#〤―。drabble

[aimaiverity]

When did silence feel so heavy?

He never realized how loud a soft breeze was when that was all that surrounded you. The air was loud in boisterous and drowned out everything else playing in his mind. Like its weight dragging him under, he felt cold despite his body’s thermoregulation. The chill of a coming Autumn breeze tickled through his fur popping goosebumps down his skin. It was brisk nor chilly, yet he felt cold under its caress. Maybe being it silence left him numb.

Nature typically had an alleviating touch to it, it felt foreign and itchy. It made his skin tingle and shook discomfort through his system. When did nature stop feeling comfortable? Why was the silence so heavy? Everything felt off and distant, like touch was stripped away.

He promised. he kept muttering in a morose whisper. He will come back. He promised. The sound of grass crunched beneath a heavy foot, its sound impactful to sensitive ears. Said ears twitched in response, turning his head into the direction of the crisp snaps of the grass blades beneath red shoes.

He was silly to think he wouldn’t come back, but after a day was a bit surprising for him. It only took 24 hours to move through this utter betrayal. Something felt off, but the highs of his relief seeing the other drowned the lingering discomfort and still potent unfamiliarity.

“hey--- I, I never expected you back--- so soon! I mean--- I expected you to come back just not as soon---- not after only a day. Did you settle your thoughts? Do--- do you feel better?” he sucked in the shaky undertone to his words and stifled lacking insecurity. He tried to hold himself up with strong contempt, but it seemed lack luster and muffled.

Crimsons never left the other, they focused on jaded jewels that seemingly churned with something of vague discomfort and upset. Why were they reflecting such pain and animosity if he came back clear of mind? Questions all but filled his conscious as he slowly approached the blue hedgehog, keeping a stable gaze but holding a malleable distance between one another.

“Is everything okay? You look--- well, you look unhappy.” his voice was dipping into insecurity. “did you not get enough time to clear your mind? I mean--- if you need more time nothing is stopping you. Do not force yourself to be present here if you are not ready. I would--- I would rather you be of sound mind before approaching this again.”

Why does this feel so wrong?

Glistening green’s narrowed with harrowing discontentment that caused sable ears to wilt in concern. His form shaky with vivid discomfort as he approached closer to Ruby, arms tucked messily across his chest. His tone was shaky and full of a lack of understanding.

“Ruby. Look---” he started, his tone mixed with acute sadness and heart ache yet something else was present. Also like a haunting tone hiding beneath the shadows of his words. Why did that sound so odd? “ I thought about this. I took the day to run and run and run to clear my head of all this and-- it doesn’t feel right. It doesn’t feel okay. Something just ain’t sinking in about all this. And no matter how much I ran, I felt like the answer wasn’t coming to me. Why I was struggling so hard to grasp this entire thing and y’know. As I slowed down to really sit on it, I started to realize... I’m having a hard time dealing with what happened. with--- well with what you did.”

No. Please don’t say that.

“Rub. I tried. I--- I really did, I tried to make sense of it and move away from it. But the more I turn my back to it, the more it comes ten fold screaming into my face. I just--- I don’t know that I can get over this hump right now. I don’t know that I can get over this speed bump at all. I just feel so betrayed. Its like--- you straight stabbed me in the back and I don’t understand how you could do something like that. You were my best friend and you straight up lied to me. Lied like nothing was wrong with it! And I just don’t understand how you could do something like that!”

“W-wait...” Why couldn’t he breath. The air was rushing in and out, rapidly and completely unstable. He wasn’t hearing this. He wasn’t saying this. That wasn’t happening. Please, please god that wasn’t happening. “W-wait, Spirit--- please look I--- I-I know it wasn’t--- was not--- I know it wasn’t okay, b-b-but please, please don’t say that. Please--- we can still--- we still are--- please don’t refer to it like that. We are best---- you are my best friend and I’m sorry! Please--- please I’m so sorry, please don’t say that.”

