#'the fool' is very accurate for him i fear

[calmcoldevening]

Slashers x reader who can control shadows

@klerns-birdie

Thomas Hewitt

• Thomas loved you with all his heart and cared about you, but to be honest, sometimes he was really scared of your ability to control shadows. It's not that he was afraid of you, no, he was just very worried about you.

• Other family members, in particular Hoyt, were quite delighted to learn about this ability of yours. Hoyt was glad that the chance of catching potential meat increased by a whopping 200%.

• Whenever you transform into your shadow self, Tommy is haunted by the fear that you won't come back. At such moments, it was as if an animal thirst for blood and violence really woke up in you, not that Thomas encouraged it. But he understood that all this was to protect the family, and the family always comes first.

• Thomas is extremely fond of physical contact with you. Because of your ability to control shadows, sometimes it seems that your skin is as cold as ice or grave earth, so he likes to squeeze your palms in his big ones and keep you warm.

• Thomas is a big boy, very big and big. Sometimes it's even embarrassing to watch when the victim manages to fool him and simply run away from home. It's at times like this that you show up. Such a sweet and fragile girl instantly turns into a cold-blooded killer with a crazy smile sparkling in the dark. Your translucent body gracefully moves softly and smoothly around the unsuspecting victim, and your shadows wrap cold tentacles around the body of the poor victim. You act quickly and accurately, and Thomas can only watch from afar as lingonberry drops of blood cover your dark body.

• After your little 'hunts', you turn back into your 'I' and smile, gently brushing the blood off your clothes. Thomas's heart swells with warmth from your sudden change of emotions. The way you tenderly examine him for wounds and tell him that everything is fine. Your shadows gently glide over his skin, causing goosebumps. Like the touch of a wet tongue, they calmed and brought a sense of comfort, because Thomas knew for sure that everything was under control.

Michael Myers

• Your abilities definitely arouse his genuine interest. He had spent his entire life in a hospital, so he could not even imagine that such a thing really existed.

• He will watch you and your shadows like a curious little child, but he will never admit this to you or ask you to show him anything at his request. In this regard, he is quite closed and does not know how to fully express his feelings.

• You and Michael have some kind of unspoken games like hide-and-seek or catch-up. There's something hot about him knowing that you're always watching him from the shadows. To know that you are watching his every move, every murder and stabbing, causes his body to tremble, and his breathing under the mask becomes rapid and moist. And he gladly accepts this challenge and looks for you in this dirty darkness, hoping at least this time to win this game of cat and mouse.

• Sometimes Michael gets so carried away with you that he forgets about the victim in front of him. The unfortunate man is trying to escape, but he does not even suspect your presence. You easily wrap your shadowy arm around the fragile throat and squeeze it to a nasty bone crunch. Michael lowers the bloody knife and listlessly watches the scene unfold in front of him, unable to contain a slight smile.

• After the murder, you slowly come out of you, your body turns back into its usual self, small droplets of blood flow down your face when the victim coughed up blood a little. You approach Michael and freely take him by the elbow, leading him towards the house through the deserted streets of the city at night. As if you were the most ordinary couple who had never done anything wrong. Michael feels your shadow wrapping around his waist, and it brings a sense of comfort.

• Michael is terribly fond of your coolness and cruelty with which you kill victims. Like a crow, shamelessly pecking out the eyes of sinners hanging on crosses. Sweet and dangerous at the same time. A wonderful combination, warming Michael's blood up.

Bo Sinclair

• Bo loves you madly. But this does not mean that he will talk about it directly. After all, since childhood he has had certain problems with aggression and the manifestation of his emotions and understanding of others. Therefore, sometimes he can be quite persistent and too clingy.

• He likes to make you jealous, knowing full well about your ability and cruelty. Bo can deliberately flirt with another tourist just to see how later your shadows will close around her delicate neck and tear the unfortunate girl into pieces of meat. This bloody show causes a pleasant shiver in his body. Perhaps he would also not mind if your gentle shadows and cold hands walked over his body.

• Bo really likes to realize that such an amazing and ambitious girl is his and only his. He doesn't intend to share you with anyone. If he's hanging around other girls (solely to annoy you), then he won't tolerate anyone else around you. If some new tourist gets too close to you, Bo will come up to you and put his arm around your waist, hugging you closer to him so that everyone around knows whose girl you are. It is better for this person to quickly understand his place if he does not want to die a very painful death.

• You often use your abilities just to tease him or get on his nerves. On the one hand, it annoys him, but on the other hand, he likes your attention, but he won't tell you about it. And he won't say that your cold weightless shadows on his skin cause pleasant sensations in his body. But you'll probably see it in his smug grin.

• You often go to his gas station when there are another couple of tourists on it. Seeing such a sweet, nice girl really calms future victims and weakens their vigilance. This strange man has such a sweet girl, obviously he only has a stern appearance, but a kind heart, there's nothing to worry about. Oh, how wrong they are, because it is this little sun with an innocent smile that poses a much greater danger to them. You'll be happy to hear the crunch of their bones under your tight grip a little later.

Vincent Sinclair

• Your cold shadows feel good on his scarred face. At first, he was worried about this and did not want to show you his face, but the tenderness with which you stroked his rough skin gave him a pleasant calm. He clung to those black tentacles like a little kitten craving affection. The touch was both cool and strangely warm and gentle, it sent shivers down his spine.

• At first, Vincent was afraid when you literally came out of nowhere, although in fact you just turned into a shadow and followed him almost everywhere. Over time, Vincent got used to it and even learned to find your presence in this sepulchral silence of the basement. He likes how your dark translucent body moves in the light of a dozen candles, how graceful and beautiful your body looks. He finds a strange comfort knowing that you are almost always there, watching him from the shadows. After one of the victims attacked him at the most unexpected moment and broke his mask, which led Vincent into a momentary stupor, he was incredibly grateful when you killed this scoundrel on the spot. It took him a few minutes to realize what was happening, but your gentle touch made everything bearable. Although now he will have to wipe off the blood and the basement floor, but these are just small things.

• You're like his guardian angel, his shadow protector. It's a very pleasant feeling. Vincent knows that you are always on the safe side, that you will always help him if necessary. Because of this, he tries to do everything carefully so that you enjoy the show presented to you in full.

• Sometimes you use your shadows to hide Vincent himself. It helps a lot when the victims find the basement themselves and do not suspect anything about the danger. This creates a good surprise effect. And the proximity of your body to his own gives comfort and a sweet aftertaste of the upcoming murder, because after Vincent's flesh and blood, your soothing cold hugs are always waiting.

• He likes that most of the time, because of your abilities and temperament, it is you who take the initiative and a more dominant role. Vincent loves it when you tell him what to do, when you gently touch him with your cold shadows, when you shower his skin with wet kisses, in stark contrast to the coldness of your cold hands and shadows.

• Sometimes he really worries about your cold hands because he's afraid you'll freeze. That's why he likes it when you spend time together in a warm, almost hot basement. Vincent also likes to sculpt wax with you, because the wax is warm, and it will definitely warm you up a little.

Ghostface

• Billy and Stu really like that you have such abilities. This is very suitable for their kind of activity and the image of a Ghostly face, so they almost immediately initiate you into their business. At first, of course, you don't really like it, but something inside you really wants it.

• They both like the surprise effect with which you kill an unsuspecting victim. One moment they were being chased by a tall man in a black suit and a ghost mask, and the next they were literally suffocated by cold air while your shadowy limbs grabbed the body of the unfortunate.

• After particularly successful kills, the boys clamp your still translucent shadow body between them like a sandwich. The blood from their suits is slowly soaking your clothes, but you didn't seem to care. The guys' hands slide over your body, hips and waist as they hold you closer to them. The sight of you covered in blood causes a sticky, almost animal desire inside them.

• Billy is usually a more reserved boy, while Stu relentlessly says all sorts of obscenities that you could do with your interesting ability. The idea that you can watch them while they're doing some personal stuff and they don't even know it makes them both damn hot.

• They love the horror that flashes in the eyes of the victims whenever you kill them with amazing dexterity and weariness. Guys love to take pictures of it. They have a whole photo album with similar pictures, one is better than the other. Stu even has his own collection of photos, but of a more explicit nature, which hangs above his bed in the bedroom.

[yuamusuzuran]

The Dragon & the Foreseer who loved him - pt.3

Pairing: Sylus x Zayne/SnowCrow

Chp word count: 2660

Minors DNI/ Mature and Explicit content ahead!

Chapter TAGS: nicknames, banter, tension, hurt/comfort, heavy canon divergence, Sylus POV

Previous chapters: CHP1, CHP2

I've realized I've kinda merged Zayne's two myths together, you'll see what I mean.

If you wish to become a part of the tag list, refer here!

ENJOY!

CHAPTER 3 - Why do you look like you're about to shed tears?

As it was expected, the royal army went into pursuit of the escaped dragon only three days after his prison break.

The nation of Philos was thrust into a state of general unrest and panic, the fact that a single dragon was still living and on the run prompting many citizens to spend most of their time indoors, be it in larger cities or villages.

But the biggest surprise for the royal family was the fact that their trusted Foreseer also went missing, and around the same time as the vicious beast broke out of his bondage.

It didn’t take those humans long to connect two and two together, their struggle to come up with a reliable plan rather amusing to imagine and observe from afar.

At that point, the dragon and the Foreseer have been traveling across the kingdom for almost two weeks, successfully evading the approaching royal army that could only take accounts of citizens and villagers that managed to spot the ominous figure in the sky by pure stroke of luck.

And even those accounts weren’t accurate… and mostly because none of those foolish humans even thought of the fact that this dragon could do much more than just destroy everything in his path.

Traveling in the dead of night, resting during the day, that was this duo’s main course of action.

The dragon already knew this land by heart, remembered the location of every cave or underground tunnel they could use to rest for the day, knowing that whoever remembered his previous escape was long dead and forgotten.

Finding him will be as impossible as finding a needle in stack of hay.

