#“what did they mean by that? did i do something wrong?” < Rowan

[natelawtism]

i lovveee the rain post!! I am currently once again overwhelming my brain with a lot of different stuff at once so!:

Talk more about Rowan and his autism! (I Don't know which questions i have asked before and which i have not. But he's super relatable so 😔)

What accomodations does he get? DOES he get accomodations, and when? Who knows of his diagnosis? How are people able to help him? How easily does he get overwhelmed by stuff? What situations/experiences are the ones that make him distressed the most?

(i hope all those questions were worded right. As you may know, i have NOT slept all night, haha)

YIPPEEE OKOK

So, he gets very minimal accommodations because he's considered "high functioning" (which is a bs term). He's very good in class, gets good grades, lowkey model student so that's why it took him so long to get diagnosed! He also doesn't ask for accomodations lol- his parents were the ones to tell the school and work that stuff out. He's allowed to take breaks in class if he's overwhelmed/overstimulated, which is something all of his teachers know. He's also allowed to get extensions on assignments and talk stuff out with a teacher, along with being allowed to have his phone on him. Does this mean he uses these accomodations? HAHA. He uses his breaks, but he always feels awkward using anything else.

Pretty much all his friends know about his diagnosis because he makes jokes AALLLL the time. He loves saying shit like "is it because I'm autistic???" Or "sorry it's because I'm autistic" in response to things. He finds it to be peak comedy because of the fact either they are like "no no wait-" or "yes. Yes it is." (For the bit)

Nate helps him very often. He can normally see the tells of when he's overwhelmed/needs to get out of a situation and he's there whenever he can be! Sometimes Ro is so overwhelmed that he feels like he can't move or do anything, so the biggest thing people can do to help (and mostly Nate does) is take action for him. And thankfully! The school trusts Nate so much that teachers often let him stay with Ro during moments like this, knowing that he knows what to do. A lot of the time Rowan acts like he can tough through something that sucks when he very much shouldn't, so just being there for him is what he needs. Sometimes his friends fill him in on social cues (like Alicia and Missy), but Nate is ALSO autistic so he isn't much help with that.

(I will also add! Lynn helps him often and understands him quite well. He's always there to lend an ear and be helpful- Ro loves Lynn to death. He also takes a lot of his breaks in the nurses office because it's quiet and not overstimulating)

Situations that are loud or crowded make him the most distressed. Many people and no way out can make him panic completely, and loud noises can make him super overwhelmed. It's mostly continuous noise, but a lot of the time if something is loud enough he'll stay overwhelmed for a long time. He doesn't lash out or anything, he mostly just shuts down.

I'd say it really depends on how easily he gets overwhelmed! If he's in a good mood, normally he'll be only a bit uncomfortable but be able to live with it. If he's in a bad mood? Everything is upped by 40%. Every feeling, sound, touch. It can become WAY too much. It really differs from situation to situation.

[savanir]

DP x DC ficlet

is it even a ficlet anymore, this thing has gotten incredibly out of hand...

So a while back I saw this

and I picked the Green Lantern one and then just kinda wrote a full fic so...

It had been a good party, official yes but despite that still festive enough and with just a bittersweet hint. as all good meaningful parties should be like, unless you’re looking to get absolutely shitfaced.

But hey Rowan deserved a proper sendoff for making it to this point and not dying in the process. Hal is going to miss the old pilot though.

"Hal, I got something for you, before I forget"

"Hm, what is it"

The old man puts a small intricate glass model of a f16 fighter in his hand.

"Back when I started I was given this for good luck and protection"

Rowan presses it down firmly and stands there all official like "may it grant you both as it did for me"

They both stand there for a second before laughing.

“Feel free to shelf the whole luck thing, what’s really important is skill and experience. Still, knowing you, you can definitely use the protection ”

Hal grins, "Thanks, I'll keep close"

"You better, the sentimental value is sky high" Rowan slaps his shoulder with another laugh.

Good lord what a dork.

The old retiring pilot wasn't paying attention, too caught up in everything else but Hal saw the faint and brief green hue coming from his hand.

In a panic he slammed his other hand over top. Completely missing the quietly whispered "protect"

Too busy cussing out his ring in his head, he swears that thing is trying to out him on purpose sometimes.

This time it wasn't the ring though, so it's a good thing it's an inanimate object and can't be upset at how wrong Hal is being right now.

"Everything alright?"

"Yeah! Let's get back to the others"

The evening ends uneventfully.

---

It's really only until quite a bit later that things start to happen.

"Green lantern" its batman's business voice.

Both Hal and John look up.

"Jordan" ah shit.

"I'll catch you up later" and he leaves Hal behind, traitor.

"What's up spooky"

"You need to update your file, it is missing critical information, and on that note I wasn’t aware that the lantern suits grant you intangibility now"

"I... what..? It doesn't? What are you talking about spooks"

"Hrn" Batman pulls up a screen and shows him footage of the latest fight, in it you can clearly see something was supposed to hit Hal but went right through him "You're telling me you didn't know or notice this?"

Hal just looks kinda sick. That would have been a bad hit and he just straight up didn't even notice.

Batman just kind of silently looks at him and he must have come to some conclusion because the next thing Hal knows this comes out of his mouth.

"I've already ran your blood through the lab, it's not a sudden emergence of a meta gene so it's either from the lantern corps or you've otherwise externally been affected by something that's causing this"

Hal closes his eyes and internally counts to ten, it doesn't help.

Batman takes his silence to mean he can keep talking. The man is on an unusual roll. Hal would have been ecstatic if he didn't hate the topic quite so much.

"It would have been best if it had something to do with your ring however you seem to be completely unaware and I've also noted that the green of your ring and the green glow that comes with the density shifting are different"

He has examples with corresponding color codes, Hal is so tired.

“let's set a time frame…” Batman pulls up some documents and graph on the screen “seeing as you are unaware of this development I will set the starting point of this potential change as of now to right after the last time you have been known to be hit in a fight and before the first known instance of you being able to density shift, that leaves us with a full month.”

Hal really, really does not want to be here anymore.

“In this month you have not gone off planet so whatever caused this is on Earth” Batman pauses for a moment, “has anything significant happened during that time that springs to mind now?”

“no, nothing significant has happened during that time, frankly it’s been a very pleasant uneventful four weeks in which I finally managed to catch a break and it figures something crazy has apparently happened anyway”

Hal rubs his face with both hands, “but right now I couldn’t tell you what, anyway, does this have to be a bad thing? I for one am very glad that hit didn’t actually land”

“So far only Superman has had the privilege of having sudden emergence of new powers work out for him” Batman huffs, “it would be best to monitor this carefully, if anything springs to mind do not hesitate to inform me, the sooner this is figured out the better”

“awww you do care” Hal is using humor cope, sadly it’s Batman, so it’s not very effective.

“Jordan” now Batman sounds tired, he’s not the one with random surprise density shifting, Hal understand that Spooky’s crippling chronic paranoia must be exhausting but right now he’s the one freaking out considering this is apparently not a meta gene related development, it would have been so much easier if it was, oh and about that, just how and when did Batman get his blood exactly? he would like to know now.

---

sadly he does not get to know now. or anytime soon (or ever). it’s chaos right after, because of course it is.

knocked out of the sky and lying amongst the rubble, if their enemy spots him he’s in bigger shit than he already is, but he can’t fucking move and the next thing he knows he’s invisible.

and there is just nothing enjoyable about it.

Barry doesn’t know that though, “that was something else, just one moment and schwup and you were just gone, some sort of green lantern light bending? he looked right through you, thank god he did too” 

shit shit, “no that was..." it was like he just ceased to exist, movies and books and whatever other media always depicts it as such a cool thing but frankly it was terrifying. And he would prefer things that are terrifying not to happen to him, for obvious reasons, “honestly actually it’s complicated, stealth tech” Grade A bullshit.

“well it’s awesome”

“it was useful just now but not really my style you know” 

Barry slings his arm over Hal’s shoulder and gives him a one armed hug, “everything worked out” Hal can feel some tension flow out of his friend, “well! better get busy cleaning this mess up” and with a blink he’s gone.

Hal does not want to talk about this with Batman, but knowing him, he probably already knows anyway, it would be less of a headache to go to him than have him go to Hal. 

Hal wants to enjoy whatever this is, he really does, but he doesn’t know what caused this, he doesn’t know what triggers the new abilities or whatever they are, he doesn’t know what effects this shit is going to have in the future, he just doesn’t know anything, normally he doesn’t mind not knowing some things, he’s fine leaving the knowing to the people better suited for the more complicated knowing, but he would very much like to know more about this please.

---

Then they face off against an enemy and in the process Hal drains his ring completely and the next hit is going to be bad, so what will happen? Will he somehow go intangible again? Turn invisible and use the confusion to evade and attack?

No

Apparently this time he just gets a glowing green dome shield. Something very normal for him to have and use, if only it came out of his ring that is.

Nobody notices that something is wrong, nobody besides Batman that is.

"That's three new abilities that only appear during life threatening situations"

Hal has actually seriously gone over that month by now, but nothing, no answers. He's physically fine, mentally a little damaged but nothing new there, they all are. Every test he begrudgingly went through answered nothing. He was fine. Whatever was going on actually had nothing to do with him.

And at the same time it had everything to do with him because this is only happening to him.

As usual (by now) he takes out his little glass fighter jet and runs his thumb over the wings. It is soothing strangely enough. Like a stim toy.

"The last thing to try is a thorough examination by someone from the justice league dark"

Hal groans, magic, ok then, "Alright let's get this over with. Who knows maybe I'm just haunted"

It turns out he’s not haunted, this is a good thing... supposedly, Well let’s just say that Hal would have not minded being haunted or something if that meant it could be fixed, or just explained.

It doesn’t really need to be fixed, whatever this is has been very helpful after all, but he would do basically anything for an explanation right about now.

“you are not haunted or otherwise magically compromised, but I do sense faint traces of energy from the infinite realms” Zatanna is a godsent, finally something to work with.

“from the who whats?” Hal is worried, the occult field is definitely not his area of expertise. He's a space cop, not a space demonhunter… oh that would be pretty cool though, with like a hood and twin cyber crossbows, maybe he should incorporate that somehow.

“the infinite realms… have you recently been in touch with any death related realities?”

Well there was that time when he got booted to the death universe and he died and then he was a black lantern but he got better, that’s all very much very behind him.

She better not be about to tell him that stuff still has lingering consequences.

oh god dammit that’s exactly what is going on isn’t it?

"How recently?"

"In the past week?"

"Oh, no" Hal would have known if that was the case, death stuff tends to be hard to ignore.

Zatanna frowns, that's probably not a good sign.

"But you said I'm not compromised right?" Right now what Hal wants to know the most is if this is changing him. Cause it tends to be bad for him when that's the case.

"No this is just lingering traces of something or someone else using their powers near you"

???!!??!?

"What are the infinite realms?" oh hey there Batman, was wondering when you would show up again.

"It's the afterlife, or... more like a collection of all afterlives. The infinite realms is very literal in their naming. It is home to powerful dead entities. As a general rule magic users are discouraged from interacting with it.

"Hrn"

"What did you say happened to you so far Hal?"

"Uhm, density shifting, invisibility and then a green dome-like shield, a lot like my own energy constructs"

"that sounds like pretty standard stuff for a realms being"

"Soooo what, did one leave the afterlife and decide to follow me around or something?"

"I cannot conclusively say, I can only say that you've been close to one using its abilities"

Batman folds his arms over his chest, "We shouldn’t form theories on these findings alone, Zatanna are these realm beings dangerous?"

"Hard to say, they come in all manner of forms, some small and harmless and others on the level of world destroying gods."

Great great great, awesome, well it’s probably safe to say that whatever decided to stick around Hal isn’t small and harmless, cause small and harmless doesn’t sound strong enough to casually turn him intangible or invisible… he could be wrong though.

“I do advise caution, beings from the infinite realms also have the ability to possess someone, they call it overshadowing”

Batman’s lips thin and Hal tenses up, mind control of any kind is always awful.

“I’ll place a ward on you, as a precaution” energy starts to gather in her hands.

Batman moves for the door, “we might need to look into a way to force this being to reveal itself, it would be best if we could convince it to return to their realm”

“Well I mean-” Hal starts, “like I get that, but they have been a great help so far” 

“they are a security risk”

“I’m just saying, I am grateful that they kept me from being confined to the medical wing for who even knows how long, who knows they might just be shy, wouldn’t it be better to convince them to become our ally, like Deadman. instead of telling them to leave. just cause we don’t understand how they work yet doesn’t mean they are bad and should be booted out of our reality”

Batman narrows his eyes at Hal and turns to Zatanna who is finished with placing the ward on Hal, “Zatanna please send me all you have on the infinite realms, I will do my own research” and with that he sweeps out of the room, very dramatic.

“Ass” Hal whispers under his breath.

“He’s worried”

“well he’s being a dick about it, as usual” Hal’s fingers find his little plane once again “... hey do you think they could communicate through one of those oejah boards?”

Zatanna snorts, “it’s Ouija- and please don’t”

---

No information from the JLD has been useful so far in coaxing the realms being to reveal themselves and for the most part things just go on as usual.

“Whoever they are, they followed me when I went off planet and it might just be my imagination but I had a feeling that their stuff was a lot more… potent? out there? I don’t know it was kinda strange, it just felt stronger”

“but they didn’t reveal themselves to you?”

“nope, they must know that I know now too, so they have decided to just… go on as they always have I guess”

“hrn” Batman is leafing through files, because of this whole mess he’s uncovered hidden government organizations targeting occult entities as well as inhumane laws that stand directly opposed to the meta protection acts.

Why is he working with paper regarding this matter? Well it turns out there is a infinite realms being that can possess electronica and it was only because of the protections the JLD had put in place on the Watchtower that the entity didn’t overtake it in its entirety.

Watching Constantine freak out had been mildly entertaining but Zatanna had once again reminded Batman to be very careful, Batman had begrudgingly admitted he had made a slight misstep while digging for answers… in his head, not out loud, god forbid.

“this whole thing is turning out a lot bigger than we thought huh, good thing we are dealing with it now” Hal stretches his arms above his head, “anyway I am going to go grab something to eat”

“the rapport-” Batman doesn’t bother looking at him.

“yeah yeah” Hal doesn’t either while walking out of the room, dismissively flicking his hand, “don’t worry about it spooky”

Hal takes his little plane out on the way to the cafeteria and fiddles with it in his hand, once there he puts it on the table next to Barry before getting himself something to eat.

They catch up, Hal complains (bitches) about Batman, others come and go, Zatanna quickly checks up on the ward she placed which makes Barry raise an eyebrow at Hal, “Ghost protection”

“... no such thing”

Zatanna glares.

Hal can see them both gearing up to start the magic is just science we haven’t fully scienced out yet argument again, “alright! I’m full” he stands up, “if you need me I’ll be writing that rapport, later” and gets the hell out of there.

It’s when he has just reached his preferred spot to work on the boring paperwork stuff when the alarms go off throughout what he can only imagine must probably be the entire Watchtower.

It seems like something triggered all of the JLD’s defenses in one go.

Impressive, but also very worrying.

The rapport is going to have to wait.

People are gathering in the meeting room and Batman is already taking the lead, “status”

“as of a couple minutes ago there was a build up of as of yet unknown energy which then burst in the cafeteria knocking out Flash” Martian Manhunter says, “Zatanna says we are most likely dealing with another being from the infinite realms”

Superman groans, this means he’s out.

It’s a good thing they now have defenses against overshadowing though. Being effectively trapped in a space station (because currently the thing is on lockdown) where literally anyone could suddenly actually be the enemy is the kind of situation a whole slew of horror movies like to be about.

“We will need to be extremely careful while finding and then dealing with this entity”

It has certainly been quite some time since the Watchtower got directly hit like this.

Hal pulls out his little plane.

or, he would, if he still had it.

thoroughly distracted now he suddenly realizes it’s no longer on his person.

Spooky is probably not going to like it if during the infinite realms attacker hunt he takes the opportunity to look around for his missing little fighter jet.

well what he doesn’t know won’t harm him.

His plan of looking for the plane while looking for the ghost is working out well enough.

In fact it is working out so good that he finds both at the same time.

At that point Hal had started wondering if maybe Barry had picked it up for him at the cafeteria before the attack happened and that the little thing was now in the medical wing with him. 

That turned out to clearly not be the case once he found the tiny thing glowing green and floating in the middle of the hallway.

“alright ghosty, that’s really important to me and I would like it back undamaged”

the tiny plane turned to now point directly at him, hmm, yeah that's not creepy at all.

 “... please don’t launch yourself at me” he foolishly says which of course means that’s exactly what it does next.

He uses his ring to construct a net with a pillow inside to catch the tiny jet, completely forgetting that it’s overshadowed and can thus easily just go intangible and right through his creations.

Instead it hits him square in the chest, rather painfully he might add and then just stops glowing and drops, making Hal scramble to not have it fall and shatter in a million tiny pieces on the ground.

immediately all the sensors stop detecting the presence of a realms being and the alarms die down.