Spirit’s quills bristle and his hands quiver. His fists ball and his heart sinks. Why wasn’t ruby getting his pain? “Why don’t you get it! Why don’t you get why it hurts, Ruby?! Why don’t you understand why I’m upset! You lied to me, you betrayed my trust after I put everything out their for you! You betrayed your world. You--- Ruby, you left them to die! How could you be so--- sick? So, twisted! I don’t get it. How could you turn your back on them like that? You murdered them. Do you not get that?! You murdered innocent people for your own selfish reasons and I can’t----” he licks his dry lips and tugs on his quills. “You murdered them. You killed them and I can’t--- I can’t stand that.”

There was no security left. Everything was dry and he swallowed everything back. His breath left him shaky and his lip quivered in overruled emotions. His fight for stability was surrendered and he was on his knees. “Please--- Spirit please! Please understand, please. I never--- I never meant that to happen. I didn’t---- p-please,” his voice cracked on that last stuttered beg, “please, don’t say that to me. Please--- I know I did wrong, a-a-and I’ve spent my whole life trying to fix it, please. Please, understand that.”

Spirit’s own ears wilted, his own gaze fell, his own walls cracked. “I’m sorry Ruby, I just can’t. You murdered people. You hurt people. You turned your back and I just. I can’t get over that. I think...  we are better off. I have to go and this time I don’t think I’m coming back.”

The mirror of his reality shattered. The impact of that final statement cracked every crevice of his mind that was holding him together. His façade fell apart right in front of him. Spirit watched as his whole world crumbled down on him. He shook his head in disbelief. He bit his lip to stifle the urge to cry. He punched the grass, slammed his hands and head into the dirt. This wasn’t happening, please this wasn’t happening. His steady grip slipped and suddenly he was...

screaming into the grass below. His hold deteriorating right in front of the other. The screams and slams to the grass below cycling through his diminished sense of self. His screams slipped into muffled crying, silent sobs that had been persistently silenced finally left his mouth after years of pushback. He crumbled. He lost himself. He lost himself in the tears and crying. His health and psyche sparked and corroded and he was left crying, pulling at his quills before he jolted. He was standing, staggering on the open field. His heart ached. His head hurt. His stomach knotted. He looked at him, shook his head with disgust and upset. He peered down, snapping the locket from his neck. His tears traced and painted his cheeks. He chucked it, right at Spirit. Threw the locket and completely missed him catching it.

“I hate you.” he croaked through the heavy sobs. “I hate you!” he didn’t mean it. He lost himself. He lost hold of himself. He shook his head and turned, taking off and away from him. How could he. HOW COULD HE. Spirit was left in the aftermath of his collapse. His previously concerned expression turned upright. 

His lips tugging into a smirk as he watched him vanish. The smirk grew vile, cold and malicious. How utterly delicious it was. Cerulean turned sable, dripping into venom as the façade melted. Spirit diminishing into nothingness, leaving only Mephiles to stand in the ashes of his actions. The outright, vindictive smile tearing across a mouthless muzzle. He’d waited years for this. He’d waited so long for this. And years of waiting finally were at his fingertips.

Finally, vindication would be his.

[wolvenfang-a]

// sigh ok i was trying to fix tags but tumblr messed up a shit ton of them. managed to fix what i could but yea i’m not going back through over 1k posts to retag everything so i’ll just leave a new tag dump here and start from here 

[zzozoa]

HEADCANON :  first  love

Inez was a former Red Heart that was banished from the faction when it was discovered that she was selling information and trading secrets on her own without the support of Chanel or the faction. Pushed out and forced out onto the street with no home, Inez began targeting second and third generation faction soldiers and runners. She would seduce and manipulate her clients into believing they were in relationships while she used their relationship to gain information on faction movements and would sell the information to prospective buyers.

Inez noticed Gonzo after the Coronation Riots when she needed someone to help renovate her tea shop and later when she noticed that he was part of Uma’s crew. To Gonzo, Inez was playful, adventurous and passive, he felt like she did not just value him, but that she needed him to look out for her. As Uma’s reputation and influence grew, the closer Inez got to Gonzo. She would often ask Gonzo about his activities and his relationships or workings within the crew but Gonzo rarely spoke about them with her which led Inez to seduce him.