They would fly across the dark sky, sometimes even above the clouds if the weather wasn’t too pleasant for travel, the dragon occasionally casting illusions of his own form just to confuse or distract any possible onlookers.

But even though he had passed through this escaping routine once before, there was one factor that was very much different from back then…

His traveling companion, or rather, his captive was something the dragon had to pay extra close attention to, and not just because he was human and therefor more fragile.

In spite of that very fact, the Foreseer was more than willing to put the dragon at the unease just by acting as the most obedient captive one could imagine.

But the dragon was no fool.

That human wielded powerful ice magic, and from what the dragon saw and heard, he could very much fight if needed. But instead, he chose to follow his captor’s every order, like an obedient puppy.

He was definitely scheming, the dragon was sure of it. Waiting for me to put my guard down…

But the most disturbing thing in that human’s behavioral pattern wasn’t even his obedience or his massive unwillingness to use his magic when near the dragon. It was his attitude and calm demeanor that had put this vicious beast on edge.

Aside from the first night when they met, when the dragon could so clearly smell the fear and terror on him, the Foreseer acted as if he was on a relaxing stroll through nature, his scent of jasmine being the only thing the dragon could smell.

There was no emotion in that man, not a single one the dragon could use to his advantage… and that scared him more than anything…

“You’re awfully antsy tonight, Snowflake” the dragon mumbled, his wings carrying them high above a vast, deserted valley.

The human’s hands gripped onto his shoulders tightly, digging his fingers in the softer skin of his right shoulder “I told you not to call me that, it’s unflattering”

“You refuse to tell me your name” the dragon reminded, sultry chuckle once again leaving his lips “But maybe you like being called ‘human’. Would the Foreseer prefer that?”

A loud scoff could be heard from behind “You just called me a Foreseer. Why not use that when talking to me?”

The dragon shook his head, wildly amused by this interaction “Why would I call you that? You’re not clairvoyant anymore, remember?”

The human stayed quiet this time around, only his grip around dragon’s neck and shoulders stiffening in a silent protest.

“You didn’t answer my question” the beast prompted again.

“What question?”

The dragon signed “Why are you so antsy? You are making it difficult to fly in a straight line… unless you want me to drop you, hm?”

Even more silence ensued, only wind brushing against their ears as they continued their journey.

“I was trying to… see something” the human eventually mumbled, his voice so weak the dragon barely heard him.

“See what?”

A frustrated sigh was rather close to the dragon’s ear, so close in fact he could feel the Foreseer’s cold breath on his earlobe.

But once he finally spoke, the human hesitated, unlike any time the dragon had heard him speak before:

“This valley…” he murmured “This is the place where I grew up”

The dragon turned his head to look at the human sideways, his eyes truly trying to focus on whatever he might see below.

“This place has been abandoned for more than a century…” he explained, the Foreseer’s grip tightening once more.

“I’m aware…” he acknowledged “It was the drought… then the famine… and then the outbreak of a mysterious plague…”

The dragon shook his head in mild amusement “You know all that and yet you’re still hoping everything’s intact?” he chuckled “And besides, it’s been a century, so unless you’ve been living from scraps and lounging in these abandoned houses-”

“I’m more than four hundred years old”

The dragon frowned, turning his head once again to look at the human. When he couldn’t read him, the beast pulled his wings in before turning on his back mid-air, throwing the human a bit higher before spreading his wings again.

He could clearly see surprise and a tinge of fear in the Foreseer’s eyes, but aside from that, he didn’t even make a sound while being tossed and turned high up in the sky.

In a matter of moments, the human landed right on dragon’s chest, the beast using his scaly arms to embrace him and hold him in place.

“Excuse me?” he demanded, the Foreseer’s eyes widening as their noses almost touched, only to frown deeply once again.

“You’ve heard me” he retorted “I’m more than four hundred years old… and yes, the longevity comes with the title of a Foreseer.”

The dragon chuckled, amused smile spreading across his features “You’ve read my mind with that answer. And you say you’ve completely lost your clairvoyant powers”

The human inhaled sharply before looking away, not able to move even an inch in that position “It was a logical question one would ask, I’m not lying about not foreseeing anything in the future…”

“I know, I know” dragon’s smile widened “I just love teasing you. That’s the only way this little Snowflake will show any type of emotion at all”

The human’s frown deepened even more, those green eyes locking with the dragon’s crimson ones “I know what you’re trying to do… and it won’t work”

“Oh?” dragon sounded almost amused “And what am I doing, hm?”

The Foreseer proudly raised his chin “You’re trying to make me show emotions so you can use them to your advantage” he elaborated “I know dragons are able to make people go mad with their feelings… and just because you have a handsome face doesn’t mean it’ll work if I don’t allow you to latch onto any of my emotions”

The dragon’s eyebrows widened, his lips revealing his sharp fangs in a half-amused, half-wicked smirk “You think I’m handsome?” he laughed “I’m honored”

The human promptly looked away and closed his mouth, refusing to even look dragon’s way from that moment onward no matter how much the beast chuckled and giggled.

Doesn’t matter, the dragon thought. We’ll reach our hiding place for the night very soon, anyway. You can sulk there, little Snowflake…

︶⊹︶︶୨୧︶︶⊹︶

A chill ran down the dragon’s spine, a sensation he hasn’t felt since he was a tiny hatchling.

He propped himself up on the ledge where he slept, raising his right hand where the burning sensation etched into his flesh.

There it was… mark of an escapee.

The little Snowflake was trying to run away.

His eyebrows twitching, the dragon leapt from his hiding space in the mountain cave, his wings breaking his fall before he took a flight. The cave they used as a hiding place was spacious but shallow, only hidden away by a massive waterfall at the edge of the valley.

But water wasn’t something that would bother a dragon… unlike a human on this cold, rainy night.

Once outside, the dragon soared high up in the dark sky, the first traces of dawn already illuminating the very edge of a vast horizon.

According to the mark, the human didn’t go far. How could he? He had no wings to carry him around.

Despite his immense talent for use of ice powers, the Foreseer was still just a human-

The dragon could feel his heart fastening, his face contorting in a shape he didn’t recognize. Was he angry? Why?

Because his prey managed to run away? Because he was outsmarted by a mere human-

The beast’s flight came to a sudden halt, his crimson eyes focused on a single dark dot in the vast field of sand and stones.

Found you, he thought before plummeting towards the ground.

There was no doubt he’ll manage to catch up to the human, his wings were simply too powerful for any human or animal to outrun them… except, this human didn’t seem like he was running.

In fact… he wasn’t even moving at all.

He was merely sitting there, resembling a motionless statue carved by a passionate artist, allowing the rain to completely drench him.

The dragon landed softly, all of his anger instantly turning into bewilderment.

His long robes became even darker in color as the cold rain slid down his body, his hair which was usually tied in a low ponytail coming almost completely undone.

With his head lowered, he looked rather small from the dragon’s perspective. Fragile, almost…

“You thought I had run away, didn’t you?” the human’s voice was measured as always, not even turning his head to look at his captor.

The dragon chuckled before finally approaching the human, aware that his own voice had a small tinge of tremble in it as he spoke: “You’ve ventured a bit too far, little Snowflake. You should have known I’d react”

The Foreseer let out a breathy chuckle, his face unchanging “How could I forget? Your bite was rather painful, too” he reminded, only slightly turning his left hand to showcase the bite mark left on his robes.

The dragon chuckled again, rather proud of his work as his tall figure stopped besides the sitting human.

“Why are you sitting here? In the rain, no less…”

A faint smile appeared on the Foreseer’s lips, only one of his index fingers pointing towards something the dragon didn’t notice so far.

Only a couple of feet in front of them, two stones were posted upwards, letters and numbers carved into them like scars.

“Graves?” the dragon asked, the human only humming in response.

“Whose?” the beast demanded this time, suddenly feeling the man’s green gaze on him.

“My parents” he admitted “They’ve passed away about thirty years after I left the village… and after my departure, I’ve never seen them again”

A tinge of something painful suddenly gripped at the dragon’s heart, the beast attempting to ignore it by remaining cold and resolute.

Still, the said coldness didn’t mean he couldn’t be polite…

“My condolences…” he said, barely managing to remember the words humans used to comfort someone who had lost a loved one to death.

What he didn’t expect… was a bitter, broken chuckle.

“No need for that” the Foreseer said after a moment “Why would I mourn people who have abandoned me?...”

Heaviness suddenly overtook the dragon’s chest, a sensation he was unable to ignore.

He slowly lowered himself next to the human, folding in his wings in an attempt to not push him.

“Then…” he murmured, looking intently towards the man next to him “Why do you look like you’re about to shed tears?”

Another bitter chuckle escaped the Foreseer’s lips, but this time, it really seemed like he was about to cry as he whispered:

“I’m… mourning a child I used to be before getting this forsaken power…” the human looked towards the sky, heavy rain drops falling onto his face “Since getting captured by you… it’s like I’ve found a long-lost peace… and this place had just reminded me of what I used to have… of what I could’ve been if…. If Astra hasn’t chosen me…”

The dragon frowned, completely at the loss for words. Until now, you used to call your god Almighty or Merciful…

Without even noticing he was moving, one of dragon’s wings extended, their leathery consistency acting as a perfect shield from the heavy rain.

The human gasped at the sight, giving dragon a rather puzzled look “Why would-”

“I know you’re not bothered by cold” the beast murmured, removing a stray strand of hair from the man’s cheek “But you can still get sick.”

The two looked at each other for a moment, only a sound of falling rain filling the void this moment had created.

Dragon didn’t understand why he did this… what was the benefit of doing it… but something about seeing this hurt expression on the Foreseer’s face made him feel incredibly uneasy.

Almost like… his chest was about to cave in…

“Shall we go back?” the dragon prompted, offering his scaly hand.

The human didn’t even hesitate in taking his hand this time, his gaze lowered.

“Zayne…”

The dragon frowned, tilting his head “Excuse me?”