Whatever was in the Watchtower has left the building.

or…

Hal looks down at the tiny plane in his hands, his talisman of protection and has a sinking feeling in his gut.

“Hey there little guy, might want to explain yourself?” he says to the tiny jet.

It vibrates in his hands.

“... yeah I figured, shit”

---

“I say just smash the bloody thing and be done with it, preferably that takes care of it once and for all” Constantine glares down at the tiny jet.

Hal is almost halfway over the table to shield the little thing, covering it from Constantine’s sight with his hand, “don’t you dare” he growls.

“it would be best for everyone involved, for all we known you could have gone full liminal what with how long you’ve been carrying the blasted thing around”

Zatanna is going over the little thing with her own magic, “it’s trapped”

“In that case just straight up trying to murder it would be the worst thing to do” Hal glares at Constantine some more. Who clearly doesn’t give a shit, figures, all stressed out about dealing with things from the infinite realms but whenever he feels he has the upper hand he’s more than happy to go full nuclear.

“it would be best if we had a way of figuring out their intentions” Batman looks down at the tiny jet impassively.

“Well, another reason to just carefully release this creature instead” Hal responds.

Zatanna’s magic fades away, “I would say that the fact it’s been protecting Hal for as long as he has it is a positive sign”

“hrn, but now it has gone and knocked Flash out, so what does that say” Batman huffs, “it’s too risky”

“Constantine and I will set up everything we can so it won’t be able to escape or try anything dangerous” Zatanna stops looking at Batman and turns back to the tiny plane, “if it turns out to be malicious we could simply banish it back to the realms, killing it would be rather stupid, we do not know what kind of connections it might have within the realms, we might accidentally anger something far worse with such a rash act”

Constantine groans but accepts Zatanna’s reasoning, Batman nods as well.

It’s only then that Hal moves out of the way.

Any plans of attack or banishment fly right out of the window once the two magic users are done and a young boy manifests from the tiny fighter jet.

Hal pushes Constantine aside to get to the boy’s side.

“Jordan, are you insane! Get back here!” 

“Hey, kid, can you hear me? please open your eyes, slowly, take your time” 

Batman has also moved forward much to Constantine’s frustration. Don't these two morons get that their protections won’t do shit if you just casually stroll into the circle?

Batman is mostly concerned in being able to step in should the boy prove to be a hostile entity anyway, but at the same time… well, that’s a child.

The boy kind of dazedly opens his eyes, looks at Hal and then seems to become aware of his own arms and hands, after opening and closing those a couple times he looks back at Hal and lets out a breath that can only be described as relieved and promptly passes out into him.

Well, Hal figures that settles it then. He doesn’t know shit about looking after a kid, and definitely not one who is probably quite dead, but this one is his, back off Batman.

they all startle rather violently when rings of blinding white light pass over the boy and suddenly the kid in Hal’s arms is a bit warmer and seems to have a sluggish pulse and also his clothes are different and his hair is now black and-

Hal is up and moving towards the medical wing before his mind catches back up with him. He can hear Batman behind him, it seems like Constantine and Zatanna aren’t moving after him as fast.

Well anyway his life is already so goddamn weird, this might as well happen.

[riorsonxaden]

Yall are delusional if you think Nesta is going to leave Cassian or the night court. First, they are mated. Not just mates. Mated. They accepted the bond, and SJM loves her Heas. It's a done deal. So either keep reading and deal with it or drop the series and find something you enjoy. Not to mention if they even could break the bond, how empty and broken Nesta would be for eternity. You really want that for her?

HOFAS happened three months after acosf. There's still alot of healing on Nesta’s part. Just because she saved Rhys, Feyre, and Nyx doesn't mean things are swept under the rug with them. Her and Cassian are both fiery and stubborn. They are going to have arguments. Honestly, it's perfectly normal for them to argue on occasion.

This. What Nesta did in HOFAS. Went beyond her and Cassian, beyond Rhys. This was a decision that Nesta should not have made herself. Yes I understand that she saw Bryce's desperation and understood her. She probably put herself in Bryces shoes for a moment. She took a chance. But it's a huge fucken chance because they don't know nor trust Bryce fully. And if she failed the whole of Prythian/Midgard is fucked. They have nothing to defend themselves against the weaponry Rigelus has. They will all die. Including Nesta Archeron.

Rhys had every right to scold her. And Her saying he's not her High Lord isn't accurate. She lives in his lands. Whether she wants to admit it or not. If any of the courts got wind of what was happening with Bryce or that Nesta gave this mask up to a stranger from another world do you know who would be faulted? Not Nesta. Rhys and Feyre would. They would suffer the consequences because Nesta falls under their lands. Their rule.

And now Cassian, who apparently had never defended Nesta once. Again. Nesta was In. The. Wrong. Her actions were beneficial and understandable but wrong. Cassian being upset and disappointed in her would absolutely make sense. Think of times in TOG, when Rowan wasn't happy with Aelin. He stood there silent until they were alone. That's more than likely what happened. Cassian didn't say his piece until everyone left. It's an argument between Nesta and Cassian and no one else.

That argument. The one that happened off page yet everyone wants to fucking crucify Cassian over cause you think you know what he said. When in reality you don't. Is wild. Three months ago, when she was with Emerie and Gwyn, they were taken and placed in the Blood Rite where he was helpless in going to her. He lost her briefly in the bog, watched her put her life at risk. How many times in acosf? He went a year or so watching Nesta absolutely ruin herself, had her lay over his body in front of Hybern, almost losing her, them, then too. Now, someone, a stranger and someone potentially dangerous, opened a portal in his living room where his mate was. And he wasn't there. All that trauma and ptsd he keeps on lock was blown wide open.

So now Cassian is a storm of emotions when he arrives home. Probably arrived mid argument between Nesta and Rhys, and the entire flight was given brief details of what's happening fueling his emotions. His fear, trauma, concern, disappointment, and anger. When Rhys leaves, Cassian and Nesta got into it. Sure he was pissed about the mask anyone would be. I would be. I personally think it goes on beyond that. Far beyond it. Nesta’s life, once again, was put a risk and no one knew what Bryce wanted. Cassian’s worst fear when the portal was open, was Bryce taking Nesta and never seeing her again. All that came out in their fight.

As readers, we know Bryce's intentions are good. They as characters who haven't been given the best view of Bryce dont believe it. Yes, I do think there needs to be more trust in Nesta. Especially where Rhys is considered. Cassian, as her mate, blowing things out of proportion is logical cause all mates have done it at some point. But yeah he needs to trust her a bit more too. He trusts her more than Rhys does that's for sure.

To play devil's advocate, I could be wrong on Cassian and Nesta and their fight. Absolutely. Im not Sarah. But neither are you who are wishing he dies, and Nesta leaves him over a risk that was never hers to make alone when it involves the whole world of Midgard.

If you read this entire thing and disagree. That's cool. The unfollow and block buttons are right there.

[cobaltperun]

Woe out the Storm (3) - Thunder

Wednesday Addams x female Reader

Summary: It took some time, but eventually you came to realize only Wednesday Addams could look at the raging storm of chaos and destruction and make a home out of it. Only she could listen to the cacophony of the roaring thunder and hear a melody.

Story warnings: Wednesday Addams, violence, slow burn

Story Masterlist / First part / Previous part / Next part

Word count: 4k

-I was lightning before the thunder-

The Harvest Festival, frankly, you preferred it over the Outreach Day, for plenty of reasons. One of which was easily the fact you could just kick back and relax instead of working for people that despised everything you and other students were against your free will. You and Enid always made sure to have as much fun as possible, as long as weather allowed it.

The only issue was you couldn't relax this year. Wednesday would escape tonight, meaning tonight was Rowan's last chance to try something. And you feared he would get desperate, but you didn’t think there was a way for him to get Wednesday away from everyone.

And then there was Galpin... Talking with his father. Now, you did hear he stopped bullying people with the other three, but you found it difficult to forgive and forget.

You frowned and looked at Wednesday. "Really, Galpin is the one driving you?" you couldn't help but ask.

"I don't see how it concerns you," Wednesday replied.

You nodded, simply choosing to back away. Wednesday wasn't helpless, and who she interacted with definitely didn't have anything to do with you.

"Obvious dislike aside, are you sure you can trust that normie?" Enid asked, though she did send you a bit of a teasing smile.

"I trust that I can handle myself," Wednesday replied. Considering what she did against Bianca you found it difficult to disagree.

"Well, good luck and safe travels," Enid stepped toward her with her arms spread wide, only for Wednesday to decisively take a step back. "Still not a hugger. Got it," Enid shrugged, smiling at the girl.

"If you change your mind a third of that room is going to stay yours," you grinned.

"Until Weems puts someone else in," Wednesday told you.

Your grin turned into a smirk as you lifted your hand up and allowed a few red sparks to appear around it. Just for a moment you thought you saw a spark of interest in Wednesday's eyes as she observed the sparks. "Nope, I'll personally make them ask for another room." you promised, your red eyes meeting Wednesday’s black eyes.

Enid coughed and elbowed your side.

You winced. She sometimes forgot her strength. "Nicely, of course, I'll keep my lightning to myself."

Wednesday tilted her head to the side by less than an inch. "Pity," she said.

You leaned to the side, shifting most of your weight to your right foot, you weren't sure how to take those words. "Since I won't be seeing you again, I, uh, I think you're great with the cello," there, a compliment to end the brief time together. That shouldn't make Wednesday uncomfortable, right?

Her eyes met yours once more and you felt a shiver run down your spine at the intensity of her stare. "Thank you," she eventually spoke up and the three of you parted ways soon after.

The moment Wednesday was out of sight Enid clasped your shoulder and smiled sympathetically. "I'm so sorry, Y/N."

"Huh?" what was she talking about? Sorry for what?

"You don't have to pretend, I don't get what you see in her, but you don't have to hide it from me," somehow Enid got the wrong idea.

You sighed. This was your life now. Enid thought you had unrequited feelings for Wednesday. "Look, I know I can't change your mind," she enthusiastically nodded at that. "So, I’ll take a page out of Wednesday's book, somewhat. If you gossip about those feelings you claim I have, I'll fry your stuffed unicorn collection."

Enid squealed and bounced excitedly. "OMG! You do have feelings for her!" she wasn't going to let this go and you didn't even know how she came to that conclusion! Her eyes widened suddenly. "Go after her! Go!" in less than a second she was behind you and pushing you in the direction Wednesday went. "At least find a way to exchange letters with her if you can't convince her to stay!"

"Enid," you groaned, facepalming as you dug your feet into the ground to try and keep her from pushing you. All that achieved was two rows of dug up ground behind you. From the corner of your eye you saw Rowan, even more agitated and anxious than he was back when you confronted him in his and Xavier's room. "I have to go," you said, moving so abruptly Enid stumbled and almost fell to the ground.

~X~

Wednesday only touched Rowan for a moment, but it was more than enough. She saw flashes, glimpses of what was to come, all vague and unrelated, painting a picture she couldn't understand. She saw the purple book, the flames, the tree in the quad breaking into pieces, the raven surrounded by lightning, a glimpse of a blonde woman holding a bloodied hand and crying as blue eyes closed, red eyes turning orange, herself surrounded by cloud of dust and smoke with a huge beast surrounded by lightning standing over her trapping her, Rowan screaming as he was being torn apart by claws. And then the vision stopped

"Rowan, come back!" she ran after him, ignoring Tyler calling after her. She didn't understand why she was running, why she wished to prevent the last vision from coming true. Perhaps she just wanted to see if everything she saw was true, or if it somehow could be changed.

"Rowan, wait!" she shouted as she followed him deeper into the woods, the only signs of the festival that remained were occasional flashes of firework and the sounds they made.

Rowan stopped and turned toward her, furious and looking unhinged. "Argh! What do you want? Why are you following me?!"

"I don't have time to explain, but you're in danger," she wouldn't tell him about the vision, she didn't know how much time she had.

"I think you've got it backwards," he lifted his hand and suddenly Wednesday felt an invisible force lifting her up and slamming her back into a tree.

Even with her pain tolerance she still grunted, feeling the trunk digging into her back uncomfortably.

"You're the one who's in danger!" Rowan told her.

"What are you doing?" she demanded, and though she struggled it was futile. She couldn't get free.

"Saving everyone from you," he grunted, straining to keep her pinned to the tree. "I have to kill you."

She’d be lying if she said no one ever wanted to kill her, Rowan was the first to actually try though. That's when she pieced it together. "The gargoyle, that was you?"

"Yeah," he even smiled a bit, as if relieved he no longer had to hide it.

"It's always the quiet ones," Wednesday commented as a piece of paper floated out of Rowan's pocket and unfolded in front of her. She saw a girl, dressed in black, with the background that looked like quad, only on fire.

"Girl in the picture, that's you," he said, she could feel the strain in his voice, but the force pinning her to a tree only got stronger.

"You want to kill me because of some picture?!" that was a ridiculous reason to kill someone, even for her standards.

"My mother drew that picture 25 years ago when she was a student at Nevermore! She was a powerful Seer. Told me about it before she died," Rowan yelled, as if that fact made his excuse for trying to kill her any better.

"Rowan, put me down," she demanded, his powers made it harder to breathe. He was choking her; he wasn't going to stop. That’s what she got for trying to help.

"No! My mother said it was my destiny to stop this girl if she ever came to Nevermore because she will destroy the school and everyone in it!" he cried out as Wednesday became unable to breathe.

"Rowan! Let her go!" she heard your voice and looked to the side, just as you threw a knife toward Rowan. Your aim was awful. He didn't even need to move and it would miss him by at least two feet.

And then she saw it, just as the knife was about to reach Rowan, your body was engulfed in red lightning and you disappeared, your entire body shifting into lightning and bursting forth toward the knife. Wednesday watched, speechless as your body regained form right in front of Rowan, the knife in your left hand, and you, too fast for him to react.

You slammed your fist into his guts, sending him flying back, though she couldn't help but notice you didn't use lightning for the punch, just the natural momentum and strength you had. It still sent Rowan flying.

It also broke his hold on Wednesday and you threw the knife toward the tree, zapping toward it just in time to catch her before she fell to the ground. Wednesday blinked, still dazed by what just happened as you set her down and knelt in front of her. you weren't touching her, but she could clearly see the concern in your eyes.

"Are you hurt?" you asked, looking for any visible signs of injuries.

"I'm fine," she denied having any injuries. What were you thinking? That she'd show vulnerability to you just like that?

"Y/N!" Rowan enraged, bellowed as he got up to his knees and raised his arm. Your eyes widened as you were pulled into the air.

"Wait, Rowan!" Wednesday found herself shouting as she tried to get up.

"I'll kill you after I'm done with Y/N!" he had lost his mind completely, the madness in his eyes made that clear.

"Bring it! I'll show you exactly why Weems and the staff dread the storms!" you thundered, lightning gathered around you and began concentrating in a ball above your head. It was already two feet wide and it was only growing larger, though slowly. "Give up or I'll drop this on you! Forget all this madness!" despite the anger she could hear you pleading deep down for Rowan to just listen to you.

You never got a chance to do so, as a monster emerged from the shadows and grabbed Rowan, slicing and tearing him apart with its claws.

You dropped to the ground, landing on one knee. You were too surprised by the monster's appearance to maintain the ball of lightning. The monster turned to look at you two, with its bulging eyes, hunched back, sharp claws and greyish skin it was unlike anything Wednesday saw in her life.

"That's an," did you recognize the monster? "...oversized Gollum?" she expected too much from you...

~X~

The oversized Gollum fled and you and Wednesday were left with Rowan's corpse. You didn't need to be an expert to see he was ripped open by those claw and dead.

You watched, wondering if there was anything you could have done. You had your lightning ready, but you just couldn't react in time. Were you going to hurt Rowan? Yeah, as far as that went you couldn't say you were any better than the monster that attacked him, but you weren't going to kill him, as strong as the lightning you gathered looked. You were going to aim for the ground in front of him, close enough to knock him out from the shock, but not nearly close enough to kill him.

You were frantically looking around, searching for any signs of the monster coming back, but it looked like it really left.

"We need to get someone," there was an urgency in Wednesday's voice you didn't quite expect, but you could see her legs shaking slightly. Shock from Rowan's death? No. She didn't look shaken. Was it the hit she took when he tossed her into the tree?

Deciding that it was probably that you nodded and followed closely behind her, just in case she couldn't keep standing. Damn Xavier for slowing you down, maybe all of this could have been avoided if you were only a minute quicker.

The first person you came across was Bianca and you noticed Wednesday faltering just for a split second. "Rowan was killed by a monster, I don't have time to explain, just get someone," Wednesday opened straight with that.

Bianca's eyes widened. "Are you crazy? What are you talking about?"

