, they didn't have that luxury. he made his way towards the door and then looked back at his brother, " you should say goodbye, riley. "

he left, oliver nowhere in sight, riley still lingering it seemed. josh got almost halfway down the road back home before he ran back, ran to kieran. he rounded the building, watching as they hunched over, his lips pulling down in the corners, " oh, kieran. "

felix's gaze was unreadable, though they certainly didn't look at him the way they usually did. gone where his bambi-does eyes, felix no longer seemed sure and ollie was desperate. he shrugged out of riley's touch, " it's fate, don't you think? we're the last people they'd be looking for and we've found each other in italy, riley. " he looked back, but felix's attention was elsewhere. oliver tried to make his way towards them, sure that this could ruin everything but not caring.

poet stared, it was all he could do. his eyes began to well when he noticed riley walking away, the wound tearing open all over again. again. again, he left without a word. his sadness seemed to twist into something uglier, but before he could yell their name across the crowded club, felix spoke. his head snapped around in every direction, no doubt kieran's instinct was to run when they saw josh. that seemed fair. " I'll look out here, check the restrooms. " to say he was mad felt like an understatement, but poet had to deal with this right now. he pushed open a door to the side of the building, " kie? " poet called out, but got no answer.

it was kieran that seemed to move first . they didn't even realize that their feet had begun to carry them through the crowd , away from the man they had been dancing with , away from poet and felix . they were panicking and it felt as if the walls were closing in on them . kieran had pushed open the door but the air did little for them . they barely made it a few steps out of the bar before they hurled -- their hand resting against the wall for support .

riley looked away just to see oliver inch forward and joshua's voice eventually broke through the deafening silence . " leave ? " riley questioned but even as they said it , poet's last words replayed in their mind and they stepped back , nudging oliver . " come on , we can't stay here . "

felix didn't notice at first that kieran had gone . their eyes had remained latched on oliver until kieran's dance partner's voice broke through , wondering what the hell was wrong with them . felix finally looked , brows furrowing , " where did kieran go ? "

[oblongblockofsteel]

O'Driscoll Boy 1/5

The O'Driscolls used him, pushed him down to his knees and Kieran will do anything to never go through that again. He treads carefully around the Van Der Linde's, no matter how much he wants to belong, he won't let anyone use him like that again. They're all a bunch of bastards, anyway.

Or so he thought.

A/N: This was supposed to a Josiah/Kieran story, maybe it will evolve, but for now I'm quite happy with out it turned out.

From hell to hell

Ten days, ten days is all it takes for the men to figure him out. To see through his tepidness for what it is: lust and by extension, fear. Their eyes cut straight into his very soul, tearing past his weak walls and leaving his proclivities bare for them ogle and poke. And that is as good a reason as any to force him.

“You keep us satisfied,” Quint says, a nasty fat bastard with coal black eyes and yellow teeth shining in the candlelight, “And we’ll keep you safe from others who’d geld ya.”

Three others snigger behind him, and Kieran is promptly shoved to his knees, biting back tears and wishing he can change the way he thinks.

For the next few months his life is utter misery, only finding comfort amongst the horses where he crawls into the hay and hopes that the gang don’t find him. But they always do.

They pull him into cramped tents and ramshackle cabins where he is used for either a few minutes to an hour and then tossed out into the biting cold almost instantly. But the worst of it - the absolute worst of it - is when he responds. When his nature betrays him and he has that despicable hot craving pooling in his belly during their sessions, and oh don’t they just love it when that happens.

“Enjoying yourself, boy?” Quint sneers, grabbing the back of his head to bend his back, opening him up further. Kieran chokes through the tears, feeling the heat mixing with shame and anger. He'd joined the stupid gang because he'd been alone, he'd wanted to have a place to call home, a family, friends, anything just to feel like he belongs somewhere. And here he is instead. On his knees being used like a whore. His fingernails dig into the wood, breaking off splinters that imbed into his skin. He focuses on breathing, gasping around pain and the misery clamping onto his very soul. He feels his stomach churn and he holds back his vomit.

They hate it when he vomits.

Then, one dark evening, the world explodes into a madness of fire and bullets. His life suddenly terrifying and exhilarating at the same time. He scrambles for safety in one of the broken cabins and watches in morbid fascination as his gang is cut down, slaughtered and shot-

Like the dogs they are, the thinks, and huddles further into his little nook, listening as the voices clap over the wind and cold, and slowly die down. He remains still, the gang is dispersed, all of them dead, he just has to get away from this place and then he'll be free of -

“Come here!”

His voice cracks out a scream, just as the brute grabs him and tosses him into the snow. “I wasn’t shooting!” he hollers, but they don’t listen. One of them even laughs at his fear, and Kieran feels a fresh wave of terror cut down his hope of freedom.

He’s dragged away, screaming and more terrified than exhilarated. He’s sure, dead sure, they’re going to put a bullet square between his eyes. But they don’t. They insult and tease him, warning him of his impending fate if he doesn’t give them information.

“I can’t! I don’t know nothing!” he knows, knows Quint had not been in camp when these men swarmed it, knows that the bastard is out there. If he snitches and Quint, or even worse O’Driscoll finds him – he’ll be worse off than dead. "Please! I don't know anything!"

A sharp hand cuffs him across the eye, "Shut it, O'Driscoll!"

"I aint no O'Driscoll!"

They don't believe him

He's kept prisoner for some time, and soon they drag him to another camp, this time in the warm sun with trees and a short drop to the side. Dutch threatens he'll throw him off, and Kieran doesn't believe for a second he won't. But still, Kieran prays, prays that it won’t be same that they won’t use him again. When someone walks by, he begs and yells and tries to tell them over and over again that he hates the O’Driscoll's, but no one will listen. 