Usually after sex, Inez would continue the line of questioning and Gonzo would sometimes slip up and reveal small tidbits of information about what work he was doing for the crew or what other members of the crew were doing. When one of the crews supply runners was ambushed, Gonzo confronted Inez who was quick to twist the encounter and make herself a victim, claiming that Gonzo was hurting her when he grabbed hold of her arm. Inez began to emotionally manipulate Gonzo from then on, using Gonzo’s guilt and gaslighting him into believing that he was being paranoid, often asking him if he really cared about her. Gonzo began going out of his way trying to prove to Inez that he cared about her, to the point that when Inez would ask him to do something he would do it.

Gonzo began missing work and arriving late to his crew duties as he was spending the majority of his time renovating the tea shop. Things came to a tipping point when one of the crews storage huts was hit and a crew meeting was called. Gonzo stepped forward to take the blame, claiming that he might be the rat. The crew investigated Inez, learning about why she was released from the Red Hearts and that she was selling information learned from various clients.

Gonzo confronted Inez thereafter and did not let her manipulate or lie her way out of the truth. Gonzo made Inez an offer, from that moment on, the Lost Revenge would be her one and only buyer. Any information or intelligence she learned, she would sell solely to the Lost Revenge and in return, the Lost Revenge would protect her from any of her clients that “got wise”. Inez accepted, as the alternative was to deal with Harry Hook. It was considered a merciful and extremely lenient deal, but as hurt and as angry as Gonzo was, he did not want to see Inez get hurt.

However, Gonzo promised that if she ever sold to someone outside of the crew, that he deal with her himself. Gonzo’s relationship with Inez affected Gonzo deeply as he had genuinely believed that she had loved him and that he had loved her. He became more reclusive to the point of actively refusing to socialize with anyone outside of the Lost Revenge crew and took several years off of pursuing sexual relationships as well.

[insoucicnce-aa]

👀

[inazumaniai]

Leaning back against the tree trunk, Izu looked up at Yuuki as she spoke. The mention of the decree's bring to mind the mutterings of news he had heard around Liyue as of late. He hadn't really payed them too much mind, mostly because he wanted to avoid having to face his father and the clan when going home. After all what kind of reception could he expect? it would take nothing short of a miracle for a man like his father to be apologetic. No, it likely he would just be berated and probably disowned...

"So it is true then? Hmm, well I had originally planned to go back once I felt strong enough to join the fight to end the vision hunt. Or even fight before the throne if that's what it came down to. Though every time I say that I cant help but feel as though I would have already gone back if that was my reasoning..."

Izu lowered his head and let it hang, eventually letting out a sigh.

"Honestly... I think im just afraid to find out what my father might say on my return. After all our last interaction was in the courtyard of the family home, on the night I decided to leave Inazuma. I guess he could tell I wasn't going to give it up willingly. So he brought a squad of soldiers to try and take it, forcing me to fight my way out..."

starter for @inazumaniai​

“Hey, Izu…” From her seat at the top of the tree, Yuuki looked down at the ronin sitting below. “You know the border to Inazuma is opening up again?” She paused, looking back up for a moment. The adventurer wasn’t completely sure how to just say what she wanted to say, given how the news meant that she could possibly be separated from Izumo for a while. But it was probably better to not beat around the bush too much. 

“The Decree has been recalled too, everyone’s getting their Visions back and everything. I think… No, I’m gonna go one of these days. Pretty soon, at least, after the Lantern Rite. What uh…” Now she looked away, so even if he looked up from the ground, he couldn’t see her face. “What do you think about it? Are you going to go back anytime soon?”

[iuwon]

◤〤 . 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐒!◢

fandoms include: enhypen, tomorrow x together, and stray kids

ㅤㅤㅤ      ㅤ ｡↷ ✧*̥₊˚‧☆ﾐ table of contents !¡ •ଓ.°

┌────  𝐄𝐍𝐇𝐘𝐏𝐄𝐍 𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐋 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 

… for series, scenarios, reactions, and texts

DRABBLES.

HEADCANNONS.

FICS AND ONESHOTS.

SOCIAL MEDIA AU.

┌────  𝐓𝐎𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐑𝐎𝐖 𝐗 𝐓𝐎𝐆𝐄𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 

┌────  𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐘 𝐊𝐈𝐃𝐒 (archived.)

all rights reserved. property of ©iuwon. do not copy, translate, repost, or modify any of my works as your own in any platform or form of use.

