#“so they keep their problems but hey at least they have a beard now!”

[bigification]

X Factor

"Has anyone seen Cyclops lately?" Professor X asked.

"Not since he left for his reconnaissance mission." Hank answered.

"Maybe that's why I've been so relaxed lately." Wolverine chimed in.

"This could be serious Logan! If he isn't back by tomorrow, I will use cerebro to find him." Charles said, genuinely concerned.

KNOCK KNOCK!

"See, that's Summers right there. I can smell him a mile away." Logan snapped back.

The three men all walked to the front door to greet their friend, all curious about why he took so long. Logan slowly opened the door, and recoiled at the man standing in front of him. Logan's head slowly tilted back to meet eye to eye with the now gigantic 7 foot tall Cyclops. His face was round and plump with fat with a thick ginger beard covering his soft jawline. Logan scanned up and down the man's body, just trying to confirm what he is seeing is real. Summers had soft man tits that pushed tightly against his blue uniform, and a hulking gut and thick love handles that spilled out under his shirt. Logan was eye level with the man's deep belly button, with a thick pelt of ginger hair spiraling around it and leading up to his chest. His legs and arms were just as plump as the rest of him, looking stuffed like sausages. And his hands and feet looked at least double the size they used to be, looking as if they ripped through his gloves and shoes. Summers let out a loud burp and he scratched his gut, making Logan recoil from the smell.

"Scott? Is that you?" Hank broke the silence.

"Uuugh, Scott? Yeah, Scott!" His voice was deep and lethargic.

"That's not Scott!" Charles protested.

"Oh it's him. Just with the smell of burger grease all over his face." Logan reassured.

"You got food? I'm sooooo hungry." Scott ducked his way through the doorframe and walked through Logan like he wasn't even there.

Charles chased after summers, trying to ask him what happened. While Logan and Hank stood behind for a moment, shocked.

"I'll get him food, you figure out what is wrong with him." Logan whispered to Hank.

"I'll have to try." Hank sighed.

They split up, with Hank preparing his lab and Logan following Scott and Charles into the kitchen. Logan raided the fridge, grabbing the greasiest foods he could find.

"Hey bub! You hungry?" Logan taunted Scott with his food. "Come and get it!" He yelled as he ran towards Hanks lab.

Logan ran as fast as he could, shocked at how fast the blubbery Scott could run. He felt the heavy footsteps get closer and closer.

"Shut the door!" Logan yelled as he ran into the lab, with Summers heavy on his tail. Hank slammed on the button, slamming the reinforced door and trapping the three men in the lab. Logan finally gave Scott the food, hoping it would hold him off long enough.

"We gotta move fast, this won't hold himmover for long." Logan said between deep breaths.

Hank grabbed a needle and a sample of blood from Scotts arm. He didn't even seem to notice, too distracted by his food. Hank put the blood under his microscope and had to do a double take at what he saw.

"What is it?" Logan asked.

"There seems to be another X gene attached to Scotts X gene. It must be causing the mutations." Hank responded.

"So what does that mean?" Logan asked again.

"I think a mutant did this to him. Their X gene must have attached itself to Scotts and made these physical and mental changes."

"So he's gonna be like this forever?"

"I don't know, not until I do more tests at least. Hopefully his immune system will remove the X gene, but I have no idea if it will." Hank said as he frantically pulled out more equipment.

"I'm gonna get to the bottom of this, you just stay here and keep him occupied." Logan said as he opened the labs door.

"Wait, Logan! I don't think that's a good id-" Hank was cut off as Logan closed the door.

Logan ran out of the school, determined to find the root of the problem. With the strong smell Scott was giving off, it wasn't hard for Logan to follow his trail. Though the trail only brought Logan from fast food restaurant to fast food restaurant. Scott had stopped at five restaurants on his journey to the school. After an hour of driving from place to place, Logan finally arrived at a suspicious building. The trail was faint by this point, but it seemed to end here. For all Logan could tell, it looked abandoned. Everything was broken down and covered in leaves. He walked around the perimeter of the building and found an entrance with a bunker. The bunker door had a brand new lock covering it. A single slash of his claws, and Logan was in.

The stairs seemed to go on forever, leading further and further underground. It finally led to an opening, when Logan heard a scream echo around the room. He ran further into the room and it led to a large glass window. Through the window, he saw colossus chained up in a small bare room. Almost like a prison cell. And on the other side was a mutant that Logan didn't recognise. Colossus was yelling in pain as metallic clangs echoed out of his body. And right before Logan's eyes, Colossus' body began to change. The angular corners of his metallic body started to become rounder and rounder. His six pack melted into a hard round gut, and his hard pecs swelled into thick man tits. The defined muscle of his limbs disappeared under a soft looking layer of fat. His metal bulge grew even larger as his plump ass doubled in size. Finally, his angular face became round and plump like Summers, as metal pork chops formed on his cheeks.

The metallic clanging of his body growing finally ended, as did his yells of pain. The other mutant in the room walked over to him and untied his restraints.

"C'mon Colossus. Clock him." Logan whispered under his breath.

Though to his shock, Colossus did nothing once his restraints were off. He just slowly followed the mutant out of the cell.

"What the hell is he doing?" Logan scoffed. "I guess I'll have to do this myself."

Logan backed up and lowered his shoulder, ready to bash through the window. He sprinted full speed at the window, but stopped inches away. He opened his eyes, confused at why he had stopped before the window. He was slowly turned around to face Magneto, who was controlling the metal inside Logan's body.

"What the hell?" Logan asked as he was lifted into the air.

"Aw. Look at the big bad Wolverine trying to save the day." Magneto taunted.

"What did you do to Colossus!?" Logan yelled.

"Oh him. That's just a little trick my new friend can do. He can transfer traits between people."

"And you did that to Summers too, didn't you!"

"Well that prick tried to get in my way. All of Charles little x men always try to get in my way, even though I want what is best for mutants. Just see the upside, some dumb fat oaf is enjoying the fit body and motivation of your friend." Magneto smiled.

"No you can't just do this."

"Well I already have. But don't worry, it's temporary. At least the mental changes are. Summers will have to have a nice training regimen to lose all that weight, so he might need some XXL uniforms for a bit. Unfortunately I think your metallic friend might be stuck like this forever, but I think pork chops and massive gut look good on him." Magneto signaled for the mutant to come over as Colossus stood idly by.

"No no no, don't!" Logan began to struggle.

"If it's any consolation, once the effects wear off, your little healing factor will probably burn off all the fat for you. So you won't have to join Summers on the treadmill." He let out a maniacal laugh.

The other mutant dragged in a massive Hulk of a man before starting the transfer. Logan felt a warm feeling engulf his body. He looked down and saw a small gut begin to form under his skin tight uniform. It swelled and swelled until he couldn't see his feet anymore. He heard his uniform start to rip as it rode up his hairy gut, revealing a deep belly button. His love handles made his once skinny waist blow up into wide blubber that spilled over his waist band, giving him a wide silhouette. Logan then saw his pecs start to grow, creating two mounds of fat under his uniform. They grew until they began to sag under their own weight, resting on his massive gut.

Logan looked up to see the other man in the room has become slim like he used to be, with a skinny waist and thick pecs. He also watched as the nearly 7 foot tall man shrunk in height to a measly 5"3. Meanwhile, Logan's perspective began to shift higher and higher as his legs and spine stretched to match his new height of 7 feet. His body also seemed to get fatter as he grew, making him look just as fat despite growing nearly two feet in height.

Logan then felt his arms begin to change. His shoulder broadened as fat covered the muscle definition in his arms. His arms also lengthened to match his height and his hands tripled in size, becoming hulking man hands fitting for a man of his stature. He then felt a tightness grow in his pants, tighter than they already were. His perky ass swelled with fat, ripping through his yellow spandex and giving his body a strong S shape. His dick also grew to a massive 10 inches, and thickened to the size of a pop can, making an unmistakable bulge in his underwear.

Logan let out a few involuntarily moans as the pleasure shot through his body. It made his mind cloudy, as he forgot what he was even supposed to be stressed about. He barely even noticed the fat piling into his thighs, making them rip through his pants. And his feet also tripled in size, similar to his hands, giving his new body more stability.

Finally, Logan's head began to change. His head grew in proportion with his body as fat filled his angular face. His cheeks swelled as multiple double chins formed over his neck. And his jawline disappeared as his face appeared more round. Though a thick hairy beard quickly covered his face, making the fat less noticeable.

As the physical transformation came to an end, his mind started to lose his most defining traits. His headstrong and stubborn personality was replaced by loyalty, and his anger issues were replaced by a high amount of patience. And his usual workout routines became an insatiable hunger. And how could you forget the constant horniness.

Magneto slowly let Logan to the ground as all of his clothes fell to the ground in shreds. He stayed on his knees for a moment, catching his breath as pre cum spilled out of his massive dick.

"Your mission is to capture Hank and Charles, and bring them here. And put on some clothes before you go." Magneto commanded.

"Yes sir!" Logan grunted as he stood up

Logan followed Colossus out of the room. Once out of the room, Logan cut in front of Colossus and stood eye to eye with the Goliath of a man for the first time in his life.

"I'm gonna have my way with this metal cock before we go. Just so you know who's boss in this operation, alright bub." Logan gripped Colossus' dick and winked before dragging Colossus off. The ground trembled as the two hulking men walked off.

[writeforfandoms]

Warrior Song 7

Find the series masterlist

Okay we are still playing real fast and loose with canon. In fact, a lot of canon rules have gone out the window by now. Just roll with it. It’ll be fun. 

Blue Team plus medic and Fernando experience some unintended side effects of an unknown pollen. 

Warnings: Cuddle pollen, swearing, medical jargon, discussion of touch starvation. 

Word count: 2.9k

Master Chief/John-117 x f!reader

Blue Team made surprisingly good company. Sure, they didn’t talk a lot, but they were all easy with each other, and took instruction well. 

Because of course you took charge of making camp and making sure everyone actually ate. Since your expertise as a medic wasn’t needed, this was close enough. 

It had been a week and a half since you all started on this quest. So far, there had been four more bases and some searching for clues. Despite the lack of actual progress, Blue Team didn’t seem disappointed.

If anything, they seemed to be relaxing a little, slightly more open with you and Fernando both. 

“They’re heading back,” Fernando told you, standing lookout behind you. 

“Okay.” You dug out one more wild onion and put it in your basket before you straightened. “At least we’ll have a good dinner tonight.”

“I still can’t believe you caught one of those things,” he muttered, referring to the rabbit-like creature you’d managed to snag for dinner. 

“Just because they can eat MREs until the end of time doesn’t mean I want to,” you shot back with a prim sniff. You brushed off your knees as you stood, gathering up your basket. “Are they very far?” 

“We’ve got time to get back to the Pelican.” Fernando smirked and started walking. “As long as you don’t lag behind.”

“Hey!” Pouting, you jogged to catch up to him. “Just for that, I’m not going to give you any of this delicious soup.” 

“Aw, come on, you like me too much to deny me.” 

“We’ll see about that.”

The friendly bickering continued back to the Pelican, where you set Fernando to chopping up the onions while you worked on the meat. This had turned out to be a good spot - quiet and open enough to see any potential problems coming, with a small river in the opposite direction the Spartans had gone. You’d even gathered up enough firewood to keep a fire going all night. 

The meat was in the stew pot by the time Blue Team trudged up, all of them half-covered in bright yellow pollen. Your mouth dropped open. 

“What the hell happened?” you asked, blatantly staring. 

“Some flowers threw up on us,” Kelly answered, dry and vaguely disgusted. 

“They ejected all their pollen at us,” Linda corrected, though she also sounded vaguely disgusted. 

“We’re going to wash,” Fred added. 

“You want some rags?” You were already standing to get some for them, poking the meat one more time to be sure it would be fine for a minute. 

“Might as well.” Fred waited while you grabbed a handful of rags, tossing them over. With a lazy salute, he went after the others in the direction of the river. 

“They look ridiculous,” Fernando said once they were probably out of hearing range.

“Right?” You couldn’t help but snicker. “Seriously, I thought they went rolling through a flower field or something.”

Fernando cackled. “I will cherish that mental image forever.” 

You finished adding everything to the soup and gave it one more stir before you nodded. “Well, soup just has to sit and cook for a while, the longer the better. Think we should go help them scrub, or leave them to it?”

Fernando made an exaggerated thinking face, rubbing at his beard. “I suppose we should help,” he agreed on a sigh. “Or they’ll be out there all night.” 

“Copy that.” You smirked at Fernando’s huff of laughter, and the two of you headed after the Spartans. 

All four of them were in the river, scrubbing at the armor, which still had pollen clinging stubbornly.

“This might be easier if you take it off,” you said, planting your hands on your hips and surveying their progress critically. “Fernando and I can help that way.” 

Fred waded back to shore, pulling his helmet off and handing it to you first. “Thanks,” he mumbled, looking faintly embarrassed. “The pollen is more… resilient than anticipated.”

“We’ll get it off. Eventually.” Setting down his helmet away from the potential splash zone, you and Fernando helped him take off the chest and back plates, and you each got scrubbing. 

“The hell is this made of?” Fernando grumbled, glowering at the chest plate. 

“Something very stubborn,” you huffed, raising your clean hand to rub under your nose briefly. You made a triumphant noise as you scraped the last of it off the back plate, and set it aside. “Kelly, I’ll get yours next.” 

Kelly walked over obediently and helped you get her chest plate off, which was practically coated in pollen. You sat to work on it while she scrubbed at her legs. 

“Joy, you made note of these flowers, right? And have labeled them as avoid at all costs?” 

“I did,” the AI confirmed. “I’ll upload the information to your tablet as well.”

“Thank you.” You wiggled your nose as it itched again, dipping your rag in the water to get rid of the pollen before getting back to scrubbing. 

“You’re up next, Chief,” Fernando said far too cheerfully. “And don’t object, Fred is helping Linda.” 

John sighed but relented. He even took off his helmet, the last to do so, as he let Fernando wrestle the back plate off. You couldn’t help but snicker at the sight. 

“Boy am I glad dinner is cooking,” you muttered. 

“You cooked?” Fred whipped around to look at you. 

“Look, I don’t know how you live off of MREs, but I refuse. Yes, I cooked.” You set the chest plate aside and motioned Kelly closer to help scrub the leg armor. 

For a few minutes, everyone was silent. You noticed Fernando shifting closer to you until he was pressed back to back with you, and you pressed back into him. Oh that felt nice. You could probably nap like that. 

And then Fred sat next to Fernando, armor off, radiating warmth. And he pressed into your little tangle. 

That was even better, and you hummed a pleased note. 

“Joy.”

The almost-sharp command from John made you look around, immediately wary. 

“I’m on it,” Joy agreed. On what? You didn’t see anything. Linda settled near you, hands twitching. 

"How do you feel?" John crouched in front of you, looking you over quickly. He even started to reach for you, but checked himself. 

"Okay," you answered slowly, frowning. His concern was making you concerned and was quickly spiraling into outright anxiety. "A little jittery? A little cold? Kind of tired?" 

Fred made a little noise behind you and pressed against you, very nearly toppling you with accidental strength. 

"Everyone up," John snapped, getting to his feet. He hauled you up after with very little apparent effort. 

"Chief, whatever this is, it isn't poisonous. Vitals are all holding steady," Joy piped up from his helmet. 

"Back to the Pelican." John's voice was hard, allowing for no argument. 

Nobody actually complained, just grabbed all the gear and started walking. You ended up carrying two helmets - John's and Linda's. There was also a gun. You definitely hadn't picked that up, and had no idea where it had come from. 

That sounded like a later problem. 

You were getting cold, shivering as you walked. Fernando, walking ahead of you, didn't seem to be much better off. 

But it wasn't far to the Pelican, and everyone was quick to set things down. 

You were the first to crack. You inched closer to John until you could lean into his side, and then you sighed as you started to warm up, already feeling better. Fernando nearly jumped to join you, squishing you just a little between the two men. 

"The hell is that?" Fred asked, even as he was sandwiched between Linda and Kelly. 

"Well, if I had to give it some kind of a name, it seems to be… cuddle pollen?" Joy sounded caught between amusement and sheer regret. 

"Cuddle pollen?" The question from Fernando was slightly muffled because he refused to lift his head from your shoulder. 

"Well, you all seem to need to be touching," Joy explained slowly. "But your vitals are all fine! Some minor temperature fluctuations, but everything else is within standard ranges for each of you." 

You shrugged. "Cuddle pollen. Huh." You huffed a little. It was getting harder to actually think. "I vote dinner first, then bed." 

Nobody actually opposed you, so you tore yourself away from the absolutely divine warmth of John's side to serve the soup. John very nearly grabbed for you, but restrained himself at the last moment. Fernando, on the other hand, was quite happy to take your place. Traitor. 

Dinner was silent. Not the same kind of silent as usual, but the kind of thick silence that comes from a whole group of people who can't think straight enough to hold a conversation. You ended up on John's other side, with Kelly's feet on one of your thighs. Which did eventually make you grimace and pluck at the undersuit. 

"You all should get changed. There's spare clothes for you." 

"Spare clothes?" Linda lifted her head like a predator scenting prey. 

"Uh. Yeah." Suddenly embarrassed, you ducked your head. "Thought people might need them. At some point." 

A moment later you were lifted off the ground in a bear hug. Fred didn't set you down again for a few moments, and then he lumbered inside to change. 

Joy definitely had to prompt you and Fernando to put out the fire and to change into dry clothes, but that was fine. Actually, that gave Blue Team time to rally, and rally they had. Every pillow, bedroll, and blanket had been combined on the floor of the Pelican into something resembling a comfy sleep space. 

Fernando was quick to cuddle up between John's back and Linda. John himself was sitting up, watching you. 

At least until you got within grabbing distance. 

One moment you were trying to figure out where to join the cuddle pile, the next you were in John's arms being manhandled with your back to his chest. With a satisfied rumble, John laid down and curled around you, a protective barrier between you and the rest of the world. 

Well. A protective barrier between you and the Pelican, since the ramp was up and the ship was entirely closed off. 

"Was that really necessary?" Linda asked, sounding more amused than aggravated. 

John didn't answer, just tucked his head against the back of yours, clearly intent on holding you. 

There was a bit of almost drunk-sounding giggling from… Fernando? And a grumble from Fred. 

And then a soft snore. 

Warm and relaxed and utterly content with this arrangement, you laid your hands over John's arms and closed your eyes. 

Soft talking woke you, and you blinked rapidly. You were warm, your head pillowed on something surprisingly firm and warm. A careful shift of your weight confirmed that there was someone behind you. 

“Morning, sunshine.” Fernando crouched in front of you with a shit-eating grin. 

You made a rude noise at him and rolled away from the person behind you to lay flat on your belly, hoping to ignore everyone and everything for a little while longer. 

“You need to drink something.” Fernando set a bottle down next to you. You knew it was a bottle because he put it right next to your head, so the chill of it seeped to your skin. 

“Why.” You didn’t lift your head.

“Prevent dehydration. Also, I bet Chief needs to get up by now.”

That made you squeeze your eyes shut. “Tell me I didn’t cuddle him all night,” you whimpered.

“It was adorable.” That came from Kelly. 

You swore softly but sat up, grabbing the water bottle and refusing to meet anyone’s eyes. Movement to the side of you got you to glance at John, still dressed down in the shirt and soft pants you’d picked up for all the Spartans. 

“Don’t worry, Linda is an aggressive cuddler,” Fernando stage-whispered to you. “I’m just glad nobody kicks in their sleep.”

“Fred used to,” Kelly piped up. “As a kid.”

“Not for long,” Fred grumbled. “Why do you even still remember that.”

The two bantered back and forth, and the bantering helped to put you more at ease. Although, really, now that you were awake you felt great. You didn’t feel tired or achy at all. That was quite possibly the best sleep you’d had in… months.

Which got you thinking about why. Human contact. It had been ages since you’d cuddled with anyone, let alone the human heater that was John. You still didn’t get a lot of hugs, not on the Halo with things as they were. 

A quick look showed Fernando looked better too, the circles under his eyes already fading, shoulders more at ease. The Spartans were harder to read, but they certainly seemed more relaxed this morning, willing to banter. 

Everybody in the Pelican seemed to be suffering from touch starvation to some degree, and the cuddle pile had actually helped. You hadn’t even thought of it, had never even considered, and yet. Proof sat before your eyes. 

Setting your water aside, you focused on Fernando. “How do you feel?”

“Fine. Good, actually.” He shrugged. “Good night’s sleep will do that.”

“And you?” You looked at Kelly next. 

“Fine.” 

“Fine, or better than fine?” 

She hesitated, which was as good as an answer. So you looked at Fred, who shrugged but also looked down as the bridge of his nose went pink. Linda met your gaze with a little smile. 

And John… John held your gaze, something warm and affectionate there. 

“Huh.” You chewed on your lower lip for a moment before you stood. “Joy, where were those flowers?” 

“You’re not going to find them?” Fernando leaned closer to you, squinting at you. “Did you overheat? Are you feeling okay?” 

You waved him off, turning away. “I feel great, actually, which is what I’m trying to investigate. That cuddle pollen actually seems to have had a positive effect on all of us, even if only through lowering barriers so we could sleep in a pile and put a dent in our undoubtedly massive touch starvation debt.” 

“Touch starvation?” This time Linda asked, watching you with interest. 

“Humans are pack animals,” you told her, searching for your shoes, one of which had vanished. “Hugging actually reduces cortisol, among other things, allowing for better sleep. Helps block stress hormones. Boosts oxytocin. All that good stuff.” With a triumphant noise, you grabbed the wayward shoe and stuffed your foot in it. “There have been dozens of medical studies about the positive health impacts of hugs, cuddling, all of that. So, conversely, people who go without touch for a long time become touch starved, it can be pretty serious.” 

“Still doesn’t explain why you want to go find the plants.” Fernando put himself between you and the ramp, arms crossed over his chest.

You paused, tapping your fingers against your thigh. “I’ve never seen anything like that pollen. I don’t know if it could be helpful, medically speaking, but probably. I’m not on the R&D side, I don’t know. What I do know is it’s something new and therefore worth documenting, at least.” 

“You’re not planning to sprinkle it in our food or anything, are you?” He eyed you almost warily.

You jerked back, honestly hurt. “I would never! Look, I may do some ethically questionable things, like shouting my more stubborn patients into submission, but I would never do anything like that.” You hit the button to lower the ramp a little harder than normal, turning away from Fernando. “I want you all to have breakfast and drink a full bottle of water, just in case.” 

And then you left, stepping around Fernando and ignoring his verbal stumbling, hopping off the ramp before it had even finished lowering. 

You didn’t slow down until you heard footsteps behind you. You paused and then shrugged. Whoever it was could catch up to you if they wanted. 

Of course, you’d also left without a way to talk to Joy. So you just… wandered off the way you’d seen Blue Team go yesterday, and hoped for the best. 

“You need to head more west.”

You paused long enough to let Linda catch up to you. She was without armor, since you’d left so hurriedly. Come to think of it, you had no way to even gather some of the pollen if you did walk to the plants. 

“Sorry.” You grimaced. “This is silly. We should go back.”

She shrugged. “In a bit.” 

You let your shoulders drop, looking away. “Well. I’m glad you lot slept well, at least.”

She nodded slowly. “It was… nice. Odd. But nice.”

“Maybe you should make it a new Blue Team tradition,” you offered, half-joking. 

“Pretty sure John won’t want to restrict it to Blue Team.” The look she gave you quite clearly indicated something you weren’t ready to admit just yet.

“Yes, well.” You shrugged. “That sounds like a John problem.”

Linda dipped her head to acknowledge the current stalemate. “Take your time,” was all she said. 

You weren’t sure how to respond to that. So you didn’t, not really, just turned away to see if you could find any other useful plants here. 

And if you desperately wanted to crawl back into that makeshift bed with John, you kept it firmly to yourself.

[eriquin]

The Trolley Problem, Part 38

Hey, you know how there's a prop glitch where Eddie's missing poster at the end of season 4 says that he's 17? Yeah, I'm going with "what if that were true?" and making it all worse.

Also, Wayne's back.

(master post)

Steve woke up with a start. His alarm clock hadn’t gone off yet, but something had definitely made a noise. He sat up and listened carefully. He didn’t hear anything, but he kept his steps quiet as he got up and went to check on El. She was still asleep, curled up in the middle of the big queen-sized bed in the guest room. He didn’t step inside to check any further, but he left the door ajar. 

He crept downstairs to see if there was anything else out of place. The front hall and kitchen looked just the same as they had before. Something was still making him uneasy, though. Something had definitely woken him up, he was sure of it now. He went to the sunroom to get his bat. 

It should have been right by the back door. It wasn’t. Steve froze. He knew where he’d left it. The only reason it was by the door was because El was sleeping upstairs, and he didn’t want to scare her with it accidentally. The door itself looked the same... except that the deadbolt wasn’t flipped. He knew he’d locked it last night. He knew he had. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as he slowly turned around.

There was a man in the hallway, just outside of the basement door, watching him. He had a shotgun in his arms, pointed at the floor, but clearly ready to be aimed at him. The spiked baseball bat was propped up against the wall by his feet. He nodded when Steve saw him.

“You’d be Steve Harrington, then?” the man asked. He gestured with his free hand for Steve to take a step closer. “Why don’t you come out where I can see you?”

Steve put his hands up and stepped into the living room. “Uh,” he said. “I am, yeah.” He swallowed hard, barely able to take his eyes off the gun. The man was older, with a gray beard and a worn baseball cap on his head. He was wearing a denim coat over a flannel shirt, worn blue jeans, and work boots. He certainly didn’t look like he was from the lab. Steve tried to remember if he’d ever seen him before, either in his past or his memories of the future, but he didn’t know him. 

“That’s far enough,” the man said. “I’ve been asking around after you. Seems you were the last one seen with my nephew. Now, I’ve got some questions, and you’re gonna answer them.” 

If Steve’s mouth wasn’t already dry because of the shotgun, it would have gone dry now. “You’re Wayne Munson,” he said quietly. 

“Yep,” Wayne said. He moved his hands to cradle the shotgun a little differently. Steve didn’t know what difference it made, but it felt threatening. “Now, where is my boy? What did you do to him?”

Steve couldn’t figure out what to say. He started trying to get his thoughts together, but it all came out like babbling. He didn’t know how to explain it in a way that wouldn’t sound crazy, and the added threat of the gun was keeping his brain from finding any diplomatic answers. “I didn’t mean for it to happen,” he said. “He was just supposed to help. It wasn’t supposed to happen to him. I shouldn’t have even brought him.”

Wayne let out an angry snort through his nose. His eyes were very cold, and Steve could see his shoulders tense. “You’d better start making sense, boy,” he said. “What happened to Eddie? Where is he?” He stepped into the living room, shifting the weight of the shotgun from one hand to the other, but still not pointing it at him. He was definitely still too far away for charge at him, though. 

“I don’t know if I can explain it,” Steve said. “He was... Something took him. I don’t know where he is.” His heart was pounding so loudly that he was sure the man could hear it. “I’m trying to find him, or at least stop the thing that took him so... So he can come back.” His voice cracked on the last word, and he didn’t know how much more he’d be able to say.

There was a creak from the dining room. Wayne reacted first, spinning around to look. His hands kept control of the gun, but it didn’t matter. Just as he moved, an invisible force flung him back. He hit the far wall hard, right next to the fireplace, and dropped onto the sofa below it. The impact shook the wall, knocking things off the floating shelves. 

Steve ran into the living room, sliding to a stop in front of the dining room door and falling over onto his knees. “El, wait,” he yelled. “Stop! Don’t hurt him.”

She was there, hand outstretched and glaring behind him, where she’d thrown Wayne. A trickle of blood ran from her nose. “Gun,” she said. “Bad man.”