But before Wednesday could reply she began falling forward. "Wednesday," you caught her and turned her around in your arms. She was unconscious. "Bianca we both saw him get killed. Get someone, I need to take Wednesday back to the dorm," you knew you were putting your life at risk by doing so, and that Wednesday probably knew roughly a thousand different ways to inflict pain, give or take a few hundred, and that she'd be more than eager to put you through them. You still picked her up. "Please don't wake up," you pleaded, but your gaze softened. Wednesday looked peaceful and you couldn't help but notice how light and small she actually was. "I got you, I know you can't hear me, but I got you."

~X~

In the most ridiculous turn of events Rowan was actually alive, even though he clearly got killed less than 24 hours ago. How was that possible? You had no idea. You just knew the entire school thought you and Wednesday made that up.

So here you were, once more zapping to his room as he was finishing his packing. “Hey there, zombie, I didn’t know telekinesis brought people back to life,” you came in, eyes still red as he spun around and backed away.

“You should not be here, Y/N.” he told you sternly making you roll your eyes.

“And you shouldn’t be alive,” you said, lightning crackling around you.

He huffed, looking away for a moment. “As you can see I am perfectly healthy,” he said, almost mockingly.

You had enough and pushed him against the wall, pinning him as he gasped your name. “Doesn’t feel good, does it? Why did you try to kiss Wednesday, twice by the way?” you demanded, but this felt wrong, he wasn’t fighting back, he should still be able to knock you away with his powers, yet here he was, not doing anything.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, I was just on a stroll when you and Wednesday interrupted me,” he claimed, even though just last night he sounded eager to share everything.

You raised an eyebrow. “You actually interrupted us, remember?” you pulled away from him.

His eyes widened for a moment. “That, I didn’t intend to interrupt you, I apologize,” he raised his hands, acting embarrassed and that was all you needed.

Could you force whoever this was to reveal their identity? Probably. Pain was a good motivator, but there was also a chance you’d be doing it for nothing. You also lacked other information. Who else was working with them? Surely one person couldn’t cover up Rowan’s murder, so you kept your mouth shut.

“We’ll talk again, Rowan,” you jumped out of the window, zapping away from the dormitory.

~X~

It was like a déjà vu, what she was seeing. Only it was way worse this time. And interrupted? Was there already something romantic going on between you and Wednesday? Weems couldn’t know for sure, but she knew it couldn’t end well.

Yet even if she knew that she also knew there was nothing she could do to stop it.

~X~

Rowan was dead, that much was clear, but you needed an evidence. So, here you were, in the woods, looking for anything physical that could prove the two of you weren’t crazy.

And you found it, you found Rowan’s glasses with drops of blood on them. With glasses in your hand you went back to your dorm.

When you came back to the room you found Wednesday and Thing at her table, looking at the drawing she took from Rowan. You placed the glasses on her table, near Thing. "Someone is covering this up," you went to her other side and leaned back against her table, your hands gripping the edge of it.

"These are Rowan's. You went to the woods?" she demanded, looking at you with slightly widened eyes.

You nodded. "I wasn't sure if the oversized Gollum was still there, so I went alone," you heard tapping and saw Thing rapidly signing to you. Somehow you understood. You’ve been trying to learn morse code, well, more than the fun basic stuff and while you needed him to slow down at times you were getting there. And Thing was incredibly patient with you over the past week, even though Wednesday wanted to escape. "I wasn't being reckless, I'm a raiju," in your mind that was all the explanation you needed to give.

"Don't do that again," Wednesday ordered firmly. "I want to make sure we don't miss any clues," she said simply.

“Speaking of clues, someone who can shapeshift is covering up Rowan’s murder. It isn’t him,” you told her.

Wednesday turned all of her attention to you. “How do you know?”

“I lied,” you shrugged. “I don’t know anyone in the school with that ability, but I do know they shouldn’t be able to replicate abilities. His telekinesis, or,” you let your eyes turn red. “Me being a raiju for example.”

Wednesday thought about it. “I want you to prove to me you are a raiju whenever we meet up,” she pretty much ordered, and you could see the logic behind it.

“I won’t have to worry about them shifting to look like you,” you grinned, after all, they’d have to blink, and mimic Wednesday’s behavior and that was not easy.

She didn’t look amused, but there was a bit of an unspoken promise between the two of you, you would keep this to yourselves, acting like you didn’t know what the one covering Rowan’s murder could do. And then Wednesday showed you the drawing she took from Rowan’s corpse. "I need to know what this is about."

That made sense. "Any clues as to where that's from?"

"No," she then pointed at the upper right corner. "But I noticed this just before you came in," there was a mark there, it was faint, but you could see it.

"Looks like a flower? I guess?" you couldn't offer much aside from that. You've never seen it before.

"Let's go to the library," she stood up from her chair and Thing went into her bag.

“You can go ahead first, I’ll join you in a bit,” you figured she was too eager to search for the book to let you go into the library first.

“Why?” she immediately asked.

You looked away, embarrassed. “The rumors, I guess? Most people go to the library for reasons that don’t have anything to do with books, if you get what I mean,” when she remained silent, and more importantly when she maintained that same look that inquired you to keep going, you were left with no other choice but to sigh and elaborate. “Making out. Most people make out in the library. So, we go there together, and it won’t take Enid’s vlog for half the school to think we’re doing the same,” she was already deemed a psycho by most of the school, and the rumors that she killed someone could still be heard every now and then. Add in the fact that the entire school thought the two of you made up Rowan’s murder and as far as you were concerned the last thing Wednesday needed right now was for people to think she was with a raiju of all outcast groups.

Wednesday just frowned, tilting her head the same way she did during the festival. “Do not assume I care about such trivial rumors. Come on,” she was already halfway to the doors by the time you processed what she just said.

“Wednesday, I’m a raiju,” you reminded her, but still followed. She wasn’t going to stop and talk about this.

“I don’t see an issue with that, lightning beast. You can back out if you’re so sensitive about rumors,” she said evenly, there wasn’t a hint of hesitation, or any emotion in her voice, it was as if she was just stating a fact.

You could just watch her back, not entirely sure how to feel at the moment. “It’s not me I’m worried about.”

That got Wednesday to stop and turn around to look at you. “Then you should know I don’t care if they think I’m with you,” she just said it. As if she didn’t just say it didn’t matter what you were. That it didn’t matter you were a raiju. Sure, there were more dangerous outcasts, but raiju were solitary creatures. Docile, but uncontrollable, and you weren’t talking about just storms. That could be controlled, with time and practice you’d be able to stay in the rain and not worry about uncontrollable discharges. No, it was the beast form. Untamable, driven by instincts, unable to speak or fully grasp the situation it was in. Lightning is only capable of destruction and that form was the embodiment of lightning. Even with all the efforts you put into learning how to control your lightning you’d never, under any but direst circumstances, willingly shift into the actual raiju form.

Your father, as much as he cared about his roommate while at Nevermore, still lost control when he shifted, and the man and his brother barely avoided being killed during a particularly bad storm. The fear of doing the same was what made you so adamant on staying in control all the time.

And here Wednesday was, acting as if rumors about her being with a raiju wouldn’t bother her.

All you could was to let out a weak laugh and go after the girl to the library.

~X~

Basically bursting into the library, the two of you were met with the sight you expected to see. Heavy make out session of two students, vampires this time. You awkwardly looked to the side, not really wanting to meet their eyes as they fled the library, embarrassed to be caught.

Wednesday, for whatever reason, and against your expectations, didn’t seem to be affected by what she saw. She just went straight into searching for the book. Thing got out of her backpack and began searching as well, so you did too. You looked for anything purple that had the mark on the page Wednesday had.

"I keep seeing that same purple book," Wednesday said to thing after you showed her yet another shade of purple that didn’t match what she was looking for.

Apparently, Thing didn’t have much luck either. "The cover was darker, more like a day-old contusion, keep looking."

“That’s one way to describe a color,” you grinned at her, but before she could reply, if she was even going to reply, the doors opened and the two of you looked up to see Thornhill at the top of the stairs. Thing quickly hid behind the books.

"I don't usually find students in here looking for actual books," Thornhill said as she came down the stairs. "Most sneak in to make out."

"We accidentally walked in on two vampires fanging, I can't unsee that," Wednesday said and you looked away, rubbing the back of your neck.

“I’ll come back later, if you don’t mind,” you said, not really wanting to spend time with the woman. You couldn’t get the look in her eyes out of your head whenever you saw her. That look of fear she had when she saw you electrocuting Tyler and his friends on the previous Outreach day. It was barely stronger than a taser, but it could have been stronger, and no matter what was said or done your and Thornhill’s relationship was permanently and irrevocably damaged. Hence, why you didn’t pay attention to her classes and did the tests just well enough to pass them.

"Sorry about that, I'm afraid Y/N and I got off on the wrong foot," you heard Thornhill saying as you left the library.

Story Masterlist / First part / Previous part / Next part

[shyvioletcat]

ROWAELIN MONTH: DAY 4 - ACCIDENTAL NUDE

I had fun with this one. Took an unexpected approach but it’s still good.

~~~~~

Rowan was content with his night of leisure. Watching TV, filling in a page of his mindfulness colouring book, letting his thoughts idle around nothing. It was relaxing and he barely had a care in the world. That was until his roommate unceremoniously burst into his room without knocking. The door would have slammed into the wall if a washing basket hadn’t been tucked behind it.

“Fen, what the fu—“

“I’ve made a mistake,” Fenrys said quickly.

Rowan leveled him with an unsurprised glare. “Again?”

“Let’s just skip the whole ‘how remarkable it is for you to make a mistake’ sarcasm because this is very time sensitive,” Fenrys stepped into the room, hands gesturing one over the other in front of him. “And I need your help and I’m coming here because of how much I value your friendship because this concerns you as well.”

“All right,” Rowan said, pausing his show and crossing his arms, dreading whatever his roommate and long time friend might have dragged him into. “I’ll bite.”

Fenrys gave a sharp but heavy sigh that might have been out of relief. “Okay, you know that thing you do when you’re having two conversations, and you finish messaging on one and then you’re thinking about the other one and when you pick your phone you think you’re in that conversation?”

There was a moment when the two men just looked at each other, Fenrys waiting for Rowan to decipher the tangle of words. It did take a moment and even though Rowan wasn’t entirely sure he gave a hesitant, “Yeah.”

“I did that. With an intimate photo. I sent it to the wrong person.”

With a scoff Rowan said, “That sounds like a you problem.”

Fenrys cringed, looking guilty as well. “I sent it to Aelin.

“You what?” Rowan’s gut twisted.

“Remember I said I sent it to the wrong person. Aelin was asking me if I wanted to meet them at the bar they’re at and I was chatting to another girl and I got my lines crossed and I accidentally sent it to Aelin,” Fenrys explained, his words coming out fast in his uncharacteristic nervousness.

“You can’t unsend it?” Rowan asked.

Fenrys shook his head. “It was over text. There’s no taking it back.”

It was hard for Rowan to pinpoint exactly what he was feeling. Despair might be the most accurate description, with a decent mix of jealousy. That was stupid thing to feel, Aelin was his best friend and totally ignorant of his deeper feelings. If she was talking to other guys and receiving messages like the one Fenrys apparently mistakenly sent, that was her business, none of his. Rowan shouldn’t care, but by the gods he did.

“I know how you feel about her, Rowan. I would never do that to you,” Fenrys said earnestly.

One night Rowan had been miserable and more than a little drunk when his deepest secret had come spilling out to his roommate. Fenrys was the only one who knew about how far his feelings went for Aelin and he’d never pushed it. Every once and a while there was some teasing comment or a knowing look, but it would be a complete denial of Fenrys’ nature to do absolutely nothing. So when Fenrys said he didn’t mean to send the photo, Rowan believed him.

“I don’t know what you want me to do about it,” Rowan said.

“Ah, hear me out,” Fenrys said, his face lifting and leaning his palms on the foot of the bed. “She hasn’t seen it. So what you can do is go to the bar, get into her phone and delete the message before she can. I know you know her passcode, which is saying something more that I won’t mention further. Thus, preventing the ruination of her for all other men and preserving my modesty.” When Rowan outright laughed at that last comment Fenrys amended with, “Maybe just my embarrassment.”

“I’m sure Aelin would understand,” Rowan supplied. This all sounded a little too risky and it was late and he was comfy.

“I have never in my life sent an unsolicited dick pic and I don’t intend to start now,” Fenrys protested adamantly. “And bro code, she’s your girl. Not mine.”

If only that were true.

Groaning Rowan threw himself back on his pillows. There was an inner battle going on and he wasn’t a fan of the side that was currently winning. He hated that his main motivation for even considering going was for his own selfish reasons to prevent Aelin from seeing Fenrys naked. If Aelin was seeing a man naked, Rowan wanted it to be him. And Fenrys was a handsome man and he took care of his body—it would definitely be an appealing picture.

“Right now Aelin is dancing the night away, too busy to check her phone. We have a very small window of opportunity.” Fenrys added, cutting into Rowan’s thoughts. “Please, Ro, buddy, old pal. Save me from being a creeper. We all know girls talk about these things.”

Fenrys looked over with puppy dog eyes, beseeching Rowan to say yes. It was obvious Fenrys’ pride was at stake but he was also trying to do the gallant thing, So Rowan resigned himself with his second heavy sigh. “Where am I going?”

~~~~~

The bar was busy and loud when Rowan got there. Even then it didn’t take long for him to spot Aelin and the group she had come out with tonight. They commanded the dance floor, all high energy and clothing that sparkled in the low light. Aelin was in the middle of it, a queen in her chosen domain. It was hard not to stare at her, the joy on her face making her more beautiful if it were possible. Rowan had been invited on this little outing, but he’d declined. Being in his final semester of university he was being slammed with assignments and he was exhausted. A night in was what he needed, and yet it wasn’t what he was going to get. Fenrys would owe him for this.

Aelin spotted him first, smiling brightly as she waved at him through the crowd that he lingered on the edges of. Rowan didn’t know how she knew he was there, but she’d looked right at him. Then she was leaning in and saying something to Lysandra and started to weave through the mass of bodies. It wasn’t long before Aelin was close enough for Rowan to get a clear look at her.

She looked stunning tonight. The dress she wore was made of a cream fabric, small clusters of gold sequins making a haphazard but tasteful pattern. The hem sat high on her thigh, a small slit accentuating the length of her tanned legs. The real show stealer was the neckline that scooped low with a slight drape, held up with thin straps, showing off her cleavage. Aelin was a sight to behold and Rowan had to remind himself that friends didn’t look at each other like the way he was looking at her and he better fix his face before she got closer and noticed.

Aelin was so happy to see him, a wide smile lighting up her face. The way she looked at him did funny things to his heart and Rowan tried to ignore it. When Fenrys was in the mood to pester he asked why Rowan hadn’t confessed his true feelings yet. The truth of it was that he couldn’t risk losing her, if she didn’t feel the same he knew their friendship would dissolve into awkwardness and he cared too much about her to ruin what they had. So he stayed silent and suffered.

“Rowan! What are you doing here?” Aelin asked as she threw her arms around his neck, the scent of her perfume overtaking the smell of alcohol and sweat of the bar. “I thought you weren’t coming.”

When Aelin pulled back Rowan shrugged. “Changed my mind.”

She didn’t go far or let him go, instead linked their elbows. “Good. I’ve missed you.”

He couldn’t help the smile that worked its way onto his lips and the sentiment, or the way his body welcomed her touch. The others had made their way off the dancefloor too, crowding around a tall table. For a while everyone just chatted. Elide and Lysandra were there, Aedion had tagged along as well. Dorian and Manon were pretending not to be interested in each other much to the quiet amusement of everyone.

“Want a drink?” Dorian asked across the table.

“No, I can't stay long,” Rowan replied.

Aedion followed Dorian to the bar, leaving Rowan with the girls who had taken up a conversation amongst themselves. Rowan cataloged whose bag was who’s, relieved when Aelin reached into her bag for lipgloss and not her phone. He still had time, he just needed everyone else to leave so he could ransack Aelin’s bag. The song changed and all three girls squealed. Despite the noise of the club the combined high pitched sound of their excitement hurt his ears.

“Come dance, Rowan!” Aelin said, holding her hand out to him.

“I’ll stay with the table, you go,” Rowan told her.

She looked ready to protest but she must have seen the pleading in his eyes that he was having trouble hiding. Rowan hoped he assumed it was over his reluctance to dance rather than his ulterior motives. He watched as she disappeared through the crowd and onto the dance floor. The light flashed and the bass thrummed though his body, and all the while Rowan couldn’t look away. Aelin moved effortlessly to the beat, smiling and laughing with her friends. He could watch her forever, and he was so entranced that he almost forgot his purpose in being here.

Aelin had left her bag on the table and Rowan did a final check to see if he’d be busted before he opened it. Luckily, her phone was still in there and he wouldn’t have to try and get it off her person. Rowan tapped in her passcode, a string of numbers he didn’t know the meaning of and he was in. The little red bubble on her text app showed more than 100 unread messages. There were two types of people in the world, he was one and Aelin was the other. He ignored the irrational irritation seeing that unattended notification gave him and kept to his task. Fenrys’ thread was near the top, the preview saying there was an image in the latest text.