[unfortunatesculs]

“   please   don’t   leave   me   alone   again  .   ” ((for the twins))

——————  THE TRIAL ... THE BLAME ... THE AGONY ...

    Eyelashes fluttered downward as he attempted to process the ordeal that led to what he could assume was his reason for this happening. Anthony wasn’t one to leave someone to die and had attempted to save them all -- everyone. When he’d wandered outside that night with Andrew by his side, he’d left that open flame on the stove. The flame on the stove...the flame on the stove that killed them all. It burrowed into his skull as a constant reminder of his failure as a human being that couldn’t save them...

     Megan, Tanya, Dennis, Mom, Dad... 

     The only survivor was...Andrew... Maybe it was his fault that this was the case when he’d unfolded his palm to reveal the matches, trembling digits barely able to clasp them tightly as he felt his quivering legs straighten, body sprinting forward as the bystander cried out behind him and he disappeared into the flames that bore into his skin in an attempt to spare his mother the same fate as the others -- the one person he didn’t know the fate of...

     Screams had erupted from his throat, lungs burned as smoke came busting forth into them to fill him with the reminder of his actions ; it hurled him down into fifteen seconds that lasted a year toward his descent into Hell. Hell was where he deserved, he thought in the moment, the inability to spread tears of water to quell the peeling of skin upon his own features. 

    The trial had been to clear Anthony’s name, which had caused Vince’s anger, he knew, but...no matter how much he wanted to forgive himself and think he wasn’t at fault, well, Little Hope’s fate here was proof of how that turned out. A dead man tells no tales, so it wasn’t his place to say what he thought was the case of the flames ; Andrew had managed to spare him shame, but it didn’t spare his afterlife... 

    Eyelids would recede to give his twin one fleeting glance, mouth parting ever so slightly to whisper, ❝ You can’t stay here, Andrew... ❞ As much as he wished he could, his twin deserved a true life to grow old in, not this hellish location, cursed by a broken heart that couldn’t forgive itself. ❝ I wish we could stay together again with...everyone, but we both know why we can’t... ❞ His heart sunk, the strings that kept it connected to its current position strained, and, in an attempt to quell this one sensation, he felt his fingers grasp at teal sweater.

                                                             〤. (MOSTLY) ANGSTY DRABBLE PROMPTS

[bel-phi]

─────𝓻𝓮𝓺𝓾𝓮𝓼𝓽 𝓻𝓾𝓵𝓮𝓼─────

〤 requests: open || closed

〤 thirsts: anyways open

〤 mainly write fem!reader, but if you'd like gn!reader, let me know

〤 i am most comfortable writing headcannons, reactions, and drabbles (200 -600 words)

〤 mostly nsfw, so minors do not interact

〤 i will also write sfw content

〤 male reader

〤 long fics, or fic series

〤 anything i am not confident in writing, I also do not write nsfw for Luke

[insoucicnce-aa]

Altschmerz. Mini Drabble.

   Pain. It’s always been a reminder that he’s alive and it’s something he’s used to. But it’s different with Loni. Maybe because danger is apart of their lives and yet here they were, being gentle with one another. Folding back metallic layers protecting them. Those layers would only harden, building themselves back up if they were to lose one another and Kakuzu isn’t someone willing to love another the way he loves his wolf. Because he realizes that maternal love, love that only comes with conditions isn’t something he wants. Loni loves him in spite of his faults and maybe even because of them.

❝ Youse alright? Kinda quiet. ❞

Lips curve into a smirk at her words, looking at her over the documents in his hands. The elder could tell her that she was on his mind. Half the time he wasn’t sure the things that left his mouth would make her feel. Relationships? He hadn’t ever bothered with them. His hands were caked with blood, with the death of many so he hardly cared about what someone might think when they happened across him. ❝ ’m kinda hungry, actually. ❞ Even though they’d just finished dinner not too long ago.

       An incredulous look is thrown his way and a wicked glint enters his green gaze. How he delights in the blush that stains her cheeks. Was this what he’d missed all these years? The easy banter, the saucy innuendos from someone who meant the entire world to you? His paper is haphazardly shoved to the side when she crawls into his lap, mouth pressing to his own. ❝ Wanna be dessert? ❞ She kisses him once more and laughter bubbles up in his chest. Rough hands slid up the back of her thighs as her body presses him back into his chair. Kakuzu often wonders if she realizes how much power she holds when it comes to him. She probably didn’t but he’d show her – one of these days.