“I know, I know, but... Shit.” Steve got up and braced himself against the door frame, hoping that blocking her line of sight would stop her from murdering Eddie’s uncle.

Wayne groaned and pulled himself up. “What in the hell...” he said, rubbing the back of his head. His shotgun had fallen onto the couch next to him, and he picked it up.

“Don’t shoot her!” Steve pleaded, putting his hand out at Wayne. He looked back at El for a second. “And don’t hurt him. He’s Eddie’s uncle.”

El’s face softened, and she lowered her hand. Her chin quivered, just a little. “Not bad?” she asked.

Steve shook his head and looked back at Wayne, who was staring at the two of them. He slowly put the gun down. “It ain’t even loaded,” he said quietly. “I just wanted to scare you.” 

With the threat of death gone and the crisis under control, Steve let his back hit the door frame and sagged, sliding down it until his butt hit the floor. He let out a shuddering breath and pressed his hands to his eyes. 

He felt El crouch down and lean against him. “Steve?” she asked. She sounded scared.

“Shit,” he said. “Shit, I just... I just need a second.” He pinched the bridge of his nose until he was sure he wasn’t going to cry, then looked up. She still had a nosebleed. He put his arm around her and got back up. “I’m okay.”

El nodded slowly. “I am glad you are okay.” She looked past him at Wayne, who was sitting on the sofa and staring at them. She squinted at him. “You do not hurt Steve,” she said. “He is good.”

Steve sighed and walked her into the living room. His mom kept a box of tissues on one of the end tables, and he handed her one to clean up her nosebleed. “So, I can try to explain again,” he said to Wayne.

Wayne propped his elbows up on his knees and clutched his hands together. He had laid the shotgun on the floor in front of him. He stared at El. “She just threw me across the room without touching me, didn’t she? I didn’t imagine that?” 

Steve shook his head. Even though his heart rate was coming down, the motion still made him a little dizzy. He sat down on the other couch. “You didn’t imagine that, sir,” he said. “She can do that, sometimes.” 

“All right,” Wayne said. “I guess I better listen to your explanation.”

It was a long conversation, and a lot harder than the one Steve’d had with his friends. The guilt about getting Eddie involved threatened to boil over with every sentence. El stayed silent through it all, just nodding along when things made sense to her. Wayne kept a solemn look on his face, occasionally glancing at her before looking back at Steve.

“So this monster took Eddie instead of the Byers boy?” he asked. 

“Yes, sir,” Steve said. “It happened so fast. I didn’t have time to stop it. I tried to... To lure the monster away from him, give him a chance to escape.” He clutched his injured hand to his chest, and felt that lump in his throat rise up. “But I don’t know if it worked. I don’t know if he’s alive or not.”

Wayne frowned. “How would you know?” he asked. “You said you had some foresight, knew what was going to happen to that kid. But, how did they know he was alive in that place?” 

Steve cleared his throat. “Because he figured out a way to communicate. The other world is like a bad version of ours, all decaying and stuff, but all the things are in the same place. And sometimes, things echo, and you can interact with them and make things happen.”

This made Wayne sigh and sit back. “You sound like you’ve been there yourself.”

“Yes, sir. In the future that hasn’t happened yet. I got trapped there with... Well, with Eddie. And two girls, but they don’t know anything about this, either. Also, they’re both younger than me. That’s why I went to talk to him about it. Because I thought he’d understand the whole weird shi—” He caught himself and looked at El. “Stuff. All the weird stuff about the other world, and because he was older. I thought—”

“How old are you?” Wayne asked. 

“Uh, right now? If you don’t count all the weird time stuff, sixteen.”

Wayne shook his head. “Ed’s fifteen, son.” 

“What?” Steve froze. “No, he’s... He’s a senior. He’s got to be at least—”

“He skipped a couple of years when he was a youngin’,” Wayne said. “It figures he didn’t tell you, but he ain’t old enough to...” He rubbed his hand over his face and took another look at El. “None of you are old enough for this.”

Steve stared at a point on the wall past Wayne’s head. “He can’t be... He was driving, though.” He was saying it to himself, trying to wrap his head around Eddie being that young. That meant he was Nancy and Robin’s age. That meant that Steve had always been the oldest. 

“Well, I couldn’t really stop him from doing anything. He got himself a van from somewhere and he was gonna drive it.” Wayne sighed and tried to get Steve’s attention again. “You didn’t say what these ‘interactions’ looked like in our world, son.”

It was El who answered. “The lights,” she said. She looked up at Steve, clearly worried. 

Steve forced himself to snap out of it. “Yeah, the lights,” he said. “In the Upside Down, the other world, you can hear people talk here, and if there’s a light, you can make it blink. Like... When we were stuck there, Eddie knew S.O.S., and we used it to get someone’s attention, and...”

Wayne had a smile on his face for the first time since Steve had met him. “Hot damn,” he said, almost laughing. “I knew it. I knew my boy wasn’t a ghost.” 

Steve looked up at him, his face going slack. “You... Did you see...?”

“Last night, the lights in the trailer started flickering, just like that, S.O.S., while I was calling round to folks who might’ve seen him. Caught my eye, and I just started talking to the air, like maybe something was trying to get my attention.” Wayne wiped his face and sighed. “And wouldn’t you know it? The lights answered. Thought I was going crazy at first. That’s why I’m here. I asked them if you had something to do with it. Two flashes for yes, one for no, so...”

A sob escaped Steve’s throat. “He’s there. Of course he is. Of course he’d go home.” He got up, but wobbled a little when he did. Wayne got up and steadied him. “We have to go. We have to bring El, see if she can talk to him. Maybe she can get him back.”

“Hold on a minute now,” Wayne said. “I’m not against it, but you said government folks are looking for her. We’ve got to be careful about it. Maybe wait until after dark to bring her over.”

“I can’t,” Steve said. “My parents are coming home today. I need to find somewhere to hide her before then, somewhere that isn’t my house.”

El slipped her hand into Steve’s and tugged at it. “The woods?” she asked. 

Steve turned to look at her. “You can’t just hide in the woods, El,” he said. “The lab is going to be searching for you in those woods.”

“The house,” El said. “You said in the future, I live in a house. In the woods.”

He blinked a few times. “Hopper’s cabin,” he said. “That’s on the other side of Hawkins. Yeah, you could hide there. We just have to figure out how to get there without anyone seeing us. I don’t know if it’s safe for me to use my car. They might already be looking for me, after what happened to Heather last night. If they were watching and saw me show up with Robin, they might investigate... Hopper already said that he’d be by.” 

“We’ll take my truck,” Wayne said. He got up and pointed out to the backyard. “I’m parked up on the other side of the woods there. Nobody will look twice at me driving out to a cabin somewhere.”

“They might if I’m in the truck with you,” Steve said. “And I’ve got to show you where it is.”

Wayne raised an eyebrow at him. “You don’t, actually. I’m old friends with Jim Hopper, and I know where his grandad’s cabin is. But you just throw a cap on over that mop of hair and you’ll be fine.” 

Steve sighed but agreed. He got dressed and packed a bag for El. She followed him around quietly, but there was a hint of excitement in her step. She was probably tired of being in his house.

They had a quick breakfast before heading out. Wayne’s truck was just where he’d left it. It had a bench seat, and El sat between them and kept her head down. Wayne drove them out to Hopper’s cabin. It was a mess, but the kind of mess that came from years of disuse instead of a monster attack. That was a bit of a relief to Steve, who remembered what it looked like after Starcourt burned down.

“We just need to make sure the door locks,” Steve said. “In the future, Hop cleans all this up and makes it a nice place for him and El to live. He basically adopts her.”

Wayne rubbed his chin. “That so?” he said. “Well, I hate to break it to you, but I don’t think that he’s the kind of man who would do that right now.” 

Steve frowned at him. El did as well. “You don’t think so?”

Wayne sighed. “Jim’s a decent fellow, deep down, but he’s... I don’t know how to say it. He’s coasting along. He’s still coming back from what happened to his daughter.”

That threw Steve for a loop. “Uh. I guess I don’t know him as well as I thought I did,” he said. “I didn’t even know he had another daughter.”

Wayne dusted off the couch and sat down. “You two, come here for a sec.” He patted the space next to him. 

El gave Wayne a wary look, but followed Steve and sat down with them both. They had only cleared out a little bit of the cabin. If it was going to work as a hiding place for more than a day or two, they would have to really move things around. 

“You’ve got to understand, even if you know what happened the first time around, that doesn’t mean it’ll all happen the same way,” Wayne said.

“I know that,” Steve said. “I mean, obviously.”

“This is more for Miss Elly’s benefit than yours, Steve,” Wayne said. “She’s hearing you talk about how Hopper was her dad in your world, and she’s getting her hopes up.” He sighed and reached over to take El’s hand. “Darlin’, I don’t want you counting on Hop and you to get along right away. He’s still grieving for his Sarah.”

El blinked a few times and slowly looked between Steve and Wayne. “Where did Sarah go?” she asked.

“Well, honey, she died,” Wayne said. “A few years ago now, but he still misses her.”

She nodded slowly. “Was it monsters?” 

“No, no monsters,” he said. “Just sickness.” 

Steve’s face fell. “I didn’t know that.” He looked around and realized that some of the boxes had Sarah’s name on them. “Should we even be here?” he asked.

“It’s as good a place as any,” Wayne said. “But we can’t all stay here all day. Miss Elly, do you think you’ll be all right here for today? I’ll take Steve home so he can handle his parents, and when it gets dark, I’ll come back to get you.” 

El nodded slowly. “Yes,” she said solemnly. But when Wayne got up, she tugged on his sleeve again. “Why ‘Elly’?” 

He smiled at her. “Well, I don’t know. It just seemed to fit you a little better.”

“All right,” she said. 

They found an old TV among the boxes and plugged it in so she wouldn’t be bored all day. She hugged them tight before they went. Wayne told her that he’d knock ‘Shave and a Haircut’ on the door when he got back, but she didn’t know what that was, so he had to demonstrate. 

Steve made sure that she had a way to get out of the back of the cabin if someone else came by. He didn’t like leaving her there alone, but it was better than his parents finding her. 

Wayne gave him a lift home, dropping him off by the woods again, and he made his way back to the house. There was a big burned spot in the grass in the backyard that he was dreading telling his parents about. He decided to put it off by heading into school, even though he’d be late. It would be better than his parents catching him skipping.

Tagging: @neonfruitbowl

[swappwas]

Couples Chronicles: A Magical Night

It was a warm night in New York City. The Begonia was one of the cities newest luxury restaurants that boasted high class cuisine and an atmosphere of sophistication. Perfect for the long awaited date night of certain married couple.

One of which was Theodore Bishop. A 24, year old with dirty blonde hair, glasses, and a beard he had meant to better prune but was too swamped with work recently to keep it maintained. His work was often very demanding as a library administrator who was in charge of not one but several college universities across the east coast. He had recently left a comfy position in Massachusetts after finally settling down.

He had hoped tonight would’ve been a nice escape, and opportunity to finally spend some time with his husband outside of late night takeout and sitcoms.

“What the hell do you need to do to get some service hear?! I swear the one time we choose to go out for dinner-“

“Relax Theo, someone we’ll get to us eventually.”

Victor Trujillo was 23, and couldn’t be more his husbands opposite when it came to attitude and temperament. He was for the most part easygoing and worked as receptionist at one of the top modeling agency’s in the city. Many would mistake him for a lost model in his own right. His hair was often a medium length crown of waves that other men would love to run their fingers through. Vic wore his wedding ring proudly, but that didn’t stop some playful flirting at times from others, much to Theodore’s frustration

“Vic, I had these reservations booked for a month. You know how hard it is to work around both our schedules for a night like this! Pft, serves me right for expecting a nice dinner with my husband.”

“Hey you know I didn’t mean it like that- and look, our waiter is here.”

The waiter had his black hair slicked back into a sort of pompadour. Roughly around the age of the couple.

“Terribly sorry, we’re a little understaffed tonight.” The waiter says as he refilled the table’s water. “Hate to have kept such handsome men waiting.” He added, eyes lingering on Vic.

“That’s no problem, I was just lost in the menu anyway.” Vic replied in with his usual smooth bravado.

“Vic I told you try to brand from Milan! I had some in my last business trip and it was excellent.”

“Haha I remember Theo, but I’m just not sure about such a fancy brand is all.”

The waiter sensed some tension and smiled, quite the couple these two made.

“Well in that case, might I make a recommendation. It’s the least I can do after make you wait Mr- “

“The name’s Victor, my friends call me Vic, this is my husband Theo.”

“Theodore.” Vic’s husband astutely corrected.

“Right, well, I call him Theo.” Vic chuckled.

“Well, Vic, I feel as if a man such as yourself might be better suited for our red wines from upstate.”

The waiter promptly turned and picked up one of the bottles resting on a neighboring empty table. As he turned to face Vic once again, Theodore noticed he oh so subtly licked his lips.

“Goes down smooth and has quite the full body flavor, perfectly suited for a man of your caliber.”

Theodore spoke up. “If that stuff is fairly local it must be from Jersey. Vic the Milan brand is fine.”

“Come on Theo, I love hearing about this fancy drink. You were saying?” Vic said, urged the waiter to continue.

“With pleasure, as I was saying, not many know properly how to appreciate a full body as luscious as…” the waiter hesitated, his eyes were undeniably fixated in Vic now.

“… this particular vintage. Definitely in need of some attention wouldn’t you say?”

Before Vic could even reply, Theodore spoke.

“Actually I’ve had a change of heart, we’d love to sample that vintage. Though before that, I’d appreciate a palette cleansers and since you’re so woefully understaffed, my condolences, may we please have some bread and sparkling waters prior to that. Thank you.”

The waiter grinned and nodded as he began to excuse himself to go fetch the requested items. Before he left, he added one last comment.

“Oh and Victor, as you browse might I suggest the Yorkshire sausage for your entree? It’s simply heavenly.” The waiter licked his lips and winked.

Vic took one look at Theodore and knew what type of night this would be…

He held up his menu and began to speak in a hushed his voice.

“Theo, you’re not thinking about um- doing something here right? Weren’t you looking forward to a quiet dinner?”

“I wasn’t at first but this waiter is getting on my nerves.” Theodore replied, no doubt already scheming.

“Babe please, um, maybe that’s all just a rehearsed thing he does for all the guests! Just trying to really push the wine?? Let me just order as soon as he gets back… um let me see here... what about the satay chicken breasts? How’s that sound?”

Vic sad attempts at diversions fell of deaf ears as Theo noticed the waiter from a distance. He was already returning, tray in hand. “Oh now he wants to be attentive!” Theo thought to himself.

Just as the waiter was half way back, and in the midst of passing tables, Theo to enter a hushed whisper.

“This waiter has been flirting with you all night, we both can tell…so he’ll just be on the receiving end of my spell.”

Vic knew it was a lost cause after hearing his husband start to rhyme.

“Now I know using my magic makes you nervous, but someone has to make it clear that we did not receive good service.”

The room became slightly darker, looks like Theo was feeling theatrical tonight. The other restaurant guests and staff were oblivious, only the couple and the still distant waiter noticed something amiss with the atmosphere as Theo continued…

“Now it’s starting to feel a bit warm, let’s see what under the top half of that uniform.”

And with those words, the waiters vest vanished as his undershot began to rise, exposing his pecs for all to see. He was speechless, and was almost immobile from the shock!

However, it seemed as if no one on the restaurant even noticed…

Despite the miraculous event unfolding, no patron even bothered to look up from their conversations or meals.

“Alright Theo I think he’s good and frightened… lesson learned.” Vic said, hoping his husband would leave it at that.

But Theodore wanted to finish what he started.

“Nice pecs, for a waiter who’s so rude, better keep that hair off the food.”

Suddenly, the waiter felt an unbearably prickly sensation permeate throughout in his chest. He stumbled back as he tried to scratch at himself, almost dropping the tray he was holding in the process. He peered down in horror as his pecs seemed to quickly become engulfed in hair. Each new follicle felt like an insect bite. It was a fitting sensation gives that his pecs began to expand as well.

Soon enough, the waiter’s undershirt replaced with a tank top. The flimsy straps struggled to keep his new hairy globes contained.

As the restaurant regained it’s usual lighting, the waiter attempted to hide his changed chest behind his now empty tray. Theo didn’t even have time to take admire his magical handiwork before the now transformed man ran into the employee lounge.

“There. Hopefully we’ll get a different waiter soon enough.” Theo smiled.

“Well I guess there’s no changing your mind.” Vic solemnly said while getting out of his seat.

“And where do you think you’re going? I’m sure another waiter will be here soon enough.”

“It’s nothing, just gotta take a leak in the restroom.”

“Oh, before you go Vic.” Theo grinned before clearing his throat.

“Steer clear of the urinals because other men might stare… and you might not like how well you compare.”

The rather impressive cock outline on Vic’s slacks then vanished without a trace. Seems like he had just been shrunk down there.

Vic rolled his eyes. “And here I thought I wasn’t going to be the one getting changed tonight.”

“It’s just a precaution in case that waiter wasn’t the only one around here tonight with wandering eyes.” Theo said before returning to his menu.

Vic simply sighed, hopefully his Warlock husband would set things right by tomorrow morning…

[poppadom0912]

You have a kid?!

Character: Will Halstead x Daughter!Reader, Jay Halstead

Warnings: Brief mentions of abandonment but that's kinda it.

Summary: After being gone for so long, Will finally shows up but with a girl by his side.

Lightly based on Season 2, Episode 17 Chicago PD but I changed it a little.

A/N: This is a first for me but I'm totally in love. Even if this doesn't get a lot of love, I'm going to be writing a lot more of Faith.

*****

Jay's problems had washed over. He no longer had a bounty on his head and things with him and Erin were decent. It wasn't the bestest of things to be hanging out with college kids who dumped waste onto politicians but at least none of the boys ended up being pushed from a hotel window, dead on top of a car.

"Hey chuckles." Trudy called out for Jay, her eyes not moving as she was immersed in punching holes into a bunch of papers.

"Detective chuckles if you don't mind." Jay smirked, coming forward and leaning his forearms against the front desk.

"Little donnybrook down at kitty o'shea's officer on the scene wanted to know if you'd stop by." Trudy went on, saying it as though she was bored and was more interested in her little task than talking to the younger detective.

"To do what? Show him how to do his job?"

"No, keep your brother from getting locked up."

And with just a tad bit of confusion and a little bit of being fed up, Jay was making his way out to have a word with his brother, totally oblivious to what he was walking into.

*****

Jay was more than prepared, stewing in his thoughts on the drive over so when he got out his car and was approaching the pavement, he came to a sudden stop, frozen in his steps.

There was his redhead brother, trying to talk to the only officer on the scene with a small girl no taller than his knees who for some reason shared the red locks of his brother and his deceased mother hiding behind Will's legs.

Maybe he was hallucinating-

"Ah! Detective Halstead, please talk to your brother." The officer turned around, looking at Jay in relief as he stepped away from Jay.

"What the hell happened?" Jay asked, authority laced in his words as he eyed the man sitting on the floor behind the officers feet but his hands weren't cuffed.

Will scoffed, shaking his head incredulously. "That bastard tried to take Faith, that's what happened!" He said, pointing at the bearded man on the floor who had no shame on his face whatsoever.

Faith? Jay thought to himself, he didn't know a Faith. But that was a thought for later because Will was accusing the man of attempted kidnapping.

"Attempted kidnapping? That's a serious offence officer, why don't you put some bracelets on him and chuck him into the back of your car." Jay suggested, looking the officer dead in the eye. "Go straight to the 21st and tell the desk sergeant Jay Halsteads dealing with him."

Without another word, the officer complied, slightly shaken from Jay's words.

Now that they were alone, Jay could finally talk to his brother. "Dude, who's Faith?"

Will smiled, a soft and genuine smile Jay hadn't seen since before their mother died which both confused him but he wasn't complaining either.

"Faith, you remember our stories about uncle Jay?" Will turned around, bending down so he was eye level with the girl. Only when she nodded, her toothy smile oddly resembling the smile Jay swore he knew from pictures their mother took when they were kids. "This is him honey."

Uncle? Honey? The two words flew around his mind in a whirlwind, feeling as though a tornado was messing up all his inner workings because none of this was making any sense.

It seemed that the name uncle Jay turned on a switch because the second Will mentioned it, the redheaded girls eyes, that was the same whiskey colour as her father's brightened up too fast to be humanly possible. She whipped around so fast, looking up at Jay with such a speed that he was concerned she'd gotten whiplash.

"Uncs Jay Jay!" She practically screamed with joy even with her very obvious lisp. Her arms went up in the air and before any attempt could be made to stop her, she launched herself towards the younger Halstead brother and wrapped herself around his legs, not able to reach any further.

Her giggles were so innocent and giddy and full of life, her chubby cheeks squished against his jeans as she mumbled nonsense to herself that Jay probably should've been listening to but he was still in shock.

"Alright kiddo, let Jay Jay go, we don't need him collapsing from shock." Will chuckled at his brother, prying his daughter away with minimal strength.

Faith gasped, her eyes wide as she immediately let go. All she wanted to do was hug him! She didn't mean to hurt him! Oh no, if she hurt her uncle then her dad would-

Will shook his head with a smile at his daughters very distraught face at the mere thought of hurting the man she'd heard so many stories about. She would never be able to live with herself if she was the reason Jay had to amputate both his legs, how would he keep the world safe from all the bad guys without legs!

"Jay Jay?" Jay reiterated, remembering the name he was called the day of his birth by Will but eventually, the name died out. Clearly, it hadn't been buried in its rightful casket since it was still being said all these years later.

Before Will could reply with some sort of an explanation, Jay's radio went off, the voice on the other side belonging to one of those from intelligence. Jay was brought back down to earth, blinking as he realised he was needed at work.

"Go do your thing." Will nodded, making sure he was holding Faith's hand as the two waved Jay away.

"Sabe de world please!" Faith shouted with a smile as Jay backed away to his car, her adorable lisp and poor pronunciation causing a smile to break out on the detectives face.

*****

Fast forward several hours later, Jay gave Will his address, work was finished, everyone had eaten and all they were doing was sitting in the sitting room, the two brothers nursing beers as the only girl Halstead giggled to herself, easily entertaining herself with the few toys she brought to Chicago with her.

"So..." Jay cleared his throat, taking a sip of his beer as he glanced at the three year old who sat cross-legged on his rug which now that he thought about it, he should give it a good clean.

"So?" Will replied, a smile on his face when he caught onto what Jay was silently indicating. "Just say the words man - Where'd this kid that looks just like you come from?"

"What happened man?" Jay asked, summing together all his questions in the three words. "Last I heard from you was that you were partying it up in New York with your surgeon stuff."

Will hummed because it was true. The last thing Will told his younger brother about his life was that it was all great which it definitely had been, but he forgot to mention the finer details.

"Four years ago, met this girl who was a nurse and we hit it off whatever." Will started, waving his hand as he mentioned the woman. "It was only one night and clearly lots happened but she left me out of the loop.

"Then, all of a sudden, nine months later there's a knock on my door and guess what?" Will asked rhetorically, not waiting for an answer as he carried on. "In a carrier is this baby girl with a tuft of red hair, a small card on her lap that said 'Her names Faith and she's definitely yours' that's it.

"Fast forward three years later and here we are." Will said with a warm smile, looking down at Faith as though she was the only thing that mattered in the world.

Finished with his story, Will rolled his eyes as Faith struggled to keep her eyes open, slouching as she slowly drifted off. Now that he took a good look at the time, it was well past her bedtime and for such a little girl, she was most definitely jet-lagged.

With little to not effort, Will lifted Faith into his arms, giving her time to shift around - snuggling her face into the crook of his neck, her small arms barely going around his torso with her legs wrapping around him tightly - she was basically his own koala.

"Who would've thought fatherhood would look so good on William Halstead?" Jay teased, smirking into the rim of his beer, watching his niece doze off in her father's arms.

"I'm still learning man." Will huffed with a smile. "The older she gets, the more attitude she gets and I'm already struggling to keep up with her now."

The two settled into a comfortable silence but there was one more question that Jay needed answering. "How long you in Chicago for?"

The lack of an answer from Will is what increased Jay's curiosity. For some reason, after their first meeting this morning, Jay had some hope that maybe his brother was coming back home but obviously, it was all false hope-

"Um, we're staying." Will announced, whispering so he wouldn't wake up Faith who was knocked off in a deep, deep sleep. He thought long and hard over this decision and it only seemed right, even if he was moving from the only home Faith ever knew.

"Your Faith's family and you've already missed her first three years - which is all my fault, I know." Will said, indirectly apologising for not introducing the uncle and niece earlier. "Her mother's never been in here and I doubt she ever will be. Besides me, your all she has."

His tone was solemn and there's clearly been tons of time behind his well thought out words. Jay might've been caught off by his older brothers confession but it struck a cord for him and after the day he had, it was just what he needed.

"Your kidding." Jay scoffed, brows furrowed in disbelief and slightly in denial that after all these years, his only sibling was coming back home with a new member of the family at his side.

"No kidding." Will shook his head, smiling at his brothers reaction. "Even got an interview lined up at an ED not too far from an apartment I'm interested in - Faith liked it more though, something about how on her tiptoes, she's tall enough to open all the doors."

"You stay here as long as you need man." Jay smiled, setting down his beer on the coffee table as he stood up, pushing his hands on his knees. "You wanna put her down on the guest bed?"

"Oh yes please, my arms going dead."

[poledancingdinos]

Hidden Desires

Pairing: August Walker (1st person POV) X OFC

Word Count: 3679 words

Warnings: Stripper OFC, Porn with feelings, D/S dynamics, Knife kink (no actual cutting or injury), Primal kink, Chasing, Choking, Fingering, Vaginal sex, Creampie, Angst, Hurt/Comfort

Taglist : @amberangel112  @utterlyhopeful-fics  @marantha ​ @kebabgirl67 @littleone65 @omgkatinka  @luclittlepond  @elizabetharegina  @enchantedbytomandhenry  @narnianaos  @geralts-yenn @peaches1958 @avengersfan25

A/N: As usual, something that started as a quick fic turned into the length of all three previous parts combined. Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 here.

Story Masterlist

Masterlist

I noticed her eyes lingering the first time I packed for a week-long op in Warsaw. I went through all my normal checks, cleaning my firearms, loading bullets into a few spare magazines and pulling the knife out of its sheath to make sure the blade was well sharpened. That’s when her eyes flickered away from her book.

I didn’t know what exactly had caught her attention but I didn’t have time to ask more questions. I needed to get on the road or I was going to miss my flight. She’d only been living with me for two weeks at that point and had never seen me prepare for or unpack after a mission. If she was afraid of having weapons in the penthouse, we were going to have a big problem.

When I got back, I made a show of lining up my weapons on the table before sitting down to clean them. She sat with me at first, telling me about her week at the club and how she was getting settled into her new home. When I reached for my tactical trench knife, her eyes once again sought out the blade as she shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Shortly after, she excused herself and spent the next six hours reading in the living room.

My pet and I, we work because she always takes everything I have to give. She indulges my every whim then begs for more. What I realized then was that maybe she’d been keeping her own deepest desires quiet and I knew exactly how to find out what they were.

I bought her a Kindle for her birthday last year. I’m not sure if she knows this but since I pay for her account, I have a history of every book she’s bought or borrowed available in an instant.

It’s not surprising that a woman who enjoys submission and works as a stripper has a taste for kinky books. Frankly, the romantic aspect bothers me more than the abundance of raunchy sex. It’s the one thing I can never give her and part of me hates that at least a small part of her craves it.