Rowan braced himself, living with Fenrys for as long as he had, he’d seen the man naked a few times under various circumstances. But Rowan had the feeling this was about to be an entirely different experience. With one final farewell to his current sanity Rowan opened the message thread and trying his hardest not to look he swiped left for delete. It was an impossible feat, he needed his vision to get rid of the evidence. Even squinting, Rowan copped an eyeful of a full frontal nudity mirror shot, everything at the ready. If only mind bleach existed. The photo had just disappeared from existence on Aelin’s phone when a voice came from right next to him.

“What are you doing?”

Rowan started so hard he dropped the phone on the table, the clattering heard over the music. He frantically tried to get it back into his hand, checking for damage because the last thing he needed tonight was to smash Aelin’s screen. Caught red handed Rowan turned, finding the phone’s owner right next to him. Her expression was both curious and amused, and expectant of an answer.

“Uh…” That was embarrassingly the best that Rowan could do.

That only made one corner of Aelin’s mouth crook upwards as she lent on the table to get closer to him. “Why do you have my phone? And what were you doing just before I busted you?”

“Well, I can blame Fenrys for that, for everything actually,” Rowan offered lamely.

“Fenrys?” Aelin asked.

“Yeah, he needed a favour,” Rowan explained.

Aelin just looked more confused by the second. “What does that have to do with my phone?”

“You see—”

Rowan was interrupted by Dorian and Aedion returning to the table, drinks in hand. No one noticed the tension between him and Aelin, or the fact the phone was still in his hand. Conversation broke out around them, but neither joined in. Aelin just had him pinned with her turquoise eyes still waiting for her answer.

Leaning in, Rowan whispered, “I don’t think this is the right place for this,” he handed the phone back. “Can I tell you later?”

It seemed this was one thing that Aelin didn’t have the patience for. She took her phone from Rowan, and then with her unoccupied hand she twisted a fist into the hem of his shirt, dragging him off his stool, giving him no option but to follow her. There were questioning looks from just about everyone they passed, Aelin ignored them and Rowan did his best to as well. They made quite the sight with Aelin physically dragging him off to wherever she deemed an appropriate place to continue this conversation. She didn’t let go until they were outside, taking him around the corner so they were off the main street and in a little alleyway instead.

“All right, Whitethorn. Spill,” Aelin said, leaving him against the wall while she stood in front of him, hands on her hips. “Why were you going through my phone?”

Rowan was trapped, nowhere to go unless he could melt into the wall. “It’s a long story.”

“Oh, I’ve got time,” Aelin assured him.

With the wall at his back and the unrelenting force of a woman in front of him, Rowan truly felt like he was stuck between a rock and a hard place. He might as well be honest about it.

“I was deleting a message from Fenrys. He accidentally sent you a nude, so he asked me to delete it before you could see it,” Rowan succinctly put it.

“That was mighty noble of him,” Aelin said, laughter shaking her voice. “And you might I add. I’m curious as to why he sent you, you aren’t always the most benevolent when it comes to Fen’s stupidity.”

Standing here in front of Aelin admitting his wrong doings had Rowan flustered, her outfit wasn’t helping matters either. He was distracted and rambling, and words just started spilling out of his mouth. “It wasn’t just for him, it was for me too. Fen’s knows I’m in love with you and he felt bad and—”

“Wait, what did you say?” Aelin’s hand darted out, landing on his chest.

“Shit…” That was when he realised what he’d said. That he’d dobbed himself in.

Aelin stepped closer, right into his personal space. She’d been this close to him a million times before, but this time it felt different. There was something charged between them. Rowan didn’t dare breathe, afraid to break whatever spell they were under. Aelin reached out the palm of her hand burning through his thin t-shirt.

“Rowan, what did you say?”

That long held breath shuddered out of him, there was nowhere for him to go, nowhere for him to hide. It was now or never, and if he lied to her, Aelin would know it in a second.

“I said I was in love with you.”

Aelin stared at him for a long moment, then there was a cluster of rapid blinks and she shook her head just a little bit. Rowan’s heart threatened to break, his mind imagining all the devastating sentences she might say. None of those came, instead she glanced up at him with an almost shy expression, if she could ever be called shy.

“I thought it was just me,” Aelin whispered.

The words were said so quietly Rowan couldn’t be sure if he’d heard them or imagined them. “What?”

Aelin’s answer was to reach for his t-shirt again, this time up near his collar and pulling him down. Soft and inviting lips met his, the shock of it melting away as Aelin’s tongue swept over his lips. He groaned, on hand on her hip and the other on the small of her back bringing her closer. Aelin came willingly, her body melting against his. When his hand slid up her back to the nape of her neck she sighed, letting him angle her head the exact way he wanted.

Kissing Aelin lived up to every expectation—and then some. His fantasties never did her justice, there was something about the way she kissed him. It was like walking into a wildfire and letting it consume you. Rowan couldn’t get enough. They only stopped when he had to come up for air. He didn’t let her get far though.

Rowan held her, his chin resting on her head. When she laughed Rowan pulled back kissing Aelin’s cheek before she looked up at him.

“I can’t believe it took Fenrys sending me a nude for us to finally admit our feelings,” she said, her laughter shaking her voice.

“That was also not on my list of possibilities,” Rowan agreed with a light chuckle. “His situation is not one I’d ever be caught in.”

Aelin drew back to look up at him. “Wait, you mean you’ve never sent a nude before.” When Rowan shook his head her eyebrows rose in surprise. “Seriously?”

“I… no. Is that weird?” Rowan was suddenly feeling a little self conscious.

“Well, no. Maybe a touch unusual,” Aelin admitted.

There was an implication floating between Aelin’s words, and it had his hand tightening ever so slightly on her hip. “You have?”

Aelin gave him a smirk that told him she knew exactly what realm his emotions had wandered off to. He was getting jealous. “Every now and then, always tasteful though.”

Through the teeth cracking tightness of his jaw all Rowan could manage was soft, “Oh.”

The poorly hidden display of his emotions made Aelin laugh and she was kissing him again. The worry fading from him as the reality of what was happening really set in. His. Aelin was well on her way to being his and it was so godsdamned stupid of him to be jealous. Rowan wouldn’t let anything ruin this moment.

“Will you come back in?” Aelin said onto his lips, like she couldn’t bear to pull away.

With Aelin’s body pressed against him like this it was a tempting offer. But he was tired, and unless it was just him and Aelin he didn’t particularly feel like socialising. Plus, this was new. Rowan didn’t know how he was supposed to act, he certainly wouldn’t be able to pretend things hadn’t changed. He would give them away in half a second. There would be questions and he and Aelin hadn’t even had a chance to talk about it properly.

“I’m gonna go home,” Rowan said, kissing her in between words. “But tomorrow, I promise.”

He didn’t exactly know what he was promising, but tomorrow they would figure everything out.

“Okay,” Aelin said.

When she stepped away Rowan’s body screamed in protest. He would go home, fall asleep, and make tomorrow come that much sooner. Aelin was outright grinning as she took a few steps backward, eyeing him up with intent. It had heat rushing to Rowan’s cheeks made worse when she winked suggestively at him.

“Make sure you keep your phone close. Who knows what kind of messages are flying around these days.”