Hand slides up her spine and into her hair, gently tugging so he can mouth at her throat, sharp teeth biting and grazing across supple flesh. Tongue drags over her pulse with a faint hum before he bites down. Nuzzling the spot with his mouth, he sighs into her flesh. ❝ Thank you for loving me. I don’ say it often but I love you and I want you to know I’d do anythin’ for you. If you want me to rip someone’s heart out, consider it done. If it means that you’ll be safe, it’ll become my priority. You mean more to me than any currency or reputation I might gain or lose. ❞  Because you’re the only heart I would die to protect.

[insoucicnce-aa]

Chrysalism. Mini Drabble.

Chrysalism: The amniotic tranquility of being indoors during a thunderstorm.

━  for @iliyovunjika

      His body is stiff as he rises from the warmth of the bed, bones creaking as if he'd age a century but the Uchiha pays it little mind when he shuffles to his window. Pain throbs just beneath the flesh, and lashes flutter downward, bare toes wriggling against cool wood beneath him. Part of him longs to be outside, letting the frigid drops wash away his worries, where he doesn't have to worry about letting go of anything. It's one of the ways he copes, even if it leads to agony later. He'd much rather deal with the pain he'd dissociate from later.

There's faint rustling behind him and it's the only sign the shinobi knows Takashi has awakened. It amuses him now, how he doesn't worry about the other being gone from his sight. That staggering relief is still there though, every time he catches sight of him. Heh, how could one person mean so much? Palm presses to the window, seemingly caressing the drops on the opposite side of the window as his gaze shifts to the person who holds his entirety soul in the palm of his hands. Strong, capable arms circle his waist, features nuzzle into unbound, tousled strands with quiet laughter.

' How'd I know you'd get out of bed for the rain, my Ai? '

❝ You know me too well. I couldn't resist. I love watching it some nights when I can't sleep. ❞ Itachi leans back into the warmth of the Paladin's body, turning his head to press a kiss to his jaw. ❝ I didn't wake you, did I? ❞

' Does it matter if you did? Nevermind, I know the answer. Let's go back to sleep, you look tired. '

He's led back to the bed, ushered beneath the sheets where he's tucked into the warmth of his heart's embrace. Cheek rests against his chest, always needing the contact of someone who loved him wholly, unconditionally. How tranquil it is, to be inside during a thunderstorm and falling asleep in the arms of someone who actively never asked for anything: just him. How lovely was that?

[insoucicnce-aa]

unimaginable grief.

Sasuke was his priority, protecting him was always going to come first. But he’s also worried about his family, both the ones of his blood and his extended family. They meant more to him than he was comfortable ever admitting.

Even as his little legs carry himself and baby Sasuke to safety and they’re safe within, the little prodigy still worries. The dust has settled so to speak a few days later and though he’s back with his family, there’s a wealth of choking tension that seems to linger over his  Clan. He notices the looks, hears the whispers but is too concerned with how Kushina and Minato are doing.

Okaasan has been crying when no one is around, so that means something happened? It isn’t until the next day, where Mikoto holds his hand, Sasuke attached to her chest that they go and visit Naruto. Itachi peers up curiously at his mother then to Naruto, the baby is so cute. But why is he not with Kushina-kaasan? So he asks.

“ Okaasan, where is Minato-sama and Kushina-kaasan?”

“ They were killed trying to save their son.”

It’s the only answer she gave him and the boy’s heart broke. Wide, horrified eyes looked back through the window at the blond baby. So he wouldn’t ever know the love of his Kaasan and Tousan? Itachi’s heart breaks for him. For the love of the two brightest hearts he’s ever known. His tiny hand tightens slightly. But what can he do? Visit the little infant every day. Bring Sasuke so they know each other, so he knows exactly what family is like.

But time goes on and he’s old enough to be a shinobi, to be someone who can protect others. But it isn’t what he wants. There’s animosity within his Clan and he’s isolated, left scrambling for composure. And so the boy hides within himself, unwilling to accept a helping hand, unwilling to accept that his life will never be the same. Paths are chosen for him, and the guidance he had often sought from Minato and Kushina are no more. Their headstones don’t answer him. Don’t solve anymore questions, so he shuts down.