Maybe that’s why I downloaded all the books she read while I was away as well as the one she binged immediately after my return. Maybe I felt the need to give her her fantasy to make up for the fact that there is one part of me that I will never be able to give her.

It’s entirely possible that the kinks she enjoys on paper have no appeal when it comes to real life and that that is the reason why she never mentioned them to me. It’s also possible that for some reason, she doesn't want to tell me about them. I try not to think about how much that bothers me.

This time, when I get back into town after my mission, I don’t warn her beforehand. I put away all of my gear as usual, shower, trim my beard and redress with my knife strapped to my hip.

I’ve been tracking her phone all evening waiting for her to turn onto our street. As soon as she does, I dial her number and wait for the line to connect.

She picks up after a few rings, “Hey, I just pulled into the garage so I might have to call you back after I get off the elevator.”

“That won’t be necessary, this will be quick. If it's too much, if I push too far, say ‘red’. Remember this, Kitten, when you say ‘red’, everything stops.”

“I don’t understand…”

She knows what the words mean, she just doesn't know why she is being reminded of them now. At the very beginning of our relationship, we established the basic safewords as a general precaution. Though I enjoy pushing limits and toeing the line, I pride myself on being able to read her and stop without her having to tell me. I've never misjudged a situation so much that she needed to use it. 

“I’ll see you soon, Pet,” is all I say before hanging up the phone.

I wait for her out of sight of the front door. It takes about sixty seconds before I hear her key turning in the lock. I wait until she pushes the door closed and I hear the deadbolt flip to make my move. There isn't a single light on and she's at a momentary disadvantage while her eyes adjust. It gives me just enough time to silently move in behind her.

I wrap an arm around her front, pinning her back to my chest. My other hand covers her mouth, muffling her surprised gasp, but other than that she doesn’t make a sound. She struggles a bit but it’s more a question of testing my hold than trying to get free.

“Listen to me very carefully. You have indulged my desires time and time again but it has come to my attention that I have failed to give you the same.”

Her head jerks but I don’t let her move. I’m not sure if she’s shocked by what I just admitted or if she’s afraid of what I might know.

The top of her head only reaches about an inch above my shoulder. She’s strong for her size but absolutely no match for me.

“You may not have trusted me enough to tell me what you wanted, but I hope you will trust me to give it to you now.”

I lift my hand from her mouth, finding hers and guiding it to feel the sheath on my belt. Her breath hitches as she traces the shape with her fingertips, registering the meaning of my words.

“I’m going to count to three. On three, I want you to fight me as hard as you can. The knife doesn’t come out until you submit. I won’t risk hurting you. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Sir.”

At any point until now, she could have told me to go to hell. I’ve felt no tension in her body, only a few shivers of excitement, but the fact that I missed this desire in her for so long has me second guessing myself and I feel the need to be sure.

“Do you have a problem with anything I have said?”

“No, Sir.”

“Good. One.”

She stands taller, getting ready for what’s to come.

“Two.”

I let go of her, moving back two steps. There is a prolonged pause as she turns around and locks eyes with me for the first time since she returned. Her chest is heaving and she licks her lips as she looks me up and down.

“Three.”

She darts towards the living room as fast and as gracefully as a feline, showing me once again that her nickname is well earned. I cut her off as she rounds the couch and the little minx smirks as she leaps over the back of it like it’s nothing.

We both sprint down the hallway and I catch hold of her arm just as she ducks into the bedroom. That’s when the mood shifts from a chase to a fight. She pushes me and slams her fists on my chest but I pin her arms behind her back and lift her over my shoulder.

She fights harder than I expected and almost wiggles right out of my arms but I manage to toss her on the bed and slip a hand into her pants. She continues to struggle, bucking and kicking but she falters when my fingers breach her wet folds.

I keep her pinned under my weight as I work her stupidly tight jeans down her legs. I’m tempted to cut them off but her ass looks phenomenal in them and it would be a terrible waste.

While one hand returns to her weeping cunt, the other grabs hold of her hair, baring her neck to me. As soon as my lips land on the sensitive skin, she stops fighting and focuses on just feeling. I make my way south, nipping at the exposed swell of her breasts. Where I had qualms about slashing her pants, I have none about her top.

“Hold still.”

I pull my knife from its sheath, letting it catch the light coming in through the window before I move it to the hem of her shirt and begin to cut. Once the fabric is in shreds, I move on to her bra allowing the blade to come in contact with her skin for the first time. Her panties survive — for now — but only because I have other plans for her.

“Get on your knees and put your hands on the headboard.”

I move off the bed, freeing her, then I set the knife on the dresser as I strip off my suit. I didn’t tell her to keep her eyes forward but she doesn’t dare look back even when the bed shifts under my weight. 

She doesn’t so much as flinch when the cool metal of the blade comes in contact with the burning skin of her thigh. In fact, she sighs like she’s been waiting a lifetime for this moment and is finally getting relief.

She’s been mine for a little over a year now. She always submits for me — though, admittedly, I sometimes I have to break the brat in her first — but seeing her now, calling it beautiful doesn’t fucking begin to describe how she looks.

She is completely lost to her arousal, her eyes closed and mouth agape where soft gasps are escaping but that’s not the part that has me going crazy. The level of trust she is displaying for me has a horrifying four-letter word running through my mind.

I can’t cross that line, I just can’t. But damn if she isn’t making me question everything I stand for at the moment.

She is perfectly still while I run the tip of the blade over her soft skin. I slip it under the band of her underwear, tearing them first on one side then on the other. Her hands tighten around the edge of the headboard as she fights her body’s involuntary responses to her arousal. Goosebumps form under my hand and when I scratch the blade sideways on her nipple, her entire body shivers.

I move closer, pulling gently with the hand splayed over her stomach until she leans her weight against me.

“Fucking beautiful,” I whisper against her neck, earning a small whine. “I bet you were relieved when I cut those panties away. That sweet pussy is so wet, they must have been uncomfortably drenched.” I sink two fingers deep within her tight walls, a satisfied rumble forming in my chest when she clenches around them. “So good, Kitten, you’re dripping for me.”

I watch over her shoulder as I continue to tease her hard, pebbled nipples with my blade. I maintain perfect control, scratching but never nicking her smooth skin. No longer needing to hold herself up alone, her body goes lax against me. Curious to see just how far I can go, I cup her chin, smearing some of her wetness over her lips which her tongue eagerly darts out to taste, then move the blade to her throat.

I’m on high alert, ready to react if she unintentionally moves into the sharp edge but still, she doesn’t budge. There is no tension, no signs of fear, only unconditional trust.

I’ve been ignoring my pulsing dick since she got home, and I had originally intended to get her off a few times before I fucked her, but it seems that my little kitten is not the only one who enjoys playing with knives. The building anticipation is driving me insane and I am now desperate to feel her around me.

The knife makes a loud thud as I let it fall to the floor, grasping her hip instead and grinding my hardness against her luscious ass. The hand on her chin slides to her throat, exercising controlled pressure.

“Are you feeling empty, Kitten? Is that tight little cunt begging to be used like my personal fuck toy?”

Her throat bobs under my palm. “Yes, Sir.”

“Because it is, isn’t it? Every inch of you is mine.” Body and soul, I add in my head.

“Yes, Sir.”

I guide her to lean forward, lining myself up and wasting no time before thrusting home. My forehead drops to her shoulder and we both groan. She is hugging my dick like a vice and her walls pulse around me but I push down my need to come to snap my hips with full-force.

“Oh fuck!”

I can’t make sense of what I’m feeling, neither physically nor emotionally. I’ve never experienced anything like this before. I need something to ground me, something to prove to me that this is real so I wrap my arms around her front and hold her close as I pound into her relentlessly. The sound of skin slapping skin fills the room, joined by my kitten’s cries of pleasure.

She lets go of the headboard, one hand snaking around the back of my neck and the other interlacing our fingers over her stomach. My thrusts aren’t as deep from this position, but the erotic sounds spilling from her lips let me know I’m hitting right where she needs me, over and over and it spurs me on.

“Don’t you dare come without my permission.”

I’m about two seconds away from exploding myself, but I just need this to last a little longer.

“I c— I can’t.”

“Yes you can, you’re my perfect little kitten and you can do anything I ask, you just choose not to. Don’t start being a brat now.” I punctuate my words by giving her pussy a sharp slap and immediately regret it when her walls flutter around me, nearly pulling me over the edge.

Just a little longer. My hands move over her body, desperate to memorize how every inch of her feels in my arms.

“Three,” I say when the pleasure fluttering in my stomach and rushing up my spine grows past the point of no return.

“Two.” My fingers find her clit and I pinch hard.

“One.”

Her face turns back and she locks her lips with mine. Her thighs quiver under my touch as our rapture takes over and I have to plant a hand on the wall to keep me from collapsing forward onto her.

My nape burns where her fingernails bite into my skin, holding me in place against her lips. The kiss is as feverish as the rest of our joining and I refuse to be the first to break it even if my body is threatening to give out and send us both crashing to the mattress.

It seems she has the same idea because she ushers me to sit with my back against the headboard and sits astride my hips. I don’t know how long we stay that way but when we eventually pull away, my lungs are burning from lack of breath.

“Why does it feel like you’re saying goodbye?”

Her question catches me so off-guard that I have no idea how to respond. Truth be told, now that she’s said it, I know what she means. There’s this sense of finality in the air.

She must take my silence as an admission because she hurries off me. “It’s okay, I understand,” she whispers as she covers herself in a robe and exits the room, leaving me stunned and speechless.

I don’t want her to go or for this to be the end, but I can’t listen to my emotions, I have to listen to reason. Logic tells me that I’m getting too attached and that I should end this before things go south. I’ve left a trail of bodies behind me as I advanced my career but there are still plenty more who are alive and kicking and hellbent on vengeance. Those kinds of people would have absolutely no issue with hurting one more innocent person if it meant gaining power over me.

Every agent out there thinks they are different, that they are better than those who came before them and will be able to protect their families. That kind of thinking only leads to a rude awakening.

I push myself off the mattress, finding a pair of sweatpants to put on before collecting my knife from the floor and slipping it back into the sheath.

From the moment we met, I’ve had this undeniable feeling of possession over her. I mark her every chance I get and we've been seen together in public before. She would already be at risk if someone wanted to get to me through her. To the outside eye, anyone would think she’s my girlfriend even if I’ve never dared use that term before.

I don't know how to love someone. I've never loved anyone and had them love me back. I've been alone since as long as I can remember, never getting attached, never being with the same person more than a few stray nights. Except for her.

I'm definitely not one for marriage, settling down or having children. Well, maybe the marriage idea isn't all bad. I'd like her to wear a mark of ownership for every other man to see but the whole perfect wedding day? Who would even attend?

A choked sob catches my attention and I suddenly feel like even more of an asshole. I exit the room, stopping in the kitchen to grab a bottle of the chocolate milk she loves so much before following the sound to the back room. I told her this was her space to do with as she pleased but she hasn't decided what to make of it yet. For now, it's storage for all the boxes she has yet to unpack and the few pieces of furniture she didn't want to part with.

She's curled up on her loveseat and seems to have found a throw blanket in one of the boxes to keep warm. Tears stain her cheeks and I immediately fall back into my dominant role, sitting beside her on the couch and pulling her over my lap. She protests weakly but her arms are trapped in her blanket and keep her from putting up a real fight.

“Drink,” I order, pulling the soft, velvety fabric back to reveal her arm.

“What's the point? You don't need to play the dom anymore, just leave me to deal with my stupid little emotions alone.”

Well, at least my little brat is still somewhere in there.

“I didn't say that.”

“You didn't need to.”

I sigh, setting the bottle on the floor and taking her hand in mine.

“Your question was unexpected, my hesitation has no meaning other than me giving it the consideration it deserved.”

“Well?” she asks, her tone practically daring me to answer.

I look down at her delicate hand in my much larger one. My thumb brushes nonsensical patterns over her knuckles and I linger over her ring finger.

“I can't give you normal. I can’t give you the safety of a house in the suburbs, two point five kids, a dog and a white picket fence.” I grind my teeth, considering how best to phrase what I want to say next. “If that is what you want, what would make you happy, then I will agree to let you go.”

She shifts on my lap, looking down when she feels the bulge in my pocket.

“How did you know I liked your knife?”

She ignores my question, which is fair since I ignored hers.

“I looked at your kindle.”

Her face flushes red and she shakes her blond curls out to hide her face. It’s strange to see her anything but her confident, assertive self.

“Which one did you—”

“Ones. Everything you read the last time I was out of town. And that saucy little number you read after I got back.”

“Then why would you think that what I want is to be normal? Weren’t all the guys in those books dangerous criminals who literally commit murder for the women they love?” She moves to straddle my lap cupping my face with both hands. “Would you do the same for me?”

This woman never ceases to amaze me. She’s phrased her question in a way that gives her the answers she wants without me having to say the words.

I stroke a hand along her cheek, tangling my fingers in her hair and tugging her forward into a kiss. “I would,” I say honestly, making a smile return to her face.

She pulls her bottom lip between her teeth and reaches for the knife, turning it over in her hands. “I love you too,” she whispers, pushing the blanket and the robe off her shoulders and exposing herself to me. “And I want you to mark me.”

“I won’t scar you,” I state, lowering the knife. “The healing is too unpredictable,” I add when she gives me a disappointed look. I should know, I’ve had enough wounds stitched shut in a perfectly straight line only for them to heal oddly because of how the skin twists and shifts in everyday life.

I lean forward, tracing her clavicle with open-mouthed kisses. “We’ll commission a design, something befitting of your beauty, and I will mark you myself once the time is right.”

I don’t have a single ounce of artistic ability in my body — I’m better at destroying beauty than I am at creating it. But it will be a cold day in hell when I let another man mark her on my behalf so I guess I will have to learn how to use a tattoo machine.

“I know who you are, August. I know the dangers.” She leans her forehead against mine. “You once told me that being with me wasn’t settling. Now it’s my turn to tell you the same.”

[misssugarcat]

Fair Play

Important note: If you like Leander, maybe it's better not to read the following story. 😅 I really can't stand him, so I chose him as an enemy this time. Aesop Sharp x Reader – 5,6 k words

I accidentally blew up a cauldron. Again. I am just a total bummer for potions.

Professor Sharp sighs and rolls his eyes. "Miss Mills, you really need to be more careful. How many times is this now that you've blown up a cauldron?"

"I'm not sure, Sir ..." I say sheepishly. I'd like to be good at potions, but somehow potions don't like me.

He sighs again. "Okay then. How did you blow THIS one up. Come on, I know you know what you did."

"Hmm ... I stirred in the wrong direction?" It's more of a question than an explanation.

Professor Sharp sighs for the third time and facepalms. "How in Merlin's beard do you stir in the WRONG DIRECTION?!"

"Uh … I've got a little left-right problem ..." I'm getting more and more meek.

The teacher laughed dryly. "I hope you don't have the same problem with flying a broom."

"Maybe that’s why Professor Kogawa doesn't like me that much ..." I bite my tongue. I would like to sink into the ground with shame.

He groans. "Miss Mills. I think you'll need to stay after school to keep practicing ... you can't be making the same mistakes all the time."

"In fact, the last time the cauldron exploded, it wasn't my left-right weakness that was the problem." Please, ground, just open up.

He glances at me. "And what was your problem exactly, that you're so reluctant to admit?"

" … wrong ingredient?" He will kill me.

Sharp sighs for the fourth time. "Let me fix that for you: You were not paying attention, and you were being careless. It's not hard to look at the ingredients before adding them to a cauldron, is it?"

Okay, he's not going to kill me, it'll be the next exploding cauldron.

He closes his eyes and places his hands over his face, groaning again. "Miss Mills ... did you even read the recipe?"

"I did, Sir. Really ..."

He just looks at me. "I'm disappointed. You've blown up three different cauldrons before. I hope you're not like this in your other classes."

"At least no plants have eaten me in Herbology."

He laughed dryly. "Well, at least that's an accomplishment I suppose."

"I try to take my incompetence with humour." I shrug apologetically.

"You really should just ask for help, you know. I'm sure if you just slowed down for once this wouldn't be quite as much of a problem."

I leave the classroom with my head ducked.

He facepalms behind me. "Why do they insist on making my job more difficult for me?"

My best friend Natsai Onai is waiting for me in front of the classroom. She puts a comforting hand on my shoulder. She looks genuinely concerned and asks: "Are you feeling alright? Professor Sharp can be a bit harsh sometimes."

I shake my head. "He means well. I know I'm terrible at potions. I just don't have a talent for it. I wish it was different. I wish I was different."

She tries to smile. "It's alright, Amy. Not everyone's cut out for every subject. I'm sure there's something else you're good at!" She frowned. "It is unfortunate that it had to be potions, though. I know how badly you want to be good at it."

I start to cry. Natty hugs me. "Hey now, it's okay ... it just doesn't come naturally to you, and that's okay. There's no shame in that, after all. You just might need some more help than most, and no one's gonna judge you for that, okay?"

I sniffle. "I'm such a loser."

Natsai shakes her head and keeps hugging me. "You're really not. You're kind, sweet and caring. Not everyone's a potions genius and that's fine." She holds me a little tighter and rubs my back. "There will be a subject that clicks with you. I just know there is."

"Not potions, anyway ... at least I'm good at Defense Against the Dark Arts and Transfiguration, anything to do with practical magic." I'm talented at that.

Natsai smiles. "And that's alright! Don't compare yourself to anyone else, okay? We all have talents, but we also have our weaknesses. Just don't be embarrassed to ask for help, understand?"

I nod. "Thanks, Natty. I'm already feeling better."

"Of course, that's what friends are for!" She smiles again. "We all need a bit of encouragement or support from our friends once in a while, especially when we're feeling down." She squeezes me softly, rubbing my back.

In the evening, Natty and I do our homework. We have to write a multi-page essay on the properties and use of Wiggenweld Potion for Professor Sharp.

I try to be as specific as possible this time, often asking Natty for her opinion and looking things up multiple times. My essay just has to be good this time. I want to prove to Professor Sharp that I can do more than blow up cauldrons.

When I turn in my essay, Professor Sharp is impressed. He didn't say so outright, but I can tell by the twinkle in his eye.

"Miss Mills, this is really well done! I'm impressed. You've clearly done a lot of research and put a lot of care into this essay. I would like to award you this well-deserved 20 points for Gryffindor. Well done."

I beam at him. "Thank you, Professor!"

He sighs and smiles. "Now, you need to promise me you'll be careful with your next cauldron." He laughed dryly. "I'm beginning to think you're trying to kill me with those things, Miss Mills."

I look at him in horror. "I would never dare, Sir!"

"Well, you could have fooled me!" He laughs again. "So, will you promise me you'll be careful next time? I don't want to have to use a potion to re-grow any hair that may have been burned off during your next explosion." He looks at me seriously. "Don't waste your potential, young lady."

The next time we're supposed to brew a potion, I'm very nervous. I just can't screw it up this time.

I am much more careful and precise ... and more importantly, I read the recipe over, again and again. This seemed a sign of improvement. The potion began to bubble as I stir.

"Now be very careful ... and slowly add the next ingredient." Professor Sharp glances around the cauldrons ?" Professor Sharp glances around the cauldrons It is critical to the success of the potion. Understand?"

I turn away to count my Dittany Leaves.

Suddenly Professor Sharp's voice rings out: "MR PREWETT!!! DON'T YOU DARE!"

I turn around, startled. Leander Prewett is standing next to me, a spider fang in his hand. Apparently he was about to throw it in my cauldron. I stare at Leander.

Professor Sharp glances at Leander. "What. The. Hell. Is. Your. Problem?" He looks at him angrily. "Get over to my desk, you little prick. NOW!" He looks over to you, slightly flustered.

"Sorry, Miss Mills. You can go back to your cauldron. I just have some issues with Mr. Prewett here and I'll deal with them personally."

I'm still staring at Leander as he sheepishly walks over to Professor Sharp. Then I'm starting to realize it. HE is responsible for my exploding cauldrons!

Sharp starts slamming his fist down on his desk. He is fuming. "How dare you? What the hell makes you think it's okay to sabotage someone's work just because you hate them? Or whatever stupid childish reason you came up with to do this!"

I carefully continue with my potion. I try to focus on doing everything right. And my work seems to be paying off. My potion is going very well. It was going almost perfectly, in fact. My potion was bubbling and steaming, but the consistency was perfect.

Professor Sharp looks genuinely surprised. "Well ... what do you know? There is a potions genius in between those ears of yours! Good work!" Then he glances over at Leander. "That's the last time you'll be pulling stupid pranks like that in my class. Understand?"

I'm beaming. Apparently I'm better at potions than I thought. I giggle and Natty gives me a smile. I can see how proud she is of me. She leans in to whisper in my ear. "See? I told you that you could do it if you set your mind to it. I'm proud, you did really good!"

As Leander walks past me, he gives me a sinister look. I look at him confused. He's definitely mad at me, and he's really trying to make sure that I know it.

The hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Something is wrong. I have a bad feeling.

I glance over at him. The next thing I know, there's a flash of light that catches my eye. He throws a bezoar into my cauldron. I try to say something, but it's too late.

The potion immediately catches fire and starts overflowing over the sides, and it starts to explode.

Everyone starts shouting and screaming. I take cover. Another exploding cauldron ... but at least this time it's clearly not my fault.

Everyone stares in shock as Leander begins to laugh. Leander is actually laughing – and he doesn't seem to be worried the slightest.

I can see Professor Sharp, who is fuming. "Are you trying to kill someone?! That is NOT funny! Do you know how dangerous that is?!" He screams, looking absolutely furious and disgusted with Leander. "Do you wanna explain yourself Leander?! You've clearly got a death wish if you think this is a good idea!"

Leander has gone mad. Obviously he is out of mind. Sharp is still screaming at him. "You're gonna tell me WHY you just did this, WHY it was necessary to do this TWICE now ... and then you're gonna have to write me a 20 pages essay on the dangers of using bezoars in a cauldron. He slams his hands onto the desk. He was clearly beyond the boiling point right now. "Answer. Me. Now."

Leander looks at me. He smiles. He is definitely enjoying the fact that he was getting so much attention. He clearly isn't worried about the trouble he might be in at all. "What I did was entirely justified." He laughed a little bit. "I just wanted to teach Miss Mills a lesson. I think I taught her quite well, don't you?" He looks at Professor Sharp.

My jaw drops.

"So, you're telling me that you decided to try to kill the poor girl because you were annoyed at her?" Sharp looks at him in disbelief. "How ... dare you. I will be reporting this behaviour immediately. The headmaster needs to know about this, and I would suggest you apologize now for what you did."

But Leander obviously has no desire to follow his instructions. "She's a snooty goat. She thinks she's better", he says suddenly. "She ignored me. Didn't even want to go on a date with me."

Sharp's eyes widened. "What?" He glances at Leander with a look of disgust. "You cannot be serious right now."

If my mouth wasn't already open, my jaw would drop again.

Sharp is baffled. Just a moment ago, he was furious at Leander for being completely reckless in his potions class – but now, he was nearly speechless. "Are you implying that you almost killed her ... because she didn't want to go out with you?!" He looks absolutely shocked.

I stare at them. Leander has really gone mad.

Leander is angry now. "How dare you? How dare you not want to go out with me?" Does this guy even hear himself right now? He sounds like a complete narcissist ... because that's exactly what he is.

I feel dizzy.

Leander continues ranting. He's really starting to lose his temper. "Fine. If you won't go out with me, I guess I'll have to make sure you can't go out with anyone else." He starts to pace, clearly in some kind of rage. I had never seen someone get so upset about me not wanting to be with them ... and yet here I am. I have a front row seat.

"You are such a bitch", Leander looks at me full of anger. Then he spits at me.

The spit hits me. I stare at him. He's totally off his rocker this time.

Sharp is still watching in complete shock. He looks at Leander, looking absolutely furious. "Are you insane?! You just spat on a student because they wouldn't go out with you?!" He was livid. Leander had completely lost the plot, he is completely out of control now.

I crawl under the next table before Leander goes completely insane.

Leander laughs a sick little laugh. He actually thought that my reaction was funny. He's definitely a complete nutjob. He's going to get himself suspended or something else at this rate, and he doesn't even care. In fact, he's almost enjoying the fact that everyone is staring at him.

Then Leander suddenly turns around and leaves the classroom laughing. I stare after him. I just can't believe what just happened. It was like a bad movie. He leaves the room, a look of insane arrogance on his face.

The whole class is staring at me now, everyone's worried and scared. I can see on their faces that this is the first time they've seen Leander explode like that. They were never prepared to see someone as angry, violent and arrogant as Leander just became.

Professor Sharp walks over to me and helps me out from under the table. "Are you alright? Do you need to go to the hospital wing? You don't look so good ..." He looks at me, worried.

I shake my head. Actually, I just want to go to my dormitory. But I'd have to go through the Gryffindor common room to do that. Where Leander could be ... I stare at Professor Sharp, realizing I'm not even safe in the Gryffindor common room anymore.

He sighs. "Don't worry. I'll walk you to your bedroom. If you really need me to, I'll even sleep outside the entrance to your bedroom so you feel safer. I don't think Leander will be that bold. But he's got a short temper ... clearly. And I'd rather take the precautions than have another incident." He looks a bit worried.

"Yes please ..." My voice sounds strange. Not at all like myself.

Professor Sharp immediately puts his hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry. We're gonna get you back to your room, you'll feel better once you're back in there. And I'll make sure he does not follow you in."

He is determined to protect me. He is worried that Leander might try something else, but he wants to make sure that Leander wouldn't lay a hand on me.

On the way to the Gryffindor common room, I take a deep breath. "I actually declined to go out with him. I'm sorry. If I had known he was going crazy, I wouldn't have turned him down."

He sighs. "Trust me, don't blame yourself. It's not your fault. He's the one who's gone insane. There was nothing you could've done that would've prevented him from acting like a complete moron."

"What happens to him now?" I ask carefully. Professor Sharp sighs again.

"I would normally just give him a detention. But he's crossed a line here. And you deserve protection from someone like him. He's going to have a lot of consequences for acting like that." He looks upset. "But I'm not gonna let him harass you. Remember: I don't care if I have to sleep outside your door tonight."

He had never acted quite so protective over someone before, even when he and his friends were Aurors.

I smile briefly. "Thank you."

He looks at me, his face soft and kind. He is definitely one of the nicer professors in the school, if a little rough around the edges. "Anytime. You know where to find me if you need anything." He smiles. "Now, let's get you back to your bedroom."

 When we arrive at my dorm, I sit down on my bed. I look at Professor Sharp. "Did Leander hurt you?"

Professor Sharp looks surprised by the question. "Hurt me? No. He wouldn't dare try to hurt me." He chuckles, shaking his head. "No, he didn't hurt me. He's just a little ... unhinged in the head, let's say."

He sits down next to me on my bed. "Why do you ask?" He gives me a strange look.

I explain: "You looked in the classroom like you were about to have a heart attack because you were so upset."

He laughs. "I'm just more shocked by his behaviour. I was not expecting him to act like that. He's never been quite as rude as he was, but I suppose that's his true colours showing?" He looks at me. "Did he actually do anything else to you? I'll be glad to punish him some more if he did. I hate to see a student being attacked for no reason."

"Please don't get upset again." I look at him worried.

He smiles, trying to reassure me. "Don't worry, I'm not too upset. And don't worry, I won't get physical with him or anything. I've got more tact than that." He frowned. "But I'm still gonna have a very serious talk with him after what he did today. And I want you to know that you can always come to me with any concerns. I will always back up my students."

I squeeze his hand. "Thank you."

He smiles again at me. "Anytime. Now, is there anything I can get you to make you feel better? You just had a rather traumatizing experience, so I want to make sure you're feeling alright." He looks at me. "Do you want some tea? I have some relaxing tea. Or maybe you want something else? I've got almost anything you can think of."