“You may call me Zayne…” he repeated, looking dragon in the eyes “So, please drop that awful nickname…”

For a moment, the beast was completely dumbfounded… only to be overtaken by laughter a second later. It’s been a while since he’d laughed like that, from the depth of his stomach, like a joyous child…

“Alright then… Zayne” the dragon purred as he said the man’s name, the Foreseer’s jaw clenching as he heard that.

A few moments later, the duo had taken off towards their hiding spot, the rain slowly subsiding as they reached their destination. They were both drenched, but thankfully, the dragon still had some flame left for usage. They will both get dry in no time-

“How should I call you? You must have a name…” Zayne suddenly asked, the dragon turning to look at him.

He was already taking off his wet robes, the longer part of his hair falling down his pale and scarred back.

As he gulped heavily, the dragon chuckled “I don’t think you’d be able to say it out loud… it’s an ancient dragonic language, I don’t think humans could ever understand it”

“Try me” the man challenged, fully turning towards the dragon.

Amused, the beast approached him and raised one of his hands, a few ancient letters appearing as small flaming stones floating above his palm.

Zayne frowned, inching slightly closer to the letters as his eyes squinted. The dragon had to give him credit for trying, his enthusiasm rather amusing-

“You’re right, it’s impossible to read in the dragonic language” Zayne admitted with a chuckle “But… there is a way to translate it into ours, as far as I remember”

“Oh?” the dragon’s eyebrows raised “And what would my name be when said in your human language?”

The Foreseer stood there for a moment, silent and with his finger scratching his own chin.

Then, with a victorious yet faint smile, he announced: “Sylus… Your name would be Sylus”

︶⊹︶︶୨୧︶︶⊹︶

TAG LIST: @rafayelsplushiekiller @jasmines-greentea @nezuswritingdesk @angelwhizpers @katiralovely @nothoughts-justzayne @zarakem @saltyobservationcheesecake

New update will be on weekend of 29th-30th of March! See you then and thank you for reading!

SMALL EDIT HERE: I'll update a weekend later, April 5th or 6th, I had a medical emergency, I'm ok! See you this weekend and thanks for waiting!

[gorbo-longstocking]

Do Not Blame the Sea | Chapter 2

Pairing: Emperor Geta/Reader, Emperor Caracalla/Reader

Summary: Aelius shares his reservations about Marianus’ plan to give you to the emperors to become their personal physician. After a night of mindless chattering, and a near endless trek to the heart of Rome, you meet Emperors Geta and Caracalla in all their terrifying glory.

Tags: Dehumanizing treatment, hair pulling, Geta and Caracalla being dicks, mentions of slaves and slavery, medical inaccuracies probably, as historically accurate as possible, mentions of parasites and parasitic infestations, dissociating from a pov character, unbeta’d. That’s it I think

Note: Italicized words are both Latin, and when the POV character speaks English

Word Count: 6.5k Words

Chapter One.

Playlist

Upon entering Aelius’ tent, he was quick to make his displeasure for Marianus’ decision known. You blinked rapidly when his hands clasped your wrists, his distressed face inches from yours as he lowered his voice to a whisper.

“Centurio Marianus must be mad!” A bit of anxiety crept into his edges and he cast a furtive glance outside to check if Marianus heard him. After breathing a sigh of relief, he pulled the flap shut, his mouth set in a grim line. “The emperors are— are— I cannot even say for fear of being heard, medicus. That is how bad this is.”

You felt your lips pull into a frown, the guilt on Marianus’ face making more sense by the second. “They are corrupt?”

Aelius nodded, his sweat-damp hair flopping with the motion. “More than that. They are bloodthirsty and known for their quick tempers, especially Emperor Caracalla. Do not let his appearance fool you, he is quick to demand death to those who displease him.”

History wasn’t your best subject, and while the name Caracalla was familiar, you didn’t know enough about him, or his brother, to put a name to the face, nor to their actions. All you had to go by was what Aelius said. He was one of their subjects, the average legionary. If even he had poor things to say about his emperors, spoken in whispers for fear of who could be listening, it meant their rule was certain to have spread dissent within the people.

Unbidden, a cold shiver shot up your spine. If you died in your dream, would you wake up? Or, perhaps, a more sinister fate awaited you if you let your guard down for even a second. Especially now that you knew exactly the kind of men these emperors were. A sharp stab of anger towards Marianus lanced through your chest. Putting you in such a precarious position with no choice was cruel, even if he was right that the opportunities for you in the empire were limited, to say the least. Surely, there was a better option than this.

Your terror must have shown on your face because Aelius looked both guilty and ashamed. “I apologize, I shouldn’t have frightened you like that. My worry got the better of me, it won’t happen again. I— I just do not wish to see the man who saved my life suffer a terrible fate and—” He snapped his jaw shut. “Now, I will stop. Is there anything else you wish to speak of, medicus?”

A deep inhale steadied your racing heart, and you met Aelius’ nervous eyes with a smile. “Are you having any trouble breathing? Shortness or breath, a headache, any chest pain?”

Surprise made Aelius’ eyebrows disappear into his sand-colored curls before that boyish grin spread across his face once more. “Some chest pain, though I suspect that is from the bruises you left during your procedure.” Scooting back, he sat cross legged on his bedroll. “You are very strange, medicus.”

You let out a pleased hum at Aelius’ status. Still, you intended to observe him through the night in case of any complications. “How so?”

“You are more worried about my wellbeing than your own,” Aelius responded with a shrug. “It’s odd. There are not many like that.” He tilted his head, looking off in thought. “Then again, I suppose that is what makes for a good physician.”

Heat flooded your cheeks and you gave him a bashful smile. “I try to be.”

Aelius huffed out a sigh, crossing his arms. “I apologize for bringing this up again, but this is exactly why Centurio Marianus shouldn’t hand you away to the emperors. Talent and kindness such as yours should not be wasted on those—” Swallowing his criticisms, he continued on a different tangent, “Yes, you are far too soft for the legions, and yes, you are unmistakably foreign, but there must be a better option before us…”

He was right, there must be, though whatever that option was, it escaped you. Even if Aelius helped you abscond into the night, you knew you wouldn’t be able to outrun Marianus, let alone the soldiers he was sure to send after you, likely on horseback. You frowned. That was another problem, you didn’t know how to ride a horse, so that method of locomotion was out of the question. Then, there was the issue regarding your rights as a free-man. You remembered a little bit from your ancient life classes you took in college, and most of that revolved around the fact that, until you were a citizen, any minor infraction could have you named a slave. The prospect was terrifying, even in a dream.

You blinked, remembering yourself. That was right, this was a dream, and this was the path that it wanted you to take. A physician for two Roman despots. Who were you to deny your subconscious? You would simply have to be careful to not earn the emperors ire while in their service.

“I… How quick are their tempers, Aelius?”

He stopped muttering, he had been the entire time, his Latin too quick for you to pick up, to glance up at you, his eyebrows furrowed. “Well, I have never been in the presence of either emperor personally, all I know are rumors, and the rumors are not flattering to say the least.”

Mirroring his position, you sat on the earth across from him, your eyes firmly on his. “Tell me, please. I must prepare for my future.”

Aelius let out an uncomfortable noise as he shifted in place. Unable to meet your eyes, he looked off towards the lantern that illuminated the small space. He appeared nervous, as if he was preparing for you to burst into tears.

“They say that Emperor Caracalla relishes in bloodshed, to the point of finding it sexually stimulating. His brother, Emperor Geta, has a similar thirst for blood, although not for the same reasons.” Leaning closer, Aelius brought his voice down to a barely there murmur. It was then that you became aware just how badly he stank and, despite yourself, your nose wrinkled. “I hear he knows that he and his brother are unpopular with the people and he’s terrified of losing control, so he reacts to even small infractions with the highest of punishments. You must be careful.”

You gave him a distant nod, your mind elsewhere despite his grim warning. “Why do you smell so bad?”

“Huh?” He muttered, his tanned skin becoming a shade darker as he pulled back the collar of his tunic to give himself a sniff. A grimace made his features scrunch and he gave you an apologetic smile. “Eheu, I do smell bad. I apologize, Centurio Marianus assigned me to help with the horses as punishment for what happened earlier.”

“Punishment for dying,” You deadpanned.

Aelius laughed, good natured and hearty. “I may not agree with his decision to give you to the emperors, but he is a good superior. Any other centurion would have beaten me bloody with his vitis. Many say Marianus is too soft with his men, though I would follow him into even the most hopeless of battles.”

Shoulders slumping, you felt yourself deflate. While your anger at Marianus for basically selling you off was still there, you couldn’t help but respect the man. “What is a vitis? I do not recognize the word.”

“Ah, yes, somehow, I forgot how foreign you are,” Aelius laughed, clapping you on the shoulder. “Your Latin is decent and you are civilized, you cannot fault me.” He reared back his arm and mimed hitting someone with what you assumed to be a stick or a rod. “A vitis is a staff made of grapevine that symbolizes a centurion’s authority. With it, he can discipline even citizens.”

You opened your mouth to ask if Marianus ever hit anyone, only for Aelius to quiet you with a raised finger. A boyish grin adorned his face as he began to dig through his pack to retrieve a spare tunic. It was an off white color with two complimentary red stripes down the sides. After he pulled out a belt, he handed both to you, his expression both proud and teasing.

“Put these on, medicus. Trousers are the mark of a barbarian, and while I am aware that you are civilized, the emperor's may not be. You need to make a good first impression.”

Examining the tunic, you stood and held it up to your body. Aelius was a bit broader than you, so it would be baggy, and the hemline would hit below your knees, but it would do. You gave him a grateful smile. “Thank you, you are very good to me.”

“That is unnecessary,” He said, parroting your words from earlier back at you, playfulness glinting in his honey eyes. “I am merely doing my duty.”

You gave him a swat on head, your laughter bubbling from your chest. “Turn around, soldier.”

“A modest and a shy, medicus? You are an enigma, my friend,” Aelius teased, though he readily obliged your request, giving you the privacy you desired. After you were dressed, he offered you a pair of sandals similar to his own. It was an easy pass. The shoes you currently wore, while strange to him, were made for working long hours and you would rather die than march tomorrow with no lumbar support.