Rowan didn’t know what to say to that, what to think about the promise she was hinting at between the lines. No matter what, Rowan wouldn’t let his phone drift too far. When Aelin was gone from sight and Rowan composed himself, sending a quick message to Fenrys to let him know his mission was accomplished before starting on his way back home, to wait, and his outlook on life that much brighter.

~~~~~

There is a very fun part two in the works *smirks* @rowaelinscourt

[infamous-if]

There's been some discussion recently about MC that caught my attention because I agree. MC feels like a loser when you think about all of the other characters. When I play an MC who did nothing wrong to Seven it just feels like Seven is angry for no reason. Seven is allowed to act like a child while MC has to take it? Doesn't seem fair.

Everyone has something going for them and what about MC? No one likes them and everyone hates their guts. Aren't they supposed to be the main character? Why does everyone hate them? Why aren't they considered more talented? It just feels like MC is a doormat while Seven and the other ROs are these talented superstars.

I don't want this to come off any way but I feel like the story would be stronger if you made MC a bit meaner or at least made people acknowledge MC as a better singer.

I don't want to sound rude but I'm very much exhausted by this topic. I've probably explained this 5+ times but I'll try to break it down one last time just so people can understand what I'm trying to do.

First, to get it out of the way, we are only on Chapter 2. I just want to reiterate that. The story just started.

It just feels like MC is a doormat while Seven and the other ROs are these talented superstars.

Secondly, MC is a character I try to give as much customization to, both personality and appearance wise. There's a variety of ways you can approach everything, or I at least try to in a way that doesn't sacrifice what I want to write for the plot, but I think people are under the impression MC is 100% a blank slate character when it's not true.

MC is still dependent on the plot and I always strived for MC to have their own narrative arc. The same way the ROs have their own character arcs, MC will have their own, because they are a character in their own right and going through some that fundamentally changes their life. That means the MC from Chapter 1 will not be the MC at Chapter 20. They will be different. That's what a character arc is. Character development is expected. How can you expect a slew of ROs to grow and change and MC remaining stagnant? Doesn't make sense narratively and it seems unfair to MC.

The MC is not a completely blank slate, and that's where people are getting it confused. In the beginning, MC is going through such a change with BOTB, without their family, and on the heels of a band breakup that's still impacting them today. MC is a little down, maybe even depressed if that's how you read it, and they're getting pushed to be leader by their manager. They are not really okay right now. They have to be professional and put on a brave face for the sake of their band, who, if you paid attention to what Rowan said in Chapter 2, are all depending on this. This is what they worked for since high school. MC is not going to flip a damn table on Day 1 just because you want them to. MC can fight, if you choose, against UWB. That's not supposed to be a smart choice, but emotions get the best of all of us.

They are only just navigating a worldwide globally famous show with a cheating allegation hanging over their heads, and a manager who wants them to be leader when, up until now, they haven't been. They've just been friends making music and miraculously having a fanbase. Now they're really in it. They have been thrust head first into the industry in a way that is so big that MC has to go from singer playing with their friends to a leader of a band who may just become globally famous in a few months if they play their cards right.

A lot of their actions are influenced by the fact that their band almost broke up and it's a thing that hangs over their head. Their past influences them. That's...how people work.

Now, if we're at Chapter 20 and MC is still acting like a scared bunny who doesn't know what they're doing, then be my guest. Scream in my inbox, I'd understand. That would be terrible writing, but we're not. The tour just started.

I play an MC who did nothing wrong to Seven it just feels like Seven is angry for no reason. Seven is allowed to act like a child while MC has to take it? Doesn't seem fair.

MC doesn't have to take it lol. I've always given an option to be rude to Seven/try to put them in their place.

People think I favor Seven when that's not true. (Seven isn't even my favorite RO)(That title goes to August lol). Seven acts the way they act because they are not in a healthy headspace. Their actions are not meant to be understood, because they are not entirely justified. Seven has a lot of growing up to do, but I have never sat here and advertised Seven's emotions as correct. Everyone knows Seven is childish, everyone knows Seven is handling everything terribly. People in the story have mentioned it. Their abandonment issues GREATLY influence their characterization and actions. MC has abandonment issues as well, of course, but MC is not as emotionally unstable as Seven. That's canon. It is what it is. Seven has a whole subplot about it.

As do other ROs. The only difference is that they're not so open about their struggles. Seven just doesn't care. Their emotions guide them. They can't control it. That's who they are. I have also said that many times.

I don't know why you think Seven can get away with everything when 1) it's only been 2 chapters and 2) no one knows how anyone feels about Sev because it's in MC's POV. Seven goes through their own trial by fire. As every RO does......thats a narrative arc.

Seven was always going to be a plot point, whether they were an RO or not. They were always going to be MC's former best friend.

Everyone has something going for them and what about MC? No one likes them and everyone hates their guts. Aren't they supposed to be the main character? Why does everyone hate them? Why aren't they considered more talented? It just feels like MC is a doormat while Seven and the other ROs are these talented superstars.

This one bothers me the most, mostly because I don't know where this came from. "No one likes them" Jenna and The Jewels does. Slow Crawl does. Their fans do. We haven't even properly met the other bands. Of course there will be bands who don't like MC: they're competitors. They're not friends. They don't know MC, why would they be biased towards them? Because they're the main character? They don't care about that?? It's how fiction works.

Maya is following the band around because of how much she admires MC.

Orion quit his job because MC's singing inspired him that much.

G listened to MC and saw something in them. Literally calls them the 'Chosen One'

Fans of the old band preferred MC over Seven. They liked the songs where MC sang solo. MC was better for their future over Seven. Hence why it was Seven getting demoted, not MC. I've said this. It's in the story.

I don't see how being the lead singer of a band on a global show at 26 makes anyone an actual loser but I digress.

Literally in Part 2 MC is acknowledged so maybe it'd be better if we waited? Say a good few chapters...?

If you wanted a story where MC is Queen level famous right out the gate and the #1 draft pick for BOTB and has no problems and better than everyone, then I'd advise you to look elsewhere. I don't like that. I like giving MC obstacles because conflict creates story. I like MC having to fight for their spot. It's more realistic, and this has never been a story of fame. It's been a story of their journey to fame.

That's their narrative arc. They grow into it.

You are allowed to hate/dislike Seven. I encourage it. I have given MC the option to hate Seven, because I'm aware that what Seven is doing is unfair. I am not punishing you for hating Seven. And this goes for all the ROs. It does not bother me if you dislike my characters. It means I haven't made them squeaky clean and have made them realistic enough to have people both dislike and like them, much like real life. I get it.

I've always advertised Infamous as a messy, angsty and dramatic story. I've used the term 'melodrama' for it often. I've always said the ROs--especially Seven--are flawed. Some more than others. I've said, verbatim, they are not wholly good people. I don't know why people act so shocked when they act some type of way. Like...I've always stayed true to what the story is. Half the dynamics aren't healthy right now...but that's the 'growing up part' of the story we haven't even gotten to yet?

If that doesn't interest you, then that's perfectly okay! If you don't like the narrative arc I have planned for MC, that's fine too! It just becomes a bit disheartening when people ignore the narrative.

I will try harder to write in a way that specifies my intentions. I always believe that if more than a handful of readers have the same complaint, then it's on the writer to fix it.

I hope my tone didn't come off rude, I'm just really really tired of this. I've had to deal with this since even before the demo dropped :) but your critiques are valid and everyone is always free to express themselves however they want. <3

[throneofsapphics]

Heyyy, it's weird brain anon againnn how are youuuuu I hope your doing well ♡♡ can I request anything dark? Maybe rowaelin? Anything you'd be great, thanks so ♡♡♡

on the edge of flames

Rowaelin x Reader

summary: Rowan and Aelin take care of your ex boyfriend for you

warnings: implied murder/arson, dark!rowaelin

a/n: hi weird brain anon!! I'm doing pretty well, how are you?? absolutely you can have something dark, here's a little dark!rowaelin drabble

His house burnt down, and it wasn’t your fault.

You knew exactly who did it, and there wasn’t a damned thing you could do against them and their power. He would’ve died in seconds. It had to be seconds, your mind couldn't bare thinking of any alternative. 

You knelt in the ashes, letting your fingers trail through them, leaving small rivers. All he’d done, his only crime, was dared to love you. If something was true love, not obsession, the other person ought to be happy or at least neutral about it, right? Wrong, for them. This went beyond normal jealousy and treaded into areas you’d only read about in horror books. 

Horror, echoed in your mind, a one word haunting melody. 

A tear slipped down your cheek, and you heard soft leather on the cobblestone behind you. 

“Now love,” a rough voice said behind you. “Nothing can get between us.” 

Hands slipped under your arms and tugged you up, up, up. You winced at the rough grip and it loosened. So attune to each movement of your body, but so out of focus with your psyche it drove you to the brink of insanity. 

“This isn’t what I wanted,” you mumbled. 

“I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean,” Rowan answered mildly, warningly. Eyes sweeping over the scene in front of you, the ashes all that was left of a small cottage, you heeded the warning. Too easily. So easily you wondered if this was something you’d subconsciously wanted. 

“There you both are,” Aelin’s voice came from your left. “I was wondering where you’d gotten to.” 

Like you’d gone out for a stroll, not sprinted in the middle of the night in panic after a comment from one of them. Like they hadn’t purposefully let you get just far enough ahead of them. Like they didn’t control you like a puppet on a string, pulling you whichever way pleased them the most in any given moment. 

You couldn’t help wondering what would happen when they grew tired of you. 

-

general taglist: @rowaelinsdaughter @bookishbroadwaybish @nestaismommy @erencvlt @book-obsessed124

throne of glass taglist: @i-am-a-lost-girl16

[nalyra-dreaming]

Helloo 🙋🏼‍♀️, I’ve been thinking about this for a while. I haven’t read the book yet, but I follow a lot of book fans and would like your opinion on something. If Lestat loves and says “I love you” easily to everyone,albeit in different degrees,why would we think his love for Louis is different? it just feels like love isn't a big deal for him.

He loves Armand, David, Rowan, his mother, and I’ve even read that they might be more with Marius. I won’t talk about Niki since he’s dead, but why should we believe Louis is so special,when he is not even that present in the books? Don’t get me wrong, I love Louis! But I don’t see what makes him so special. Why would Lestat reject someone like Armand, who accepts vampirism and isn’t constantly fighting against his nature, or a David, in favor of Louis, who struggles with his condition? (I’m not trashing Louis, but he is more difficult when it comes to embracing what he is)

I love their scenes together both actors are at the top but i think what bother me the most is that it wasn't realistic how they fell in love you don't really see why? Yes it's fiction you have to suspend believe but sometimes i see their love described as this great big love story and i'm just like waiting to see.I'm digressin,sorry.

Hey!

Falling in love is not logical, and there is no "correct" way to do it.

You can fall head over heels, like they did, or slowly, over years, like Armand and Daniel did in the books.

Yes, Lestat loves easily, but "love" does not equal "love". Lestat also "loves" Armand, but it is not the same love.

Armand... Lestat saw the damage in Armand - we will get to see that in s3 I bet, and though there was attraction Armand did something that made sure there never would be something deeper between them - and I bet we will get to see that in s3, too :) Marius is a teacher and a friend, David is also maybe more than a friend, but they never reach the level of intimacy Louis and Lestat do. Rowan... Rowan he fingers, tells her he loves her and then sends her to live her life (and die, ultimately).

Not comparable. And, I mean, Gabrielle is his mother. THAT is quite another love, too.

As per Louis... Louis is just "it" for Lestat. He is sharp, keeps Lestat on his toes, is no pushover. Has a head of his own, allthewhile being deeply empathetic, and loving.

Lestat returns to Louis. Again and again. They always return to each other. Care for each other. Louis is the one book Lestat needs to come to him to France, into his old castle, so it become a "home" once more. Louis is the one for whom the intimacy in the books is always only implied, a curious detail which threads through nonetheless. Louis is the one who know what Lestat cannot tell.

Louis is the one Lestat loves.

[acourtofthought]

The Asteri arrange bondless matings in Midgard to produce powerful offspring. The Asteri corrupted the Cauldron. ACOTAR is the only world where the Cauldron has influence. ACOTAR is the only world where we know some matings bonds can be wrong. Rhys says mating bonds may be from the Mother or the Cauldron, and might just be to produce powerful offspring. If SJM wants to make Elain and Azriel true mates she's already done all the work. It's all in canon. Elriel, Nessian, and Feysand could all have bonds from the Mother, just like in CC and TOG. Elucien could have a bond from the corrupted Cauldron. It's not that hard.

In 15,000 years.

After Danika / Baxion, Kallias / Vivianne, Feyre / Rhys, Rowan / Aelin, Bryce / Hunt, Nesta / Cassian, and so on.

In 15,000 years, ONLY the Elucien mating bond is corrupt? Those are some fucking odds, let me tell you. And damn, Elain and Lucien must be really important to be the sole recipients of such a unique plot with such far reaching implications.

It's really strange how the Asteri, who have never met Elucien and will never meet Elucien considering the ones on Midgard who are responsible for all this corruption are (spoiler) DEAD, would have gone to so much trouble.

If you're trying to claim Elain and Lucien were mated only to create the most powerful offspring than I feel pretty bad for E/riels future children since you're telling me they will just never measure up and that Az is in fact the weakest link.

It's also really strange how this same corrupt Cauldron created Elain and Nesta. Maybe it's not the bond that is corrupt but Elain herself, right? Since everything that comes from the cauldron now has the potential to be tainted I guess neither Lucien or Az should end up with a girl with that sort of questionable creation. I mean, the author did include the line about Elain having tightness on her face and Cassian suspecting she wasn't telling the truth about something. Clearly, that's SJM already "doing the work" to support Evil Elain and Az and Lucien will need to put her down together.

You know what's not hard? Understanding why some bonds are poorly matched.

You're referring to Rhys's parents, correct?

Rhys's father was cold and vicious and stole his mother away the second their bond snapped because he felt entitled to her. He also refused to ban wing clipping despite his her begging him to.

Rhys's mother was soft and fiery and beloved by many.

Elain sounds like Rhys's mother, does she not?

Cold and vicious, cold and vicious, feels entitled to a female. Gosh...that just doesn't sound like Lucien.

But it kind of does sound like someone full of an icy rage who is a far better liar than Rhys himself and knows how to perform a symphony of pain during his torture sessions. The guy who feels he should have gotten Elain as a mate for the simple fact that his brothers are with her sisters.

Elain and Az will never be true mates and let me tell you why.

Because as Elain was violated in the most horrible way possible to her character, Az was crying out for Mor.

As Elain was depressed and traumatized, Az never bothered to ask how she was doing, did not visit her for weeks after she was turned, and actually drew straws so he didn't need to stay and guard her.

After Elain lost her father, Az was relieved not to get her a Solstice gift and blushed and stared at Mor with heat and yearning.

I don't even need an Elucien mating bond to understand he is by far the better male for her.

[mrs-theirin]

Bands break up and lose members all the time. It was bound to happen at some point, right? Dawn's not so sure.

After many discussions, bittersweet memories has made the decision to part ways with our co-singer, Seven Lawless. The decision was supported by both parties, and while it is not easy for any of us, we support Seven on his future endeavors. We ask for respect in our decision and not to speculate on the split. Thank you.

Dawn frowns at the screen. “This is disgusting. I’m going to throw up.”

Rowan groans, running his hands down his face. “What now? This is the 15th revision we’ve written today. You have less trouble writing songs.”

“It’s just cheap,” Dawn says weakly, shrugging. “If this happened to me, I’d feel awful.”

Jazzy takes a slow, deep breath, placing a hand on Dawn’s shoulder. She tries not to flinch away from the touch. “Dawn. We have to tell people somehow.”

“Besides,” Iris cuts in, “who cares how he’s feeling? He’s the one who decided to walk out on us. Not to mention break your heart in the–”

“Iris,” Jazzy hisses. 

Rowan throws his hands up in protest. “What? She’s just saying what we’re all thinking!”

Dawn puts her head in her hands, tuning out the noise. “‘Many discussions’,” she quotes with a bitterness in her voice. “If you can call screaming at each other ‘discussions’.”

“Dawn–” starts Iris, but she shakes her head.

“This is wrong.” She shakes her head again, standing up from her chair. “This is wrong. How do you think Seven is going to feel reading this? He’s going to see it. We know he’s going to see it.”

“He might not,” offers Jazzy. “He probably…well…”

“Has us blocked,” finishes Devyn. “On everything.”

“But what if he doesn’t? What if he sees this and…”

Rowan scoffs, pinching his nose. “What if he what? Dawn, why do we care? He’s gone. The sooner we all realize that, the better. You’ve seen it already. We are better. You have so much more room to shine. You’re awesome! Seven was holding you back and we’re gonna be better as a band going forward.”

Frustration bubbles in Dawn’s chest and the words come flying out before she can stop them. “I’m not the one who wanted this to happen! You all make jabs and send insults his way and claim we’re so much better without him, and how we all should just move on and grow up and let go, but I didn’t want this! When did it ever become about being the best? When did it stop being about loving each other so much we decided to do something crazy together like start a band? Maybe I don’t want to move on! Maybe I don’t want to not care about how he’s feeling! Maybe…Maybe I don’t want to be in a band that sacrifices love for fame.”

The mood in the room shifts instantly. Everyone looks at the ground. Dawn chews on her lip, anxious to take what she said back, to make her friends feel comfortable in her presence, but she refuses. She is allowed to be hurt by the vote. The vote has changed everything, and it’s not right that she has to just sit by and get over it.

A pit begins to form in her stomach. 

“You don’t even care. Why would you let them do that to me?”

“Seven, please, I’m begging you, just listen to me! I didn’t–”

“You don’t mean that,” Rowan says, snapping her out of her thoughts. “I’m sorry for upsetting you, but you don’t mean that.”

Dawn struggles to swallow the lump in her throat. “It’s…hard,” she manages, voice thick. “I can’t–”

Every part of her is on fire. Her eyes burn as she turns away, slamming her finger down on the enter key and sending the post to be published. A wisp of the anguish she’s feeling dissipates as she watches the post disappear. She turns back to Rowan.

“I don’t mean it,” she confirms, talking slowly to keep her sorrow from spilling out. “I just…I can’t…handle this. It’s too…”

She gestures vaguely, and they all nod. She swallows again.

“I miss him,” she admits feebly. “I still–”

Love him. 

She stutters. “I still…”

Love him.

“I’m still getting used to everything,” she says instead, swallowing the pathetic confession. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to lash out.”

“It may not feel like it right now,” says Jazzy, wrapping her arms around Dawn, “but the vote was good for us. Either way, none of us are going to get mad at you for being upset. We’re…”

She looks to the others for help. Devyn clears her throat. “We’re sorry,” she says. “We knew Seven would be upset, but we didn’t expect…”

“Fuck this. I would never do this to you. Ever. I hope you know I never want to see your face again.”

“Seven, please–!”