"Tea sounds good." I grin.

He grins back. "Sure thing. I'll get that for you. Do you have a preference of flavours? I've got black tea, green tea. I've also got chamomile and some other types." He looks at me politely, just waiting for me to decide.

After I chose green tea, Professor Sharp goes downstairs to the common room to make us some.

Then he comes back upstairs with two mugs full of warm green tea. He offers me one of the mugs. "Here we go. Freshly made." Then he sits back down on my bed and takes a sip from his mug. "So ... how are you feeling? Are you alright?"

I nod. "Better." Then I sigh. "What now? I can't stay here in the dormitory forever."

He smirks slightly. "Of course not. I won't let what he did stop you from living your life." He drinks some more of his tea. "I'm assuming you won't want to be around him at all anymore – and I can't blame you. I'll make sure that you won't have to."

He seems determined to fix this situation. "I'll have him permanent detention and suspended from school until further notice."

"We have many subjects together. After all, we are in the same year in the same house." I frown.

"That doesn't change anything. He will be suspended. You shouldn't be forced to be around him, and I will make that happen. I'll contact his family members as well, and make sure that they're aware of how he's been behaving." He shakes his head. "He's crossed a line. And I will make sure you won't ever have to worry about him again."

We sit together on my bed for a while. Then I repeat: "Thank you." And then I hug Professor Sharp.

He smiles, looking a bit surprised. He hadn't expected a hug. But it was a welcomed surprise.

"You're welcome. Don't worry. I'll take care of you. And I'll make sure he doesn't bother you."

We sit together until the evening, drink tea, talk and play chess – Professor Sharp is indeed a formidable opponent. I lose more than once.

"You're doing good. You're probably one of my tougher opponents, I have to say." Aesop chuckled, sipping his tea and smiling. "I'll admit, it does take me a lot to focus. But you do make me have to work for a victory. But you'll never defeat me." He grins.

"We will see." I grin cheekily.

Aesop chuckles. "I will win. Just you watch." He took a swig of his tea, still looking confident.

"So I take it you enjoy chess? I'm a big chess-player. In fact, back when I was a young student here, I was quite the champion." He smiles. "You know, I won the trophy for chess every year. No one could touch me."

"If this turns out like Potions, I'll be better than you in no time." I laugh.

He joins my laughter. "Not on your life. I was literally a wizard on that board, and I never lost a match." He chuckles again. "I've still got that trophy around here somewhere as well, as a reminder of my greatest victory. It's just a bit nostalgic, really, thinking back to that year." He smiles. "But, you're good for a newer player. You're not too bad. Maybe you'll be a master someday. But I will always be the chess champion."

"Only in your dreams. Someday I will defeat you." I promise him.

Aesop grins. "If that helps you sleep at night, but you're not getting anywhere near my level of chess. I'm un-de-fea-ted." He takes another sip on his tea. "I might let you win the first time, though ... I can see the ambition in your eyes. So, I'll be nice and not crush your dreams." He smiles at me. "I think you could be really good at this. I'd even train you to get to my level."

"Is it an offer?" I raise my eyebrows.

Aesop smiles. He'd actually quite like to teach me. "Of course, I always love helping students reach their potential. And you seem to have more potential than you think. So sure, I'll be willing to train you." He grins again. "But I still can't guarantee that you'll ever be at my level. But I'll at least train you until you get as good as you possibly can. If that's acceptable?"

"Deal." I hold out my hand to him.

He takes my hand and shakes it. "I look forward to teaching you. I've loved teaching this craft to my students, and you're definitely one of my more promising ones. I can't wait to see how well you end up playing."

We look at each other and grin.

"So, are you up for a few more games?" He took another sip of his tea and set the mug back down. "Or are you tired of losing? I'd completely understand." Aesop chuckles, smirking slightly as he looks at me. "You're always free to go if you've had enough. It's up to you."

"I'm ready." I set up the chess pieces. Aesop plays black, I play white.

"And ... go. Your move." My teacher looks over the board, looking for a good move. He is already thinking a few turns ahead.

We play late into the night. Of course, he wins every time. After a while I start yawning and soon fall nearly asleep leaning against the headboard of my bed.

Aesop sighs. "I think that's enough for tonight. You look like you need some sleep.

He stands up, carefully moving me into my bed. "I'll turn off the lights. And if you need anything, you can always come talk to me. Okay?" He smiles. "Goodnight."

The next morning, I wake up early. Aesop is sitting in a chair in the corner of the room, reading.

He notices me waking up, and looks up. He gets up from the chair and walks over to me. "Good morning. You okay? Did you get some good rest?" He sits down on my bed.

"Yeah ..." I look around. "Did Leander show up?"

Aesop shakes his head. "He hasn't come in yet. But if he does, don't worry. I'll make sure he never bothers you or hurts you again." He looked determined now. "If Leander comes in here, it won't go well for him."

I look at him. He has deep bags under his eyes. "Did you sleep?" He sighs. "Not much."

He tries to hide his exhaustion. "I just have a lot on my mind. Don't worry about me. Let's not talk about me though. I don't want you to worry about me. I have to take care of you first. That comes first, before me."

I give him a sharp look. "You need sleep. If you really want to look after me, I'll come with you to your quarters."

Aesop looks at me. "Really? You would do that?" He seems surprised. "I don't want to be a hassle though. And I don't want you to miss your classes or anything. Are you sure you want to do that?" I can see that he feels bad that I would want to stay with him, especially with how tired and exhausted he is.

"School can wait. I'll catch up, Natty will help me." I get up. "You need sleep."

Aesop sighed. "Alright. If you really don't mind then I'll let you stay with me. You're a sweet girl." He smiles, standing up as well, and then he offers me his hand. "I really do appreciate it. Come on, let's get something to eat. I still need to eat myself."

After breakfast in the Great Hall, we walk through the hallways to his quarters. Luckily we don't meet Leander.

Aesop opens the door to his quarters, holding it open for me to enter first.

"Here we are. It's a bit of a mess in here." He apologizes, as the room is very messy and stuff laying around everywhere. "I'm not the best when it comes to cleaning, but I hope it's not too bad. Sorry about the mess."

He closes the door behind me. "You can make yourself comfortable anywhere you like, really."

I roll my eyes on him. "Go to bed now. I'm okay."

"Okay. I'll go get some sleep." He goes to his bedroom, lying down and falling asleep as soon as he hit the bed. It was a long night, and he really could use a good sleep.

I grin. Then I go to his couch and sit down. I pick up an interesting-looking book from a stack of books and start reading to pass the time.

I read for a very long time. The hours pass by. The sun sets and the room is starting to get dark.

Aesop is still asleep, breathing loudly as he sleeps.

I yawn and curl up on his sofa. Then I fall asleep too.

When I wake up in the middle of the night I'm freezing. Half asleep I crawl into Aesop's bed. He sleepily wraps his arm around me, his face twisting into a soft smile. His sleep is quite deep, and he hadn't even noticed that I got into bed with him.

Aesop pulls me close into his arms. It was obvious from his sleep that his arm wanted to be wrapped around me. We lie snuggled together in bed and sleep.

Aesop's breathing is soft and steady. For the first time in a long time, he has no nightmares.

His breathing was soft and gentle, and he started subconsciously to pull me closer. I can even hear him mumble "I'll keep you safe" in his sleep – a peaceful and peaceful and quiet sleep. One that he hasn't had in a long time.

By the time Aesop wakes up, it was already a sunny day. The birds were chirping, the trees were blowing in the wind, and the sky was a bright blue. He stays still, feels my body next to him and feels his hand on my skin.

Then he looks at me. He smiles and put his hand on me gently. "Good morning. Did you sleep well?"

I mumble something in my sleep, open my eyes and stretch. I slept better than I have in a long time.

Aesop laughs. "That's good. Please let me know if I can do anything to help... I'd hate for you to be uncomfortable here. Do you want anything for breakfast? Are you hungry?"

On the way to the Great Hall, we bump into the person I least wanted to see.

Aesop's face changes to one of worry and concern.

"Leander. What do you want." Aesop is quite serious, and he isn't in a very good mood. He was hungry and just wants to get breakfast, but now this.

Leander approaches us. He stops a few meters in front of us. His eyes are on me.

Aesop is annoyed. "What do you want. I don't want to deal with you and your games right now. So just spit it out and leave her alone. And you better leave her alone." Even though he doesn't want to fight, it is clearly on his mind now.

He takes a step towards Leander, his eyes widening slightly. "Or else there will be consequences."

Leander grins provocatively at him. "You know I won't get in trouble ... Sir."

Aesop is obviously beyond annoyed at this point. He moves forward again. "Leave. Now." His tone is cold. He tries his hardest to not lash out. "Don't you dare try to talk to her again, or I will make sure you get punished."

Leander calmly replies: "You won't do anything. The last time it didn't work either."

He just watches him, Aesop's lip curling with anger. He clenches his fists at his side, taking a few deep breaths to calm down.

"Leander. Leave. Now." He is trying not to say something he'd regret. But he is angry, and it was visible.

Leander raises his hand. It looks like he's about to hit Aesop.

I rush between them, trying to stop them before it gets physical. "No, Leander-" Then his punch hits me right in the face. Everything goes black and I faint.

Aesop catches me before I hit the ground. "What the hell!" He yelled, his voice angry. He looks at Leander, a look of fury on his face. "You ... do this again. I swear, Leander. You're not going to like it."

Aesop immediately picks me up, holding me closely while he begins to walk to the infirmary as fast as he could. He would get me there, and he'd get me healed up. But then he is going to deal with Leander. He had gone too far now, and it was time for Aesop to stop him.

When I wake up, I'm lying in a bed. I look around and recognize the infirmary. Nurse Blainey is busy moving from bed to bed.

Aesop sits beside me, his hand on mine gently. He stayed up all night with me, and he looks tired, but he stayed to make sure I would be okay.

"Are you feeling better? Did they give you pain meds?" He looks worried and not being able to sleep all night, staying up with me instead. "How are you feeling? Is anything still hurting?"

I feel like I've been hit by a carriage. "What happened?"

"Leander happened." Aesop's tone is cold, and it is filled with anger in every word. "He hit you. I'm not going to let him hurt you like that ever again. No one should be getting hurt in this school, ever."

He squeezes my hand. "I have already reported to Headmaster Black. Leander is already expelled from school." He sighs. "Finally. I don't have to worry about him hurting anyone else anymore. I'm glad they did something."

He took a breath, and his face relaxed. "Do you want anything? Anything to eat or anything like that?"

I grin. "Fancy a game of chess?" Aesop nods, a smile on his face. "Sure, I could go for some chess I suppose."

He gets up to get the board, and then he set it down in front of me. "How about I give you three extra pawns? Aesop chuckles, and he leaned up against the bed. "How's that sound?"

I shake my head. "I want to win fair."

"Then, no extra pieces." He chuckles again, and then he set up the board. "Alright then, you go first." He waits for my first move.

We play for hours. Time flies by. Eventually, the sun sets behind the mountains around Hogwarts and it becomes dark. Only the moon hangs in the sky.

We move through the game, each of us making our moves, and each trying to outwit and outthink the other.

And then I make my last move. "Checkmate!!!" I grin at Aesop. He stares at me in disbelief. He is shocked, almost looking speechless. His mind is blown. I actually beat him, the great chess champion himself.

"You really did it ... I can't believe it." He shakes his head, shocked. "Well played. You beat me fair and square." He claps his hands together in applause. "I think you deserve something for that."

"How about a kiss?" I grin.

He thinks about it for a second, and then he chuckles. "Alright. But only because you won."

He leans in to me and gently kisses me on the lips. It was a warm kiss, and his eyes were smiling as he did so. "You have me all figured out."

[snappedsky]

Borderlands: Skies the Ultimate Treasure Hunter

Skies hunts for the library but gets distracted.

I really liked Burton's side quests- he deserved his own title card- so while the Vault Hunters are working on the main quest, Skies will help Burton.

*Links to previous and next chapters in reblog*

--

Guns, Love, and Tentacles Part 5

Skies hurries through Cursehaven to the library, excited to be on the trail of something. Though it is not the trail to the library. She finds herself in a dead end for the umpteenth time and curses. “Dammit, I should’ve asked for directions. I have no idea where the hell I am.”

She grumbles, wondering if she should try calling Mancubus, but wanting to avoid speaking to him as much as possible. She continues wandering until she finds herself in the cemetery. “Okay...this definitely isn’t the right way.”

She sighs heavily and starts to turn away when she hears somebody muttering. She turns back and sees a bearded man in a trench coat examining a crypt.

“Hey,” she says, startling the man. “You grave robbing or something? Cause you gotta wait at least a couple months after the burial or else it’s just rude.”

“Oh, no, no,” the man quickly replies. “I’m working on a cold case. I’m a detective, you see.”

“Oh, are you Burton Briggs?” Skies asks.

“You’ve heard of me,” he smiles, “my reputation precedes me.”

“Well, not really. My friends were looking for you to help with a problem over a cursed ring.”

“Ah, yes, I remember...vaguely. I sent them...somewhere. It escapes me now.”

“How could you forget?” Skies ask, “it wasn’t even an hour ago.”

“Ah, well, you see, I am a man without memories,” Burton explains, “there’s just a cloud of dark fog in their place. But I know I’m searching for something. Answers to questions I’ve already forgotten.”

“Is that why you’re on this cold case?”

“Cold case?” he questions and looks at the crypt with surprise. “Ah, this crypt. I’ve got a hunch about it. It might be related to a cold case I’ve been working on for...longer than I can remember. About a girl, who died.”

He shoots the lock on the crypt and the door slides open. He starts to go inside, but stops, as if frozen in place. “I...I can’t go in there.”

“Scared of zombies?” Skies nods, “yeah, I get it, they suck.”

“No, it’s not that,” Burton replies, “there’s this...whisper of a memory.”

He lingers there for a second, stroking his beard, then glances at Skies. “Say, would you mind going inside? See if you can find the girl?”

“Oh, uh, I don’t know,” she replies, “I’m kind of in the middle of something. Then again...this is tingling my treasure senses...”

“You’re a treasure hunter?”

“Yep, Skies the Ultimate Treasure Hunter, that’s me.”

“Ah, well, treasure hunters and detectives are cut from the same cloth,” Burton remarks, “we’re both hunting for something, unstoppable until we find it. If you help me find what I’m looking for, I’ll help you in return.”

“Well, I’m looking for information on the Bonded cult and their leader,” Skies says, “so maybe we can help each other. Alright, I’ll check it out.”

“Much obliged, friend,” Burton nods gratefully as Skies descends the stairs into the crypt.

The inside is lit by lamps on the walls. Skies passes through one small chamber into another, which has a painting on the far wall with half of it missing. There’s also an ECHO recording on a shelf below the painting. Skies takes the recording and plugs it into her ECHO.

“She’ll be safe in here,” a man that sounds just like Burton says. “I made sure nothing will ever disturb her again. I hope...wherever she is, she can forgive me...even though I’ll never forgive myself. The painting is the key. So I’ll keep it with me to make sure she can rest in peace.”

“Burton, did you leave a recording in here?” Skies asks as she leaves the crypt.

“I do not remember that,” he replies.

“It says you have a painting with you.”

“Why would I be carrying a painting?” he muses and checks his pockets. “Oh. Huh. Would you look at that. I, uh...do have it here. In my trench coat. I have no memory of this.”

He takes out of his coat the corner of a painting. It’s of Burton himself, looking off in the distance. “It’s...me in the painting. This speaks to me from the far side of a char-black chasm. An echo of an echo...”

He stares at the painting for a second then looks away, holding it out. “Here, take it. I can’t look at it anymore. There’s something...wrong about it. Something...missing. Just...try putting it back where it belongs.”

Skies takes the piece and goes back down into the crypt. She sticks it into the frame, putting the painting back together. It’s of Burton, looking out into some kind of large chamber.

Suddenly, the wall swings open like a door, revealing a secret room filled with rows of skeletons.

“Yo, Burton,” Skies calls back out. “It’s a secret door.”

“Secrets upon secrets,” he muses, “her tomb’s gotta be down there somewhere. I’m afraid I still can’t go in, but you go ahead. We will communicate via ECHO.” “Okey doke,” she shrugs and tugs a chain with a skull on it, opening up yet another secret door. It leads to a large, damp, stone corridor lined with torches and filled with krich nests. The creatures immediately emerge and Skies blasts them away with Wainwright’s shotgun. She winces, the force making her still-tender ribs ache, but continues on.

At the end of the corridor are two more skull chains. She glances at the doors they’re next to but can’t discern which is the correct way to go. So she shrugs and tugs a random one. It opens up to another corridor.

“Well, now I have to see what the other door is,” she says and pulls the other chain. It opens up to a large prime krich. “Well, that’s less satisfying.”

Once she’s killed the beast she continues down the corridor, past catacombs and through more krich nests. Finally, she reaches a grave with a locked, metal box sitting on it.

“This must be it,” Skies says as she grabs the box and calls Burton. “Hey, Burton, I found a box on a grave marked ‘Iris’.”

“Iris...” he muses, “that must be the girl. That name, it stirs something in me. Something pecking at the fringes of my mind. Bring me that box. There must be a connection.”

“On my way,” Skies replies and heads back through the corridors. Once she’s out of the crypt, she hands the box to Burton.

“This symbol,” he says, “I recognize it, but from where?”

Before he can ponder any longer, portals suddenly open up and Bonded emerge from them. “The artifact has been recovered! Hand it over, wretch! It’s not meant for you!”

“Looks like they’re after the box,” Burton gasps and draws his pistol. “Not today, friend.”

“Ah, crap,” Skies grunts and grabs her shotgun.

The two of them fight the cultists off. Thankfully there’s not many, but during the fight, a surge of pain shoots through Skies’ chest, and she collapses to her knees.

“Die, insect!” a cultist barks and aims at her. Skies is unable to dodge. But before the cultist can fire, he gets shot in the head first.

“Are you alright, friend?” Burton asks and holds out his hand.

“Yeah, sorry,” she replies, letting him help her up. “Just...injuries acting up. I’ll be fine.”

She takes a quick look around cemetery and sighs with relief when she sees all the Bonded are dead.

“There is some good news,” Burton says, “while we were fighting, I remembered where I’ve seen that symbol. We’ve gotta see a gunsmith named Hartford. That’s his family sigil on the box.”

He hesitates then looks at Skies guiltily. “Rather...I have to see the gunsmith. You helped me as you said you would. I would hate to drag you into this any further. Now I will help you.”

“Oh, no, no, no,” she argues, grinning. “I have to see how this ends. I’m sticking with you, whether you like it or not. Besides, you just saved my life so now I owe you even more.”

“Really? But...what you’re hunting for...”

“The Vault Hunters are working on it too. And besides, whatever’s in that box, the Bonded also want it. That means they’re involved in this so maybe I’ll learn something about them.”

“Very well,” Burton smiles gratefully. “I must admit having a partner in this is rather...comforting. And as I do not trust my memories, I cannot trust myself. So here, hold on to the box for safekeeping.”

Skies takes the box and tucks it into her trench coat. “Alright, let’s go see this gunsmith.”

Burton nods and the two of them leave the cemetery and head back into town.

[peaceful-melancholia]

The Worry (part 1)

Jake did not get as much sleep as he would have liked. He was awoken at seven in the morning, criminally early for a Saturday morning. And for no good reason, either. It was Max, of course, screaming. Seemed to be happening too often in the past twelve hours. Jake tried to go back to sleep, but unfortunately for him, their apartment was a two-bedroom, and Ethan had one of the bedrooms to himself, so Max’s first course of action was to rush into their shared bedroom and ask him the dumbest question possible.

“Are you awake?”

“Yes, obviously. You made sure of that. What are you yelling about? Wait, why did you take off the bandage? You shouldn’t leave it uncovered right now, it could get infected,” Jake said, sitting up to lecture Max.

“No, it can’t get infected, it scarred over. And even if it hadn’t I am ALREADY INFECTED.” Max said, making Jake wince at his volume.

“You’re going to wake up Ethan,” Jake said, scolding.

“No I’m not, he’s already at the gym. And once again, I am already infected.”

“Infected with…Look, Ethan said to wait until next full moon. That’s almost a month away. Quit freaking about it.”

“You want to know why I screamed?”

“Because you’re overreacting to the idea that you might be a werewolf a month from now? Because you wanted to ruin the start of my weekend? Why?”

“I bit my lip.”

“Oh, go suck a lemon. You did not wake me up for this.”

“No, I mean…well, I mean, I did, but it’s not about biting my lip. I think it healed already anyway. No, I screamed because…well, because it hurt, but then I found out why I had bitten my lip.”

“Because you needed an excuse to keep me from sleeping? Because when you go suck that lemon I told you to, you wanted to be considerate and make sure it hurt? Why?”

“Look at my teeth,” Max said, and he pulled back his lips to expose his teeth as much as possible. Jake was not a morning person, and therefore did not have time or energy to guess what about his teeth was such a problem.

“What about them? They’re sensitive to cold water? You have a cavity? What?”

“Look at them,” Max said through said teeth, speaking while trying to leave them visible. “The canines are way vigger than they used to ve, and they’re supher sharph.”

“Alright, I get it, you can put them away. They really don’t look that different to me, but they’re not my teeth. So what?”

“So, obviously, I am a werewolf now,” Max said, allowing his mouth to move normally again. “Ethan was wrong. There are some changes before the moon cycles back around.”

“Anything else? Or is it just the teeth thing?”

“No, I mean, the bite in my lip healed super fast, and look at my arm,” Max held out the arm that had been bitten. It was healed enough that it was just a cool scar. It didn’t even look especially fresh.

“I’ll admit, those are something,”

“Something? That’s all you have to say about it?” Max said, offended.

“I was not supposed to be awake right now. You’ve upset fate and the rhythms of life. Give me a break if I’m not as articulate as we’d both like me to be.”

“Well, I don’t know what to do about it. I’m taking on wolfish traits, and that’s in human form. I really don’t want to know what is going to happen when the full moon comes, and I don’t even know if I’ll be able to hide these changes for all that long.”

“Hey, look on the bright side. Maybe now you can actually grow a beard.”

“Hey, it’s been three years since the last attempt, I probably could anyway. And it wasn’t that bad, even then.”

“It only wasn’t bad because you’re blond enough it was easy to forget that the patches of hair were there at all. Hey, at least your hair color hasn’t changed.”

“Why do you say that? Do you think it will? I don’t want to have to dye my hair all the time. That would be awful.”

“No, I don’t think it’ll change. But I don’t know, your teeth changing was weird to me, too. Not really a bad thing, though, and the healing’s cool.”

“I guess, but just think about when I turn all mindless and awful and start biting people. How am I going to avoid that? And what if I’m dumb as a wolf and I drum up all this attention and get reported, then what?”

“I don’t know, but it’s too early to worry about right now.”

“You’re right. I have a month to prepare,” Max said. Jake meant early in the day, but he wasn’t going to correct him. “But what do I do in the meantime?”

“Monitor the changes and go about your normal life the best you can, for now.”

“What is normal, anymore? I feel like I forgot.”

“Normal is letting me go back to bed.”

-:-

On Tuesday mornings, all three of them had to go to work at 8 am. Naturally, that meant that Ethan typically got up at 4, went to the gym, came back, showered, ate breakfast, and accomplished errands and read until he needed to go. Naturally, also, that meant that Jake typically got up at 7:30 and rushed to put socks on and leave. Max was the happy middle ground of the two. So it was that at 6:30, he should be getting out of bed. Max knew this, and was awaiting it with great anticipation, bags under his eyes and coffee in hand.

“What are you doing up already?” Ethan asked, walking into the kitchen to get his own coffee, already having done everything necessary to be ready for the time that he’d need to leave for work.

“Join me,” Jake said. It wasn’t intended to be ominous, but Jake really hadn’t gotten enough sleep. And his rhythms were all off, anyway. But it would be worth it.

“Doesn’t answer my question,” Ethan said, taking the seat next to Jake. “What are you watching for?”

“You will see. It’s about to happen.”

“What is? Did you do something?”

“Silver affects werewolves, right?”

“Yes. But as I have said, Max wouldn’t be a true werewolf until next full moon,” Ethan said, watching the door to the bedroom where Max’s alarm was going off for a moment.

“Max thinks he’s already a werewolf.”

“Well, he’s not.”

“We’re about to find out, aren’t we?” Jake said, not taking his eyes off the door.

“Are we?” Ethan said, looking to Jake in sudden concern. His concern was proven justified as a scream issued from the door. “What did you do?”

“Is there silver in my underwear?” Max’s voice came muffled through the door, but the anger was clear.

“You put silver in his underwear? So as soon as he started putting them on, he got burned?” Ethan clarified.

“It burns? I didn’t know that,” Jake said, bashful as he could be in his half-conscious state.

“Ow, ow, OW!” Max said.

“Good thing he probably felt it before they were all the way on,” Ethan said. Jake looked at the ceiling. “Because the silver was just, maybe, sprinkled on indiscriminately and so he got burned on his foot?”

“Sewn in,” Jake explained, embarrassed. “I got silver wire and stayed up most of the night.”

“To every pair? Where is the silver?” Ethan asked.

“Well, I started on the butt region, obviously. But then, you know, I was delirious and tired, and halfway through, I thought, the front would be really funny? I thought it would be irritating, like itch powder.”

“Oh no. So fifty fifty it was just his butt. Let’s hope-” Ethan was interrupted when Max slammed open the door, marching out without any silver-lined underwear on. Ethan and Jake make excellent eye contact with Max, apparently more concerned by his nudity than he was.

“You burnt my DICK!” Max yelled at Jake.

“Guess he wasn’t lucky,” Ethan said. “I will leave you two to it.” With that, Ethan gracefully exited the scene, retreating to his own room.

“I didn’t know it would do that,” Jake excused, though he knew it was weak.

“Well, how did you even know what pair of underwear I would grab this morning?” Max asked.

“I didn’t. I maybe, um…did it to all of your underwear. I mean, I couldn’t have done that if you didn’t sleep naked, not that that makes it any better.”

“You WHAT?” Max did a little turn, unable to find a proper outlet for his frustration. “Now what am I going to wear to work?”

“More than what you’re wearing now?”

“Yeah, I get that, but I have no underwear that won’t burn me, so then what?”

“I don’t know. I was thinking you’d end up going commando for a day.”

“To work?” Max said. His anger then started turning into tears, making Jake more uncomfortable even than the nudity. “I just didn’t want any of this. I didn’t want underwear to burn me, and I didn’t want to grow a beard that bad, and I didn’t get injured enough to need super healing, I want steak tartare and I never have before and I don’t know if it’s related or is I’m just psyching myself out, and now I can’t even go to the dentist because they have x-rays of my teeth and they’ll know they’re different and so I’d better brush and floss and do it three times a day, because once I get a cavity I’ll just have to have you or Ethan pull it and I want to keep my teeth, you know?” He was starting to devolve into sobs, and he took over Ethan’s chair to put his head on Jake’s shoulder.

“Maybe the super-healing heals cavities, too,” Jake suggested.

“But I’m gonna kill you guys when the full moon happens, and then what? I don’t want to do that. I don’t know what I’m gonna do,” Max said tearfully.

“Well, whatever it takes, we’ll help you. And maybe we can be an at home dentist or something,” Jake said. Slowly, sitting there, Max started to pull himself together.

“You really mean it?”

“Yeah, of course. We’re going to stick with you, maybe even after you kill us. Not that you’ll kill us. But for now, you really need to put on some pants.”

“I don’t have any underwear, you know that. You did that,” Max protested, unamused.