The rest of the night was spent talking with Aelius. Maybe it wasn’t your smartest move to deprive yourself of sleep before what was surely going to be nearly twelve hours of walking, but you didn’t want to risk falling asleep and something going wrong with Aelius’ recovery. In solidarity, he offered to stay up with you. It was sweet, and you found yourself becoming even fonder of the man. When you awoke, you would miss him terribly, and if you were even an ounce more sentimental, you’d dare to call him a friend.

He told you about his family back home. Of his little sister who he loved dearly despite not getting to see her often since he joined the military, his matercula, a woman with a seemingly endless well of kindness at her disposal, and his pater, a former playwright of some renown who was known for his comedies. After Emperor Geta and Caracalla rose to power, at the request of his wife, he stopped taking part in theater out of fear of retribution. Unfortunately, this meant that Aelius’ pay as a soldier was most of his family’s income.

In return, you regaled him with censored tales of your life in reality. Your long hours, how your focus on your studies rendered you unable to make the connections with others that you wanted, and how your parents' iron grip on you never seemed to loosen. It was the first time in a long time that you had managed to be so candid with someone else. Honestly, it was nice. You never had much time for friendship, maybe this was your brain’s way of telling you to try harder once you woke up. You weren’t on bad terms with your peers, you could always start there. All you had to do was wake up.

It wasn’t until you heard the camp begin to stir did you realize the sun was beginning to rise. You let out a yawn and stretched your arms over your head.

“What I wouldn’t give for a cup of coffee right now,” You muttered as Aelius began to pack up his belongings in preparation for taking down the tent.

“Coffee?” The English sounded strange coming from him, an accent you couldn’t quite place draping itself around the word. He finished rolling up his bedroll and put out the lantern before shooing you out of the flap. “What a strange word. What is it?”

“It is…” You trailed off, thinking of the best way to explain. “A dark, bitter drink that energizes you upon consumption. If you are tired, all you have to do is finish a cup, and you will be awake as if you were well rested.”

Aelius chuckled, and you watched as he expertly took down the tent and rolled it into a small enough fold to place in his marching pack. Around you, other men did the same, in various states of completion. Once he was done, he straightened and handed you a waterskin. “Will posca do, medicus?”

“What is posca?” Marianus had mentioned it was what most soldiers drank and was on par with boiling water — even if you didn’t quite believe that — though you didn’t have a chance to ask what it was. With a curious sniff, you recognized the sharp smell of vinegar emanating from the waterskin.

“It’s a mix of water and wine vinegar. Sometimes, if I have it, I mix in some honey.” With a hand between your shoulder blades, he hefted his pack higher onto his back and began to lead you elsewhere. “The vinegar helps purify the water.”

You tied the waterskin back on Aelius’ marching pack without taking a sip. “I can see the benefits. The vitamins would help prevent scurvy and if I recall correctly, vinegar has antimicrobial properties. However—“ With your hands on your hips, you gave him a disapproving glare “— It does not protect against parasites. You must be full of worms! I insist that from now on, you only drink boiled water, Aelius.”

Aelius raised a teasing eyebrow. “That is not where worms come from, even I know this, medicus.”

“Where do they come from then, dominus?”

At the sarcastic honorific, a sharp bark of a laugh echoed through the open air. Aelius shook his head with a smile. “You get worms if there is too much food in your belly and it begins to rot.”

“Wrong!” You exclaimed. “You get worms from drinking dirty water, coming in contact with infested fecal matter, or eating raw meat. That is only to name a few.”

“… Are you certain?” His brows were furrowed and his lips were pursed into a thin line. Uncomfortable, he cast a glance at his waterskin hanging off his pack behind him.

You gave him a firm nod. “Absolutely. I would not lie to you. Boil water if you have the time.”

Aelius let out a huff. “If you hadn’t saved my life, I would think you were speaking nonsense. I will take your advice. Unfortunately, we do not have time to boil any water before we begin our march, so posca will have to do.”

“I’m not drinking that,” You said, firm in your decision. Dream or not, you would not be besieged by worms. Given how vivid and realistic everything had been so far, you wouldn’t put it past your subconscious to give you a whipworm infestation.

Aelius only shrugged in response, a knowing glint in his eyes. Whatever he was thinking he kept to himself, continuing to follow his fellow men towards the horses where Marianus was sure to be waiting.

As the sun began to rise, you and the rest of the century continued your slow, miserable trek to Rome. Once the two of you caught up to Marianus, he informed you that he sent a carrier pigeon to the emperors, warning them of your arrival. Apparently, he told them that you were a physician who could bring the dead back to life. Fantastic.

Marianus defended this decision by insisting that you needed to play to your strengths, and Aelius was clinically dead when he was pulled from the water. You weren’t the only one to check his pulse, you merely happened to be the one to bring him back. Your only response was a tired grimace as you turned back towards the horizon as you prayed for a pair of sunglasses to fall out of the sky. If the heat didn’t kill you, the glare was sure to blind you. Your mother would call you dramatic if she was here, but she wasn’t, so dramatic you would be.

It must have been summer because the sun was oppressive and unforgiving. You let out a low groan as a bead of sweat trickled down the side of your nose. Now that it was afternoon, the heat was unbearable, and you were still a few hours out from the city. Though you had refused the posca Aelius offered you over the course of the march, you were so dehydrated, you were considering the worms to be worth it if only to cure your horrible dry mouth.

Earlier in the day, you had checked on your patients, who were being transported together in a horse drawn cart. Unfortunately, the man with dysentery died in the night, something you felt immense guilt for. You shouldn’t have been talking to Aelius, not when there was a man who needed you. While you knew that Marianus would have dragged you back to the tent, kicking and screaming, as soon as he caught wind you were working again, that didn’t mean you should not have tried. The veterinarius assured you he lasted longer than expected under your recommended treatment. You couldn’t help but let out a frustrated noise. If you had access to more modern supplies and medication, you would have been able to save him.

Thankfully, your other patients were doing well. The maggots had eaten a majority of the necrotic flesh on the man you were most worried about. After removing most of the maggots, but leaving a few to eat what dead tissue remained, you gave the man with a fever another ibuprofen and hoped he’d receive better care in the city. For now, you had to keep his body from cooking him alive.

Unfortunately, though, you were exhausted, even more so than before. Coupled with the heat, your headache was bordering on unbearable. Aelius had slowed down significantly to keep in time with your dragging steps, and you couldn’t help but glare at him out of the corner of your eye. He was practically skipping. How was he not suffering as much as you were? You both pulled an all-nighter. Maybe it was because he was keeping hydrated with his evil worm juice. You licked your chapped lips at the thought.

Damn this dream, damn it all to hell.

After ten more minutes of walking, you said fuck it, and climbed into the cart carrying the sick and injured. At this point, you were sure to be so dehydrated, you were considered one of their kind. Flopping face first into the hot wood, you only closed your eyes for a moment before the world faded to black.

What woke you wasn’t the furious snapping by the side of your head, nor Aelius’ frantic shaking of your shoulder. It was the stench. The smell of sweat mingled with incense, and strangely enough, piss, mingled to create the tragic symphony of stimuli that accosted you. Jolting upwards, the top of your head nearly slammed into Aelius’ nose. You blinked wildly at the sight in front of you. If you didn’t already know you were dreaming, you would be certain of it now.

Before you was a bustling city, but like none you had ever seen. People in unfamiliar clothes, mostly tunics on men and long dresses on women — stolae you recognized distantly — all in a multitude of bright shades danced around your cart. Some shot dirty looks at you, and the horses leading you onwards, for taking up half the road. With wild eyes, you took in the beautiful, but strange architecture that surrounded you. Once before, in reality, you had visited Rome, and even then the remaining ancient structures drew your awe. Now, though, they left you speechless. You had to crane your neck as you passed by the colosseum to see the top. Statues sat between arches, almost judging your humble nature, stared down from above. You squeezed your eyes shut. To keep from becoming hysterical, you fixated your gaze on the bottom of the cart. It was plain, like you. A comrade in arms, you supposed

There were two unfamiliar men driving the cart now, and the only people in the back with you were Aelius and Marianus. A flick to your cheek drew your attention elsewhere.

“Boiled water, just for the spoiled medicus.” Though Marianus was frowning, his words lacked any real heat. He handed you a small tin pot full of water. Greedily, you chugged the contents faster than you would recommend for one of your patients. Whatever, you were never good at taking your own advice.

“Where are we?” You mumbled, a part of you still stunned by the sights around you. “When did you find the time to boil this?”

Aelius laughed and wrapped an arm around you. You noticed he was in his armor now, the sharp edges digging into your side. “We are in the City, my friend. Marianus had some boiled when we arrived on the outskirts. That is where the rest of our men are camped, waiting for the rest of the legion to arrive from up north.”

You cast a glance at the men driving the cart. They had their backs to you, crimson armor glowing in the afternoon sun. “Who are they?”

“Two of the Praetorian Guard. The emperors sent them to escort us,” Marianus muttered under his breath, his mouth set into a stern frown. “Best behavior from here on out, medicus.”

“Explains the dirty looks, doesn’t it?” Aelius joked only to snap his jaw shut after a withering glare from Marianus.

Dread squirmed in the pit of your gut the closer you got to Palatine Hill, and subsequently, the emperors themselves. These were the men Aelius warned you about, the men that even Marianus felt guilt for handing you over to. As far as they knew, you were a magician capable of necromancy, or at least that was what your heat-addled brain supplied. You knew that CPR was a valid technique for saving someone’s life, and you knew how exactly it worked. The average Roman — though, twin emperors were nowhere near what you would consider the average Roman — wouldn’t know any of that. You were lucky Marianus didn’t order you dead to begin with.

Uncomfortable, you clutched your duffle bag to your chest. You were thankful Aelius thought to bring it, you had all of your supplies in there. If the emperors didn’t order you to be executed where you stood, you would need your stethoscope and sphygmomanometer to perform a basic checkup on them. Clenching your jaw, you shook your head to clear your anxiety. Focus on the brightest outcome and how to get there, you told yourself. You must remain optimistic.