It’s one day, where he’s ten and he has a moment deep within the forests, kunais stuck in the surround trees, in the grass around him. He hears Miss Kushina’s voice, the odd ruffling of his hair that Minato has so often did and his knees buckle and suddenly he’s in the grass, tears filling his eyes.

    They’re gone.

   No more visits to the office where he and Minato share dango. No more braiding Kushina’s hair while she cooks for him and Sasuke. These rituals are what grounded and they were no more. Shoulders began to shake, bottom lip quiver and fat rivulets are cascaded down his cheeks. Fingers grip the blades of grass, and Itachi’s on his hands and knees. No one can hear the heart wrenching sobs that seem torn from him, how he cries out for the people he’d once known, how he didn’t have more time with them.

No longer can he tell them of his worries, of his fears. The tears come uncontrollably now, whimpers of true despair, whimpers that speak of years of pure grief that he’d been holding back. The wounds are too fresh, unhealed and it’s in this time, the stoic boy who those have shunned is human.

[insoucicnce-aa]

for what it’s worth | mini drabble.

 another scar to add to the many he’d already adorned over the years. it came with caring for others, whether they be kin or not. he knew what it was like to lose someone but losing anyone in the Kimon group hit him harder than any bullets could ever do.

    rushing into that building, knowing he might not make it out didn’t matter. seeing clarence and the other enjoying this beautiful weather. fushimi’s head rose, tilting. the shifter knew the largest was aware of his presence, but it mattered not. his entire being still ached and though he’s not up to interacting, there’s a fondness etched into the curve of his lips.

        ears twitched, tail flicking back and forth as he moved forward. clawed hands press down onto his lover’s shoulders to keep him seat, and head bends to brush a kiss over the curve of his cheek. ❛ because of you, we have a purpose….a home. ❜ deep voice resonates within the silence and carries between them only. ❛ i wanted to thank you…. ❜ not just for loving me. ❛  for everything…..i apologize for being a burden.  ❜

   there’s a bleak acceptance in his voice that speaks volumes as he continues, fingers softly brushing over jaw to tilt his head back, ❛ mate of my heart…..don’t give up on me yet….i’ll prove i’m more than a sick kitten to be bedridden.  ❜ features soften and his mouth meets his lover’s before he’s pulling away. longing lives in his golden stare as it shifts from fushimi to the assassins of the Kimon group, the people he adoringly called his family. with one last look at the oni halfling, itachi walks away. being sick was no excuse to weigh down an entire empire…

[insoucicnce-aa]

Brontide. Mini Drabble.

   THUNDER RUMBLES IN the distance. It's crackling lightning, veins spreading across the midnight sky. Sounds mimick the pounding of his heart. Waver's asleep, lashes feathered against his cheeks and Itachi reaches out, gently caressing the back of his hand over the curve of soft flesh. When those pretty eyes stayed closed, and he didn't have to worry about him waking, he wanted to be brave and not having to worry about being pushed away.

    ❝ The days become too long when you're away. How do I tell you that what we have isn't enough ? ❞ Deep voice is nearly silent against the wind picking up outside, rain pounding to the ground and against the glass of the windows. Dark eyes drop to his lips, finger tips whispering over his bottom lip before letting his hand drop to the cool sheets between them. ❝ I told you that I didn't know what I wanted, but you're what I want. Maybe it's because you're my normal, my happiness when I've nothing else.  ❞

Tears sting behind his eyes, throat thick with emotion. When Waver shifts, eyes moving behind his lids, Itachi starts and quickly turns to lay on his side, giving Waver his back so he doesn't suspect anything should the clap of thunder should awaken him. Fingers press to his chest, clenching against the fabric over his heart. I'm sorry that I want more than you can give.