“It’s okay,” Dawn lies, squeezing Jazzy back before moving away. “We’ll be okay. I mean…now we can try out that new sound we’ve been experimenting with.”

Rowan beams, and everything gets lighter. “Exactly! The Wisps will probably need some time to adjust to the change, but you sound so much better in that style of music. Nothing will be holding us back!”

“Yeah, come on,” says Jazzy, squeezing Dawn’s hands. “Let’s just call it quits for today and go get some ice cream. Yeah?”

Dawn nods. “Yeah. That sounds nice.”

[also found on ao3]

[edupunkn00b]

A Few Words from Janus

Oh… Well look at that. It appears you’ve finally made your meandering way here. I hope you're listening at last, even if you haven't truly heard me for the past seven years.

But that’s fine, really. I’ve been here the entire time, unnoticed and unlauded, simply doing my job to look out for Thomas. And the rest of them, I suppose.

Not that I need external validation to understand the importance of my role.

I’m not Roman, after all. Or even Logan, for that matter.

No. I am perfectly content, devoted to my labors of managing all the parts of Thomas he’s working on accepting. I handle the phone each time Thomas loses the game of cancelation chicken and must be the one to cancel plans when he’s overscheduled. I rephrase the declinations, the gaffs, the social faux pas into something more excusable…

Sorry, haven’t had my caffeine yet today—He’d had two cups and it was already three in the afternoon.

My phone died and I didn’t see your text until just now—He’d seen the notification six hours ago.

No, no hard feelings at all. I completely understand—

Need I say more?

I still wrangle Remus, tucking away the bits and bobs of his more adventurous creations. Of course, it’s been somewhat easier now that I no longer keep that half of Thomas’ creativity completely hidden.

That effort had been draining even for me.

Not that I’m fully free of that particular… flavor of work in the Mindscape, but at least now Thomas is a teensy bit more open to my thoughts on the more pressing matters of self-care.

My efforts there are well known and even, dare I say, beginning to see the tiniest scraps of recognition.

Truth be told—and you know how much I value the truth—there is a… quieter task I’ve been managing for far longer than anyone besides perhaps our Heart is aware. Tell me, have you ever considered—and I mean really put some deep thought into—what the core purpose of a lie really is?

Particularly a lie you tell yourself?

Think about it. We all know just how important it is to our dear Thomas to believe he is an honest person; to trust he’s filled with integrity and goodness. What happens when he learns just how dishonest he truly can be? How easy it is to feed into that Side of him?

It is not merely a matter protecting Thomas from the pain of an intellectual acknowledgement of his capacity for lying. Nor is it the weighty effort required to make that moral judgement of what is the good or bad thing to say and do, the burden of determination that lying is wrong.

Of course not! No, the Side I have been protecting all along is the part of Thomas who would be most wounded should he ever truly acknowledge his penchant for untruths. The Side who requires constant reassurance—truthful or not—of the value of his contributions, his creations, his performances.

‘Lie to me… Say I did good… Tell me they love me, tell me I’m worthy…’

The irony is, that day I nodded, when he asked if he was still Thomas’ hero…

I was telling the truth.

~

Originally written for the @tssfanzine. Keep your eyes out for that publication to see @prince-rowan-of-the-forest's amazing art for our dear snake boi Janus.

[montammil]

June of Doom Day 23 - "You're doing great."

| Trembling | Gaslighting | Rules |

Characters: Rowan, Sawyer

CW: Yandere/creepy whumper, familial issues, captive whumpee, restrained, noncon touching (non-sexual)

...

Ropes were tied around him tightly, digging into his wrists, ankles, and torso. It was expertly done that Sawyer would be impressed if not for the reality of the situation. He had no idea how long he'd been trapped like this, but he imagined it was a while.

Rowan was in a bad mood today, and Sawyer dug himself deeper in his own grave by making several snide comments.

The last straw was when he said something about missing his home, and Rowan dragged him in "their" bedroom and tied him up before storming back off.

Sawyer figured he didn't tie him up in the basement or shed because that was too severe of a punishment for something so little... even if Rowan had punished him for small offenses before.

In any case, this was at least slightly better than either of the other options.

He was left there for at least two hours, his legs long since going numb. Sawyer was feeling so uncomfortable, and he couldn't stand it anymore. He tried to reach to the knots with his free hands to untie them, but the angle made it impossible.

As if on cue, Rowan walked in. He didn't look much calmer than before. "I think you have something to say to me?"

Sawyer gritted his teeth. "You told me you don't like lying, so I won't. I'm not sorry."

"Really? Because you seem like you are. Look at you." Rowan circled around the bed, smirking. He tilted his head back, his purple eyes glistening in the low lighting. "Your whole body is shaking like a leaf, it's adorable." He ran his fingers through Sawyer's hair. "I thought I was being merciful letting you calm down here for a few hours, was I wrong? Would the shed help more?"

"No." Sawyer hated the shakiness of his voice, he knew Rowan would use it against him. He knew how to manipulate him and it made his blood boil.

"Then you need to learn how to apologize properly." He lifted his chin with his index finger. "How about this, I'll give you a hint. I like it when you beg."

Oh, this asshole. "Sorry."

"That's a start," he whispered. "Go on, continue."

Sawyer frowned. "I'm sorry. I know I said something to piss you off, but I didn't mean it." Rowan continued to stare down at him expectantly. Sawyer groaned. "You know what? No. I'm not doing this. I'm not playing your little mind games, so go ahead and put me in the shed! I don't give a damn!" He did, and Rowan knew very well he did.

Yet Rowan just smiled. "I think I have a different punishment in mind." He grabbed one of his many burner phones from the nightstand and sat on the end of the bed. He turned it on and the sudden brightness in the dark room burned Sawyer's eyes. "I wrote down some of the names in your contact list. I wonder who I should call?"

"What are you doing?" Sawyer leaned up. His muscles ached, but he couldn't move from his position. Rowan went through his phone a few more times. "You're not calling anyone!"

"Oh! I have an idea. How about your father? Since you've mentioned how you miss your family before," Rowan sneered.

Sawyer definitely didn't miss his family, he was just saying that to get on Rowan's nerves. And he knew Rowan knew that, considering there was no way this creep didn't go through his texts. "Why are you doing this? What are you trying to accomplish?"

Rowan didn't answer him, instead grabbing a pocket knife from the back pocket of his slacks. "If you start doing anything that implies you want or need help, I won't hesitate to add some marks to that pretty skin of yours."

Sawyer's breath caught in his throat. The threat was more than enough to keep him compliant, given the amount of times he's been sliced by Rowan for trying to defend himself.

"I don't understand--"

"You're going to tell him you've run away. You're going to tell him you're safe. Is that understood?"

Sawyer nodded.

He watched as Rowan punched in his father's number, his heart hammering in his chest. Maybe Rowan chose his father to call, because his dad would've cared the least about his safety. Maybe it was because he wouldn't report his disappearance, given how many times he was in trouble with the law.

He hadn't even spoken to his father in a year, and the last time he did, it was some petty argument over the phone.

"Who is this?" a gruff voice answered. Rowan's face was contorted in a nasty glare. It looked like he was barely holding back from crushing the device in his hands.

Sawyer forced the emotion out of his voice, despite trembling harder than ever. "Hey, Dad... it's me."

He heard a grunt from the other end. "Sawyer, where the hell have you been? You're all over the news. Are you safe?" He didn't sound very worried or relieved to hear his voice. Sawyer wasn't expecting him to sound happy or concerned, but it still hurt.

Rowan reached a hand out to rub Sawyer's shoulder. His eyes pierced Sawyer's. It was like he was reading his mind. It was a reminder to not screw this up.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I... I'm sorry about what happened, I know you probably hate me," he mumbled. "I ran away from everything. I've been living in a different city for a few months now." He swallowed the lump in his throat. He hadn't felt this tense since he was a child. "I was just calling to tell you not to worry. I'm fine. Tell Mom and Cleo not to worry either."

He squeezed his eyes shut and tears rolled down them. Rowan kissed them away, whispering in his ear, "You're doing great, darling."

"You always were one to run away from your problems," his dad accused. "What did you do this time? Steal another person's money?"

"That was seven years ago! Why won't you let that go?"

"You had cops banging on my door, Sawyer! You always have a way of getting into trouble, and it always falls on my back to pick up the pieces."

Sawyer sobbed. He had been so stressed dealing with Rowan, and now it felt like his dad was taunting him too. "I don't want to do this with you right now," he choked out. Rowan continued massaging his shoulders, trying to silently comfort him. "I'm not going to bother you guys anymore, alright? I just... wanted to let you know I'm not dead." That part was true, at least.

"Fine," his dad sighed. "Don't come running to me for cash. I won't be helping you this time."

"I don't want you to."

A moment of silence passed. "Alright, I'll let your mom and sister know. I'm sure they'll be relieved. Bye." He hung up, leaving Sawyer to shake with more sobs. Rowan instantly threw his arms around him and held him, kissing his hair and cooing in his ear.

"You did such a good job. I'm so proud of you." Rowan started undoing the ropes. He laid him down and pulled the covers over both of them, spooning Sawyer and kissing every inch of exposed skin he could reach. "My beloved. My sweetheart."

Sawyer let him babble and compliment him. He just wanted to forget he spoke to his father, to forget he was held captive and tortured for weeks now, to just forget everything.

He inhaled the scent of Rowan's old college hoodie, trying to lull himself to sleep.

"Get some rest, you deserve it." Rowan pulled Sawyer's body impossibly closer. "Tomorrow, I think we should give that bartender-friend of yours a call."

[imperator-titus]

Be My Juice Box Ch. 8

Astarion would, quite literally, hang out with Rowan from morning until she was done with lunch. Dignity went out the window; clinging to her shoulders, lounging in her hood, or riding on her head, he did it all. 

She even cleaned out a drawer in her desk and lined it with a fuzzy blanket so, when she needed him to be elsewhere, he could be plopped into a cozy mini-coffin until she was ready to take him back. 

Being her little friend made her happy and he needed her to be happy.

But Astarion could see that even his most endearing squeaks were losing ground against whatever dark cloud was rolling in.

The day after their night at the club, Astarion came down for his breakfast to find Rowan… different.

“Have we graduated to staring now…?” she asked uncertainly, stirring her dinner.

Maybe a little more distressed than he was aware he was, Astarion answered her question with his own. “What happened to your hair?”

“I cut it.”

“Why?” Suddenly, Astarion became concerned. “Are you alright?”

“I like having short hair, I've just been… lazy,” Rowan answered flippantly, wishing this line of questioning to end.

“This has nothing to do with last night?”

“I mean, it gave me a kick in the pants.”

Astarion approached, trying to study her from different angles. Then he reached out a hand and asked, “May I?”

Rowan side-eyed him before saying, “Sure.”

Very lightly, Astarion touched the short hair at the back of her neck. It felt interesting, both sharp and soft at the same time. With just a little more pressure, he would be touching her scalp. His fingers traveled up to the longer parts around her crown and he brushed back some strands before leaving her alone.

“I don't hate it.”

“Oh, good,” she said sarcastically.

“I’m sure it’ll grow on me.”

“Yeah, it’ll grow on me too.”

“Hah!” Astarion barked, amused. “Good to see you didn't accidentally cut off your sense of humor as well.”

Astarion wanted to spend all day with her, but he couldn’t. Being in his bat form, taking little bat-naps, only provided so much rest. He needed to spend at least some time in his coffin to be in fighting shape. Besides, she insisted he let her be alone behind closed doors for a few hours.

One day, he managed to convince her to go out again. Somewhere nice enough to have good blood on hand but not so nice that Rowan felt out of her element. He enjoyed dressing her up again, something nice but simple.

When they met in the hallway, Astarion burst out laughing.

Of course, that was possibly the worst thing he could’ve done. Rowan turned to flee, but he caught her by the arm.

“Oh, darling, I’m not laughing at you. It’s just-”

Rowan was wearing what he told her to: her black suit with the red shirt. But her shirt was buttoned to her throat and she’d even put on a black tie, secured with a red rose clip.

On the other hand, Astarion was also wearing his black suit over a black shirt, but his shirt was open almost to the navel. 

“Here, let’s split the difference, shall we?” he suggested as he reached for her tie. She took a step back.

“What’s wrong with how I look?”

“Nothing. I suppose I should have expected it. You don’t strike me as the tits-out kind of gal.” From a pocket, Astarion produced an antique pocket watch. Slipping it into her vest pocket and fixing the fob, he said, “There. It’s not a pair of earrings, but it brightens the place up.”

Rowan looked at herself in the mirror that hung in the hallway while Astarion buttoned up his shirt. The opening was still deep, down to his sternum, but it was a little more modest. Sidling up behind her shoulder, he smiled at her reflection before picking at her hair. 

“You know, your hair wants to curl. It’s adorable,” he cooed, fascinated by how her hair wanted to lay despite the little bit of pomade she’d combed through it. While fixing her donor pin, which did give him a sense of pride to see her wearing, he noticed her expression in the mirror. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” Rowan answered with a nod. Trying to sound more chipper, she added, “Let’s go! Don’t want to be late.”

Astarion was unconvinced, his own face becoming more concerned. He turned her towards him with a gentle touch on her shoulder. “We can cancel if-” 

“I want to go,” she reassured him, laying a hand on his. “I promise. I’ve been looking forward to it.”

Her touch made his thoughts fuzzy. Pressed between her palm and shoulder, his hand was enveloped in comforting warmth.

“If you ever want to leave, just tell me, and we’ll go,” he finally managed to say before reluctantly pulling back his hand.

The night was cold and Astarion found himself regretting that she opted to be driven instead of walking. But he knew that it was a little far to go in the cold for someone who needed to stay warm. It just would have been nice to walk side-by-side, instead of sitting in silence with an empty seat between them. 

They were seated somewhere nice and secluded, with a view of the beautiful garden that was unfortunately closed at this time of year. Astarion had been here many times and seen many iterations of the garden throughout the seasons. While they waited for their drinks, he caught Rowan admiring it.

“I’ll have to bring you back. It looks lovely in the snow. And the tree is gorgeous in the spring when it blooms,” he told her with a slight smile, trying not to sound too forward.

“It’s nice that you can still enjoy beautiful things,” Rowan said almost dreamily, as if walking the garden in her mind. Astarion tilted his head. “Since you can’t go in the sun, see things the way we do.”

“If I had one thing I could see without fear of turning to cinders, what would you have me see?” he asked curiously. He watched as Rowan closed her eyes, picking through memories that she deemed worthy of this special honor.

“Mmm… A total solar eclipse? Or… the mountains, when the leaves change,” she answered shyly as their drinks arrived. After she placed her dinner order, she asked, “Did I make a good suggestion?”

“A total solar eclipse does sound perfectly anti-vampire,” Astarion relented with a smirk before sipping his drink. Best to drink it while still warm. She sipped hers as well and coughed. Both concerned and amused, he asked, “You didn't order that to impress me, did you?”

“No, I'm just not used to straight liquor anymore.” She chuckled. “I’ll get something I can drink more easily next time.”

Astarion’s face must have betrayed him, because it was her turn to lift an eyebrow. “You look like you got a frog in your mouth.”

“What does that mean, exactly?” Rowan pursed her lips in response. Astarion was briefly annoyed, it wasn't a flattering expression, but she looked so happy doing it and that made him laugh. “I merely had some things on my mind.”

“Like what?”

“How Gale was browbeating me for not knowing more about you.”

Rowan’s eyes lit up. “Oh? Was he asking about me?”

Astarion scoffed, but in good nature. “Calm down.”

“You're right, he's way out of my league,” Rowan said dismissively, chuckling before taking a sip of her drink. Astarion opened his mouth, but her first course arrived.

“Don’t say things like that,” he insisted firmly once the waiter was out of ear-shot.

In the middle of her first bite, Rowan could only give him a questioning look.

“He would be lucky to have someone like you,” Astarion explained, although this time a little less convincingly.

In the direction of her food, she rolled her eyes. “Yeah, okay.”

“Just because-”

“I said ‘okay,’ master, let’s not argue,” Rowan interrupted before putting more salad in her mouth.

Astarion sat in stunned silence, the word ‘master’ bouncing around in his head.

Her voice eventually cut through. “What did Gale think you should know about me?” 

“Nothing important. Family stuff.”

“Yeah. Not important.”

“I’m sorry, that wasn't-”

“My parents are dead, I have two brothers that stopped talking to me after my husband died, and my in-laws stopped after they got 90% of his ashes,” Rowan rattled off, even when the waiter came for her plate, pausing only to give him a new drink order. 

“We grew up in a place that only vaguely tolerates Torilians. My only friends were his friends, even though everyone said I was ‘kind’ and ‘interesting' and ‘personable.’ 

“We moved to New Babylon because I wanted to work on integrated magical systems and he studied interplanar physics.”

“A match made in heaven,” Astarion said with a vague smile he wasn't aware he was putting on. Then, uncertainly, he asked, “That's the phrase, right?”

“Yeah, for all the good it does us.”

“What about the other 10%?” He let her test her new drink. “Of his ashes, I mean.”

“Oh. Half went into a probe they launched at the… anomaly thing. The other half is in a lockbox in your basement.”

“How incredibly morbid,” Astarion said with a slowly widening smirk. Leaning in, he whispered conspiratorially, “Between you and me, I have my master’s ashes as well.”

Rowan leaned in too. “Do you shake him around and pretend he’s in a blender?”

Astarion laughed. He would’ve outright cackled, but this wasn’t that kind of place. It was his turn to have a sparkle in his eyes. “You're a wicked little thing, aren't you? I'm disappointed I didn't learn that sooner.”

“That's pretty much all there is to know about me. Not very interesting.”

Astarion fought the urge to say ‘just the opposite.’

As Rowan ate, which made it difficult to converse, Astarion talked. Almost incessantly. Rowan didn’t seem to mind, giving him no indication that she was tuning him out or wishing to be anywhere but in this quiet little corner with him. 

He told her things he’d never bothered to tell anyone else. How he met and befriended Gale after being released from Cazador’s clutches. The hand he played in interplanar law, using his old magistrate skills for good. His favorite places around the city or on his travels.

“Do you ever feel like going back?” Rowan asked as she waited for her dessert.

“I do miss Faerûn… But I would have the same problem Cazador did. Honestly, this place is a lot more hospitable for my kind.” A sadness crossed over Rowan’s face as she tucked into her dessert. “You know, if you ever want to go, I’m sure Gale can take you on one of his little excursions.”

That wasn’t what Rowan was sad about.

It was talking over dinner with no fears of coming off as ‘weird’ or ‘off-putting.’ The timbre of his voice, how it changed as he spoke. The way she was able to pick out words they said differently, even the way they picked up their glasses.

The food was good and the atmosphere comforting. His eyes never strayed far, except maybe when they were talking about something in the room, but she never felt observed. They would finish and it would be late and she’d be tired, but she wouldn’t want to go home.

Rowan was having fun, feeling wanted and understood, so why did she want to fall to her knees and cry?

“Maybe I’ll try traveling in this plane first before letting myself be whisked away,” she answered him with a wry chuckle before taking the last bite of her dessert.

Astarion tucked that little suggestion away in his head for later. 

As he, ever the gentleman, helped her into her coat, Rowan asked meekly, “Could we walk?”

“Are you sure?”

“Just for a bit?”

“If that is your desire.”

Despite the fact that this part of the city was mostly Torilians, the streets were still decorated with lights, ribbons, and garlands. Perhaps both peoples understood the need for a little cheer during the long, cold nights of winter.

As they walked in silence, it started to snow. Not enough to worry about getting home early, but just enough to merit a little wonder. 

They stopped at the big roundabout in the center of the neighborhood where an old fir tree stood. It was dressed up for the season with a multitude of decorations, including gleaming bobbles, big velvety bows, and glittery tinsel. 