For a realist, such as yourself, that was easier said than done.

When you looked up, Aelius offered you a reassuring smile, though it was strained at the edges. You returned it, your own wobbly and unconvincing. He squeezed you tighter against his side in an effort to comfort you before allowing his hand to drop. Sitting on the edge of the wagon, Marianus kept his eyes focused on the horizon, waiting for the palace to come into view. Almost on cue, you saw it off in the distance, both elegant and imposing, growing closer with each passing second. Oh, how you wanted to run away. The muscles in your legs clenched as if to prepare for such a fate, even if you would never dare to give into the urge.

You were about to enter the lion’s den. Or, perhaps the wolf's den was more fitting. Romulus and Remus were twins too, after all.

The flow of time was always strange for you, especially in times of high stress. You seemed to have a knack for gliding through life, working on autopilot as your brain fogged over into nothingness. Thankfully, this never happened at work. That wasn’t the kind of stress that got to you. Having another’s life in your hands helped ground you. Your own, on the other hand, that was when you shut down. The world blurred at the edges becoming fuzzy, almost like television static.

Distantly, you recognized Marianus informing you that you had arrived. It felt as though you were moving through water as you climbed out of the cart, your duffle bag hanging on your shoulder. Aelius must have noticed you were off. Instead of wondering what he was whispering to Marianus, you stared off at a fixed point in the distance.

A hand on the back of your neck startled you. “Fix yourself, medicus. We need you at your best.”

“I know,” You muttered.

You weren’t an idiot, you knew what this was. Dissociation was a habit your brain always latched onto in the worst of times. As you walked down the opulent halls, led forward by the praetorians, you did your usual techniques in an effort to calm yourself. It was strange, grounding yourself in a dream rather than reality, but it, thankfully, worked the same. Five things you could see — the marble columns, a bust of a man you didn’t recognize, a beautiful tapestry hanging upon the wall, a peacock parading about in the gardens outside, and Aelius’ concerned expression — four things you could hear — the patter of feet on marble, slaves whispering amongst themselves as they watched you pass, the sound of birdsong, and Marianus’ pointed ‘ahem’ — three things you could touch — the rough strap of your duffle bag, the hair on Aelius’ arm, and your own skin — two things you could smell — cooking pastries carried on the wind and incense, perhaps frankincense — one thing you could taste — the bitter tang of your own fear. It was simple enough. By the time you raised your gaze from your feet to catch a glimpse of fiery red sitting atop two thrones, you were nearly back to normal. There was still a bit of distortion in your vision, and for a moment, you realized that it had been like that for a while now.

Before you were able to assess that thought, Marianus bowed his head. You didn’t have a chance to see who he was bowing to. On instinct, you followed suit, your fingers clutching the strap of your duffle tight enough for your knuckles to go white.

“Caesarēs,” Marianus said.

Out of the corner of your eye, you watched him, only lifting your head when he did. Upon two twin thrones sat two twin emperors, both with hair bright as a sunrise behind their golden laurels. One was taller, sitting straight backed with one leg crossed over the other, twisting a ring on his finger as he examined you. There was a paranoid air about him, as if the three of you were vipers he had noticed at the last second. The other looked completely disinterested in the entire ordeal, one leg up on his throne, the other outstretched in front of him as he rested his head on his fist. They were both wearing makeup with enough pale foundation for it to look cakey, but where one had kohl rimmed eyes, the other had doll-like blush adorning his cheeks. Their clothes were ornate and the gold that hung from their ears and around their neck clacked together with each minute movement.

“Centurion,” The one with kohl around his eyes stated as he stood, his gaze trained on you. More specifically your hair before darting to your shoes, his lips pursed into a thin line. “You are Lucius Marianus and this is the physician you brought us.” He stopped in front of you and you noticed his jaw was clenched so tight, a muscle in his cheek jumped. “The one who can bring the dead back to life.”

That got the other emperor’s attention. He perked up and you fought the urge to shiver under their dual stares.

To his credit, Marianus did not cow under the intimidation. “Yes, Emperor Geta. I witnessed the procedure myself along with a handful of my men. I can give you their names if you would like their secondhand accounts.”

So, the tall one was Geta. That meant the little one who was staring at you with a predatory smile was Caracalla. Your duffle bag was sliding off your shoulder, but you didn’t dare heft it any higher. You felt as though you were in the presence of a tiger about to pounce. The slightest movement would send either emperor on the offensive, and you really didn’t want to deal with that.

Geta’s pupils slid from Marianus, to you, before landing on Aelius, who visibly flinched under his stare. This seemed to please Geta, his lips twitched upwards ever so slightly. “And this is the so-called ‘man who died?’ I am sure you and the witnesses are from the same century, no less.” He sighed and took a few steps backwards, examining all three of you with his hands behind his back. “A century can be a very tight knit band of men, though I’m sure you already know this, centurion. They can be coerced to lie if their superior orders it.”

“It is no lie, Emperor,” Marianus replied, voice steady.

Caracalla spoke up for the first time, his voice a high-pitched rasp, “Perhaps a demonstration is in order, brother.”

“Yes, a demonstration of your skill, medicus.” Geta snapped his fingers and a praetorian stepped forward, his hand on the hilt of his gladius. “I will have the centurion’s throat slit and you will prove to me that you can truly bring the dead back to life.”

“Wh- What?” Dumbfounded, you weren’t able to keep yourself from muttering in English. Marianus tensed, his mouth open to speak, though no words came out. Beside you, Aelius looked horrified, his face three shades paler than before. It took the praetorian unsheathing his blade for you to find your voice again. “Caesar, no, wait! That is not how the procedure works! If you slit his throat, I will not be able to save him without surgery!”

Geta raised an eyebrow, but before he could speak, Caracalla let out a sharp laugh. “Your accent is repulsive, foreigner. You speak Latin as a child would.” He grinned at you, blue eyes narrowed in cruel amusement. “See-zer. How ridiculous. Speak again, medicus, I want to hear more of your foolish words.”

“Yes, speak.” Geta was fidgeting with his ring again. He seemed to realize this, folding his hands behind his back, his eyes like coal. “Tell us how this procedure works then.”

“It- It, uh…” Licking your dry lips, you cast a glance at Marianus for support.

“Eyes on me, foreigner!” Geta barked. Your head snapped back to him, eyes wide and terrified.

“I apologize, I—”

“I did not ask for an apology, I asked for an explanation. Now, will you give me one, or must I have these men killed for you to find your tongue?”

A bit of cold sweat trailed down the back of your neck. It took everything you had to meet Geta’s gaze. “It’s a procedure called cardiopulmonary resuscitation. It works best on drowning victims and those who are suffering from heart problems. With your hands, you manually beat their heart, and with your mouth, you blow air into their lungs. If there is a wound, a disease, or some other problem that caused death—” You couldn’t believe you were relying on the metaphysical to explain this. What would your professors say? “— Then the spirit, no matter how strong, cannot return to the body as it has been deemed uninhabitable.”

While Geta seemed satisfied by your explanation, Caracalla was visibly disappointed. He turned his hunter’s eyes from you to Aelius. “And you, soldier. You are the one who died?”

“Yes, Caesar.” Unlike Marianus, Aelius was unable to keep the tremor from his voice. If you weren’t so close to Geta, you would have missed the pleased puff of air from his nose.

“Tell me,” Caracalla began, his grin growing wide enough to show off his singular gold tooth. “What was it like to die?”

“I do not rem— remember much. It was cold and dark, it felt as though I was both asleep and awake at the same time. I could have sworn I heard the ferryman approaching before suddenly I was… torn into awareness, my chest aching fiercely.” Gentle, he placed his hand against his chest. You were thankful you didn’t break any ribs. Once you had a moment away, you wanted to check over his bruises once more.

A strangely disappointed frown pulled at Caracalla’s lips. “That is it? No agony? No sorrow?”

“No, emperor, I felt calm. At peace, even.”

With an annoyed huff, Caracalla turned away, clearly done with the conversation. That left room for Geta to turn his attention back on you. “Where are you from, medicus? I had assumed you would be Greek considering your occupation, but I don’t recognize your accent.”

“Our last physician was Greek,” Caracalla piped up, eyeing your hair with interest. “He did not last long.”

“I- I am from…” What did you say? You couldn’t tell them that this was a dream, and saying you were from the future felt like a quick way to get killed. After a moment, you decided to rehash what you told Marianus. “I am from a country far across the western sea. It is large and civilized, much like Rome, th— though I am very impressed with what I have seen of your Empire. It’s beautiful, unlike anything I have ever seen before.”

The compliment made Geta’s chest puff out, no small amount of pride creeping into his features. “Yes, the Empire prospers under our rule.” It didn’t take long for him to remember himself, his expression steeling over once more. “I have never heard of a country to the west. Why is that? Why are you the first visitor I have ever heard of?”

“We are…” You didn’t know the Latin word for ‘isolationist,’ which left you floundering. “Our government likes us to be alone and not interact with other countries. We are not allowed to leave and no one is allowed in. I cannot return now that I am in Rome.”

“A shame,” Geta hummed, looking pleased. “And without citizenship, your options are limited.” Slow and predatory, he began to circle you. “Are you aware that an emperor is capable of granting citizenship?”

Shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot, you gave up on trying to keep him in your line of sight. With him behind you, goosebumps crept up your arms. “I assumed so.”

In front of you again, Geta ceased his circling. He seemed to have come to a decision. A flash of anger flickered over his face before it became stony once more, his hands clenched into tight fists behind his sides. “You will be the new imperial physician. If you serve me and my brother well, perhaps I will grant you citizenship.”

“And the reward I mentioned in my letter?” Marianus spoke for the first time in what felt like hours.

When Geta took his focus off you, a part of you relaxed. You couldn’t imagine being under either man’s piercing eyes for the foreseeable future without popping a blood vessel. “Yes, your men will be given respite before their next assignment. You, however, will remain here with this man.”