“Well, I didn’t realize it would burn you, so since it was meaner than I meant it to be, I’ll tell you now. I meant to keep this a secret for a day, but I actually kept one pair that has no silver. You can put those on, and then I’ll take the silver out of the rest, okay?”

“Okay. Thanks,” Max said while wiping away tears, and finally, after Jake provided the safe pair, put on underwear.

-:-

“I’m pretty sure people are catching on,” Max said Friday night once he got home from work. “Someone asked if I was doing something different with my hair.”

“Has your hair changed? I didn’t think it was any different.” Ethan said.

“Well, no, but she only asked because she knew something about me was different, obviously, so it’s a bad sign. Soon she’ll figure it all out and report me.”

“No one has reported the other werewolf yet, so I bet people don’t really notice any of the more subtle stuff,” Jake said. He had been checking somewhat regularly.

“Well, they’ll notice in three weeks, if we don’t figure out how to prevent that,” Max said.

“I was thinking about that. There’s an abandoned mine nearby, and I’m pretty sure a werewolf would get confused if it were in a mine tunnel deep underground. You’d basically be trapped by the mazelike tunnels, and then once you were back to normal, we could go in and lead you back out,” Jake said.

“That was an open pit mine. No tunnels,” Ethan said. “I’ve been trying to figure out whatever I can about werewolves. My first thought was silver handcuffs, because werewolves have enhanced strength, but silver cancels out supernatural effects. The problem is that Jake proved that, in either form, silver will just burn you. Probably because every bit of a werewolf’s body is supernatural due to the potential for healing and transformation. But anyway, we couldn’t count on the silver only burning the mindless werewolf form.”

“I’m telling you, it needs to be some kind of trap. Something that can be evaded by a human mind, but that a mindless beast couldn’t operate,” Jake said.

“I was still thinking I’d just run really far away,” Max said.

“The effective range of a werewolf is larger than you’d think,” Ethan said. “Actually, Jake’s idea isn’t a bad one. But I do think we’ll still need to incorporate silver to ensure that Max doesn’t just rip down a door or something to get around it.”

“Doesn’t the government have that branch that deals with the supernatural?” Max asked. “So someone knows how to deal with this stuff. There must be some kind of guaranteed method of trapping a werewolf, right?”

“Well, that branch is kind of a rumor, and either way, they might just not care if the werewolf gets a little burnt,” Ethan said. “I do have a cousin that’s studying the history of the supernatural. Everyone has told him there’s no way to make a career out of that, but I could always ask him if he knows anything that could help.”

“But how exactly are you going to ask without giving him the idea that I’m a fresh werewolf?” Max asked. “You can’t tell him, but even if you don’t, he might guess if you’re asking questions.”

“Well, he and I get together to catch up every so often because he lives kind of close by, so I’ll just try to subtly weave it into the conversation next time. It’s polite to ask a student about their studies, anyway.”

Max jumped when there was a knock on the door. He immediately went to hide himself, but there really wasn’t any reason for him to do so. Ethan opened the door momentarily, revealing that there was a man not much older than the trio standing outside. He carried a small basket of flowers in one hand, a bright purple.

“Good evening,” the man greeted. “I’m Adrian, and I’m new in the neighborhood. I am trying to make myself known to the residents and make sure they know how to contact me. I’m sort of an unofficial proxy for reporting supernatural creatures. Seen anything strange, lately?” the man asked, seeming to make it out like it was a joke, though Max was clearly trying not to panic.

“Oh, well, it’s nice to meet you,” Ethan said. “I certainly haven’t seen anything recently, but you’ll be the first to know if I do.”

“Excellent, glad to hear it! I’m passing out some fresh wildflowers also, so take this, and a business card,” Adrian said, pulling a business card from his pocket and handing it over alongside a sprig of the flowers he was carrying.

“Thanks! I think monkshood is one of all of our favorites,” Jake said, taking the flowers as Ethan took the business card.

“Oh, good. I’m always worried that I make the worst first impressions. If I had done that, I would have wanted to know right away. Well, I’ll leave you all to it, but remember, I’m just down the road if you need me, so don’t hesitate. I love hearing about anything supernatural,” Adrian said, and he excused himself. Ethan shut the door, at which point Jake had to physically restrain Max so that he didn’t start yelling about the situation while the man was still close enough to hear through the walls.

“Alright, so that was a problem,” Ethan said.

“At least the flowers were pretty,” Max said. “But otherwise I think I’m triple doomed.”

“Make it quadruple, since you still don’t know what monkshood is,” Jake said. “Hey, do these smell off to you?” he held the flowers up to Max for him to sniff, which he did.

“They smell fine, I guess. Not that great, though, on second thought. Almost bitter? Why?” Max asked, smelling the flowers multiple times to get a good idea of their scent.

“I cannot believe you just did that,” Ethan said. “Max, it’s wolfsbane. That’s what monkshood is. You just took a big whiff of wolfsbane. No wonder it smells a bit bitter to you.”

“No, it smelled like that to me, too,” Jake said. “I was really hoping it would do something interesting.”

“Well, it’s a good thing it didn’t. It is poisonous, though, so quit putting it in your faces. Do you think that man meant to find out if there was a werewolf in town using the wolfsbane?” Ethan asked, thinking things through.

“Yeah, obviously,” Jake said. “He didn’t exactly have access to Max’s underwear, so how else was he going to test it?”

“What if he already knew and he was just trying to prove it?” Max asked. “Oh no, someone must have reported me already. I knew my teeth would be a problem. I wish I’d been found out because I suddenly got buff, or something, instead of my teeth. Why don’t I have any super strength, anyway?”

“Well, that’s because you don’t go to the gym,” Ethan said. “I’ve invited you to go with me.”

“I’m not getting up two and a half hours earlier just to go to the gym with you,” Max said.

“Regardless, no one has reported you. I still think your teeth look normal,” Ethan said.

“That’s what I said,” Jake chimed in.

“Then what’s he doing showing up to our apartment with wolfsbane? He must know something,” Max said.

“Not necessarily. The local government has been incentivizing reports of supernatural creatures, recently, so he could just be trying to get some extra cash. Or…” Ethan trailed off.

“Or what, Ethan? It’s so much worse when you don’t even finish the thought,” Max complained.

“Well, congress has a bill up that has to do with certain changes to the laws about reporting supernatural creatures. For one, it would make reporting mandatory after a sighting. For another, it would implement a broader range of reporting methods and locations. You would be able to file a report anonymously, too.” Ethan said.

“I’m just now hearing about this?” Max said. “This is incredibly relevant to me specifically, why do you know about it and I don’t?”

“Well, it is publicly available to view. You just didn’t read it,” Ethan said. “But I didn’t tell you because it might not get passed, and even then, you can still hide. It’s only one night a month, that’s not so bad. I didn’t want to scare you for nothing.”

“Well, now I’m scared anyway. And I really have been craving something, like sushi or steak or a really juicy burger or something and I feel like I might even be able to enjoy it now because I’m half sure at this point that it’s completely unrelated to the wolf thing.”

“I’ll order some stuff and get it delivered, and then you can get it all out of your system,” Jake said. Ethan narrowed his eyes at Jake at that, but Max agreed, so they went about their business as normal until they got dinner, Ethan keeping up his suspicion the whole time.

Once they had everything arrayed at the table and they had all gotten partway through their food, Ethan’s suspicion waned. Just in time, Jake thought.

“Wow, Max,” he said.

“Don’t –” Ethan tried to interrupt, but Jake couldn’t be stopped now.

“You’re really wolfing down your food tonight.”

“I knew you had that evil little gleam in your eye, I just knew it,” Ethan said. Jake had to laugh, though, and between Ethan taking offense on his behalf and Jake being far more amused than he needed to be, Max was able to join in.

[the-fractured-truth]

Oliver: Delivering Pizzas Goes Really, Really South - The Fractured Truth: Chapter 1

I'm sure talking with most other demigods will get you the spiel about how this life is dangerous, about how people walk into it and never walk back out, and they're probably right. But gods does it have it's perks. Constantly traveling, being your own boss, and feeling like a superhero most days sounds like a lot of people's dreams. Sure, it's paired with more near-death experiences than years you've been alive, permanent scars in your teens, and psychological trauma that only a dip in the River Lethe will help you get over. But I'm a firm believer in the philosophy of "it'll work out in the end". The feeling of the wind whipping on your face while I zip around is the best, although being seated on a tiny scooter with a Domino's sign slapped on makes it feel way less cool. At least the pizza was warm so I had something to keep me toasty.

"Only one more week" I thought as I zipped into the driveway.

I knocked on the door and to my surprise, there was no one. Until I looked down, at a small satyr man wearing baggy red sweatpants, staring up at me.

"Oh thanks kid, here's your money, and take this too".

He handed over the cash and a few extra drachmas. I gave him a thumbs up and left, hearing some younger kids scream and laugh as their dad pretended to sound like a monster and chase them around. I went back to my boss and told him I was clocking out.

Gary was one of those bosses who thought that he was essentially a god when in the workplace, with all of us employees as his underlings. In reality, Gary was a 5'2" balding middle aged man with a superiority complex and had been clearly compensating for something. He stopped what he was doing as I was taking off my uniform.

"And who said you could leave?" he asked with a smug look.

I sighed, because one more comment from me would have probably gotten me fired.

"The schedule Gary, the one you made, that tells people when they can leave".

He scratched the sorry excuse he had for a beard as if in thought, which I thought was impossible.

"But what if I don't want you to leave? What if I still have work you need to do. You should ask me what else you can do to help around here"

At this point I just wanted to be out of the conversation.

"Oh you're willing to pay me overtime then? I'd be happy to stay a bit longer"

Gary's face immediately dropped. "Hey now I wasn't saying anything about-"

I stopped paying attention, because from the front a customer walked in. She was a good looking woman, though dressed a bit promiscuous. She had a very cropped shirt, short leather skirt, red high heels to match her lipstick, and those white oval glasses. I almost gave her a wave when I noticed something a little off about her. The edges of her hair were on fire. She noticed and extinguished it with two of her fingers, but it came back again. I didn't know who my extremely attractive yet highly flammable stranger was, but I wasn't loving the idea of her doing anything crazy right there and then. I tried as casually as I could to move into a back room to try and get out of sight but I tripped over some crates of Pepsi and made a bunch of noise.

Gary made that annoying sound of trying not to laugh. "See Ollie, this is why you wouldn't be getting overtime. You're causing more problems than you'd solve. I'd be doing you a favor by letting you work more for free. You'd be put to at least some good use."

I turned towards him. "You know what Gary? You're probably right". Then I socked him in the face.

I assumed he wasn't a sturdy guy, and him passing out and almost falling to the ground confirmed that suspicion. I pulled him towards me before he hit the floor and set him down out of the way so he could be safe. I ripped off my uniform, slipped my jacket back on, and grabbed my hilt. Then I walked out the front of the store, greeting woman on the way out.

She lowered her glasses to give me a wink. "Hey handsome, you getting off?" she said with a sly grin. I almost told her I was, as if something was convincing me that I should spend a little more time with her.

I snapped out of it. "No, just making a delivery. Have a nice day ma'am" then I walked out of the store. I looked behind me to see if she was still watching, which she was, so I dashed out of sight and headed to the fenced area where we had our dumpsters.

Once I got to the bins, I ducked to the side to hear if someone was coming. Surely enough, I could hear the sound of heels hitting the concrete a little ways away. I didn't even want to think about what this girl could be, so I was determined to not find out without having the upper hand. I ran over to the fire escape and touched the lock that was keeping it from moving. I felt the innerworkings of the lock undo themselves with my touch, tracing how I assumed the pins were lined, until it popped open. I slid the ladder down, and scrambled up onto the roof. I pulled the ladder back up and willed the lock to close.

I ducked behind the ledge and peered over, hoping to find my scary stalker friend. I saw her shadow first, and then she turned the corner and walked into the middle of the space, looking around. Her hair was now completely on fire, her shirt was more cropped, her skirt was even shorter, her heels taller, and the most noticeable change: she had a copper leg where her old one was. And I thought I was so close to having a normal time away from the camps.

She looked around with a scowl. "Come out little demi-god, you aren't getting away from me."

I started running different scenarios through my head. Fighting her was always an option, but I didn't like my chances. Plus, if the fight left the back area and went into the parking lot or a building, other people might get hurt. Plus, people might think I'm crazy for attacking a gorgeous woman, which wouldn't help much. Still, I couldn't just leave her here. I definitely could make a break for it though, the delivery scooter was just around the corner. I started racking my brain about what I could remember about woman with a metal leg and fire hair, and a legend about this some ladies named Empousa surfaced in my mind. They liked to eat travelers, which fit the bill, and would scream when they heard insults. Oh and not to mention the Charmspeak, which absolutely sucks to be on the receiving end of (believe me). I started to grab some lint from my pockets and plug my ears when she started to cackle.

"Oh you're so funny that you think you can evade me. I know you're here, but it's just a matter of time before you show yourself. Or you'll make a break for it. Your kind was always good at running, weren't they, Son of Hermes. You and your cowardly brethren."

I bent back down and kept covering my ears. I tried to control myself, but I could feel my anger and anxiety rising. I told myself that she's just trying to rile me up. I could still run, being a coward is better than dying for nothing. I could still leave...

"Gods they really are cowards. And he's going to lead the next of father's children? What a joke." The words floated through my makeshift earplugs, I could feel the Charmspeak's honey sickness, but I didn't care. I felt my anger swell higher than I could control. She wasn't going to talk about me like that or my family and get away with it.

I peered over the ledge to see her standing there and scanning the distance. I quietly lifted myself onto the ledge, crouching on it Spider-Man style. I could feel my spite for this woman and her words filling me, my body becoming energized with all the stimulation. Strength swell through me, and I dashed into action. The world around me looked funny, like a laggy video, jittering and moving slower. I jumped off the roof, grabbing onto a pole connected to the fire escape and slid down it, then kicking myself off of the wall and into the Empousa. She slowly turned towards me, her smile shifting to an expression of shock as I shoulder charged into her.

The world seemed to catch up to me, everything speeding back to normal. We crashed into a gate, her hair melting the chain link. I rolled back to get away from her, and grabbed my hilt. I swung it around my thumb like a butterfly knife, metal unfolding until I caught it back in my hand, with a fully extended rapier blade appearing.

I held it up my blade a defensive stance. "God, you're supposed to be the hot ones too huh? I mean the bar's pretty low for monsters but I guess you do pass it."

She laid slumped over against the fence, whipped her head up, and screamed at me. An ear shattering shriek erupted from her lips, which probably would have left my hearing permanently damaged if it weren't for the lint-plugs I put in. Still, I got pushed back and had a ringing in my ears. She stood, hair glowing white hot, and she took a swing at me, her nails extending out to claws. I tried to parry but I was a bit disoriented from getting screamed at, and she clipped my shoulder drawing some blood. I stepped back, took a glance to see how bad it was. Her nails dug through my jacket and shirt and drew some blood, which was now dripping down my sleeve. I pushed her away, shook my head, and tried to get in the fight. If I died here then I don't know what would happen to Harley, or if there were more targeting other demigods. I tried to steady myself, and took another step towards her. She was eyeing me, waiting for a move, then struck fast and hard. I parried, moving her claw to the ground, I stepped in and kneed her, followed by a stab. The adamantine glittered in the light as it punctured her skin, pushing through and drawing blood and dust spilling out of the puncture. She cried out in pain, then tried to swing again, this time I ducked under and kicked her away from me, stepping back and raising my rapier in anticipation. She snapped her head up, eyes glowing red with anger, and she charged me. I side-stepped and stuck my foot out to trip her, as she fell I smacked her back with the hilt of my rapier, causing her to crash into the ground. She laid on the ground for a second dazed, and I took my chance. I grabbed the lock from the fire escape and some chain from the fence she melted, ran over to her. I grabbed her wrist then dragged her over to one of the dumpsters, and chained her to it with makeshift handcuffs. She started to snap out of her daze, and she started yelling at me.

"You think this'll stop me? You kill me, there are others out there. They'll find you. They'll catch you and the rest of you half-bloods when you least expect it."

I looked at her, not quite phased by the repetitive "We'll get you" monster speech I've heard a million times at this point. But those words from earlier, her stab at me being a coward, that I'm going to fail leading the children of Hermes. I felt my anger swell and I couldn't help myself, I couldn't control myself, and I don't think I would have if I wanted to. I walked towards her, reached for a small Celestial Bronze combat knife I carried in my jacket pocket. I stabbed one of her legs with my rapier, causing it to writhe in pain. Then kneeled down and grabbed her copper one. I looked her in the eyes and stabbed into it, then sliced down. It cut like a knife through warm butter, until I was left holding a copper leg, and left looking at a disintegrating demon.

Demigods took trophies all the time. Why would this be any different? I held onto it for the time being, but I realized that I wasn't very safe as I was. I don't think Chiron or Lupa would mind me paying them some visits early. It was time to head back to the camps, which meant it was time to pay my dad a visit.

(For those of you that read this far, PLEASE comment with critique, trying to get better)

[zydrateacademy]

Current Activities in Gaming #226

Alternative title: My Christmas sale haul. I'll start with something that wasn't even on sale but still bought it at the same time as the others; Rogue Trader. Pretty much along the same lines as BG3, I don't expect to ever beat RT. There's also a lot of reports that Act 4 and beyond are a buggy breakable mess, which is similar to how BG3's act 3 becomes a lagfest for me because I'm still in the process of saving up for a new CPU/Motherboard so I can run newer games like Starfield. Quick aside about Starfield: The one saving grace of not being able to play it right away... I hear it's a fairly lackluster game. Perhaps by the time I am able to play it at all, the modding tools might be out and help liven it up. I certainly expect to get a ReShade because it LOOKS like dogshit from most screenshots I've seen. I don't want to play in a brown mess.

Back to RT; Much like BG3 I am finding myself doing some alt hopping to see how other class/archetype combinations behave. I also want one of everything; A heretic, a dogmatic, and the "iconoclast", a word I'm not familiar with but mostly means "helpful and supportive".

I have 20 hours played but have only gotten past Act 1 just last night on my "main" file. My main girl is a crime lord soldier, whose main job is being the team's backline sniper. She's very good at it, and when she CAN hit, she's the most likely to crit into very high damages. But she's the least capable of AoE. Her sniper can sometimes hit an enemy directly behind my target but that's it.

Next on the list is Evil Genius 2. Don't know much about it, screenshots and reviews remind me one of those "Dungeons" games I had where I had a bunch of minions build various functional rooms in order to do dastardly deeds. But if Zero Punctuation is anything to go by it sounds like EG2 spends too much time on the room building part and not enough on the dastardly deeds. Not sure if I'll like it but hey it was on sale.

We got Sipho next, which acts like Stage 1 of Spore but more robust. I played a few rounds of it and I'm still not sure I understand how to really build my own creature. Controlling them seems sluggish too, and I wonder if that will be more smooth as I get more parts.

Next up is Death Must Die, a survivor-like that follows the same Diablo-esque mood of Halls of Torment. If you liked Vampire Survivors I recommend both of these. Death Must Die is fun but it currently has a problem where one build is vastly superior to others, based around the "Mayhem" trait, if you can get it, it adds permanent damage for that run. I once got it up to 416% so I killed the map's boss in about seven seconds. That's gonna be nerfed.

We got Dome Keeper, which acts like that old digging game I can't recall the name of (but it was iconic for its era, I just didn't play it myself). You kinda play a bit of minecraft but your dome gets attacked every couple of minutes so you need to use the resources you get to upgrade it and fight them off. It's cute, finding it a bit difficult though.

Keeping the same theme here, Graveyard Keeper. Same developers as Stardew Valley which I really liked and most reviews state that if I enjoy Stardew than Graveyard follows a lot of the same beats. I just wish I could mod my bearded chud fellow into a girl but that doesn't seem to be available. Didn't play it for very long, I'll get around to it some day.

I -finally- got one of those Vampire Masquerade visual novels, a genre I don't usually care much for because there's not enough "game" in them. Sometimes one will add RPG elements and that catches my interest more. Right now I have "Shadows of New York", which I believe has a gal PC. I think the other ones you switch around like five different characters. I installed it but didn't play it.

I have Vectorio which I can't even get past the tutorial. I should probably refund that one. It's haunted my wishlist for so long but I have no idea what to actually do.

Got Hard West 2. Looks like another XCOM-like, as Rogue Trader is. Not installed yet. Low priority.

Startup Panic, another game dev simulator like. Not installed, low priority.

Crossroads: Anniversary edition has been on my wishlist for fucking ever but it's been locked to mixed reviews because apparently it's buggy to the point of unplayable for some people, and I'm just hoping I get lucky. The christmas sale finally put it on sale to an acceptable price so I nabbed it. Not even fully sure what kind of game it is, just an inn manager sort of thing.

Noun Town Language Learning. Installed but waiting for them to add Norwegian. I could get in there now and start a little bit of Japanese. One of my favorite things about learning other languages is watching movies and occasionally catching to see if the subtitles are accurate or not, which I can typically do with German even though I'm no longer remotely fluent in it (took German classes for a couple years in high school, those days are long behind me).

But I'm on a Norse lore kick lately and I want to be a little "closer" to it by learning Norwegian.

And that's a wrap!

[makahimetenshi]

Follow me inside the wastelands -�� Chapter 24  -Arthur Maxson x Female Sole Survivor Fanfic

Are we close to the final? Not exactly but im checking the notes of ideas I had more than other days so it’s a good sign

If you are very very very delighted with one fic and want a continuation I didn’t write or post you can donate me at least $5 bucks, most of this fics have next chapters I don’t finish because lack of motivation but hey a $5 is a $5, I see a few reviews and comments that fics that are abandoned months laters receive comments of wanting to know what happens next. Here it is, I finished my handling with you all, enjoy the fic

Arthur stood there in silence looking at the floor until Cade gasped his throat, stating he was there, the elder didn’t care much about how much he heard or since how long he was there in the door listening, he couldn’t care now.

-Since the Sentinel is now awake should we perform the urine test?

-Yes –said Arthur before Nora can’t said anything, he saw her bite her lip frustrated with her face all red in fury.

A while later, they were both walking to his quarters, she handcuffed to his wrist, but this time there was no rushing for eating the others mouth like last time, just silence, and for some reason Arthur feel completely prepared to receive a stab in the back. But no, luckily it didn’t happen.

He closes and secure the door, again, this time there was guards outside but in power armors…

She tried to move aside from him but the chains in her hand didn’t allow it.

-You also want this, you didn’t abort when you ran away and neither before, why are you doing this? –Arthur was clearly frustrated, pissed off like he never was, this rush of emotions messed up with his head.

-You should help me from the start! –she screamed and look at him, Arthur look at her also starting to cry, tears going down his cheek crushing on his beard.

-I love you both! I cannot hurt any of you! But you are making it so difficult! I only want the best for us!  The three of us! –he also cried, he can cry too.

-I never wanted a three of us! –the nasty way she said that make him also furious, face getting all hot from rage.

-You didn’t do anything in all this time! You are not going back! Its too late! –they were screaming at each other and the man could swear he would go deaf from it.

-I said I don’t know! Im afraid! –Nora was all nervous as her hair sticks to the wet cheeks from the tears, trying to take it out the way with her free fingers

-Well im afraid of losing both of you!

-This is not about you!

-You keep saying that  but its not about the baby either because you did nothing!

-Im the problem Arthur! –she wasn’t proud of this, clearly it wasn’t something to admit easy.

-So what should i do? –he asked sitting down in bed covering her face with her hands, pulling her close to him, Nora only managed to try to caress his hair since her hands were at that height but they trembled too much- what do you want from me to help you?

She took a moment, and then tried to step back, when it was impossible to leave and make a distance she swallow and look dead into the wall, tears still coming down

-Leave me –the ease with which she said that made him feel sick

-No –he stated dry and angry

-Listen to me

-I love you –Arthur went up and tried to look in her eyes but she just keep avoiding his gaze- why I would want you both away from me?

-I cannot do this –she said clenching her teeth

-Nora I will have my son –he said seriously, using his free hand to place a pair of fingers under her chin and move it but she wouldn’t still look at him, didn’t feel menaced by it.

-You’ll do –at hearing that he raised an eyebrow confused hearing her soft voice- you will have this child…-her handcuffed hand grabbed his to which it was attached and placed it on her belly, surprising him- but I’m not going to be anyone’s mother again

He stay in silence, processing her words, examing every detail…

-I don’t get it –he said and noticed they were close, too close, he tried to move Noras face in direction to his mouth but she shut her eyes and move aside- Nora…

-I promise im not letting you down–his hot breath against her face was confusing her a lot, her hand unconsciously move his around her belly, wanting to feel him closer even if it wasn’t a good idea, It was counterproductive to what she wanted to do, she wanted to push him away.

-There’s no solution where the three of us aren’t together –again, he stated, feeling a warm sensation were her hand was over his, he started also moving it, liking it  feeling incredibly close and intimate while doing that, he craved for this so bad, wanted so much to be at his pregnant woman side, care and watch for her every need

-Arthur Maxson will have his heir with Sentinel Nora and it will be the best knight the brotherhood have ever seen –not like this, she was messing with his head, this was a trick, she was smart.

-I also want you –he said wrapping his free hand around her waist making her gasp, Nora put her free hand in his shoulder, moving her head to the sides, playing with his lips making him grunt anxious.

-You can have me now –she said and push her red lips softly on top of his, not kissing, just lightly touching, talking over his mouth, gosh their chemistry was still there.

-You can't put conditions on me Nora –her hot breath was getting inside his mouth, intoxicating him but no, not like this.

-Then reject me –Arthur got annoyed by her cocky manipulative acctitude and push her away lightly by the shoulders turning around to not look at her, Nora was surprised, kinda scared.

-I mean it, I’m not leaving you, any of you both

-I’m just trying to do the best I can –she said starting to cry again, but he wouldn’t fall in her black widow tears trying to get him in her net.

-You keep saying its  not about me but you don’t want to be at my side

-I want to be at your side…I don’t want to be at the babys side –he turned around surprised, also kinda scared to actually hear that, it was something difficult to digest- I’m sorry, I told you I’m a horrible mom -he stay in silence, feeling something in his throat, not sure if he wanted to breath or puke- i let my son in the institute to burn in the explosion, I warn you about this since the beginning –Arthur took some moments to gain his robbed breath back- do you still love me like this?

He stay in silence before getting close to her again, placing his free hand behind her head, tangling her black locks between his fingers to oblige her to look into his blue eyes, moving her head up slowly not breaking the eye contact.

-What if I say yes? That im crazy for you no matter how much you want to push me away

Nora legs  feel weak all sudden.

-Then you are a madman –there was a palpable tension between them, it was dangerous to kiss, Nora wanted to push him  away for good but he was using  all his charms to make her stay in place

-I think I am, because our child is not going to be the best knight, but a fine sentinel or even a goddam elder –Noras eyes open wide as Arthur went down to eat her mouth in a passionate kiss.

She already had a story of being absent with a son achieving the greatest and most successful in his field. She can’t repeat history again.  She will play along just to break his heart, what he thinks is a mutual sexual attraction is just going to be a trap to make him low his guard. Her lips moved against him, and at feeling the warm air coming out from his nose she moaned, placing his handcuffed hand on her belly, hearing him groan.

How was going this to stop her from leaving again? He didn’t know, he cant foretell how she was going to scape this time. This was an advance, at least she wanted to…have it…for him. She wanted to give him this child, at least that. But he didn’t fully believe in her words, she betray his trust too many times, too many lies, too many secrets, too many disappointments and tears for her.