Rowan held out her arm, hoping to catch some snowflakes on her black coat, but it was too warm. As soon as she brought them closer to inspect, they melted away.

Astarion held out his hand, showing her the flakes that collected on his leather gloves. With no heat of his own, the leather stayed cold, and the flakes lingered longer than if they’d fallen to the ground.

Cradling his hand in hers, Rowan marveled at the delicate patterns of the snowflakes and watched as new ones fell.

For the first time in a very long time, Astarion took the opportunity to stare at them as well.

“I know you don't celebrate Christmas…” Rowan started shyly, still holding his hand, “but I was wondering if… you wouldn't mind if I invited Gale over? And I’d want you there too, of course.”

Astarion stared at his hand as he processed this request. “I didn't realize you were-”

“I’m not. This is more just… cultural.” She laughed at herself. He could tell now when she did that, act as if she was being stupid before he could say it himself. Not that he was going to say it. “Just an excuse to… eat and stress each other out with gifts and making sure everything is perfect and fun.”

“Sounds awful.”

Rowan lowered her face to hide her disappointment, but tried to sound like she agreed. “Yeah…”

A playful smirk lighting up his face, Astarion answered, “Oh, why not?”

“It’s okay if-”

“Darling,” Astarion said sweetly, but pointedly, his hand squeezing hers, demanding she look up into his ruby eyes, “I want you to have whatever will make you happy.”

Once more, Rowan turned her face down and sniffled.

“Are you alright?” he asked, concerned that he said something wrong.

“Yeah, I’m just… getting cold.”

“Of course. Silly me and my cold blood.” Not thinking at all, he rubbed her arm, perhaps to create some heat or just to comfort her before he pulled out his phone to call their car.

Fully aware of what she was doing and thoroughly embarrassed by it, Rowan stepped forward into him, so that her face was hidden from the cold and he couldn’t see the tears rolling down her cheeks.

Maybe he didn’t generate heat, but still, Astarion wrapped an arm around her shoulders, shielding her from the slight breeze that was creating swirls of snowflakes in the streets.

----

The unfortunate truth was that Rowan could see what was happening, but could do nothing about it.

It was as if someone else was flipping the switches in her head, making her feel one way or the other, no matter how many times she flipped them back or tried to glue them in place.

No amount of exercise, meditation, controlled breathing, or tea could tamper the building pressure of deep, unquenchable sadness in her chest.

Grief. There was no other word for it. As much as she liked to think, it never went away. Sure, most days were easier now. Sometimes, she could go most of a day without thinking about it.

This damn time of year. Like it was happening all over again. Reminders everywhere of what she’d lost, of what she missed.

There was one beacon of hope. 

Her new friends.

When she was rational, she knew they were friends. Her irrational self didn’t always trust it, looking for reasons to disprove that belief.

Rowan fought with herself, but the irrational part won from time to time.

It was winning more often.

Sometimes, she would stop what she was doing and just… sit. Stare. The bat clinging to her would eventually peep in confusion, snapping her back into reality. Once, she was angry at nothing and handled him too roughly. His screeches broke her heart and she peppered him with kisses and sweet words of apology. She even let him bite her finger and lap up the blood until he felt sufficiently placated.

The final straw was when she started crying at her desk.

Oh, how Astarion cried too, trying to understand what had upset her. Was it him? Did he do something? Or was it what he didn’t do?

He was just deciding to change back into a form that could actually communicate with her when Rowan clasped him firmly in her hands and put him in the hall before closing the door with a slam behind her.

Assuming that he had been the thing to upset her, Astarion let her be. Sulking, he went up to his room earlier than he’d gotten used to with this new routine, and crawled into his coffin.

The next day there were no snuggles, apologies, or explanations. Hanging from the bannister as he always did, Astarion fell asleep in his bat form. Waking up past sunset, it was clear that Rowan had never picked him up. It was possible that she never left her rooms, but Astarion comforted himself with the idea that maybe she snuck past him.

But it happened again the next day. His messages went unanswered. If it weren’t for read receipts, he would’ve picked the lock on her door, propriety and privacy be damned.

Still as a statue, he stood at her bedroom door, one hand pressed against the cold wood. Straining his already acute hearing, he listened for anything that could tell him what was going on inside. A few times he could hear her ragged, deliberate breaths. Sometimes, he could hear something like a cry of pain.

It hadn’t escaped Astarion’s attention that most of the blood in the cooler was a mix of sentient donations and animal blood from the Black Cross. A quick check showed that Rowan was paying for the extra herself instead of billing it to his account. Blasted woman…

Astarion was fine with it. It was perfectly okay for her to take a break, to value her health or engage in activities that affected her blood temporarily.

He just wanted to know why. He wanted to hear her say “I’m okay” and believe her.

When he found her on the kitchen floor, sobbing, Astarion knew that time wouldn’t come soon.

“I’m sorry,” Rowan managed to garble out, her throat raw, her sinuses full of snot, the muscles in her stomach spasming. She repeated it a few more times.

The light on the blood-draw machine was red. Trailing from it was a long ribbon of paper, evidence of several attempts to get a favorable result.

“It’s okay, it’s not that important,” Astarion told her gently, crouching down to her level. Wiping away her tears with his thumbs, his hands feeling like ice against her hot cheeks, he pleaded, “Darling, tell me what’s wrong.”

“It hurts,” Rowan drawled out, her eyes shut tight. 

Her scent wasn’t the normal mix of lingering human sweetness, neutral laundry detergent, and soaps. It was too much sweat, stale and fresh at the same time, clinging to her clothes. Her hair was oily and disheveled, stuck in haphazard cowlicks. There was just the slightest hint of iron from where the machine tested her blood.

“What does?”

“Eh-eh-everything,” she sobbed, trying to hang her head in shame. Cradling her face between his hands, Astarion didn’t let her. “I’m i-i-either numb or f-f-f-f-feel everything and I’m s-s-so tired and I c-c-can’t stop.”

Shushing her softly, Astarion pressed a kiss to her forehead. Despite the fact that both her and her clothes desperately needed a wash, he scooped her up into his arms.

Normally, this would be like something out of a dark romance novel. The beautiful mysterious vampire taking his mortal lover to bed, to be ravished and subsequently eaten.

Instead, Astarion laid her down in her messy bed in what was probably a comfortable position. Bidding her to stay put and rest, he went back down to the kitchen.

Gale always made tea when he wasn’t feeling good, so Astarion started with that. He’d watched the wizard make it often enough that it was an easy task.

The other part of this selfless act was a little harder for him.

“Why are you calling me?” Gale’s voice came from the phone speaker. It was more concerned than its words would imply. Astarion almost never opted to call instead of sending a message unless it was important.

“What do humans eat to feel better?” Astarion asked plainly, going through the kitchen cabinets.

“That would depend on why they need to feel better.”

Astarion explained the situation in a rather cold fashion, as if this whole thing was an inconvenience. Having known the man for centuries, Gale knew the truth. 

Astarion was scared.

“Well, a good start is a warm soup,” Gale answered, biting back the urge to ask Astarion if he was alright. It would just start an argument. Helpfully, with the use of the camera, he pointed out something in the cupboard. “There is an easy one to make.”

Plucking the lightweight foodstuff off the shelf, Astarion was unconvinced, but Gale wouldn’t steer him wrong. It looked like what she enjoyed getting from the noodle stand across the park. Maybe when he had more time, he would get her that instead.

Gale guided him through the process of making the soup and offered some advice while they waited.

“This time of year can be hard for people who have lost someone close. Also around the time the person died,” he offered helpfully. “I wouldn’t take it personally. That is a lot of pain to carry around.”

Astarion promised to keep him updated before he ended the call.

Taking the tea and soup up to her room, Astarion found Rowan curled up in her bed, clutching her pillow to her chest.

“Here. This’ll make you feel a little better.” She didn’t need it, but he still helped her sit up and put the soup in her hands. “Please eat.”

While she ate and sipped her tea, Astarion flitted around her rooms. Possessed by some spirit that demanded everything be right, he picked up clothes and straightened up messes. She’d apparently started taking her decorations down and, while he didn’t know why she would do such a thing, he put them back up.

After stuffing all of her laundry into the chute, at the bottom of which the collected items would be properly cleaned by the magic in the basement, Astarion came back to her bedside.

Staring at her half-drunk tea, her finished soup already carried off by a magic hand trying to tidy what Astarion missed, Rowan said meekly, “I’m sorry.”

This whole thing did annoy him. This type of behavior was far out of his norm. He just wanted to be adored and pampered and his hunger quelled. He wanted the delicious bliss of her blood coursing through him.

But while she was in this state, that wasn’t possible.

Sure, he could beg her to let him sink his fangs into her, bypass the strict rules of her contract. Astarion often fantasized about how much better it would taste straight from the source, enhanced by the flavor of her neck like the salt on the rim of a drink.

“Don’t be,” he told her, trying to straighten-out her hair with his fingers. “After you’re done, why don’t you take a nice shower, hm?”

Rowan showered as Astarion stripped the bed so it could be remade with fresh sheets. If it wasn’t so cold, he’d open the windows and let in some fresh air.

Waiting, Astarion laid down on the bed, arms draped over his abdomen in gentle repose.

Looking much like a corpse.

Which, technically, he was.

His mind must have drifted so far that he didn’t notice Rowan standing over him, her face marked by distress, until he opened his eyes.

“Good gods, woman!” he shouted, startled. That didn’t last long when he realized she was weeping. Much more softly, he soothed, “Oh, my sweet, there’s no need for that. Come here.”

Astarion got to his feet and wrapped her up in an embrace. Pressing her warm face to his shoulder, he stroked her still-damp hair. Ever so slightly, they swayed in place.

“Thank you,” Rowan told him in her watery voice.

Astarion held onto her tighter, because she needed it.

Because maybe it wasn’t enough to cling onto her in a form so far removed from his own. It was him, but not him.

This form, with its cold skin and tired eyes, that only recently felt like it belonged to him, needed it too.

Eventually, after a little more food and warm tea, Rowan fell into a peaceful sleep. Not wanting to leave her alone, Astarion stayed in. 

It wasn’t that he feared something would happen, but that he didn’t want her to wake up in the middle of the night only to find herself alone.

Lighting the fire in her room and turning down the lights, Astarion sat up in her bed with one of her cozy blankets over his legs and a book in his lap. 

Technically, the blanket did nothing. If anything, it was hindering the warming potential of the fire. But it brought him some small amount of comfort to feel its weight and occasionally inspect the soft yarn, feeling the knots and twists between his fingertips. 

If asked, he wouldn’t know if it was knitted or crocheted, and he’d refuse to answer on the basis that he was bound to get it wrong.

He’d seen her working on other things and assumed this was handmade as well. Occasionally his mind would wander, considering how long it took, or who taught her how. Sometimes it took up all of her focus and other times she did it without looking.

Astarion updated Gale on what had happened before it got too late, just in case their mutual friend was sitting up waiting. Someone like Gale could foresee a hundred scenarios in which something would go wrong and Astarion would be out of his depth.

Before he knew it, the sun was rising, and Rowan’s alarm sounded. Having silenced it, she rubbed the sleep from her eyes with a grumble and covered her eyes with the crook of her arm.

“You been here the whole time?” she asked, not an accusation.

“I can take a break too, you know,” Astarion answered smugly as he closed his book.

A few moments of silence passed with neither saying anything or moving.

Then Rowan rolled over. Towards him. And nestled her head against his thigh like a pet wanting only to be in contact with its owner.

Astarion lifted his arm and somehow, she knew to scooch forward to rest her head on his lap. Very softly, he combed his finger through her once-more disheveled hair. 

“Everything will be fine,” she told him in a calm, relaxed voice.

He chuckled. “I think I'm supposed to say that.”

“Yeah, well… maybe you need to hear it more than me.”

And she was right. Because things were changing and Astarion was freaking out.

“Just ten more minutes,” Rowan mumbled, making herself more comfortable.

A small smile graced Astarion’s lips.

“I couldn't agree more.”

[cobaltperun]

Woe out the Storm (13) - Here comes the Thunder

Wednesday Addams x female Reader

Summary: It took some time, but eventually you came to realize only Wednesday Addams could look at the raging storm of chaos and destruction and make a home out of it. Only she could listen to the cacophony of the roaring thunder and hear a melody.

Story warnings: Wednesday Addams, violence, slow burn

Story Masterlist / First part / Previous part / Next part

Word count: 3.6k

-Storms are comin', better run for cover. Here comes, here comes the thunder-

Tyler Galpin was the monster, the Hyde, the one who murdered Rowan and hurt Eugene. You were pissed, but you were nowhere near as pissed as Wednesday.

“I should have known it. His wounds weren’t nearly as serious as they should have been, I thought he got lucky, but he wounded himself,” she began pacing back and forth, the two of you still in front of the hospital.

“We need to go,” you told her, as subtly as you could pointing toward the hospital where Weems and the sheriff were coming out. “We can’t trust either of them now. H won’t turn his own son in and Weems…” you weren’t ready to say it just yet.

“Has been obstructing us since the start,” Wednesday said it for you as the two of you began walking away. You’d head straight for Nevermore, there wasn’t anywhere else you could go to, really.

“Right, let’s see, we know Hyde lays dormant, so there should be some genetics involved there. Galpin senior is a normie, but do we know anything about Tyler’s mom?” you asked, it was very rare for someone to just randomly develop an ability. It happened, but usually not with the kinds of abilities that involved transforming or shifting.

Wednesday shook her head. “No, and you’re not going to the archive to check,” ah, so she was still worried about what happened to you when you went to mayor’s office building.

“Maybe sneak into his house? See if we can find any medical records? Any history with Nevermore?” you gave in, it was adorable how protective she was.

“We can send Thing,” before you could even raise the question of his health she beat you to it. “He’s fine now,” she assured you.

“Okay, we got a plan then,” you nodded. Thing really was your best option here, even if you wished he could rest for at least a while longer. “Why would he turn on Laurel though?” you wondered.

“I’m not sure, I’m confident Kinbott is Laurel,” she slowed down a bit, as if something caught her attention at that very moment. “No, it’s not Kinbott,” Wednesday completely stopped.

You stopped as well, though a few steps ahead of her, and raised an eyebrow, silently asking her to continue.

“I thought it was her because of the flowers she left in Eugene’s room, they were the same flowers Enid and I saw in Laurel’s room, but the photos someone took of me mean that someone would have to be at Nevermore,” Wednesday explained, and you could see the frustration on her face at both her guesses being wrong.

“And since Tyler is the Hyde, the master has to be at Nevermore,” you groaned in frustration, you had no idea who it could be. “Unless it’s someone else, like the one that attacked me,” why was this so complicated?

“I don’t think it’s that one. The raijin, I mean,” Wednesday said and you halted completed.

“Raijin? The raijin? Japanese ‘lightning god’ raijin?” Wednesday just nodded at that. Well, that explained a lot of things, the pressure you felt, the difference in your level, the overwhelming presence. You weren’t dealing with a beast, you were dealing with a damn god of lightning. “Well, we better hope that guy doesn’t show up, because all that talk about not dying goes out the window in that case,” you just said it. There was absolutely nothing you could do, even if you shifted you felt like you’d be powerless against raijin.

“I know, I saw a vision of Diego, the raiju Goody had a bond with, fighting him. You can’t fight him,” you could hear the hints of panic in her voice. Wednesday knew, even better than you did, from the looks of it, just how strong the raijin was. And it pretty much confirmed you were attacked by someone who’s been alive for centuries.

You closed the distance between you two and took hold of her hand. When she squeezed your hand in return you leaned down, resting your forehead against her left shoulder. “I’m not going to let you deal with this alone, if that’s what you were going to suggest,” you could hear the sharp, though barely audible, gasp. “I’m on your side no matter what,” you let red sparks surround the two of you, completely safe for Wednesday. And in the midst of all that she raised her other arm and placed it on your back, her fingers digging into your back through your shirt.

“Don’t die for me,” she whispered, so softly you almost wondered if you heard it right.

You told her you wouldn’t die, but given the situation, it seemed more like wishful thinking than anything else now. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” you couldn’t say anything else, you could just hope it wouldn’t get to that point.

And if it did… Well, there was no point in thinking about that right now.

You had no idea how long the two of you stayed like that, in the middle of the road between Nevermore and Jericho, not caring one bit about who could see you. You both just committed the moment to your memories, cherishing the feelings you weren’t quite ready to talk about just yet, but you were feeling them nonetheless, perhaps even more intensely than you would if you were to put them into words.

It wasn’t a generational bond. This ran deeper, this was entirely personal, and it brought out a side of each of you that you didn’t even realize existed. The more emotional side of Wednesday, and a side of you that wasn’t afraid of your lightning hurting someone.

~X~

For whatever reason you chose to stay in the quad, saying something about giving Wednesday some space. Considering how emotional she got less than half an hour ago she was more than willing to accept that. When she came into her room, she realized exactly why you gave her space.

Wednesday stopped when she saw Enid there, unpacking and it somehow made a heavy weight she was feeling since Enid left disappear. She could admit that she preferred to stick to certain habits, and you and Enid living with her became a part of her daily routine, so to have Enid back, from the looks of it, made her feel like things were going back to how they should be.

“Hey,” Enid greeted her.

“You’re back,” Wednesday wasn’t sure what else to say.

“I’m gone for a few days, the place gets trashed, and Thing almost dies. Someone’s gotta look out for you two and Y/N can’t do it alone,” Enid stopped unpacking and walked around her bed to get closer to Wednesday.

Like getting emotional with you wasn’t already enough. Wednesday could feel emotions clawing their way out of her body against her will, so she changed the subject. “What happened to rooming with Yoko?”

“Yoko’s great. I just decided I needed a few more boundaries,” Enid was already pulling the tape out.

Wednesday looked away. “Skip the tape.”

“Don’t tell me Wednesday Addams is mellowing out,” Enid dared to tease her.

“Never. More like evolving,” she retorted right away, once again meeting Enid’s eyes.

“Well, one inch of duct tape at a time,” the pastel werewolf smiled, not as brightly, but just as genuinely as Wednesday was used to seeing.

“Why the sudden change of heart?” she couldn’t help but ask.

“Because we work. We shouldn’t, but we do. It’s like some sort of weird friendship anomaly. Everything you said about me is true, but I don’t apologize for it, not anymore. It’s just who I am,” Enid told her, confident and relaxed.

“Thing said he missed you,” it was true, it was also the way to express a part of what she felt without saying it entirely.

“I missed him too,” Enid replied and Wednesday could feel the unspoken words.

“I,” she paused, cursing herself for how soft she had gotten since coming here, how soft Enid and especially you made her. “missed you too.”

Enid remained too stunned to respond and Wednesday took that opportunity to step away from the conversation.

~X~

The plan was set in motion. Enid, who came back and had a much-needed conversation with Wednesday, that you chose to give them privacy for, would make sure to cover your and Wednesday’s absence from your room. Bianca would use her siren song on Tyler, Xavier would offer his shed as the place to bring Tyler to, and Ajax, Yoko, Divina and Kent would be the back-up.

Of course, if anything went horribly wrong you’d be the first line of defense and the one who’d fight the Hyde, even if Wednesday wasn’t too thrilled about that part of the plan.