Marianus opened his mouth, probably to protest, before he thought better of it and clamped his jaw shut. “Yes, Caesar.”

“Physician,” Geta said, his voice sharp. “If you fail us in any way, you and these men will die. If you try to harm us in any way, you and these men will die. Am I understood?”

“Y— Yes, Caesar,” Was all you managed. Your heart thudded an angry rhythm in your chest. Having your own life forfeit was one thing, being responsible for two others, while familiar, was no less terrifying. It helped your mind sharpen, however. While you understood the human body innately, these games you would have to play with the emperors were new to you.

“Kai-sar,” Geta corrected through clenched teeth.

“No, don’t correct him, brother, I quite like his accent. It grows on me like maggots on a wound,” Caracalla laughed. It was squeaky and high pitched, almost mousy in tone if not for the harsh edge. With two fingers, he gestured for you to come to him. “Come here, medicus.”

It took everything in your power not to look at Marianus for permission. That had irritated Geta before, and with Aelius’ warnings ringing in your head about Caracalla, you would rather not earn his wrath either. Especially now that you knew it wasn’t only your life on the line. Cautiously, you took a few steps forward.

“Closer,” Caracalla intoned as he leaned forward in his throne.

With nervous, shuffling movements, you obeyed.

“Lean down.”

Your fingers twitched in front of your chest as you leaned down to be eye level with Caracalla, not even a foot away from him. In a blur of red, he lunged forward and grabbed a fistful of your hair, giving it a harsh yank. A scandalized yelp tore from your throat and you stumbled backwards as far as you could get the second he let go. It didn’t hurt too bad, but it was enough to startle you. When you looked up, he held a few wispy strands of green hair in his closed fist.

Caracalla let out a mean laugh. “His hair is real, brother. I knew it! Tell me, medicus, is that shade natural where you’re from.”

“I dyed it,” As hard as you tried to keep the annoyance from your tone, you failed miserably. To soothe the pain Caracalla left behind, you rubbed your knuckles against your aching scalp.

Geta looked amused at your expense, the harsh lines of his face softening once his brother was in view. Caracalla was oblivious to this change, his attention focused solely on you. “What is your name?”

When you told him your name, his nose scrunched up in disgust. “What a horrible noise. I refuse to call you that.” Caracalla turned to Geta, his hand lazily cradling his cheek as he rested his elbow upon his throne. “Brother, any ideas? Perhaps, viridans?”

Geta hummed, deep in thought. Given the speed at which he answered, it sounded as if whatever name he intended to give you had been on his mind since he met you. “Alga.”

In response, Caracalla let out another hyena-esque giggle, clapping his hands together with glee. “Yes, yes, Alga is perfect, brother!” Without missing a beat, he turned to you, gold tooth glowing in the sunset with the rest of his jewelry. “You are Alga, now, physician. We expect you to answer to it.”

Your mouth pressed into a thin line. It was the only sign of your displeasure you would let show. The emperors seemed to think of you as a stray dog or a new toy that they could tease and name as they saw fit. For as much as it irritated you, you had enough self preservation to let it go.

“Of course, Caesarēs.”

And just like that, you could practically hear the bars to your gilded cage lock shut.

A/N: Yayyyyyyy, chapter two is done. I am so, so worried that Geta and Caracalla are OOC or their dialogue seems off. Fuck it, we ball. I hope I was able to get it across well, but Geta is playing 5d chess with everyone in his head because he’s convinced Marianus and company are all traitors and spies. The only reason he agreed to let them become a physician was to catch them in the act and then make an example out of all three of them. In his defense, bringing someone back to life doesn’t seem very plausible. Caracalla, on the other hand, is too busy being like ‘tralalalala’ to keep up with the Kira Deathnote levels of insanity Geta is on.

Also, in case you missed it in the last authors note, ‘alga’ means ‘seaweed’ or ‘something of little worth’ in Latin. Those two are pricks with a capital ‘P’ let me tell you.

Oh, BTW, if you noticed that yn’s dialogue is stilted or weird in some placed, that’s on purpose! I’m trying to mimic the eay they sound speaking Latin, as it’s not theie first language and they are rather clumsy with it.

Anyway, thanks for reading!!! Comments mean so much to me btw, I love feedback. I need it to survive. And, if you have any questions about the Latin or cultural stuff, PLEASE ask, I would love to tell you. Yayyyyyy, that’s it, love you, bye!!!

Taglist: @snazzynacho @t6gse370

[cosmowgyral]

"Specially made for you with Love"

▪︎ Gilbert von Obsidian

This is a fan translation so please don't expect it to be 100% accurate. Creative liberties have been taken. All content belongs to Cybird. Reblogs are appreciated. Hope you enjoy!

~chapter 3

Just as Roderic had warned, Gilbert who was sitting by the window didn’t seem to be in a good mood.

Even though he had a smile on his face, his eyes told a different story.

Gilbert’s anger is so overwhelming that I nearly forgot to breathe.

(He’s usually very kind to me, so he might just be fooling me, but…)

(The person before me is a great villain who is feared by the entire continent, a conqueror beast that has destroyed several countries.)

(It’s only natural that if such a person gets enraged, everyone in the entire castle will become anxious….)

(So Gilbert really had no choice but to be alone.)

I plucked up courage to approach him, but his eyes, which had been on me the entire time, suddenly turned to the window.

Gilbert: Sometimes, I get so furious that I just can’t help but be in a really bad mood.

Gilbert: Though this has become better than before, I still can’t bring myself to be nice to others.

Gilbert: So being here alone is an act of sincerity and kindness that I can show, isn’t it?

Emma: ….Sorry for trying to interfere with your thoughtful intentions.

Emma: But, I know why you’re this angry.

Gilbert: Aah, Roderic told you, didn’t he? He talks too much while conversing with the little rabbit.

(It was a heartbreaking story.)

----(flashback)----

Roderic: ….We received information about a criminal organization engaging in child trafficking in the region, so we took over their base…

Roderic: When we arrived, the scene was so gruesome that I find it difficult to describe.

Roderic: Meanwhile, the members seemed to be living a lavish life with the money they earned from selling the children…

Roderic: Since this was a relatively uncommon example of corruption in recent years, Prince Gilbert became furious upon hearing about it. And you can imagine what followed after...

----(flashback end)----

(Gilbert is a kind person who gets angry for the sake of others.)

(But the stronger his rage, the more it wears down his humanity.)

Perhaps in the past there were incidents that infuriated him, and he somehow managed to cool down on his own later.

In the process of calming his wild heart, his mistrust of love likely chipped away at his heart, molding him into a beast.

(..It’s been a while since I’ve seen Gilbert turn into a beast.)

Just like when we first met, the fear of not knowing what he would do to me and the indescribable pressure gnaw at my mind.

Gilbert looked at me and raised the corners of his mouth.

Gilbert: Ahaha, you’re trembling. You are scared, aren’t you? If you want to run away, now is your chance….

Emma: I am scared but I can’t run away. I am your fiancée after all.

(What should I do in a situation like this?)

(I can’t really figure it out, but if this cycle of relentless hatred keeps making him lonely…)

Emma: I don’t want to leave you alone right now, Gil.

Emma: I’m here to turn back the beast into a human.

(If something happened to convince you once more that love is not the true nature of humans.…)

(I have to prove to him that the world isn't like that everywhere.)

I kneel on the floor and hug Gilbert’s grumbling body from behind.

Gilbert: ….I’m not in the mood to put up with your selfishness.

Emma: I won’t give up today.

----(flashback)---

Gilbert: If you really want to tie down a villain, you need to dominate, not beg.

Gilbert: What good is it to leave the decision up to the villain when we both obviously think the exact opposite?

----(flashback ends)----

(….This isn’t the time to say it’s impossible or that I can’t do it.)

Emma: Gil

When I called him by his name, he finally looked at me.

Without missing a beat, I grabbed his face with both my hands and forced my lips onto his.

He immediately bit me, but I refused to back down and went in deeper, despite the pain.

Heat spread to his cold lips, and I could sense human warmth returning in him.

(….But it’s still not enough, not even close.)

Gilbert: You really think you can control me, little rabbit.

Emma: …You were the one who taught me how to do it.

Gilbert: I don’t think you can do it with such a shivering body.

Gilbert’s hand came to my neck.

Although he wasn’t strangling me, the thought of him holding my life in his hands made me tremble even more.

Emma: It’s just the nerves getting to me..

Gilbert: Hehh…

Emma: ….Should we go back to your room for now?

Gilbert: Because you’re going to do something embarrassing?

Emma: That’s…right.

Gilbert: Ahaha, just what makes you think I’ll listen to you?

Emma: If you don’t listen, I’ll have to make you listen.

I climb on to Gilbert’s lap and kiss him again to prevent him from escaping.

While doing that, I casually touch his ears and caress it with my fingers, which elicited a clear response.

(Gilbert’s ears are his weakness…)

Gilbert: Oh? So that’s what you plan to do to me right now?

Gilbert: You’re quite the daring one, aren’t you?

(…..gh….)

The pressure on my neck increased and my breathing became irregular.

The fact that the murderous intent and intense pressure still haven’t disappeared, means that apart from being angry, he also wants to test me out.

(When I consider that, I don’t feel like backing down anymore.)

Emma: If you don’t like this then please listen to me.

I bring my lips close to his ear and gently lick it.

However, with icy fingers gripping my neck, I couldn’t last long.

Gilbert: Hey, little rabbit. Do you really want me to take my anger out on you so much?

Gilbert buried his face in my neck and sunk his teeth into my skin.

I let out a small groan from the pain.

He licked me as if to intensify the pain, and I couldn’t tell if the rapid increase in my heartbeat was due to fear or pleasure.

Gilbert: How long will you be able to stay kind to me and love me…?

Gilbert: When I see such corruptions, I can’t help but question it.

(Just as I thought….)

Emma: …If you’re going to agonize like that all by yourself, feel free to take out your frustrations on me as much as you like.