As the kiss deepens the hand she keep on her belly was slowly moved  down by her, making her moan in the middle of the kiss, the man step back and pull the handcuff to make her fall in his arms, not wanting to lift her like before since he didn’t want to mishandle her waist or torso, slowly moving them to the bed behind. Once his calves touch the mattress he throw himself back and Nora climb on top of him, trying desperate to take off his jacket  but only getting able to move it between the handcuff that joined both.

To distract her and avoid frustrations he pulls down the zipper of her vault suit, almost licking his lips when he saw her breast again after so long, oh boy he couldn’t wait to see them all swollen and full of milk. His cock twitch in his pants at that thought but then his eyes move down to her rounded belly and a big heat take all over his head, fuck it. Arthur sat up and try to move her pants down, Nora understood and help, getting on her knees to make space to move around and let his hands work on her, feeling herself hot and needy, wanting to be taken so bad at feeling his hungry eyes fixated on her naked  crotch .

Arthur was choking and running out of air because of how heated his body was and because he had too much clothes on, the black bodysuit was still on but Nora was rushing to open it  up the most as possible, trying to take his cock out, making him grunt and moan wishing for more friction. Still, he never stop looking at her belly.

-Honey? –she call for him, worried, he was red, sweaty, eyes inflamed,  wet from tears, breath accelerated, shaking, lips hot…he was in the middle of a crisis before all of this nervous but also extremely horny and needy- do you need to stop? –he didn’t look good because it wasn’t the best idea to jump to sex after the fight they had, even she didn’t feel so good, her head  hurt a lot from all that screaming.

-I love you –he said almost crying on overstimulation placing a hand on her belly and another on her tight feeling her skin hot- I want you forever by my side…-this wasn’t proper of the elder, the rush of emotions from before was making him loose his mind and slip…

How difficult it was going to broke his heart again

-I only want you…-said the woman moving the top of the vault suit to the pair of hands that had a lot of clothes joined, adjusting her hips.

Nora slide down on his length, moaning loud specially when his hands  slip and moved all over her skin. Maybe it was stress, maybe the time  they were away from each other, maybe just the vision of his pregnant woman on top of him but he  felt like he could finish at any moment but still keep  going, she was already claimed and still he had the urge to shoot his load inside, especially now with this look. She looks so beautiful with her stomach all rounded and her legs wrapped around his hips moving.

Both continued until Nora fell asleep exhausted.

Arthur stood there, watching her sleep, unable to allow himself to rest at her side,  fearing that she would trick  him again.

Maybe their relationship was getting worse and worse but yeah, fight and everything their chemistry was still there.

Also it was very obvious he had a thing for her pregnant body, his eyes couldn’t leave her belly going up and down  because of her breathing and snoring. No matter if it was still small because of time, it was there and enough to be noticeable and more big than he expected, perfect, absolutely perfect. Of course Nora wasn’t just a pregnant belly and that’s all, he wished to finally convince her that everything was going to be okay. At first she didn’t want to have anything to do, even went out looking for ways to get an abortion, then stop and wait, then said she would…have it for him? That’s what she meant? He didn’t get it…

He wanted them all together, he was willing to wait for her to feel ready, but nothing like  never  . Arthur wanted his baby and his woman at his side.

A sound on the terminal in the table take him out his thoughts, he look at her sleeping and use the key on one of his pockets surprised it was still there and she didn’t steal it, she may be too tired, after all sleeping in the Commonwealth almost make you sleep with an eye open. It wasn’t easy to find it between the clothes all gather in their hands but eventually he did and open the handcuff liberating both hands thinking it wasn’t necessary no more. Close the bodysuit around the crotch and went up to sit on the table.

Looking at her again sleeping naked it was funny, she didn’t have pants on but the boots were on, he wasn’t actually sure how they managed to undress wrapped at the other like that, damn he was hot and too immerse to remember detail.

There was an email, shit, how much time it passed?

Subject: “SENTINEL NORA HEALTH REPORT UPDATE”

Attached file 1: “IMPORTANT CLASSIFIED INFORMATION”

Attached video 2: “3 MONTHS ULTRASOUND”

His eyes illuminated, opening the second file instantly and looking at the screen, the white and black image melting his heart making a warm feeling take control of his entire body. Then he look at Nora snoring on bed. So, this was it, that was his son inside her. And after so long he had both back. This was the reason why they were fighting and cracking their relationship and it was damn worthy, that dot over there was the reason of all this chaos and he loved that dot. He only see it once and he already love it.

The man contemplated the video with a peaceful sensation all over his body for a few more minutes before closing it. Then click on the other file and read.

She was clean from chems and her other numbers and levels were slightly better, didn’t gain any weight but everything she eat surely improve her health a lot. She was taking it seriously,  following the diet for his child health even when she doesn’t want it, looks like the institute food wasn’t bad at all and she gets results by it, then do it, damn he was going to ask for a fridge in his quarters if she needed to bring that rations to stock and keep eating to get healthy.

He sighted, nervous, unsure of how long this was going to last

A side of him wanted to have illusions and dreams, but his entire being tell him it was a waste of time, that she will find a way to ruin things again.  So he didn’t and that crush his heart.

Time passed: he even made some coffee for him since she was still asleep and didn’t like cold coffee, and at noticing she wasn’t waking up he ask to the air not hopping to hear an answer, just let a thought out.

-Are you really that exhausted or pretending to not talk to me? –he didn’t expect the low voice from behind that answer his question.

-I don’t feel like having anything to say to you right now –she said using one of her hands to blindly look for her panties in the pile of clothes that were next to the bed, maybe not all clothes but yes the panties! He stay sad at hearing her talk like that.

-And why is that? –she rolled in bed and look at the ceiling, keeping the silence for a few moments before breaking it.

-I should leave

-No

Again he denied with an authoritarian voice, not thinking it twice

-Arthur…-Nora rolled again looking for her vault suit top, at least that too

-The elder is a joke since you engage that fight at the party last time, and your runaways didn’t make it any better, having to search the whole commonwealth for your ass with everyone knowing you're pregnant has put me in such a humiliating place

No. Nonononononono. She went off bed closing her vault top and taking her hair out, placing a hand on his cheek and the other on his shoulder

-Look at me –she said, he was angry, clearly annoyed- hey look at me

-What? –he said with a bitter taste in his tongue, loving the view of her long slim legs with the boots on even if he was upset.

-You didn’t let me finish before –both hands started to move circles in his skin trying to calm him- but I have a plan…-he didn’t look at her face, because he was upset, not because her long legs were in front of him of course not.

-Oh shit here we go again…

-Rude –she cought a bit and sit on his legs, closing her arms around his neck, trying to connect his eyes with hers, staying with silence a few seconds to oblige him to focus- I know I fucked up you a lot, and im sorry –he waited, not satisfied enough, unable to believe it since she failed so much- but I have a gift for you –the man raised an eyebrow, not talkative? Okay- I clean the Wilson Atomatoys factory for you, it’s a “new” factory from  before the bombs drop, so its in really good conditions despite being small, there’s a lot of spare parts to loot there, there was supermutants before and i cleaned it up for you

-Did you fight supermutants in your state!?

-No…-she stay in silence getting into the man nerves- I send Strong and Cait

-Who knows about this? –he asked raising an eyebrow, placing a hand in her belly, making her a bit uncomfortable.

- Nick, Curie, Ada, Strong doestn care  -he didn’t care about the robots tho- I hadn’t see the rest of them, I didn’t announce it but who ever realizes and ask I will answer is not gases.

-Do they know I’m the father?

-Only Nick…and Maccready will realize eventually without asking, is not his business, I only pay him for protection and services.

-Do you want people to know I’m the father?

-Do you want to? –she asked

-Yes –he place a hand in her back and moved it slowly down to her waist not breaking eye contact- but anyway is this base to share with the minutemen? –what has a thing to do with other

-No, I wanted to make a base in the south and after the FMS NortherStar fiasco I thought this location will fit just right for the brotherhood

-Wait, if is not to share why did you clean it?

-For the brotherhood –she said simply.

-Bullshit –he said confused.

-I take it for you, so you can claim that victory and raise your reputation –his eyes open surprised, but look at another side troubled.

-No, its your work

-I did this for you –she slowly moved her hands around his ears and hair to caress it- to have a secure and safe victory on your side, to claim old useful tech for the brotherhood, to raise the name of Arthur Maxson, to not risk you out there, its already done, use it.

-And where do you stand in this? –she didn’t answer, just close her eyes and sighted- Nora- he insisted, closing his hands around her arms demanding an answer.

-Im leaving

-Then im not taking it –she open wide the eyes and look nerveous at him

-Don’t be a jackass

-Im not trading you for any base –he stated, shaking her a bit, slowly, not pushing or anything.

-Its going to get raided again by supermutants or some savages if it stays empty…-she mumble getting up from him and standing on the floor.

-You are not a price im willing to take –how she dares to ask him for this?- do you think ill just exchange you for anything?

-Look it will more easy for me to leave if your achievement is still on the air, rumors wouldn’t have a place, everybody will be talking about the brand new base of Arthur Maxson, none of this scandals will affect you –ok Nora thought this would work before.

-You cant buy me

-Im leaving anyway –she said stepping back, Arthur went up of his chair  surprised, what a nerve.

-No

-I cant do this

-You are three months already were do you plan to go? What do you want to do? This is nonsense

-Ill be back

-I don’t believe you –he bite on his lip trying to pick her hands, but she wouldn’t allow it- Nora please

-I’m doing this for us

-Bullshit. There’s no solution…-at the middle of that Nora put  hand on his mouth, he can see she was conflictuated.

-Stop! Maybe is not the best for the baby but there’s still a you and me…

-And what do you plan to do out there? –if she was having it for him this doesn’t have any sense.

-Not being reminded im going to be a mom all time, would you threat me normally like before this if I ask you? –no, truth is he cant, Arthur see her like the woman he loves and the mother of his child already- No you cant

-You are asking me to wander around to not do controls? –what kind of sick request was that? –absolutely not

-I love you but I’m never fitting this role again even for you. I’m leaving someway or another, and you know it

There was silence in the air until he broke it.

-And if I try to stop it?

-You can’t

Silence again, and he talk.

-At least stay here a few days more with me before leaving, I missed you

-I missed you too

Nora stay in the Prydwen for a while, some weeks, not for a hot shower or a comfy meal but because Arthur ask her. Truth is that…she was feeling their relationship cracking, especially because he reminded her that she will leave eventually and try to convince her, even knowing it was useless because she already fail him too much.

The first week Arthur sleep with an eye open, watching her, if she wanted to scape he wanted to see when, why and how, but it didn’t happen. Both did the test, well, not both, Arthur bring her by force to the nursery to take blood, urine and ultrasounds…she didn’t want to be there but he wouldn’t loose the chance to know the most he can about his child, at least while she was still there…

Nora would close his eyes and not pay attention at all in the ultrasounds, zooning out, Arthur made Cade aware of this to not do comments or ask questions, he wasn’t allowed to sneak his nose into the couple dynamic and the man know to not surpass his limit just fine. Even if it was strange. Nora appreciate this even if she didn’t  wish to be at that place at al.

They would sleep together tho, Arthur hugging her and keeping her close like his life depends of it, like if she was going to vanish, and she will, heck yeah she will  if he gets too comfortable.

Eventually, the operation to take the fabric was ready, the elder will arrive one morning in his power armor and the four paladins as escorts in the ventibird, shoot some few weak raiders that already took the place in the head and claim it for the brotherhood, like Nora said: perfect  it was almost in perfect conditions, an excellent post, a great asset to protect the commonwealth. They all rise an orange flag together as a symbol of unity and good brotherhood work.

Elder Maxson now open a Brotherhood base in the eastsouth of the Commonwealth, it was the third one along with the airport and Cambridge Station.

Rumors and news will spread all around the land, giving the victory to Elder Maxson, making the fact that it was now a safe place common knowledge for every citizen. The elder of the brotherhood of steel conquer some old supermutant building. Nothing far from the truth, Sentinel Nora did it: also a Brotherhood soldier, but she planned everything so other anonymous folks would do the job and not cause much noise, that way the brotherhood can take all the credit.

After all everybody was grateful that a group of supermutants were now dead. Even if other supermutant kill them all.

Everybody thank and congratulate Maxson for the new base but while he was rising the orange flag…Nora left the airport again. And he wouldn’t look for her this time.

He wanted to recall that base to Sentinel Nora. Now it wasn’t worth it

But he will do one thing…

The supreme commander of the brotherhood of steel will arrive with some escorts at Castle a week later demanding for someone.

-Im looking for Robert Joseph Maccready –said the elder out and lout to everyone around, even the turrets at the entrance- tell the mercenary that my presence is worth in caps.

-I think ill decide who im taking caps –said once voice approaching him from the side, the man was in the place and heard his declaration.

-I have a job for you –Robert open his eyes in surprise but still keep listening- I believe we should discuss this in private

-I hope its worth the caps

-It is

Since the elder always take precautions going out he told his escorts to wait after all it wasn’t the first time they bring him to castle and the knew he was fully armed in case anything happens.

Maccready move them to a room and close the doors, since the place was an old construction and apparently pretty solid the elder doubted that there was any spy, the room don’t give them any possibilities, and the doors were huge and heavy, pure wood, beautiful pre war luxuries.

-Why is the elder of the brotherhood of steal hiring mercenary? –ask Maccready sitting in a chair, not breaking eye contact to not loose any of his movements, the two general of the minutemen may trust him but he didnt.

-Ill be quick so you can understand me better. Ill pay you 5000 caps monthly to protect Sentinel Nora –the man didn’t look surprised, but confused.

-Nora already pays me

-No, she pays you to have u available for certain works when she needs, what Im looking for is a 24/7 bodyguard for protection

-for Nora? A bodyguard?

-Yes, you  know about her state…right? –he can see the his face in shock after a few seconds in silence, not believing what he was hearing…

-Oh…-the man slurps some saliva and look dead into a wall –well I have my theory’s…

-Did you see Nora lately?

-Looting spare parts for turrets and water purifiers, as usual, cleaning buildings two weeks ago –Arthur cover his face with his hand and sighted.

-I don’t…expect…much less oblige you to make her try to stop going to places, we know how stubborn she is, im sure she is going to be in movement even in labor, but I want you to protect her with your life, watch a step ahead of her eyes, have well know every surrounding to prevent complications of any kind, no matter if is a lonely drugged raider sleeping in a corner or a slide were she can fall and hurt herself

-I know what fearing for your pregnant woman is, I did it for mine too a long time ago –the mercenary push his knuckles, playing with his hands- but she is really a difficult case

-Indeed, but I can double the bet –he can see how he raised an eyebrow curious- you have a son right? Dunkan if im not wrong

-What about it? –even if it was a father to father conversation Maccready didn’t like the name of his son in the mouth of a stranger

-Besides of your monetary compensation I can give you son a place in the Prydwen

-My son is not going to be a soldier –Maccready said firmly- he wants to be a farmer, he is a nice kid who likes to wake up early to see the first trays of sunlight in the morning, take care of the garden and correct me when I said a badword

Oh. Cute. Arthur thought.

-Initiates can fail and be expelled too if he doesn’t adapt, but in the Prywen and the airport in the time he stays there he will have 3 meals a day, a warm environment, a clean bed, hot showers, tons of other kids in his age to play and education, we can give more to your child than just surviving  each  day

The mercenary froze and Arthur saw genuine interest in his gaze. Gotcha.

-Nora is a thought one, im sure she doesn’t need protection.

-Everyone needs protection in the wastelands

-You know I fail at protecting my wife from a group of ghouls right? Dunkan and I barely survived –his voice turned down and Arthurs head too, looking at the floor. Both stay in silence- I loved her

-Nora told me good things about you.

-Im sure she did

Silence again.

-If she gets in a situation of vulnerability I want someone to catch and protect her

-How much is she right now?

-4 months –Robert was surprised he didn’t associate her thinn waist disappearing with a pregnancy.

-How do you plan that she accepts me at her side that much? She doesn’t let anyone stick to her boots.

Oh boi he knew: so she was like this with everyone.

-That’s your problem, that’s what the caps are for doesn’t? –not a patient person the elder doesn’t?

-Im sure about wanting this for Dunkan more than the caps, but im don’t know how to do it

-I can hire any mercenary to watch over my pregnant woman, but its going to be easier if is someone she knows for both

-Does she knows about this?

-Absolutely not –Maccready stay in silence, thinking.

-So I’m just sticking to her out of nothing for 5 months more.

-Unless she changes her mind and decides to come back to the Prydwen with me and stay safe

-Should I ask? –said the mercenary raising an eyebrow

-No

Both look down, one thinking, one ashamed.

-Can I have backups? Other guards? A squad? Or just the two of us?

-Whatever you need, ill rise the compensation if you do it, there’s no such a thing like a high price for the safety of my child.

When Dunkan was born he wished to say the same things for him, but he wasn’t as wealthy or important to afford it.

-And what about her?  -Arthur watch at him- does her safety matter? –how dare this assassin to ask him that.

-I do the impossible each day for her sake

Sure, that was enough

-Ill do it –cool, they seal the deal- Ill protect Nora and stay by her side

-Bring me a proof that she is still pregnant by the next month to collect your caps, talk to your kid about the brotherhood for now, get him used. If you back up believe me I’m going to be aware that you fail to me and make you suffer the consequences.

Cool.

-Chill, you just hired me 5 minutes ago and already menacing me?

Arthur rolled his eyes, looking for something in his pocket.

-Just making sure that you understand the importance of the job

-Huge redflag, but I gotta work because bills gotta get paid–the elder raised an eyebrow confused- like she says…-more silence from the other side, apparently not catching it- It’s a thing that Noras says, never find it funny, I’m still looking forward for someone who understand it and explain me –because the concept of bills and services doesn’t exist anymore in the Commonwealth none understand what it mean.

-Never heard of it –he throw to Maccready a bag of caps, the loud bag fall to the ground near to his boots making a huge sound that surprised the mercenary, never heard such a heavy bag- 1000 caps to cover your expenses, I own you the other 4000 for the next month, be wise and use them to protect Nora from any danger even if she causes it

-Not a word to her right? Act natural –Maccready pick the bag, not expecting it to have that much weight despite being small. Never had such a big payment before in his hands.

-Exactly –Arthur sighted, sad that he had to plan this situation because she refused to accept his help.

Maccready saw his pain, it gives him curiosity what reason they have to be…separated but he understand his side: he would fear for Noras safety if she was pregnant with his child too, he wouldn’t trust her to stay safe and not have any accident.

-You will have your kid, both are going to be fine, Nora and your baby.

-I hope you do the impossible to keep her safe and out of trouble

-At least safe of that troubles

-Where is she now?

-Sanctuary last time we separated, ill ask around if she is not there and find her, but I have to plan my approach so I need that time anyway

The elder sighted and nodded.

-Alright, ill head back, if I stay too much around rumors will start spreading and she will get the news for sure, reach her as soon as possible.

-I expect youll get the news of the two of us wandering the wastelands or at least Sanctuary together

-Of course, but try to make her stay indoors, for safety, I was unable to do it

Arthur leave Castle with a sour taste in his mouth but this was necessary and he had other business to attend lately than just be chasing that sneaky woman. Now it was the mercenarys duty to keep her ass safe. Even if he couldn’t keep her own woman alive back then.

[west-tokyo-incidents]

This takes place about 20 years after the funeral. A certain music producer got himself flung forward in time, his phone isn't working, and he's right outside Sparrow Place.

Well. At least too much can't have changed, right?

...

Right?

---

"Hey, Kei, what's going on? Not often you call."

"Considering I'm staring at a 40 year old you sitting on my futon at 8 in the evening, yeah, there's a lot going on. You're on speaker."

The displaced Fusataro frowned a little as he heard this older version of himself over the speaker. He sounded... different. Maybe it was just age.

"...ah." There's a long pause, "Alright. I'll send someone to your place, Kei. And Fusataro?"

He sat up a little straighter, clearing his throat, "Yeah?"

"As far as the driver and security is concerned, you're a visiting nephew who got lost, understood? Give yourself a fake name or don't talk at all, I don't care. When you get here, ring the penthouse."

"Yeah. Got it." ...penthouse? Damn, must have struck it big, no way would he be able to afford that as it stood now."

"Thanks for the call, Kei."

Kei laughed, "What else was I going to do, huh? It's no problem, miss."

Fusataro would have choked if there had been anything in his mouth.

Laughter rang out on the other side of the phone, "Fair enough. Talk to you later."

"Bye."

Kei hung up and rubbed at his temples, mumbling something under his breath.

"...did you say miss?"

Kei blinked dumbly at him, "Huh?"

"Did you just call... that other me miss?"

Realization bloomed on Kei's face and he grinned, "Sure did!" He crossed his arms, "She came out to us not too long after the band got popular enough for it not to matter."

Fusataro felt like someone just hit the refresh button on his brain.

"...the band?"

A pause, "Yeah, look, I'll let her get into the details, huh? You're in for a lot of those. I'm going back to cooking. You want some water?"

"You can't just leave me hanging on that--"

"Watch me. You want water or not?"

Fusataro just huffed and leaned back, arms crossed as he considered what he'd been told.

---

When the ride pulled up, he wasn't sure if he was more happy or more anxious be getting closer to an answer. He chose the 'keep quiet' route for the trip, nauseous from his nerves.

The trip didn't take too long, and the next thing he knows is standing in the lobby of a highrise, staring at the call buttons. He pressed the button with a 'P' and shuffled his feet anxiously.

A gruff voice came from the speaker, "Fussa?"

"Yeah..."

"Alright, I'll unlock the floor. Just head in and press the button. Make sure no one else is in there with you."

A buzz and it was cut off.

...Was that Paresse?

He shook his head. Whoever it was didn't matter. He stepped into the elevator and pressed the penthouse number.

Man, it had to be a penthouse, huh? No short ride for him to get this over with. Nope, have to sit here and ruminate in his own thoughts as it rose up the building.

So this... future him had gone back to that whole idea of being a woman he'd given up on? And succeeded? She was in a band? Or had she gotten rich off of a band she produced? He let his head fall back and hit the wall he was leaning on.

Damn, he hopes she'll share a cigarette.

A ding signals he's almost at his floor and he stands up straight, ready to step out.

...he's not sure what he expected to see, really. But the stern face of himself staring back at him is more jarring than he'd expected. He falters in his stride, all confidence vanishing like a handful of salt dropped in the ocean.

For one, her hair is half grey. Makes sense, she's 59 now. She has tattoos on her forearms for another, crossed over her chest. She still has a beard, too.

She looks him up and down, then motions for him to follow into another room. It's an open living space. On the couch, Paresse is lounged out with something in his lap. He's motioned to a chair nearby and as he rounds the couch he sees that it's not a something, but a someone.

A little girl with fluffy hair asleep on his chest.

His heart leaps into his chest as he stares.

"Sit." The other him doesn't raise her voice, but the tone in it is enough to make him drop right into the chair and snap his attention to her.

She keeps her voice down. Whether out of restraint or to keep from waking the little girl up, who knows.

"I want to make one thing clear. For however long you're stuck here, if you put my family in danger I will not hesitate to kill you myself, if my husband doesn't get to you first." She nods her head towards Paresse.

He nods, "I understand."

The way he says it must have disarmed something because her shoulders relax and she sighs before sitting on the couch next to Paresse and the small girl in his lap.

Paresse doesn't let his glare up.

"Alright. Threats aside, I know you probably have a thousand questions--"

"What's her name?" He blurts out without thinking, his eyes on the little girl and her peaceful sleeping face. He doesn't see the older him smile at the question.

"Her name is Fusako."

He can't help the little smile on his face. But it creases into slight concern when he sees scars on her right arm.

"...what happened to her arm?"

Paresse glances to his wife, as if asking if she wants to explain or if he should. She shakes her head and leans forward to talk.

"It's difficult tobconceive between douji and douji, much less human and douji. And there's complications the whole way through. One of her gauntlets was malformed when she was born. It had to be removed and her arm had to be reconstructed."

He must have made a face, because Paresse speaks up.

"They'll fade as she gets older, and she has full use of her arm. She'll be just fine."

"That's good."

He sits up and clears his throat, looking away, "Sorry, I don't mean to sound like a creep--"

"I'm you. I know you're not a creep."

He gives a nervous laugh and nods, "So... what's this about a band...?"

[frivolousfuckery]

I posted 32,211 times in 2022

That's 20,385 more posts than 2021!

57 posts created (0%)

32,154 posts reblogged (100%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@spongebobssquarepants

@allteeensrelate

@only1600kids

@autumngracy

@weed-cat

I tagged 47 of my posts in 2022

#me - 11 posts

#personal - 7 posts

#dogblr - 6 posts

#my dog - 5 posts

#life update - 5 posts

#signal boost - 4 posts

#the big gay - 3 posts

#my dog is so fucking weird - 3 posts

#gremlin boy - 2 posts

#chronic panic - 2 posts

Longest Tag: 136 characters

#like yeah the extra hours are great but i literally left here after 10 pm yesterday and was back at 7am and im tired and want to go home

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Just realized I haven't heard from the science side of Tumblr in a long ass time, y'all ok?

8 notes - Posted July 13, 2022

#4

12 notes - Posted November 10, 2022

#3

I really need to get out of food service/ physically demanding jobs in general. Most of my experience is in the food industry, working with kids, or working with cars. I love all of these things, but I have too many health problems and too much chronic pain that by the end of a shift I feel like I'm fucking dying. does anyone have any advice or resources on how I can find something else that will still help me support my family with the experience I have? I'm more than willing to try new things and put in the effort, and if it happens to be something I can do from home, even better!

Quick overview of limitations:

-i don't have a car

-i can't afford to pay money to start anything or buy equipment that is not provided by a job

-please no mlms or scams

51 notes - Posted July 2, 2022

#2

My last post has stopped moving and the situation is even worse than before.

Basically we have until Halloween to gather the funds to move and be out of our apartment, otherwise we will be homeless and lose all our animals and belongings.

Vmo and ca$happ are both enbymickie ppal is willefordsavannah@gmail.com

Please please share and dm for proof if needed

88 notes - Posted October 18, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Hey so shit went really bad all at once and it's a whole thing.

My gas got shut off for non payment even though I was paying the front office. The lady was pocketing my money and got fired already, but I was paying cash so the apartment complex isn't helping me get it back on since there's "no proof" that it was paid I have $30 worth of overdraft that has to last me until Sunday, including feeding both my partner and I, I need to get food for Sampson (my bearded dragon, all the other animals are good to go and stocked up, but im out of fresh veggies), and I still need to get a ride to work Saturday. So like That's stressful Like this completely fucked me financially and for getting the house, it wiped out our savings and is making rent hard to afford Plus my roommate emptied my change that I was saving up for a car without asking, so the other $347 I had saved in coins is gone now too. Literally Everything was going so good, I was supposed to be getting a promotion, and we were supposed to be moving into a house in December, but the promotion fell through and now our savings are wiped out.I already paid the $500 to turn the gas back on, but I still owe another $500 and I only had half of the rent so I owe the apartment complex like $600 bucks still, plus all of the bills and next months rent are due on our next paycheck and all our savings are gone. it's looking like I'm going to be stuck in this apartment for a whole extra year. I've gotta come up with at least 2 grand by the end of the month to cover the other half of this months rent, next months rent, and the bills, 2500 if I want to pay the remaining lump sum on the gas bill, but that still leaves me at being broke or behind because I still also have to keep the house running, animals and people fed, get rides to work, and buy necessities And like I can do it if I work a shift at both jobs every single day but I'm already so exhausted and overworked I genuinely don't know if I can do that, Idk man I'm just overwhelmed and numb and not really processing anything bc I feel like if I think about it too hard everything that's built up is going to come crashing down and I'm going to break.