You watched as Bianca put Tyler to sleep. This was the extent of her siren song. It wouldn’t be helpful for the interrogation; she couldn’t make someone tell the truth. That was the issue with her ability, she could make someone believe something, but in doing so she influenced them. Meaning that she’d influence Tyler into believing he was the Hyde instead of pulling the truth out of him. You stood at the back of Xavier’s shed, behind Tyler, and far enough that he couldn’t realize you were there. If he thought he could fight his way out of this he was sorely mistaken.

Yet, as Bianca woke him up, he immediately put on an act, pretending he was confused and afraid as Wednesday tased him.

The yells of disapproval from everyone else annoyed you. Tyler killed people, he did it in a brutal, painful way, he felt them die. Getting tased was the good outcome for him. But one by one, the Nightshades left Xavier’s shed, with Bianca trying to get Wednesday to go to Weems.

“Wait, wait please! Don’t leave me here with her, I’m begging you!” Tyler cried and whined, knowing that Wednesday wouldn’t stop. But, Bianca left, just like everyone else, leaving only you, Wednesday and tied up Tyler in the shed.

“Wednesday, please! I’m not the monster! And even if I was you’re alone now!” he tried, he bargained, he wasn’t aware of the full circumstances he was in.

“Not quite. Trust me, I’m more than enough to handle you,” you spoke and he froze as he realized you were there as well. “You didn’t think I’d leave her here alone with you, did you Galpin?” you came up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, zapping him lightly, not any harder than Wednesday’s taser, but he definitely felt it. “Talk,” you demanded.

“I have nothing to say! I’m innocent!” he cried out.

“We know you’re not,” Wednesday stood next to you. “What is Laurel Gates using you for?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” you had to give it to him, he was good at hiding who he really was. You were almost tempted to believe him.

“Tyler, the body parts in the basement of the Gates mansion, what are they for?” she wasn’t giving up.

“Wednesday, please,” but he just kept begging, like a broken record.

“Who is Laurel Gates, Galpin? Come on now, either transform or talk, but don’t make this harder than it needs to be,” your eyes turned red and you released a strong burst of lightning around you, though you wouldn’t hit him with it unless he fought back he didn’t know that.

But he just kept whining, crying and begging for mercy and it wasn’t his crying that got you to pull Wednesday back. It was much simpler than that. “He’s not going to talk,” and you could see it in Wednesday’s eyes that she figured it out as well.

Not that it mattered, even considering the fact that Tyler was no longer tased or tortured in any other way, the police, let by Tyler’s father, came in and prevented any chance of Tyler talking.

You were ready to be taken away, but the police ignored you, courtesy of Weems trading in the information of Tyler’s abduction and location for your freedom. You glared at the woman as the police took Wednesday away. She wanted to avoid you attacking someone at the station, she could see the way you felt about Wednesday, and she wasn’t risking those feelings causing you to shift.

~X~

Wednesday was seething. Tyler was getting away with it and now he was gloating. Telling her about his victims, how their fear was delicious. And then, as if to make sure she completely understood the situation she was in, he leaned toward her, pulling her closer by the collar of her jacket.

“You have no idea what’s coming. And your raiju? That beast that you like? I’ll make sure to bring you her head,” he promised to hurt you, he promised to kill you and bring remains to Wednesday and the rage within her reached a boiling point as she seethed while staring at his retreating back. It was as if he really was innocent, that’s how he was behaving and Wednesday pushed the doors open and briskly walked outside. She needed to get away from him, otherwise she’d make her situation even worse than it already was.

When she stepped outside the police station she saw you sitting on the stairs, clearly you zapped from Nevermore to the station and Wednesday couldn’t help but feel her heart hammering nails against her chest.

You heard her coming out and got up right away. You looked concerned, worried about Wednesday and she just took a deep breath. Her time at Nevermore was more than likely over.

~X~

“Expelled?! You expelled her?!” you yelled, lightning bursting all around you and damaging Weems’ table where you were gripping it.

“Calm down Y/N. That’s the quid pro quo for sheriff Galpin not pressing kidnapping charges,” she explained, only fueling your rage even further.

“So, expel me too! I was just as involved!” why was Wednesday expelled why you got to stay?

Weems stood up, anger radiating from her in a way you never saw up until that point. And it was somehow fitting for her.

“You know as well as I do that I can’t expel you. Setting a raiju free would only tarnish Nevermore’s reputation,” she said it in a tone so low you nearly stopped glaring at her. Weems was imposing, but she was never intimidating like right now.

You didn’t back away though. “We’ll see how long you can stick to that,” you promised and blasted the doors open with your lightning.

~X~

Weems wasn’t the only one you were going to confront, but before you could deal with Tyler the only remaining way you could think off, Bianca and her Nightshades came up to you.

“I’m sorry we got Wednesday expelled, it wasn’t our intention,” you would let it go, you wouldn’t react to her words. “We just couldn’t let you torture him,” you couldn’t walk away from that. You turned around and walked up to Bianca.

“Bullshit! He murdered people!” you exclaimed, your anger making your eyes turn red and subsequently making Bianca and others step back.

“You and Wednesday tortured him!” Bianca snapped back, always the boldest of them all.

“And any one of us would have gone through much worse if we were the monster,” you reminded her that was how it worked, how it was for the outcasts.

“Y/N,” Wednesday calling your name calmed you down and your eyes went back to normal, her voice, her arrival put a stop to the argument you had with the Nightshades.

You turned around and saw her coming down the stairs. She really was leaving. “Wednesday,” you clenched your fist, feeling powerless to do anything about this.

“This isn’t over, I need you to stay alive, don’t pick unnecessary fights,” she stopped right in front of you, almost as if she was going to take hold of your hand, but changed her mind at the last moment.

You nodded. “I got this, and I’ll stay in touch with you, I promise,” you told her, which prompted her to slip a piece of paper into your hand.

“My address, if you send letters, or if you want to visit,” she said and you nodded once again, grasping her hand before she could pull it away.

“Be careful, especially until you get out of this town,” you rubbed circles into the back of her hand, much like you did the night Thing was stabbed.

Wednesday nodded, only pulling away from you when Bianca chose to speak up, to apologize for getting her expelled.

~X~

It’s only been hours since Wednesday left and you still weren’t willing to fully accept it.

It was the irony at its best. Because here you were, doing the exact thing Wednesday did when you left the room. You were laying on her bed, just staring at the ceiling. You should have been expelled as well, you should have went with her, you shouldn’t have just accepted her leaving. Now you were stuck in the remnants of her presence. Her scent, her half of the window and her part of the room, void of any color. If you concentrated enough you could almost hear her cello, you could hear Thing’s insistent tapping.

You could feel him jumping on your shoulder and pulling your collar.

Wait? What?

You sat up so abruptly Thing nearly tumbled off the bed. “Thing? What happened?” him being here wasn’t a good sign, no matter how nice it was to see him.

He began frantically signing and you tried to understand him, but you couldn’t follow.

“Wed-Wednesday is- Wednesday is what?!” you were getting frustrated, and so was Thing, as he began signing even faster, fumbling over words and making it impossible for you to figure it out. “Slow down! It’s terrible when you stutter!”

He gave up on signing and jumped down, running to your table. You followed him as he grabbed a pen and tried to write, but he didn’t have a piece of paper. Frustrated, he began tapping the morse code with the pen.

“Wednesday is in danger!” your eyes widened when you finally understood what he was saying. “Tyler and Thornhill took her! To Crackstone’s crypt!” you grabbed your phone as Thing slumped down onto the table, relieved that you got the message. You immediately called Enid, not caring one bit that she was with Ajax.

“Damn it, Enid, pick up!” but she wasn’t picking up as you took the knives you would hopefully stab deep into Tyler and Thornhill, Laurel, whatever her name was. You quickly called Ajax instead and nearly began yelling when he picked up. “Put Enid on the phone, now,” you demanded.

“She’s talking to Eugene,” he tried to tell you.

“Now Ajax!” you didn’t have time for this.

“Okay, okay, you’re on speaker!” you heard him telling Enid it was you.

“Y/N? Eugene told me Thornhill is Laurel!” Enid exclaimed.

“I know, she took Wednesday! I’ll take Thing to Poe’s statue, he’ll explain about Nightshades, take Ajax with you, bye!” you hung up before Enid could say anything and grabbed Thin as you ran and, much like a few nights ago, jumped off the balcony. Only this time you didn’t need to catch anyone, you just held Thing close to you and slowed down your fall enough to land without any injuries.

“I’ll go and get her, I promise,” you assured him as you ran toward the statue.

Thing just tapped that he knew against your palm.

You left him at the statue and threw your knife, zapping toward the crypt. The lake? It didn’t matter. You threw your knife right across it, zapping and catching it and throwing it again, not once looking at the water beneath you. It didn’t matter, the danger, the fear of water, all you knew was that Wednesday was stuck with a revenge driven lunatic and her pet monster that enjoyed slaughtering people.

~X~

The one person that ever made Wednesday feel fear stood in front of her, revived because of her blood and Laurel’s ritual. And he even thought she was Goody. Not that it mattered, he had used his telekinesis to keep her from moving.

Hypocrite, using outcast abilities while trying to wipe them out.

“Goody Addams, you will suffer the same fate you bequeathed me!” he promised as he approached her.

Wednesday glared at him as she tried to break free, but it was even stronger than Rowan’s telekinesis. She couldn’t do anything. She was powerless as he pulled out a knife. The flames flickered, and the glint of the blade made her more than aware of how this would end. She was alone, and she had no way to defend herself.

Doors burst open behind her and the moment of surprise cost Crackstone his chance to stab Wednesday, a knife passed right by Wednesday and she felt arms wrapping around her waist as she was pulled to the side and away from the resurrected man.

“Raiju, I see you found a new one, Goody Addams,” Crackstone growled as he recognized the ability you had.

“Hands off my Addams,” you… just had to… Didn’t you? Even if the threatening tone of your voice made Wednesday a bit more forgiving of what you said.

A/N: Raiju to the rescue! No mortal wounds for Wednesday, yet. Honestly, I feel like the middle of the chapter is a bit bare, so I might go back and add some more scenes, but as it is, I’m okay with this. Do tell me what you think about the chapter. Is the middle bare, or is it enough given the fact that I’m writing slightly altered canon and you could just go and watch the show instead of reading about it.

[jumpywhumpywriter]

Scarred Hero and Villain With Memory Loss Lovers part 2

Warnings: blood, pain, torture, psychological whump and abuse, intimacy whump

BACK TO PRESENT TIME:

"Hey... what's wrong, my love?" Rowan's soft, concerned voice dragged Aurora from the dark memories haunting her, and she shook her head with a small shudder, guilt twisting her gut in knots.

"It's nothing, really," Aurora sighed wearily, and draped herself comfortably over him as he laid in bed, her head resting on his bare, chiseled, muscular chest.

"...You know you can always tell me when something is bothering you, right?" Aurora could feel Rowan's voice rumbling under her deep in his chest, making her shiver. She nestled into his side, soaking up his familiar warmth, and wrapped an arm over him, holding him close.

"Yes, it's just... sometimes sacrifices have to be made for the greater good," Aurora murmured, lifting her head to softly kiss his neck, lips brushing over his artery.

Rowan laughed quietly and craned his head to look down at her affectionately. "Like how you sacrificed being Hero for me?" he whispered.

Aurora immediately stiffened, going still and rigid, heart trembling. "What makes you say that?" She asked innocently, swallowing dryly. That was a memory he wasn't supposed to remember.

She tried to read his expression, subtly pulling away to put some distance between them, but Rowan looped an arm around her waist before she could retreat, pulling her back flush next him, pinning her there as he rolled onto his side to stare at her directly, an amused smile playing across his lips. "Where do you think you're going, little butterfly?" He teased, voice low and sultry as he planted a light kiss on her forehead. Aurora forced herself to relax in his grip, but now alert and cautious.

"Nowhere... as long as I'm with you, I'm content." She hummed thoughtfully.

"...Even if I'm a monster?" Rowan rumbled, and nuzzled her hair playfully.

That put Aurora even more on edge. It felt like he was toying with her.

"What makes you think you're a monster?" She asked smoothly, prying. How much did he remember? She gazed deep into his eyes, as though searching for the answers in his very soul. But her stomach sank with despair, as she already had a feeling she knew the truth.

"I think you already know why," Rowan chuckled warmly with a lopsided smile, and tugged her closer to him, hands surprisingly gentle against her skin. "And now I'm not the only monster..." He murmured into her ear, and Aurora couldn't help a shiver. She opened her mouth, searching for words, anything to say, but she was at a loss, and her mouth clicked shut again.

"...How long have you remembered?" She finally breathed, finding her voice again.

Rowan let out a satisfied sigh as he trailed soft fingers along her jaw. "...It started last week, small fractures of thoughts coming back to me... but they felt like more than thoughts... they were--"

"--Memories," Aurora finished uneasily.

Rowan nodded slowly. "Yes. It all started falling back into place, piece by piece... until I remembered everything."

"Everything?"

"Everything."

He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. "I remember betraying you... the feeling of cold shackles biting into my wrists in a dark room... the overwhelming pain... never ending... no relief..." His eyes opened again, finding Aurora's. "...And you. I remember all you've done to me since then. All you sacrificed to bring me here. To this exact moment." A heavy silence descended over them, filled with uneasy tension, before Aurora finally broke it.

"Does this mean... You're going to try to kill me again?" She growled apprehensively.

Rowan chuckled low in his throat. "No, my little butterfly, I will never try to harm you again." His fingers wandered to trace soothing circles on her back.

Aurora was taken aback by the sincerity in his voice as he continued.

"I prefer... having you like this. Here. With me. I was a fool before to betray your trust, I didn't know what I would have been throwing away. But you have shown me all I could have with you." Rowan's eyes were soft and affectionate as he looked at her. "We are both different people now... you are no longer Hero, and I am not Villain. We can have a fresh start... see where it takes us."

Suddenly, he pressed his lips against hers, taking her by surprise, full of longing desperation before he pulled back, heart fluttering like a trapped bird in his chest as heat rushed to his face.

"I want that second chance with you, if you'll have me. Please... forgive me?" Rowan's eyes were wide and hopeful and wistful all in one.

Aurora took a moment to realize he was serious, and another moment to mull it over. This was the Rowan she had been wanting so badly. That she had sacrificed so much to find.

An angelic smile spread across her face as she gently grabbed Rowan's broad shoulders and rolled over to pin him down under her on the soft bed, smiling down at him teasingly. Then she laid down on top of him with her chin in her hands, giving him a cheeky grin.

"...I forgive you," she whispered warmly. Then, she leaned down and kissed him passionately, stealing a surprised growl from him. "And I say... you should show me just how sorry you are," she murmured against his lips.

"Gladly," Rowan chuckled, and kissed her back with equal desire.

Aurora let out a groan as he nipped her lower lip, and let her eyes flutter closed, digging her nails into his shoulders. Her stomach flipped, goosebumps erupting across her skin. It was like she was in a trance, her head going fuzzy and light with desire. Her eyes flew open and she let out a surprised yelp as Rowan suddenly rolled her off him, ending up on top and pressing her into the bed with a laugh.

"I like keeping you on your toes," he chuckled.

"Smooth, so smooth," Aurora purred affectionately. "I get the feeling you just like being in control."

"And if I do...?"

A zing of excitement darted up Aurora's spine and she looped her arms around his neck, pulling him down on her. She scraped her teeth on his shoulder, and felt him shiver.

"...Then you're going to have to fight me for it," she challenged quietly. A playful dare. She let herself get caught up in the moment... losing herself in Rowan's warm, loving gaze. She had fallen in love with a monster, and let herself fall into him. Into his forever after. From now until the end of time.

⏪️ Back

Masterlist

[infamous-if]

10 with orion? 👀

Next RO~ ( I'll do 1 for each RO + the poly and then do the rest :>)

10. "Please... what am I doing wrong?" "What aren't you doing wrong?!" (i changed it just a bit)

"Alright, alright. Stop."

The music cuts off. Your friends groan and you huff out a sigh.

You're going to kill someone.

This night has been the longest in recent memory. The moment you stepped into the studio, the universe has been determined to make nothing work. The sound was off, the vibes weren't meshing well, and the entire band seems to be on their last nerve. Even frustratingly neutral Orion has grown irritated. You can see it in his furrowed brows, the way his voice pitches whenever he notices something wrong.

You put your hands on your hips, trying to keep your voice even. Your patience has been fraying since the first complaint when Orion decided it was appropriate to comment on the fact that you came in wearing pajamas....to the studio. At three a.m. "What now?"

"It's not working." Orion huffs through the mic and runs a hand through his hair before waving you guys away. "Just go home. We'll pick this up tomorrow."

"Thank God," Rowan mumbles. He's practically speeding away, not bothering to say another word. Your bandmates follow suit, mumbling halfhearted farewells before filtering out of the studio.

Somehow the producer is gone too, leaving you and Orion alone. He grumbles something, pacing back and forth, as you open the door of the booth and step out back into reality.

Orion doesn't notice you--or doesn't care, most likely--and continues mumbling. Ah. He's in one of those moods. The one where he hates the world and takes it out on his work.

"It's not that serious." You shrug. "We'll get it eventually. We always do."

"This was a waste of time," Orion groans. "Two hours down the drain."

You step closer. "How was it a waste of time? Work was done-"

"Unproductive work," he grits out, facing you with brows knitted.

You stare at him a moment. His anger can't just be on the work, can it?

"Orion-"

He shakes his head. "Forget it. I need to clean this up." Turning around, you watch as Orion furiously picks up the papers on the table. He seems to be looking for something and he stops. "Did you bring the notes I told you to bring?"

You pause a moment. Then the realization hits you. Shit. "Ah...I forgot-"

"Wonderful," he mutters, shaking his head. "Juuust wonderful."

"Orion." You clench your jaw. "You don't need to be an ass."

"I'm not." He frowns. "Being upset at your mistakes isn't being an ass."

"Mistakes?" you guffaw. "Like plural?"

He makes a sound in his throat. "That's how language works. Yes."

"Don't get smart with me." Your voice rises. "What have I done wrong?"

"What have you not done wrong?!" he says with equal severity. He whirls around to face you, moving too quickly. His elbow hits a shelf with a row of vinyls, everything tumbling to the ground.

Silence.

And then-

"Shit."

Orion bends down to pick it up and you follow a moment later. You two don't say anything a moment before he says: "I'm sorry." His voice is quiet, unfamiliarly soft. "I didn't mean to yell."

"It's okay-"

"It's not okay." He shakes his head. "I've just been a mess lately. Nothing has been going right for me. But this? This is what I'm good at. Work is what I'm good at. And when I fail at work-"

"You think you fail at everything."

He says nothing, face darkening when he continues to pick up the records. "...Yeah."

You stare at him, dropping the records in your hand to touch his cheek. "You don't fail with me."

His eyes land on yours and he smiles a little, but it looks more like a wince. He turns his head to rest his cheek in your hand. "Give it a few days. You'll be sick of me in no time."

"Not likely." You smile.

Something dark crosses his eyes, and you watch the way his hesitant gaze lowers to your mouth. You clear your throat, and Orion leans in, lips parting. He's never tried to kiss you at work before-

"Hey, did you know there's a two for one deal at McDonalds-" The producer stops mid-entrance. You and Orion quickly move away, pretending to be busy with picking up the records. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," you and Orion say in unison.

Unfortunately.