Emma: Regardless of what you think, I feel more at ease this way.

(At least I know that while he is taking out his anger on me, he is still trying to believe in love.)

(…I wonder how many times Gilbert has been disappointed by people like this.)

I stroked his smooth black hair and hugged him again.

Gilbert did not push me away.

Gilbert: ….If that’s the case, shall we go back to my room?

Gilbert: I can’t really vent out my frustrations in a place like this, can I…?

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ㅤ𔘓 ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

Bringing the agitated beast back to his room, I drop all my clothes to the floor to show my resolve.

As soon as I encouraged my weakening spirit and faced Gilbert, he lightly grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and pushed me face down onto the bed.

Gilbert: I see that you seem to have misunderstood something…

Gilbert: The method of control I mentioned isn’t about taking away someone’s rationality, you know?

Emma: Huh, then what did…..gh, ah

[Chapter 2] [Masterlist] [Chapter 4]

Tags: @shatcey

[girl-lostconnection]

Ask and you shall receive, I cooked this one up in my notes a few days ago but forgot to send it to you

Helldiver!Reader growing attached to a younger recruit, they see themselves in them, and they want nothing more than to force them off their ship and make sure they don’t make the fall from grace they did.

They want to turn them away, to stop them from diving into the hellscape with them, but they can’t, the moment the recruit signed up they became the governments loyal dog, only stopping when their heart does

Helldiver!Reader finds themselves going softer on them, much to their dismay, they grow close with this recruit, which is very against their person policy (there’s a 99% this kid won’t make it until the end of the week, they can’t get too close..)

But they do, they get far too close, to the point the kid is telling Helldiver!reader why they signed up, that they have no one on the outside and they decided screw it, they’ve got nothing else to lose may aswell become a chew toy for the creatures of hell… right?

Helldiver!Reader gets so close that the recruit is now treating them as a parental figure, and one drunken night confesses that Helldiver!Reader is the only family they have, and that’s when Helldiver!reader realises they’re in too deep, they’re too close, too attached.

The regret of being to close to this recruit comes to an head when they lose them, on the battlefield, torn to shreds by some creature and calling out for Helldiver!Reader to do something, to save them, but they can’t, all they can do is watch as this kid dies slowly, and painfully, and at the end, retrieve their dog tags.

There’s no funeral, no mass, no mourning, the kid didn’t have a family or home for their remains to be shipped off to, so their body stays in the hellscape, slowly rotting away; soon to be forgotten…

(Something something something I’ve never played helldivers so I have no idea how accurate this is, I just had this funky idea for a character and then it spiralled into this)

Legs have swung

The young thing is skittish and too tense, fear clouding his judgement and making him slip more often than not, his finger on a trigger shooting without any account for recoil or the fact that loud noise attracts the enemy.

He is fresh out of training, his ship a useless can of a transport — no stratagems, no enhancements, just him and the basic weapon he got in training.

You move to cover him if the enemy comes out blasting — getting ahead, trying to keep one eye on the mark scanning the grounds and another one on bloody cadet that somehow slipped through the cracks of Vog-Sojoth.

You sigh, hoisting the precious bot head with data up higher and nod to the lad to keep going.

You know he is getting agitated — you had to “reinforce” him 8 times already and now fear gives place to embarrassment and stupid reckless urge to prove himself.

No one likes looking like a damn fool, but it’s not kid’s fault system lags and lets him get down to level 10 “The Helldive” when he was barely cleared for level 5.

It’s not his fault this it went like that.

Sometimes it just happens and there was no way he could have been ready for the madness that comes with war that rages down here.

You don’t blame him for being scared or for shame that clouds his head or for nerve damage induced shaking after pumping 13 stims through him just to keep the lad going.

But what you do blame him for is for trying to show off to you.

Because it’s not worth it down here, it’s never fucking worth it.

Helldives this filled up are the only place where you need to survive first and foremost and where rules and dignity and pride don’t matter.

It’s the only place where each of you is supposed to hold onto each other and never let go just so you stand a chance of getting out in one piece and coming out on the other side.

The only place where even trained and tried Helldivers like you two need to brace for impact before they even hit the ground.

Extraction is gruesome and bloody — longest three minutes of wait of your fucking life, enemies pouring from every bloody hill, kid behind you shooting without looking where he does.

Few of his bullets graze you a little too close to home.

One of his grenades almost leaves you without a leg.

But it’s not the time to smack the dumb little thing, not the time to knock some sense into him — there is a minute and a half before Pelikan-1 descends and you are almost empty.

So you have to push the cadet down, forcing him to stay low as to not let anyone shoot him and call in supplies.

You try not to think about how much adrenaline is running through you and that you made a mistake twice trying to call in additional ammunition.

You have one more orbital laser that will descend from the sky like God’s fury destroying enemy in its wake and better you have a shit ton of stims when it runs out.

Timer clicks forward, seconds seeping out and some of your anxious rage subsided when mechanical voice chimes “additional reinforcements approved”.

Thank fuck for that.

One more chance — a safety net, one for both of you to stretch out.

You better make it count.

A minute and a half on Vog-Sojoth stretches out and chokes you out, because no matter how much you will do — the work is never done.

Enemies are pouring from every side, you sentries are working non stop as you duck and cover and shoot and duck and cover and shoot and duck and cover—

You are never actually out, you just get to take a break before coming back down to this hellhole and laying ruin in your wake.

It’s a cruel glory to be one of you.

It’s not pretty, it’s not even well-paid but sometimes…sometimes when you meet runts like this one you understand why you are still there.

What are you even doing in a hell like this one.

The cadet whimpers from pain — laceration from shrapnel bleed him out quick to leave him dry and cold.

But you are mad and stubborn and you refuse to let the kid die. It won’t happen today. Not with you.

Stim after stim are getting plunged in him, forcing his heart to keep going, forcing his blood count replenish at the speed that is not possible or normal, but why would it matter if he gets to live another day?

You will kill his stupid reckless ass yourself as soon as he gets better.

But by the time extraction shuttle reaches your ship the lad is stabilised and shaking like a bloody leaf — uniform torn and fists clenched.

Adrenaline finally crashing down and crashing him in the process.

You have to practically drag the kid out, his legs not listening to him, not moving properly so you pull him up, grunting and annoyed.

God knows you are tired.

God knows you are hungry and in a whole lot of pain and mad at him for acting like a right proper twat. But he latches onto you, like you are the lifeline, his grip on you so hard you can feel it through layers of kevlar and plates of armour.

Takes you a moment to notice that he is shaking. Takes you another one to drag his helmet off and oh, he’s fresh faced and smooth — barely 18, barely out of training, barely capable of holding his own on lower levels.

Thought hits you like a brick to the back of your head, pain spreading down to shoulders, sharp realisation digging through your nervous system.

He probably has never died before. He probably has never been reinforced this much before

He probably doesn’t understand why his body is brand new when he aches all over.

He probably doesn’t know why he can’t black out.

You have to take your own helmet off, his lip trembling when he can finally see your face. You know.

After a while down there Helldiver’s uniform starts to look a little too much like Automaton.

After a while you can’t remember how humans are supposed to look, everything in you diminishing to few very basic tasks and commands. Tactical optimisation, that’s how command would call it.

You call it the “mutt mode”. No use for long thoughts when they can kill you. No use for working through trauma if the actual awareness of how fucked up the things are almost drove you insane once.

“Come on, cadet, it’s okay, you are okay.”, you murmur, pulling off gauntlets and gloves, letting him feel the warmth of your skin, the lines of your scars.

Warm tangible and human.

He shakes when you scoop him up and whimpers, phantom pain wrecking his body, phantom pain tearing out his ligaments and cutting off his limbs.

“I’m right here, yeah? I’m not leaving you, I know it hurts.”, you wave off your staff and massage the scalp of his with your fingers, trying to ground him on something. “It will pass, the first fifteen minutes are the worst, it will pass, cadet, come on, breathe with me”.

Your whisper is awkward frantic rumble, it’s been a while since you comforted anyone but the lad soaks it right up, forces himself to breath, presses his head against your neck.

Listens to your heartbeat.

You hum quietly as he does and he melts into you. He is as young as they get here, he is aching and tired, his face wet with tears and blood. But he is alive.

You stay on the cold steel floors until he stops shaking. You stay on the cold steel floors, massaging his head and not saying a thing when he nuzzles into your neck and stays there with no intention to (ha-ha) dive out.

The lad in your hands is young and aching and you won’t force him to go. Maybe if you teach him some things he will leave on his own.

Maybe he will get to keep himself safe without you and leave for good. One more decent Helldiver in your branch. One more chance for others like him to survive.

That would be nice.

You think this throughout the next few months and at some point forget he was supposed to leave. Because he doesn’t.

He is chatty and energetic, makes paper cranes out of old reports and shares whatever gossip other runts share with him. Always comes back to you hauling something, like a hound that is bringing game from the hunt.

Eager for praise and melting from your approval.

He’s touchy but in a way that makes you feel softer, he knows when to give space but more often than not your personal space turns into “our personal space, yeah?”.

And despite huffing with exasperation you let him. Why not? He’s warm and he smells nice under all the blood and gore you both are covered in.

He starts feeling like part of your life. Part of you.

Second pair of hands, another heart in the rib cage of yours, breathing in your neck when he decompresses after dives by wrapping himself around you.

He doesn’t talk much about his life before, doesn’t mention any family and for some reason you start talking first.

Sharing that no one waits for you back home. That you aren’t sure if you have one anymore.

He hums, unusually silent before wrapping himself around you again, tucking his head under your chin like he’s a koala.

You don’t come back to this conversation until months later, you two standing over what was terminid nursery before you launched a bloody nuke in the depth of it.

“L.T.?”, his voice snaps you out of staring down the abyss, making you take a step back and remember about your objective. Still two more nurseries to go.

“Yeah?”, you muse back, voice cracking through your comms, click of you changing magazines in your primary. “What’s wrong?”