Anything at all would be super helpful and appreciated, and please please please reblog

C*sh*pp and v*nm* are both enbymickie

P*yp*l is willefordsavannah@gmail.com

322 notes - Posted September 9, 2022

KoGet your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[chaos-burst]

one way or another (i’m gonna get you)

Dorian has a problem.

That problem is currently drunk off his ass and trying to balance one of Opal’s daggers on the tip of his nose. Of course he’s failing miserably, hitting himself in the eye with the blunt end twice thus far and maybe Dorian shouldn’t chuckle about it, but Dariax just keeps trying as Opal and Fearne edge him on.

“If you’re not careful you’ll stab your own eye out”, Orym says. He’s still nursing the same beer he started drinking an hour ago, probably to stay sober enough to stop any shenanigans that go too far.

“Oh, don’t worry about that, buddy. That already happened to me, like, three times, and I just healed it back together. No big deal.”

Dorian can see that Orym is at a loss for words.

“Dorian, do you think I can do it?”, Dariax calls over to him where he’s sitting, holding his lute and enjoying the warm evening breeze.

“Sure, Dariax. I’ll write a song about you if you do”, he says with an amused smile. Dorian tries to keep his smile from widening as Dariax beams at him and tries even harder.

All his life Dorian has been taught to be proper and well behaved—maybe that is why he feels drawn towards—well. Towards the group. The group that Dariax is also a part of and that Dorian definitely doesn’t feel drawn towards more than any of the others.

He starts moving his fingers mindlessly over the strings of his lute as Dariax stumbles backwards, falls over Opal’s outstretched legs and lands in her lap with the dagger clattering to the ground in front of them.

Dorian thinks about Dariax sitting on his lap, then he almost chokes on his own spit because so far Dariax hasn’t done anything even remotely appealing or attractive. He’s had shit on his beard, piss on his hands, he’s dirty and loud and so obnoxious.

But when he told Dorian that he’s the handsome one and that he’s just good at talking to people and whether Dorian wants some tips from him—Dorian was tempted. For a split second, he was thinking about Dariax offering to teach him how to flirt.

Because Dorian might be aware that he’s handsome, but he has exactly zero idea about how to flirt with people.

“Hey, Dorian! Do I still get a song?”, Dariax shouts, still half sitting in Opal’s lap.

“Sure, buddy. I’ll write you a song.”

“Cool! It’s a promise!”, Dariax says, thumbs up, a big grin on his handsome face.

There, Dorian can admit it.

Dariax is handsome. They’re all handsome. It’s really no big deal. Not at all.

Dorian tries not to think about what his parents would say about Dariax, because it’s completely irrelevant. It’s not like his parents will meet his friends, and especially not Dariax. Maybe he should go to bed and hope that come the next morning his circling thoughts will have stopped.

“Are you working on the song?”

Dorian blinks and turns his head, only to come face to face with Dariax who managed to get up from Opal’s lap and is now sitting right next to him, leaning way into Dorian’s personal space.

Dariax smells like ten different kinds of alcohol, leather and thankfully no bodily fluids, which is definitely an improvement. Dorian wishes that the fact that he’s seen this man with shit on his beard would dissuade his heart from beating a little faster every time Dariax grins at him.

Sadly his heart doesn’t care.

Neither does his stomach, which is currently doing all kinds of complicated gymnastics since Dariax invaded Dorian’s personal space.

“No. I don’t think I can concentrate in here while all that is going on”, Dorian says and gestures towards Opal who is now teaching Fearne how to do body shots.

“Aw, man. Can you play something? Something...hm. Something cool.”

“All my songs are cool, thank you very much!”

Dariax laughs.

“Yeah, okay, you’re not wrong there. You have a really beautiful voice, buddy. No wonder that goliath lady fell in love with you after like, three minutes!”

Dorian feels something that reminds him a lot of the feeling he gets when he’s falling or misses a step on some stairs. His heart starts doing an offensive little tumble and he clears his throat a little too loud as he leans out of Dariax’ space and clutches his lute as if his life depends on it.

“I don’t think I would know what to do if someone actually fell in love with me”, Dorian says with an embarrassingly shrill laugh and a second after the words have left his mouth he regrets them already.

“Aw, buddy, I told you—I can totally teach you a few tricks, you know? Just show you how to get real popular with the ladies. Or gents. Or people in general”, Dariax says and winks at him.

Dorian wishes he could turn into thin air. His cheeks feel very hot.

“I—uh. I don’t think that’s necessary. It’s not like I really have the time—“

Dariax snorts and raises his eyebrows.

“Oh, come on, Dorian. We’re just hanging out, right? If you wanna get laid, we have plenty of time for that. You should just relax a little more. Okay, so. What’s your type?”

Dorian stares at Dariax for almost thirty seconds before he clears his throat again.

“Uh. I—don’t. Well. Adventurous. Maybe—uh. Maybe brunettes?”

“Adventurous brunettes? That’s pretty vague, buddy. Just saying. Wait a second!”

Dariax leans closer again and puts his hand on Dorian’s shoulder. Then he does a terrible shout-whisper into Dorian’s ear that shouldn’t give him goosebumps but, fuck, it definitely does.

“Are you into Orym?”

Dorian blinks and turns his head to stare at Dariax who looks as if he just found out an earth-shattering secret through some careful investigation.

“N—no! No, he’s not. I mean, Orym is—fine? I don’t, uh—what I meant to say is... I don’t really know what my type is”, he ends lamely.

Of course Dariax feels the need to put an arm around Dorian now.

“Don’t worry, buddy. We’ll get you laid in no time. You have a pretty face and voice and all that, pretty sure that’ll go easy peasy.”

“That’s really not—“

“Hey guys, what are you whispering about?”, Opal shouts.

“We’re trying to figure out what Dorian’s type is to get him laid!”, Dariax shouts back.

“No, that’s not—“

“Ohh! Interesting! You don’t have a type? Did you never have a relationship before? Wait—are you like, a virgin?”

Dorian abruptly gets up from his chair. He’s definitely not drunk enough for this.

“I’m going to bed”, he says and leaves the room in a hurry, ignoring the disappointed shouts of his new friends following him outside.

*

Dorian hopes that his friends have forgotten the whole thing about supposedly getting him laid and about how Dariax intends to teach him flirting. But unfortunately the universe decides to not do him this favor.

Suddenly, every remotely attractive person they pass invokes a whole litany of questions.

Opal, Fearne and Dariax want to know everything. Which height, body-type, eye color, temperament, and style of clothing does he like? Does he prefer any genders to others? On six different occasions, Dariax tries to wingman Dorian into asking random strangers on dates.

Dorian is so desperate that he considers just telling them that he actually has someone back home, just so they will leave him alone.

It wouldn’t be the first lie he told.

Dorian feels a pang of guilt for lying about his name to these people who keep fighting alongside him.

Orym, bless his soul, is the only person who doesn’t partake in these interrogations and at some point, after Opal had asked Dorian if he was more into “tits or asses” Orym had quietly stated that “he deserves his privacy, you guys”.

Dorian has no idea if he’s a “tits or asses” kinda guy.

But Dorian just can’t stop thinking about the way Dariax’ voice sounded when it lilted “Man, you have the prettiest fucking eyes I’ve ever seen” the last time they were drunk.

It seems weirdly typical and ridiculous that Dorian has to have his first crush on the most chaotic man he ever met.

Dorian wishes he could forget about those damn words, just like everything that happened in their first week.

“You know”, Orym says to him two nights after that cursed conversation as they’re making their way further south towards Byroden, “if you told them to stop in earnest, I think they would respect that.”

The landscape is a carpet of green, sloping hills, rolling fields that lie bare now that winter is closing in around them. The sky is blue and cloudless and as they talk their breath puffs up in front of their faces and vanishes shortly after.

Dorian looks at Orym and then pointedly turns his gaze at Opal and Dariax, who started making a list of their findings regarding Dorian’s type.

“You sure?”, he says with one eyebrow raised.

Orym looks at least as pained as Dorian feels right now.

“I see your point. But they’re not—you know. Not bad people, I guess. I don’t think they want to hurt you.”

“Well, they’re not hurting me, they’re annoying me to death!”

Orym pats him on the back in a way that is so pitiful, Dorian can hardly take it.

“I wouldn’t usually encourage lying, but maybe you could just make up a girlfriend. Or boyfriend. Or—“

“What if I just tell them that you’re my type”, Dorian interrupts and Orym blinks at him.

“Uh—“

“No offense, you’re not. Not that you’re not handsome or anything, I just. Well—“

“It’s fine”, Orym says with a snort and shakes his head with a disbelieving smile. “You don’t have to fuss about it. You’re also very handsome but not my type.”

Dorian tries not to be offended after the last kick to his ego in Gilmore’s shop and clears his throat.

“Okay, so. What about it? Will you be my—I don’t know. My fake boyfriend?”

“No.”

“Oh, come on, Orym, I’m desperate here!”

“I will not be swept up in all of that. I still think you should just try to talk to them.”

Dorian feels betrayed and huffs, but he doesn’t press the issue any further. It’s probably going to be fine, he thinks. That is, until Dariax walks up to him, grins up at him cheekily and bumps his elbow into Dorian’s side.

“So. Are you finally ready to admit it?”, Dariax asks.

There is a glint in his eyes that Dorian can’t quite read.

“Admit what?”, he asks, already dreading the answer.

“That you have the hots for Orym!”

Dorian stares down at Dariax, the man he, so, so very unfortunately has “the hots for” and sighs deeply.

“You caught me”, he says with a gravelly voice. “I have the hots for Orym.”

“I knew it!”, Dariax shouts, then catches himself and turns his voice into a whisper instead. “I fucking knew it!”

Dorian massages his temple.

Maybe becoming an adventurer was a terrible idea. Maybe he shouldn’t have come here. He could make a name for himself somewhere else. The Menagerie coast is supposed to be lovely all year around.

“Okay, don’t worry, buddy. I gotcha. I’ll keep your secret, won’t even tell the girls at all. And you know what, because we’re such great friends I have a special offer just for you”, Dariax says and leans in even closer to Dorian, who has to lean down significantly.

“And what offer is that?”, Dorian asks with a sigh, resigning himself to his fate. At least Orym knows that Dorian isn’t actually attracted to him, so, he thinks, this can’t possibly get any worse.

“I should totally be your fake boyfriend so you can make him jealous.”

Dorian stares at Dariax.

Dariax stares back with the proudest grin on his handsome face.

The universe is trying to punish him. For whatever reason, it must have decided to make Dorian the butt of a cosmic joke. That’s the only explanation for all of this.

“I don’t think that’s—“

“It’s perfect! Don’t worry, I have experience with this sort of stuff, just lemme handle this.”

Dariax winks at Dorian and then grabs his hand to intertwine their fingers.

“Hey guys”, he calls as he pulls Dorian along who follows helplessly, his heart stumbling in his chest as his consciousness zooms in on the feeling of Dariax’ hand in his, “guess what. I should’ve clocked it all along, but of course it makes perfect sense! Check it out!”

And as Orym, Opal and Fearne turn their heads, Dariax raises their intertwined fingers and beams at the others.

“Wait…”, Orym starts slowly, his brow furrowed in confusion, “what…?”

“Too late, Orym. He’s my boyfriend now”, Dariax says and Dorian wishes that the wind would just pick him up and carry him away.

*

Dorian has to say something.

He can’t, under any circumstances, keep this up.

He is sitting—and gods, his heart is beating so terribly fast—on Dariax’ lap.

Dariax had insisted on it and now his muscular arms are wound around Dorian’s waist as if this is the most normal thing in the world. For someone who doesn’t actually have to breathe to survive, Dorian feels a little bit like he’s suffocating from the staccato inside his rib cage.

They made camp close to a rock formation that, according to Fearne, looks like a pig with wings. The night smells of snow, but Dorian feels hot despite the cold.

He doesn’t know what to do.

He knows it even less when Dariax’ hand finds one of his and just casually starts rubbing circles into the back of his hand with a thumb. Dorian can feel Orym’s eyes on them and sadly that edges Dariax on even more because he thinks his plan is working.

“You know”, Dariax says and sounds way too casual about it, “I can’t believe how lucky I got. Pretty sure you’re the most beautiful person I’ve been with so far, Dorian.”

“I—uh”, Dorian says, then somehow forgets how to speak. His cheeks feel incredibly hot even though he doesn’t sit remotely close to the fire.

Orym cocks his head and suddenly his eyes turn a little too wide for Dorian’s tastes.

Dorian doesn’t want anyone to understand anything about this disaster.

“Well, I would certainly love a boyfriend who tells me nice things like that”, Opal sighs dreamily. “Or—you know. Maybe a girlfriend. Who knows. I certainly don’t.”

She laughs a little too shrilly but Dorian doesn’t have the mental capacity to think about it anymore because a tingling sensation is running through his body and crawling along the underside of his skin as Dariax’ fingers just keep on gently, way too gently, drawing nonsensical symbols and circles on Dorian’s hand.

“Well, I just know what’s good. I make a great boyfriend”, Dariax announces with a smug undertone to his voice. The sad thing is that Dorian can’t even disagree.

So far, Dariax has been nothing but—well. There is no other word for it. Gentle and accommodating. He also started flirting with Dorian and his flirting only ever got tasteless twice during the last twenty-four hours.

He has offered to carry stuff for Dorian, held his hand, given him way too many compliments for Dorian’s poor heart to handle, helped him climb over some rocks and purposefully took a hit for Dorian in combat earlier today while shouting “Not my boyfriend, you ash-hole!”.

If someone had told him that Dariax makes good boyfriend material, Dorian would have scoffed at them.

But now.

Well.

Now he’s in even deeper shit, because this doesn’t help his feelings at all. It does the exact opposite of helping.

Gods, Dorian wishes he could kiss him.

“Well, I am certainly—uh. Happy? For you two”, Orym says with a pointed look at Dorian. Dorian tries to tell Orym that this wasn’t his idea with his eyes alone, that this is the worst, that Dorian definitely needs saving, but he doesn’t think anything gets across because the moment that Orym says that and looks at Dorian, Dariax seems to decide that he can’t have Orym looking at Dorian like that.

Dorian makes an embarrassing screeching sound as he is dipped backwards on Dariax’ lap. There is a very handsome, dwarven face with glinting eyes right in front of his when he opens his eyes again.

“Just go along”, Dariax whispers and before Dorian can protest or even just try to catch up with what’s happening, there are dry, warm lips pressed against his mouth and Dariax is closing his eyes.

Dorian’s brain is blank for a few seconds, then it kicks into overdrive, much like his heart that seems eager to jump right out of his chest and into the campfire. Dorian can’t fault it, because he, too, would love to jump into the campfire, never to be seen again.

Dariax is holding him with one arm while his other hand is resting on Dorian’s cheeks where Dariax’ thumb starts rubbing circles again as he kisses Dorian.

Dorian wants to run away.

He wants to kiss back.

He wants this to be real.

Dariax doesn’t actually want to kiss him. He only does it because he’s pretending, there is nothing real about any of this, no matter how nice and exciting his warm lips feel against Dorian’s.

Dorian pushes him away, clambers up from his position, trying very hard not to fall as he stands up, and steps away from Dariax hastily.

“I—ah. I need to. Pee. Yes. Pee. I’ll be—uh. Later!”

And he walks as fast as he can without breaking into a run.

His lips are still burning after he stops walking without even seeing where he’s going. It’s dumb. All of this is so incredibly dumb.

Beautiful eyes, beautiful voice, beautiful person.

Dariax really has to stop saying these things.

It’s already enough that Dorian developed this stupid crush after such a short amount of time on the road. It’s stupid that it had to be Dariax of all people—couldn’t it have been someone reasonable? Like Orym?

Couldn’t it just have been no one? Or a nice, noble lady that he impressed with his songs and good looks?

No.

He’s standing in the middle of nowhere, his heart beating rapidly in his chest with no clue where he even is or what he’s doing. The trees around him are leafless and bare, stretching towards the dark sky like skeletal silhouettes. Dorian doesn't know what to do.

Dariax kissed him.

He had his first kiss with a complete and utter maniac of a person. His lips are still tingling and gods, he wants to kiss him again and again and again—

“Dorian! Doriaaan!”

Dorian turns around and wipes at his face that feels weirdly wet.

Gods, he hates everything and everyone right now.

Dariax comes to a halt in front of him, his breath coming quickly and holding his compass rose.

“Okay—wow. Your legs. Are so. Long. You’re so. Fucking fast”, Dariax huffs and puts his hands on his knees as he tries to catch his breath.

Dorian looks at him and can’t decide whether he wants to kick Dariax in the shin or just run away further.

“So, uh—sorry. I got a little carried away and I kinda—uh. It was brought to my attention that it wasn’t very cool of me to just kiss you without asking if that’s okay with you. So—uh. Really sorry about that, shoulda thought about that before I—uh. You know.”

Dariax scratches the back of his head as he looks down at Dorian’s left knee.

“It’s—well. Yeah, I suppose a little warning would have been nice. It’s—uh.”

Dorian stops and wipes at his face again and when he looks back up Dariax is studying him, his gaze intense and uncharacteristically serious.

“Wait—wait a second. Was that your first kiss?”

“No! I mean. Yes! Sort of! Maybe!”

Dariax gapes and Dorian wishes the earth could swallow him up whole.

“Oh fuck, buddy, man, that’s. I’m really sorry, I didn’t—damn. I really fucked that one up, huh?”

Dariax looks so earnestly mortified at what he’s done that Dorian can already feel how he’s forgiving him, how he finds it endearing, how his heart swells in his chest like the idiot that it is.

“It’s not such a big deal. Don’t worry about it. Just—uh. Maybe we should talk about all of this stuff before… you know.”

“Yeah, yeah, totally. I swear I’m usually not a creep or anything, it was just… you know. The heat of the moment, or something. So…”

Dariax is scratching the back of his head again and swallows before he shoots Dorian a lopsided grin.

“So. No kissing and stuff like that, huh? Just the hand-holding? Hey, maybe a hug or something?”

Dorian stares at him and he could swear that Dariax’ cheeks are a little redder than before, which, Dorian supposes, comes from his embarrassment about his earlier fuck-up.

As long as they’re doing this fake-boyfriend gig, Dorian could kiss Dariax whenever he wants. Because apparently Dariax doesn’t mind that one little bit. He might never get the chance again to kiss him if he says no now.

So Dorian does something incredibly stupid and impulsive and maybe it’s even a real ash-hole move. In this tiny moment in time he decides to be selfish.

“Kissing is fine. Uh—you know. You’re not that bad at it, I guess”, he says and laughs which sounds terribly false in his own ears but Dariax perks up and throws him a reckless grin that makes Dorian’s heart stumble in his chest.

“Ha! You just wait for it, I’ll kiss your brains out before you know it!”

*

Dorian might be addicted.

He knows that this is all a ruse based on a misunderstanding but gods, kissing Dariax is so good.

And Dariax somehow makes it seem as if he’s just as into it as Dorian is, because he keeps kissing him all the time. Of course, it never happens when they’re alone and only when Orym is in more or less close proximity but if Dorian isn’t careful he’ll start believing that they’re actually boyfriends sooner than later.

Dariax is so good at pretending.

He kisses Dorian as if he never wants to kiss anyone else. He holds Dorian’s face in his hands as if it’s something precious. He kisses Dorian breathless and at more than one point Dorian had to stop him because he was getting a little too into it and he’s afraid of overstepping any boundaries.

Dariax promised that he would kiss Dorian’s brains out and it’s absolutely working. On the seventh day on their journey south they get so caught up in making out that they don’t realize that the others have gone to find a camping place for the night.

“We should—uh. Probably follow them”, Dorian croaks and stares down at Dariax’ lips.

“Hmhm. Yeah. Probably a good idea”, Dariax mumbles. Then he kisses Dorian again.

Dorian gets lost in the sensation of tongues sliding against one another and the feeling of Dariax’ hand cupping his cheeks. Dorian slides his hands into Dariax’ hair and buries his fingers in there, something that provokes a sound from Dariax. A sound that gives Dorian goosebumps all over his arms.

He wants to hear it again. He wants to touch more. He wants, he wants, he wants—

Dariax pulls back, his eyes glassy, his breathing labored.

“I—uh. Ha. I got a little carried away. Sorry. What do you say about checking where the others went?”

“Sure. Yeah. Great idea. Let’s go.”

He steps away from Dariax and stuffs his hands into his pockets to keep Dariax from reaching for them. This is a complete and utter disaster.

Dorian knows that he should stop it.

He shouldn’t abuse Dariax’ trust like this and keep up his pretense when all that Dariax wants is to help Dorian make Orym jealous.

Which has, of course, not worked in the slightest, but Dariax insists that it’s just because Orym is such a rational and level-headed guy.

“We just need to wear him thin, you know.”

Dorian doesn’t know.

He feels like he doesn’t know anything anymore.

When they finally reach the campsite, Fearne has placed her head in Opal’s lap and seems to be napping as Opal carefully braids her long, green hair.

“You guys alright?”, Orym asks with his eyebrows raised. Dorian feels himself flush and clear his throat.

“More than alright”, Dariax answers and winks. The implication makes Dorian’s cheeks heat up even more.

He didn’t think that Orym’s eyebrows could climb even higher, but that’s exactly what happens as he regards the two of them.

“Dorian, can I talk to you for a second?”, Orym asks and gets up from the log he was sitting on. Dorian shoots Dariax a glance and he seems… off.

Dariax doesn’t return Dorian’s look, he just walks over to the fire, lets himself fall down next to Opal and asks, way too loudly to be necessary “So what’s for dinner?”.

But Dorian doesn’t have any time to think more about this, because Orym grabs his wrist and pulls him towards a group of trees, away from the campfire and away from Dariax whose eyes seem to bore themselves into the back of Dorian’s head as he follows Orym into the night.

“What are you doing?”

Dorian doesn’t have to ask what Orym means. He wrings his hands and stares at the ground.

“I—uh. I don’t really... I don’t really know?”

“So when you said adventurous and brunette, what you actually meant was short, stocky and a complete disaster?”

“I—um...”

Orym looks at him with raised eyebrows and despite the fact that Dorian is so much taller than him he suddenly feels very small.

“Well. Dariax kind of got it into his head that I’m into you. Which I’m not.”

“Yes, we established that.”

“Exactly. And. Well, he thought it would be a good idea to be fake boyfriends to make you jealous.”

Orym’s eyebrows rise even higher towards his hairline.

“But I’m not jealous. Because you and I are just friends.”

“I know, okay? It just kinda got out of hand?He’s so—I don’t know! I don’t know what to do!”

Orym sighs and rubs his temples.

“So. You’re actually into Dariax?”, he asks.

Dorian presses his lips together and takes a deep breath before he nods.

“And he doesn’t know. He thinks you’re into me?”

Dorian nods again.

“And now he’s waiting for me to get jealous and for us two to be boyfriends?”

Dorian shrugs helplessly.

“Isn’t that... I don’t know. It seems like lying to him.”

“What do you want me to do? Just tell him that I have the hots for him and then leave the country forever?”, Dorian hisses.

“Well, maybe he has the hots for you, too!”, Orym whispers back and Dorian can’t help but laugh. It sounds a little hysterical.

“Then why would he offer to help me to get with you?”

Orym stares at Dorian for a full thirty seconds. Then he sighs.

“I guess it’s a little hard to... fathom... what goes on in Dariax’ head.”

“That seems like an understatement.”

Orym scoffs and shakes his head with half a smile on his face.

“I can’t believe you actually fell for—that.”

“Hey!”

“Sorry. I guess to each their own.”

“So what’s your type then?”

“Uh—I don’t really have a type. I’m not into the whole relationship stuff. Or—uh. The sex stuff, for that matter.”

“Oh. Oh! I see. Well, that seems pretty convenient. Way less stressful than what I’m doing with my life.”

Orym smiles and shakes his head again.

“I’m not going to lie, when I’m watching you and Dariax or Opal and Fearne I am glad that I don’t have to deal with any of it”, Orym admits.

“Opal and Fearne? How do you mean?”, Dorian asks. His brain is still stuck on kissing Dariax without Orym even being in any close proximity. His whole brain capacity seems to be occupied by thinking about Dariax. It’s an absolute clusterfuck.

“Never mind. So, what do you intend to do? You can’t keep this up forever”, Orym says and pulls Dorian away from a trail of thoughts that was leading towards something explicit and utterly unbefitting of a talk with a good friend about feelings.

“I—uh. I’m still figuring it out. I’ll just. You know, I could just tell him that I’m not into you anymore and then he would probably stop”, Dorian says and ignores the uncomfortable tightness of his chest as he thinks about not being able to kiss Dariax anymore. Or hold his hand. Or being told that he’s beautiful.

He’s so fucked.

“I think you should just tell him, you know? We’re adventurers now, no one knows what might happen. If I learned anything from our Voice of the Tempest, it’s that you should do your best to live without any regrets, because time is a precious thing”, Orym says.

“A weird soup”, Dorian answers, his voice weak and his heart hurting. Orym snorts.

“Yes, sure. A weird, precious soup. Anyway. Think about it, okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah, okay.”

*

Something is up with Dariax.

Dorian has no idea what it is, but there is definitely something wrong.

He’s quieter than usual, which is disconcerting. He’s also, very definitely, holding onto Dorian’s hand way tighter than before.

“Hey, is everything alright?”, Dorian asks him quietly as they’re getting ready for the night. The sky overhead is dark and full of clouds and the moon is barely visible.

“Yeah, sure. Stellar”, Dariax says but he’s not looking at Dorian.

“You don’t look stellar”, Dorian insists and puts his hand on Dariax’ shoulder. Dariax’ eyes flicker down to his hand and then up to his face. Dariax opens his mouth to answer, but Dorian doesn’t hear anything because there is a searing pain on his back and he slumps forward and crumples onto his knees.

His vision goes blurry from the pain and he can feel that there is something coursing through his body. It hurts.

“Dorian? Dorian!”

Lying down seems like a great idea. What if he dies now and he didn’t even tell Dariax that he’s not into Orym? What if his adventure ends here already? He doesn’t want to sink into the weird soup that is time already. He wants…

“Take your hands off my boyfriend, you fuckers!”

“Hey! What’s going on?”

“Dorian, are you okay?”

He is definitely not okay and while he probably should have different priorities as he’s bleeding out in the grass, all he can think about is the fact that Dariax just called him his boyfriend.

“Dorian, are you okay?”, Dariax’ voice sounds muffled and far away.

“Heh. You’re really good at pretending”, he lulls as he’s turned onto his back to look up at Dariax’ face.

“What? Guys, I think he has a concussion or something!”

“Well, heal him!”

“I’m trying! Dorian, hey! Buddy, don’t pass out on me, okay?”

“Did you know that your eyes are really pretty?”, Dorian slurs and he wants to raise a hand to touch Dariax’ face that seems way too red all of a sudden, but he can’t move a muscle and as he feels Dariax’ warm healing magic flow into him, he passes out from the mind-numbing pain.

*

Dorian has never shared a bed with anyone. Neither in a platonic nor in a romantic or sexual way.

When he wakes up there is someone plastered to his side. The quiet snoring tells him that it must be Dariax.

“Are you okay, Dorian?”, Fearne’s soft voice reaches his ears and he turns his head to see her sit on his other side, her hand places closed to his shoulder as if to make sure that he’s within reach.

“Uh—ow. Yeah. What happened?”

Dorian tries to concentrate on his own body and on Fearne’s words, but he’s distracted by the feeling of Dariax sleeping so close to him. His arm is thrown over Dorian’s chest and his face is pressed into Dorian’s shoulder. Orym is nowhere to be seen.

“Those Nameless Ones seem to have a pretty far reach. They really want that spider crown.”

Dorian groans as he tries to move.

“They hit me with poison or something?”