                     ━  for @unwcvering

[insoucicnce-aa]

their beginning.

they remember trying to assimilate to humanity -- the cautious hands held out like dealing with a rabid dog, uncertainty glimmering in irises because they were more beast than child. snap of teeth, rows of sharp enamel to clasp onto fingers, twisting of a tiny, lanky form. phoenix can still feel the slap of a meaty hand on the back of their head, scathing words and in their confusion and rage, they let go and turn to the one who'd hit them.

an old human, weathered and stocky. he reminded the creature of the tall, formidable mountains they'd once read about during captivity. golden brown gaze glared down at them, snatching them up by the scruff of their shirt and dragging them off. and oh, how they fought, growling and snapping, wiggling in that mighty hold but nothing fazed him. tall buildings loomed overhead, loud sounds of a bustling town, the honk of pieces of trains without tracks, er cars, and the overwhelming smell of something quite delicious. an old dirt road followed, somewhere secluded and they panic. was someone going to be trap them again?

stomping up the steps, the old man dragged the weird, little guy with him, opening the door and dumping him into the foyer. vincenzo doesn't need to see that this child was something that had been made. oh, a true beast spliced with human's genes and yet they were still a child. long, unkempt juniper strands covered the majority of a mud stained face, algae clinging to the tattered clothing and long, scaled tail that protruded from his tail bone.

❝ what's your name, kid? ❞

❝ subject 009. ❞ words come out stilted, faint traces of an accent coating his tone. golden brown irises narrow, thick fingers rubbing at his beard as he continued to watch him. strange gaze turns toward him, and vincenzo nearly jumps back when a damn third eyelid blinks over his gaze. what the ever loving fuck? holy shit. damn, so he hadn't been wrong in his assumptions, this kid was a damn lab experiment, probably gone wrong if the feral growls and croaks emitting from the child were anything to go by.

❝ i can't call you that. let's call ya something else. ❞

❝vin..vincezo? what....who is this? ❞ hearing his wife's voice made him wince. the one time she was actually home on time.

marie approached with cautious steps toward the...thing, who had focused on a scrap of paper on the floor, nails scraping across it as if trying to write something. a scrawny little thing with an abundance of hair and a tail. goodness, just where had her husband picked it up?  crouching down, she reaches out tentatively, fingers gently combing through the juniper mass, grimacing as fingers caught in several knots, oh that wouldn't do. and it was enough for the child, beast, whatever it was to turn on her, tails knocking her straight on her ass before jumping on her. marie couldn't describe it, but the reaction was familiar, the need to get away ( fight or flight ), and for the first time, she recognizes that she isn't in danger, not really. it had hardly attacked her, just staring at her, gold and green swirling like mercury in it's gaze. but fear and confusion was ever present.

raising her hand, she gently plucked it's nose, aware of her husband hovering with worry nearby. the child, beast ( they really needed a name ) covered it's nose, crawling backward, still staring at her but this time with more perplexity than anything. vincenzo's hands help her up and she dusts herself off. damn, there would be no saving her dress, such a shame. she walked toward it once more, hand coming down, watching it flinch away immediately before drawing back but she kept advancing, hand settling on the top of their head and crouching down to embrace it.

❝ marie...woman what are doing? ❞

❝ shouldn't i be asking you that? you bought it here. we have to name him or her, since you've obviously adopted it. ❞

❝ i was going to given them a scolding for nearly ripping someone's arm off, actually. ❞

❝ yeah, by bringing it through town all the way home, right. ❞

❝ since you're being a smart ass, why don't you give it a name, o' wise ass. ❞

marie rolled her eyes, noting how it had gone still in her embrace. amused, she gently smoothed juniper strands down. what could she name them? something that could represent a creature of their magnitude. there was still a story to find out after all, ❝ phoenix....let's name them phoenix.  ❞ clawed fingers gathered in the fabric of her shirt, a strangled noise leaving the child ( might as well call them that now ) and that strange gaze was fixated on her face. there was no words, just a straight stare filled with more confusion and acceptance?

the days to come weren't easy. teaching phoenix to be civil, to not bite when he felt threatened. sometimes during the years, he'd disappear and come back covered in algae, blood and mud, but they were too terrified to ask. phoenix who had never trusted anyone, had finally accepted that they weren't there to hurt them. they learned the meaning of family, of being accepted and the art of cooking from his grumpy old man.

sometimes, fate was a fickle thing, but phoenix was grateful for their patience towards him. he knew he hadn't been easy to deal with and his violent tendencies had gotten worse as he got older, but he wouldn't trade his parents for anything. every other human though? he'd eat them in a heartbeat.