Tied up, beaten, and basically tortured, a horrible sort of relief settles in his belly. If he’s tied up, they can’t use him. He can handle beatings; he can handle being starved (until he can’t) but he doesn’t want to go back to his knees. He just can’t. For a good few days he remains tied to the post, watching the camp proceedings. He notes a joviality amongst the people that had been sorely missing between the O'Driscoll's. But other than that, they're really all the same. 

“We should geld him,” the words come from Dutch, smiling and sniggering ordering a big brute that calls himself Bill. He’s a bastard of a man, reminds him a little of Quint in some ways. Kieran’s throat goes tight and feels a terrible sort of realization that they know. But they don’t call him faggot or faerie, they just want information.

His balls are not worth that information.

He gives them what they need and then he's being dragged onto a horse. Arthur Morgan is a bastard, that's really all Kieran thinks about him. Just as bad as Quint in a lot of ways, will do anything to you to get what he wants. Same with Bill, same with Dutch, same with everyone in that camp, they're all a bunch of selfish fucks. Kieran is holding onto Marston, another bastard, telling him what he thinks. He can hear the indignation in that voice.

"We aint like the O'Driscoll's!"

He takes some satisfaction from his anger.

Another hellfire of bullets is whizzing past his head, and Kieran hunkers down behind a tree, listening to the fight going on down below. His eyes snap around the forest, searching, and sure enough he sees the silver slick shimmer of a pistol curled in the hands of a dead O'Driscoll. Crawling over he picks it up and buckles the holster around his hips, he starts his way down to them, the cabin has some cash -

The door bursts open and like a flash Morgan is on his back, a shotgun aimed at his face and Kieran has barely time to think: he whips out his pistol and fires. 

The O'Driscoll staggers and hits the porch in a pool of blood. 

Kieran, heart racing runs a little closer. "You alright?"

Arthur sighs. "Sure, thank you." 

The sarcasm drips off his tongue in thick drops, but Kieran doesn't care. He saved one of these bastards, and they're letting him stay. And like that he’s free – or as free as a man can be considering he has nowhere to go.

But he is allowed to walk around camp (and to stay out of everyone’s way) but he can work with horses and with the threat of Quint finding him again, he stays, and hopes that he’ll be safe. But he’s not welcome, at all. Shoved to the side and kept at arm's length, being snapped at, bullied, threatened and belittled. But he can handle that, can handle it all, as long as he has his horses and they don’t force him into anything.

He doesn’t want to be forced again. Ever.

But part of him waits, knows that eventually they’ll figure it out, like the other men did. He seems to carry it about him, like a flag, like a blemish, the damn thing is branded to his skin somehow. Eventually someone will see it, and Kieran sometimes doubles over at the mere threat of it. He can’t go back on his knees. He just can’t. Without meaning to, he isolates himself a little as well. It's not difficult, they don't want him around, but Kieran keeps himself as distant as possible, if they don't know him, they won't be able to figure him out. He hopes.

But in a strange sort of way he finds a little place amongst this new gang, a little slot he’s fitted into as irregular and cracked as it is. It’s frail, he thinks, but at least he can be part of them for as long as they’ll have him. Which probably won't be too long. 

One morning he’s sitting by a tree watching Pearson butcher their dinner, when he hears some commotion at the edge of camp. There, by the horses Charles is dismounting, helping a man down with a funny accent and bright laugh. Not that Kieran knows what he has to laugh about. He’s been beaten to a pulp, his face a splotched mess of bruises and blood, his collar skew and his expression tight with pain. Kieran watches from afar as the ladies dote on him, as Dutch and Hosea march up with concerned expressions and how quickly this new man called Trelawny smiles and laughs at his own state. He brushes away their concern with a kind word and a gentle hand.

Kieran thinks it’s funny. A little odd, even. Like Trelawny is trying to stop them from fussing but in the nicest way possible, like their feelings are more important than his face being purple. Kieran leans on his hand propped up on his knee, and watches. He doesn't fit in, he thinks. Despite looking like a vagabond, he carries himself different. Like the gents he's seen in casinos and around fine carriages. A gentleman man.

 They give Trelawny a beer and tell him to sit down and he seems, at least grateful for that. A few of them join him around the fire, and Kieran feels a pang in his chest. He’s not really welcome around the small fire, no matter how much he wants to be. Belonging, he thinks. Not something he’s felt in a very long time.

Dutch laughs, the others joining in, and Kieran gets up to check on the horses.

There's a new bay mare. She's a cute little thing.

“You belong to the funny man?” he asks, running a hand over her coat. The horse nickers softly and takes the apple with a happy crunch. Despite what he said, he doesn’t get the feeling she’s Trelawny’s. He just knows a man’s horse, and this is not it. Trelawny don't seem like the type to ride plain horses.

Still, he cleans her, feeds her and hitches her up. They’ll have to sell her at some point, he thinks. With her settled, he gets to work on Taima, the pretty mare is such a sweet girl, and he quickly has her cleaned and ready for sleep. Another burst of laughter wafts up from the fire, Kieran looks over feeling his heart clench, before he walks off to find a soft spot to sleep. Like every night, he settles underneath a tree, wraps his arms around his chest and closes his eyes, hoping it won't get too cold tonight.

He falls asleep to the sound of more laugher, and a stinging in his chest.

During the night he briefly wakes to the soft sound of hooves. Kieran opens his eyes and listens, wondering if he imagined it, but falls asleep before he can decide.