“Yeah. Dariax fixed it. Then he insisted on carrying you back to the cart. Then he insisted to tuck you into bed. And then he just sort of flopped down next to you and stared at you really intensely until he passed out.”

Dorian tries to laugh but almost chokes on it as he imagines this short man trying to carry someone as tall as Dorian. His thoughts circle around the fact that Dariax cared for him, healed him, tucked him into bed.

“So. Ah—where are Orym and Opal?”, he asks to distract himself from the feeling of having Dariax pressed so close to him.

“They’re checking to see if we’ll be safe for the night. I just wanted to make sure that you were okay.”

“That’s very kind of you.”

Fearne smiles down at him and starts scratching Little Mister under the chin as she hums a melody that Dorian’s never heard before.

“Did you ever have a really dumb crush?”, he asks before he can stop himself. Fearne turns her head to look at him again and cocks her head.

“A crush that was dumb because it wasn’t mutual or a crush that was dumb because the person was dumb?”, she wants to know.

“Ah. Huh—I haven’t thought about it that way. I guess… how about we go with both?”

Fearne puts her index fingers to her lips and cocks her head from side to side as she thinks about it.

“Well, I don’t think crushes are dumb just because they aren’t mutual. And I also think that Opal is very intelligent in her own, special way.”

Dorian blinks.

“Wait. What?”

“Hm?”

“You have a crush on Opal?”

“Sure. I thought it was pretty obvious”, Fearne says and smiles dreamily.

“Uh—maybe. Now that you mention it, I think Orym clocked it.”

“She is just. You know. Very exciting and spontaneous and funny and creative and pretty.”

The way that Fearne just talks about her crush makes Dorian wonder why he isn’t able to just say it like this. That he likes Dariax because he’s funny and brave and adventurous and a complete idiot in a lovable kind of way.

“What do you like about Dariax?”, Fearne wants to know.

“Uh—well”, he laughs nervously and clears his throat. Dariax is still softly snoring into his shoulder. “I guess… I guess pretty much everything?”

“That’s so sweet! And that’s what he said too. You guys just fit so well”, Fearne says with an earnest smile.

“Wait. What?”

“Hm?”

“What did you just say?”

“I said that you guys fit really well.”

“No. No, I meant before that.”

“Uh—well, when I asked him what he liked most about you, he also said that he likes everything about you. I thought it was really sweet, you know? There was a whole list of things, but he stopped midway through it and said ‘So basically, everything’.”

There was a whole list of things.

A list.

 “So basically, everything.”

“Dorian? Are you really okay? You look a little flushed.”

“Hm? Oh—yeah. I’m fine. Perfect. Peachy. Never better.”

He laughs nervously and glances over at Dariax as his insides dissolve into small, hyperactive butterflies. Maybe it’s not what he thinks. Maybe Dariax meant that he likes everything about Dorian as a friend.

“If you’re sure you’re okay I think I’ll stretch my legs a little bit. This cart is pretty small”, Fearne says and scoots towards the exit of the cart. Little Mister follows behind her and a moment later Dorian is alone with a snoring Dariax, whose hand has somehow managed to sneak under Dorian’s shirt.

What is he supposed to do now?

Wake Dariax up? Confess his feelings?

His heart beats so quickly that Dorian is almost afraid that it might just leap out of his rib cage. In the end he’s not brave enough to wake Dariax up and instead intertwines their fingers and turns his head to look at Dariax who has definitely drooled onto his shirt.

He knows that he’s completely fucked because he thinks that this is endearing.

Dorian raises his arm and gently cards his hand through Dariax’ hair.

Dariax makes a small sound in his sleep, something that sounds like a content sigh, and the butterflies in Dorian’s stomach start dancing happily.

“D’you really think my eyes are pretty?”, Dariax mumbles a second later and Dorian pulls his hand away hastily as Dariax’ eyes open.

“Um—well. Yeah. They’re… they have a very nice color”, Dorian croaks. Dariax pulls his hand out from under Dorian’s shirt and starts rubbing at his eyes.

“You okay again?”

“Yeah. Thank you for saving me. And carrying me to the cart. And—uh. Tucking me in.”

Dariax’ cheeks redden as he coughs slightly before sitting up.

“Well, you know. It’s what boyfriends are for, right?”, Dariax says with half a laugh in his voice that doesn’t sound completely genuine.

Dorian swallows and bites his bottom lip as he tries to find the words. He’s usually not bad at talking, so why does this seem so endlessly hard?

“So—uh. I have something to confess”, he starts as his thoughts start spinning around in panicked circles. Dariax turns his head to look down at him.

“I know, I know”, he answers.

“Huh?”

“Well, I figured, you know. When Orym dragged you away I thought you guys probably had a talk?”

“We did, yeah”, Dorian says but he is endlessly confused about what that has to do with anything.

“See, I knew it. So you think it finally started working, huh? Told you, I’m really good at this kind of stuff.”

Dorian decides that he has to sit up for this. His head is spinning and his heart is racing and he is endlessly confused about what in the ever-loving hell is going on.

“Working? What are you talking about?”

“You know, the jealousy thing.”

Dorian stares at him.

Then it finally clicks.

“Dariax… I don’t want to be fake boyfriends anymore”, he says quietly before he can think of a better way to say it. Dariax’ expression twists and he looks away, his hand reaching for the back of his head to scratch at his scalp—a sign for nervousness, as Dorian knows by now.

“Yeah. Okay. I—uh. That’s—“

“I want to be your real boyfriend.”

Dariax blinks a few times. Then his face turns the deepest shade of red that Dorian has ever seen on him.

“You—what?”

“I don’t like Orym. I never have. Not like that. I—uh. I like you. And when—if—I kiss you again I don’t want it to be just pretend, I want to really kiss you. Because I—uh. I really like kissing you.”

Dariax is still staring at him, seemingly stunned. The hand at the back of his head has stopped moving and started to sink slowly back into Dariax’ lap.

“So…”, Dorian says and the nervous energy humming under his skin is almost unbearable, “can I? Can I… kiss you? For real?”

If Dariax doesn’t say anything soon Dorian might have to flee from the cart and actually leave the country. The suspense is torturous, his words hang heavy in the air between them. And then, faster than Dorian can react, Dariax lounges himself at Dorian and kisses him so passionately that Dorian can’t suppress the moan that escapes him.

Dariax pushes at him, shoves Dorian back down onto the bedroll, sinks one hand into Dorian’s long hair and cups his face with the other.

Dorian’s brain goes blank as he arches up against Dariax’ weight on top of him.

“So, is that a yes?”, he pants into the kiss.

“Yes. Yes, yes, yes”, Dariax rasps and kisses him again. “Gods, you’re so pretty. I thought I was going to go insane.”

Dorian makes a very embarrassing noise somewhere between a moan and a whimper. Maybe he likes those compliments more than a normal person would.

“So you like me?”

“Are you kidding me? So fucking much.”

Dariax is kissing his whole face now and Dorian wraps his arms around him. He feels light as a feather and the butterflies in his stomach have gone completely off the rails.

“Are you guys decent?”, Opal shouts from outside the cart.

“No! Go away! I want to make out with my boyfriend!”, Dariax shouts back and Dorian laughs.

“Don’t leave any icky spots though!”, Opal says.

“Oh, come on”, Dorian hears Orym protest.

“That’s what Prestidigitation is for, Opal! Read a book about magic!”, Dariax announces loudly and Dorian has no time to protest this obscene exchange because Dariax is kissing him again and Orym seems to be dragging Opal away from the cart.

“So do you know what that means?”, Dorian mumbles against Dariax’ lips.

“Hm?”

“I don’t need any flirting lessons from you after all.”

[mypoisonedvine]

𝗥𝗘𝗘𝗗𝗨𝗞𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 || dark!jan (the edukators/die fetten Jahre sind vorbei) x reader

𝗦𝗨𝗠𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗬 | in scoping out his next target, jan hadn't realised that you wouldn't be joining your family on their next vacation; in choosing to stay home, you hadn't realised what you were in for.

𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗗 𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗧 | 4.3k

𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦 | smut (noncon, with fingering and penetrative sex), innocence kink, virginity loss/first time, brief exhibitionism, degradation, daddy kink, spitting (in mouth and on pussy), breaking and entering/home invasion, touch of misogyny kink, slight objectification kink (petnames like babydoll/dolly being 99% of this), slight bleeding (from sex specifically), death mention (no threats, just the fear of threats if that makes sense?)

𝗔/𝗡 | you don't need to have seen the movie to understand this fic, as long as you know that jan and his friends break into rich people's houses as part of their anti-capitalist rebellion. note that the vast majority of dialogue is written in english for simplicity, but that these conversations would actually take place fully in german.

this is a DARK fic, if you hit 'keep reading' I don't wanna hear you upset about content listed clearly in the warnings section

It’s probably normal to hear a bump in the night, to wake up and be a little freaked out, but to ultimately just stay in bed and not do anything about it. At first you were sure you were sure it was nothing, though your gut told you otherwise; then, as you heard more and more you spent quite some time convincing yourself that it was just pipes creaking or the foundation settling. But the thing about pipes and foundations is they don’t speak German.

“Hier entlang, hier entlang,” someone whispered, and footsteps shifted all along the lower floor.

Maybe you were still asleep, and this was just a strange dream, a terrifying dream. You pulled the blanket up over your head and prayed to wake up, but the denial turned to terror when you heard footsteps coming up the stairs.

You jumped out of bed, but it was too late to go out your bedroom door— you could hear them walking and whispering outside. Your bathroom had a small window, but even if you managed to fit through it you’d be on the second story with no way to ropel down. Maybe in your mind you could be some daring adventurer with the perfect plan to escape, or with the skills to defend yourself with something random you could grab, but you knew better than to really think you could do anything but hide.

As the footsteps and voices got louder, your eyes frantically searched the room and finally landed on the large upright dresser— maybe it was a little obvious, but it had a handy little feature that made it lock from the inside. It had come in handy for a decade of hide-and-seek, and now it would hopefully serve you one last time.

With not a second to spare, you ran over and grabbed the golden handles, swinging the doors open but being careful to shut them quietly after you’d stepped inside and made room for yourself among the coats and dresses. You searched for the lock in the pitch darkness, only able to find it because it was right above the keyhole that glowed from the dim light outside. Just as you turned the knob and heard the metal lock slide inside the wooden door, you heard your bedroom door open.

Someone walked around your room briefly, you even heard them pick something up and set it down— probably your bedside lamp, based on where it was coming from, but you obviously couldn’t be sure and frankly didn’t care that much. Footsteps approached the dresser and you saw the keyhole light up as a flashlight passed over it.

“Let’s take all the clothes and put them in the fireplace,” a voice in the room announced. “We won’t actually light the fireplace, but it sends a message.”

You covered your mouth with your hand to try to keep quiet when the doors shook briefly from an attempt to open them.

“Fuck, it’s locked.”

“Here, you go on to the next room, I’ll pick it,” a second voice decided, and you heard more footsteps as someone else approached the armoire. “Look how fancy the dresser is, they’ve probably got furs in here too— god knows people living in a house like this can’t miss an opportunity to destroy the environment.”

You heard something jiggle inside the keyhole, a clicking noise that went on for just a few moments before you heard the metal slide inside the wood again and the doors slowly opened.

A man, dressed in black and holding a flashlight in his gloved hands, stared at you from behind a mask that left only his brown eyes visible. You both stood still, staring at each other, until he did exactly the last thing you expected: he lifted the mask up to his forehead and showed you his face.

He was a lot younger than you would’ve expected, though he had the scruffy beard of a guy trying to look older; his teeth were slightly crooked when he smiled at you, and when he raised a brow while he gave you a quick look-over, you noticed the way they almost connected in the middle.

Under his gaze, you suddenly felt very aware of how little your lacy, baby pink nightgown protected you from the chilling night air.

"Well, what's this?" he asked coyly as he watched you shiver. "Guess these capitalist pigs left one of their little piglets behind." He put on a cooing sort of voice as he addressed you directly: "Did mummy and daddy leave you all alone while they went on holiday?"

He stepped closer even as you tried to shrink away, examining you carefully.

“Get out of there, silly, what are you hiding for? I’m not gonna hurt you,” he assured, not that you found it especially comforting. When you didn’t step out of your own accord, he grabbed your arm and roughly yanked you forward; he slammed the dresser doors behind you, and you whimpered in fear as he pinned you down against them by each arm. "Shh, hey, don't worry— I'm here to take care of you, you can call me daddy instead until your heartless banker father gets back. Go ahead, tell me what's wrong."

"I—"

"Ah ah," he tutted with a mix of bemusement and disappointment, "I already told you how to address me."

You shuddered but finally responded, "Daddy, I'm scared."

He gave you a demeaning little pout, but you continued.

"Some men broke in and I'm alone and… and I don't know if they want to hurt me."

"No, baby, they don't want to hurt you," he promised with a gentle smile, but it turned horrifically sinister as he leaned in to add with a whisper: "but we will if we have to."

You swallowed thickly, your gut twisting when you felt him breathe out against your neck.

"So you're gonna be a good girl, right?"

You nodded quickly, turning away when he leaned in closer, looking down at you with darkened eyes and running the fingers of his black gloves over the neckline of your pyjamas.

“You were just waiting for me, huh? All tucked in in your cute little nightgown, dressed up like a doll,” he grinned. “I bet you want daddy to play with you, hm?”

He laughed cruelly when you shook your head, fighting harder to get away again as he squeezed your arms tight enough to leave marks where his fingers had been.

“Wanna play, little dolly?” he continued, pressing his body into yours and roughly shoving his leg between your thighs. “I know you do… c'mon and give me a kiss," he requested.

“N-no,” you stammered, but he grabbed your jaw in his gloved hand and forced you to look ahead, slamming his lips onto yours and ignoring your muffled protests. When he pinched your side you gasped instinctively, and he shoved his tongue inside your mouth roughly— but that only lasted for a moment, before you found renewed strength and managed to shove him back. It wasn’t far enough to free yourself, but enough to get a break from the oppressive kiss.

“Aw, don’t be mean,” he pouted, wiping his mouth with the back of his gloved hand. “You said you’d be good for me, remember?”

“Just stop, please,” you whined, gasping before you could stop yourself when he rubbed his thigh up against you— hitting right on your clit which throbbed in spite of everything. Somehow the fear made you more sensitive, or at least something had because you’d never felt quite like this before.

“See? You’re all worked up,” he explained, “I’m gonna help you.”

This time when he leaned in he started to kiss and suck at your neck instead, starting right beneath your ear and moving down slowly until his tongue laved over the crook where your shoulder began. As much as you hated it, it made arousal pulse between your legs where his thigh continued to push hard on you.

When he moved even closer, you could feel his erection against your hip; you didn’t even realise that you’d let out a gasp until you felt him smile against your neck. “Oh, babydoll… you want daddy’s cock inside you, I can tell.”

“N-no, I don’t— just stop,” you begged.

“If only it were so easy, to just ask someone to stop,” he mused. “You know how many times we asked people like your father to stop before they fucked us? You know how far that gets us? You don’t just get to ask nicely, you have to fight for it…”

He chuckled as you writhed in his embrace.

“But you’re too weak to fight, poor thing.”

"Please, I'm not a part of whatever you’re talking about,” you tried to explain, “I don't know much about what Papa does at work—"

"That's your problem, baby, you're blissfully ignorant! Not all of us have that luxury. But the good news is, I'm here to educate you." He pushed up even closer to you, speaking lowly right into your ear with rage starting to bubble up in his voice. "Your father is a piece of scum who feeds on the working class and then robs them blind. You live like this, unquestioningly, and the rest of Germany suffers. Stuck-up bitch like you wouldn't even notice me if you saw me on the street, would you? Wouldn't even give me the time of day, but now you're at my mercy. That’s what you people need to learn: that you’re not gonna be on top forever.”

Suddenly you felt his hand cup your sex through your nightgown, and you choked on your gasp. “No—!” you started to shout, but his right hand covered your mouth as the left hastily pulled your pyjamas up and reached under them.

“Stop fucking squirming,” he grunted as he reached between your kicking legs and slid quickly up your thigh. “Mm, bet you’re hiding a pretty little cunt under this nightgown— hold still, baby, you’re gonna like this.”

Finally maneuvring his way into your panties, he abruptly shoved two gloved fingers inside of you, watching closely as you scrunched your face up tight in discomfort. He thrusted and twisted them around for a bit, carelessly stretching you open as you tried desperately to squirm away; it stung a bit, and the leather of the gloves was cool and awkwardly firm against your walls. For some reason, when he dropped his free hand from your face, you didn’t try to scream again— maybe because you knew no one who cared could hear you— and you just panted heavily instead.

As quickly as he’d pushed them in he pulled them out, bringing the glove up to his mouth to take it off with his teeth with a little growl before rubbing his bare hand over your pussy again. You whimpered when he slid his fingers inside you again, this time feeling the texture of his skin as he curled the pads of his fingers right against your spot. “Yeah?” he mumbled his taunt around the leather between his teeth before spitting the glove out onto the floor. “Fuck, so warm… you’re so wet already, dolly, has nobody been giving this pussy any attention?”

He stopped moving his fingers inside you to pull out and give your clit a few slaps, licking his lips when you cried out from the sharp sensation.

“Huh?” he reminded you to answer when you never gave a response.

“N-no,” you shook your head, finally, and he smiled like he was proud of himself.

“Yeah? You’re not a virgin, are you?”

You only looked down at the floor, blinking a few times as you focused on the teal carpet, and heard him laugh darkly.

“Oh, dolly, I might break you,” he warned roughly as he pushed your gown up to your waist, ignoring your sobbed pleas for him to stop. “We don’t usually take anything from the people we visit, but if I take your virginity maybe your people will finally get the message.”

“Please— you don’t have to do that,” you stammered, rushing through whatever you could think of to make him change his mind, “I won’t tell anyone you were here. You can have whatever you want, if I call them they can send you money—”

“You aren’t even fucking listening to me, we don’t want your expensive bullshit and we don’t want your dirty fucking money!” he corrected sternly, clutching your sleeves tighter and shaking you slightly with the intensity of his movements. “We just want you to be afraid, because the revolution is coming.”

But you were afraid of something much more imminent than a revolution.

“Get on the fucking bed,” he demanded, though you couldn’t do much else considering he was already roughly tossing you onto it, climbing on top of you and pinning you down when you started to crawl back instinctively. With his legs resting on yours and keeping you (somewhat) still, he only needed one hand to grab your shoulders while the other rushed to open his jeans.

Your eyes got a little wide when you saw his cock— before that, it was almost like some part of you didn’t really think he’d go through with his, but now you could see clearly that he was hard and ready… and big enough to make you question how that thing was even supposed to fit inside you.

He tore through your panties like they were paper; he lifted and spread your legs as he sat between them and, much to your humiliation, just stared down at your pussy for a moment. You’d never felt so exposed and it made you feel worse than ever. “Knew you’d have a pretty cunt,” he announced smugly, “can’t wait to see it all stretched out and covered in my come— I’m gonna ruin you, babydoll.”

You weakly struggled as he held your hips down with one hand and haphazardly stroked his cock a few times with the other, rubbing himself over your opening before pulling his hips back to spit right onto your clit. After spreading the improvised lubrication around with his head for a moment, he pushed down on it with his thumb to line up with your hole and, without any further warning, slid inside in one motion.

You bit down on your lip hard, and even that wasn’t enough to distract you from the sting; it felt like he was ripping you open, not to mention going so deep that you could feel him in your stomach.

He groaned loudly, head falling back for a moment as he started to thrust into you. “Fuck, I can tell you’re a virgin— it must be hurting you, huh?”

But the question was a bit redundant, since tears had already begun to stream down your temples and your fingers were clutching tightly onto the sheets beneath you; if they were any less expensive, they probably would’ve ripped.

“Maybe a little pain will be good for you,” he decided with a smirk, “I think a spoiled brat like you has been spared the rod a few too many times.”

It was definitely more than a ‘little’ pain, and it only seemed to sting more each time he pulled back and pushed in again— he wasn’t going very fast, yet, so that was one thing you could almost be thankful for. That said, he wasn’t very gentle either.

He hastily reached up under your nightgown to grope your breasts, quickly moving from one to the other as he squeezed them just a bit too hard. “You like how daddy plays with your tits, don’t you?” he grunted. “Say, ‘yes daddy.’”

“Y-yes, daddy,” you mumbled awkwardly; maybe being embarrassed to say that was superfluous considering everything else happening right now, but your face got warmer regardless.

A whimper almost caught in your throat when he pinched your hardened nipples, but it broke through when he seemingly-randomly gave a spank to your inner thigh.

He looked down at where your bodies were joined, where he was stretching you out with steady pumps of his cock that filled you to the brim, before reaching up to quickly pull his black sweater off over his head— a t-shirt underneath came off with it as his chest was exposed. He wasn’t unreasonably pale but he clearly wasn’t the type to get a ton of sun, and he had a thin scattering of dirty-blonde hair over some of it. It was sort of embarrassing, now, seeing how thin he was and yet he was still so much stronger than you.

"You're getting so wet, babydoll, look— you're making a mess on these expensive sheets," he grinned. And he wasn't lying; the sting of the stretch had slowly faded, replaced with a friction you actually couldn't help but enjoy. Each time he moved, he seemed to slide right over a spot that made you tighten up your legs so they wouldn't shake.

But, apparently, there was still plenty left that he could do to hurt you.

You cried out, so louder it echoed across the room, when he suddenly thrust into you hard and deep, hitting the very end of you as your body involuntarily jolted— he clapped his hand down over your mouth instantly, muffling your cries to near-silence as he set a punishingly fast pace out of nowhere. You couldn’t turn your head when you heard your bedroom door open, but you could glance to the side and see another burglar appear in the doorway, staring forward at the scene in front of him.

A new sense of shame burned inside you for being seen in such a way; oddly, it came with guilt, too, as if you were doing something wrong yourself, when really it was just something wrong being done to you. The man on top of you didn’t seem to feel much of either, though: he didn’t even slow down.

"Dude, what the fuck are you doing?" the other man asked his partner, face still hidden but his voice a mixture of bewildered and disgusted. "This isn't how we roll."

"Fuck off, I'm almost done," your attacker scoffed. You tried to use the distraction to fight him again— you swung your arms to try to scratch his face or push him away, but without even hesitating he simply stopped covering your mouth to pin your wrists at either side of your head.

"Is this really what you think the revolution is about?" the man in the door sneered. "Or does that even matter to you when you think you might get some ass? Jesus, I always knew you were a creep but this is…" he trailed off.

"Maybe you should take a turn with her, might fix your attitude," the man on top of you suggested. "She's real tight— trust me, you'll feel better."

"I promise that raping that girl isn't gonna make me feel better, Jan," he frowned.

"Fine, then just go so I can finish and I'll meet you guys in the yard," Jan— apparently that was his name— instructed.

"Don't go," you begged the man in the door, seeing the concern on his face— you could tell he wanted to stop Jan, maybe if you asked him to, he would.

"Shut up, bitch," Jan growled, correcting you with a slap to the face.

The man in the doorway just shook his head and sighed, stepping back into the hall and shutting the door behind him. You cried harder, more sure than ever that Jan was right when he said you were at his mercy; and he didn’t seem to have much.

He fucked you rough and fast, recklessly chasing his own pleasure with no regard for yours. Unfortunately, that didn’t mean that you didn’t feel any pleasure, though… it was building, in fact, sort of like when you touched yourself but so much stronger, and deeper, and threatening to overflow at any moment. “Oh fuck, you’re close,” he noticed with a tilted grin, “you love it so fucking much, huh? Wanna cream on daddy’s cock?”

You shook your head but he slapped you again, spinning your face to the side as he held both your wrists above your head in one hand and gripped your jaw with the other.

“Stop lying,” he growled, “I can feel it, I can feel your cunt getting tighter… you’re gonna come so fucking hard for me, aren’t you, babydoll? God, what a nasty fucking whore you are…”

He held your face to look straight ahead, up at where he hovered above you and bared his teeth in a snarl, before forcing your mouth open and spitting into it. You grimaced and tried even harder to squirm away but he quickly clamped his hand down over your nose and mouth so you couldn’t try to spit it back out again.

“C’mon, swallow it,” he instructed roughly, voice a bit strained from the force it took to hold you down. You could hardly breathe with his hand this way, and when you tilted your head back to try to get away from it, you accidentally swallowed his spit with a disgusted, muffled grunt. “There you go, good girl,” he purred as he watched your throat bob a bit involuntarily, “that’s it, I know you wanna come— say it! Say ‘daddy I wanna come.’”

He let go of your mouth and slapped you again before you even had a chance to hesitate. “D-daddy,” you whined, “I… I—”

“It’s not that fucking hard,” he hissed, “just say it, you dumb fucking slut!”

One more slap was apparently all you needed to just choke it out: “I wanna come, daddy!” you cried, back starting to arch as the pressure of holding back your release became too much to bear.

“Then fucking come,” he demanded, “come for me, baby, right fucking now.”

You tried to hold out just a moment longer, just to spite him, just so you wouldn’t obey him so easily… but it only took one rough thrust right into the end of you to make it all spill over. You came with a sob, shaking and jerking beneath him for a moment before a warmth spread through you; it started right where he filled you and spread everywhere until your mind was all foggy and your fingers started to go numb— or maybe that was just because of him pinning you down at the wrists.

Much to your disgust, you could hear how wet you had become with every stroke inside you, a sickening squelching noise that made him laugh as your face tingled with numbness and burned with shame all at once. “Oh fuck, that’s it,” he praised, “naughty little dolly, making a mess on daddy’s cock with that dirty fucking cunt of yours… I’m gonna cover it in my come, are you ready, baby? Ask daddy to come on your pussy, don’t make me hit you again.”

“Daddy, please,” you mumbled quietly, “come on my pussy…”

“I can’t hear you, babydoll, you need to speak up,” he mocked.

And you were just so exhausted and overwhelmed and his thrusts inside your sensitive walls were starting to get painful again— that was why you really meant it when you sobbed through your begging: “Please, daddy, come on my pussy!”

With one more panted moan he pulled out and only had to give his cock one blur of a stroke before white, warm come began to paint over your sore opening, your swollen clit, your bruised inner thighs. “Fuuucckkk…” he groaned under his breath as he watched himself coat you, and you caught a tinge of pink from your blood on his cock and hand as he slowed down to a stop. "Sheiße," he sighed, letting go of your wrists to sit up and close his eyes for a moment before looking down again at where you were limp and splayed out on your bed beneath him. “See? I’m getting reckless, I really shouldn’t be leaving evidence…”

Even without that, you knew his name and face, but apparently he was focusing on the copious amounts of DNA he’d just left on you.

“I suppose it won’t be a problem, because you’re not going to tell anyone,” he posited, leaning down slightly to hover over you as you swallowed around the rock that had suddenly formed in your throat. “You know how I know you won’t?”

You weakly shook your head, already terrified to imagine what the answer to that question was going to be. Of course, your first assumption was that he was going to kill you, or threaten to do so if you involved the police. He knew where you lived, he could threaten your family, too: the thought made your skin crawl as he leaned down further to whisper right against your ear as you instinctively turned your face away from him.

“Because if you tell someone that I raped you,” he finally continued, “then you’ll also have to tell them that you liked it.”

Speaking right against your ear, it took him no effort at all to stick his tongue out and lick you right on it, making you squeal with fear and disgust.

He quickly hopped off the bed and recollected himself, stuffing his softening and blood-stained cock back into his pants before gathering his discarded clothes from the floor. "Your folks won't be home for two more nights, right? I should come visit you again," he winked when he spared a glance at you. “Now get some rest, baby, you deserve it. Don’t worry, I’ll lock the front door behind me when we leave… wouldn’t want anybody unsavory getting in, now would we?”