“Is it…really necessary?”, he asks and for a moment your mind blanks out. Perhaps he senses it because he hastily adds. “I mean, I understand the need to destroy terminids. But the nurseries…we are killing their eggs, L.T. It’s their children. No wonder they are so determined to kill us”

You make a noncommittal sound in return, busying yourself with checking your gear, lad’s eyes boring in the back of your head.

“You ever thought we might be the bad guys?”, you half expected the question but it still catches you off guard, eyes flickering to your runt, not even cadet anymore, with heavy intensity.

You don’t say anything but you don’t really need to — he snaps his jaws shut once you softly tap the side of your helmet. All comms are being monitored.

All interactions being observed from the moment you step out of the ship.

You don’t say anything to your chatty charge but he can see the grim expression on your face as you holster your secondary weapon.

“Maybe we are.”, you say after a while, not explaining what are you referring to, but understanding dawns on him after a beat. “Though I’m doing it few years longer than you are. What kind of person it makes me, m?”.

Lad stops and for a moment there is sharpness in his eyes you didn’t expect. Heavy sort of protectiveness.

He opens his mouth, stepping closer to you but then remembers that you are still being monitored and falls silent.

Years later you will wonder what he wanted to say. Years later you will regret you never asked.

But in the moment you turn away and push forward. It’s not the place nor the time.

You both know who you are. 

What kind of person it makes you if you mindlessly killed thousands of terminid species and never asked why was it okay to commit atrocities?

The answer is simple: a really wicked one.

Each and every one of you is a war criminal. It’s just that some have more conscience than others. Doesn’t make you less guilty.

“Can you promise me something?”, the question is sudden, but you just pause before focusing back on the terminal and its adjustment, trying to turn off the bloody broadcast tower.

The lad, now finally a sergeant, sits on the abandoned chair, hands wrapped around his primary like it’s a baby he’s nursing and not a semi-automatic rifle.

“Don’t let them replicate me again, aye? I know they destroy ships if mission fails and mine is…well, you saw. Nothing like a bird you are piloting. They can destroy mine. Together with the “reinforcements” of me”, he says softly and it’s so nonchalant you almost miss it. Registering his words a moment too late, your fingers twitching to curl into a fist.

“Why?”, is a sharp and curt and you didn’t mean it to come out that way, but god knows you have never been good at this kind of conversations.

He deserves certainly more than your sneering. He deserves to know that ships are made to be better with time, he deserves to know that he doesn’t need to die. He deserves to know that you like him and you want to work with him again.

He deserves to know that he’s a good Helldiver.

He deserves to know he is needed here.

(He deserves to know you like his hugs and spontaneous cuddling, he deserves to know that he is part of you, that you can’t imagine yourself without him. He deserves to know that it doesn’t matter if down on Earth no one waits for him — up here you always will. He deserves to know he is your favourite runt. Your only runt)

Years later you will try to remember his response to your question.

Years later you will toss and turn at night, rummage through your journals and try to find answers.

You will never get them.

But the memory of his smile — soft curl of his lips beautiful enough to make a soldier like you weep and kneel — will keep you going for the next eternity and a half of endless service.

Why have you never said it to him? Why did you never said how much he meant to you?

Why-why-why-why-why?

You think about it as you drag him into Pelikan-1 that you forced to come down even though it would be third time they re-attempt pick up.

You think about it as you pump him full of stims and do chest compressions at some point forgetting to count and forgetting to breathe.

He is lying on the floor, eyes sharp with understanding, impossibly blue — prettiest summer sky you ever saw.

He looks at you like it’s a goodbye.

It’s not a goodbye.

It can’t be goodbye, you just got used to him, you have finally accepted that he’s staying, you can’t say goodbye.

You won’t say goodbye.

He’s not dying on you.

You will kill his stupid reckless ass yourself as soon as he gets better.

And he will get better, medics will patch him up — he will be like new in no time.

He is not leaving you, he isn’t going, you can save him. You will save him.

You practically slam both of you on the hard floors of your ship, gear and legs too heavy to move, your body aching with exhaustion — your vision is filled with dark spots, pain lacing through your nervous system with every beat of your heart.

Someone is speaking to you but you don’t know them and you don’t hear them, blood roaring in your ears, your fingers clenched in a death grip on the vest of your runt. Your cadet. Your lad.

“Lieutenant, you have to let go”, the voice is muffled, all sounds are, like you are underwater. The blood pumping in your ears is so loud you aren’t sure if you can still hear properly.

There’s pain in your wrists and aching in your fingers, your body too cold and sticky which doesn’t matter right now, none of it matters.

You need your med bay now, you need the medic, you need to save him.

You need to get up and move-move-move.

Another Helldiver crouches in front of you, their eyes unusually soft — glimmering through the visor of their helmet. Their rank shines like a bloody supernova and what are they doing on your fucking ship.

(You know what they do here, don’t you? The SOS beacon, the mission, the frenzy and panic.)

They are soft and you hate them because they pry your fingers open, they force you up, they hold you tight as you crumble.

You have no right to mourn someone who barely reached the rank of sergeant, who you dragged to hell and back, who almost dragged you down.

But you do. God, you do.

Your eyes skim over the sealed off and soldered down doors of what previously was your med bay.

You really can’t save him. You can never save him, can’t you?

You can never keep anyone, not even this once, not even this lad.

Sob builds up in your throat, pushes through bile of realisation and draws out your rage because not fair, not fucking fair, never fair.

Weren’t you good? Haven’t you done your due? Didn’t you earn to have something in your hellbane of an existence?

Despair is coursing through you — thick enough to choke you out, building up in your throat, hurting you and hollowing out. Strong enough to force you back on your knees.

You can never get up. You won’t ever get up again.

You don’t want to.

But commander forces you up, strong hands holding you on your legs, their voice thick with something you can’t place in a shell shocked state of yours.

You can’t save him-you can’t save him-you can’t save him.

You can’t even try.

“You did good. We’ll be able to bury them. You did good, lieutenant, you didn’t leave them behind”, the murmur in your ear is quiet and hands around you just get tighter.

It takes you a full night before you come back and declare your lad a traitor. He will not get reinforced, his ship will be blasted to pieces and his name wiped out and forgotten.

Against every recommendation and veiled threats to report it as undemocratic you stuff his body in the same capsule you are using and jump down on Vog-Sojoth.

Your hands wrapped around him and he’s cold-cold-cold, god he has never been this cold, you should have covered him with something, you should have took care of it, he might have died cold.

But your lad is motionless doll when you drag him out and find a nice enough place to bury him.

You haul the gravestone from one of the mass burials for other divers and you knife out the name.

They have no right to remember him. They have no right to his name. No right to him.

Doesn’t matter what happens later.

What matters is that you did what you promised. Never again will he be reinforced, never again will he return to your ship, never again will he laugh with you late at night.

You could never save him — his grave unnamed place on a lovely hill and your hands are sticky with blood from torn callouses. You have been digging for a good hour before you were finally sure no one would marauder his body.

Time and continuous reinforcements will wipe his name out of your memory. But you will always remember the way sun shined on the tiny grave on Vog-Sojoth.

Unnamed and forgotten, he will lie resting.

You hope he gets a good sleep. You hope next time — maybe he will stay with you.

Maybe next time you won’t need to learn how to live without him.

Maybe next time you are a good person. And he still wants to be your friend.

Taglist: @synthe4u

[agentrouka-blog]

Nothing against Jonsas, but I feel like the "radiant" comment is widely misrepresented because toward the end of Agot before Ned's execution when Sansa thought he was going to be freed Arya uses the expression and even describes her hair and what she's wearing unlike Jon. In context of the scene with Sansa and Joffrey it seems like it refers more to how happy and excited she looked. Pretty sure Catelyn also recalls Lysa as being "radiant and dry-eyed" at some point in their double-wedding. Again, nothing against the ship itself, I just don't think it's accurate to read it like that, especially since 14 yo Jon was all drunk and moody and could have definitely been more descriptive.

First up, I agree that no one HAS to interpret the scene as some Jonsas do.

But we need to remain factually correct, as well. There are exactly 4 uses of the word radiant, and Arya is not among them. (This website is a wonderful gift for quickly checking quotes, btw.)

Here's how Arya describes Sansa:

And there in their midst was Sansa, dressed in sky-blue silk, with her long auburn hair washed and curled and silver bracelets on her wrists. Arya scowled, wondering what her sister was doing here, why she looked so happy. (AGOT, Arya V)

When Arya describes how Sansa is dressed, it paints an important contrast to the ragged deprivation that Arya has been suffering in Fleabottom for many days. And the term she uses is a very specific (and confused) "happy".

1 - Jon about Sansa:

His half sisters escorted the royal princes. Arya was paired with plump young Tommen, whose white-blond hair was longer than hers. Sansa, two years older, drew the crown prince, Joffrey Baratheon. He was twelve, younger than Jon or Robb, but taller than either, to Jon's vast dismay. Prince Joffrey had his sister's hair and his mother's deep green eyes. A thick tangle of blond curls dripped down past his golden choker and high velvet collar. Sansa looked radiant as she walked beside him, but Jon did not like Joffrey's pouty lips or the bored, disdainful way he looked at Winterfell's Great Hall. (AGOT, Jon I)

Since the beginning of the paragraph already establishes Sansa's presence, it was not necessary to include a description at all, and yet she is inserted again after an already lengthy description of Joffrey's handsome qualities. And not just casually. GRRM uses a pretty loaded word for absolutely no reason. Yes, "happy" is one important aspect of it, but why use "radiant", in particular when happy or any number of less ambiguous synonyms would have served just as well to contrast her mere disposition with Joffrey's attitude and with Jon's disapproval?

And how else does GRRM use the word in his books?

The other uses are:

2 - Catelyn about Lysa:

"I believe she liked me. Why was she crying?" "She's a maid on the eve of her wedding. A few tears are to be expected." Lysa had wept lakes the morning of their own wedding, though she had managed to be dry-eyed and radiant when Jon Arryn swept his cream-and-blue cloak about her shoulders. (AGOT, Catelyn VI)

Context:

"They made me marry him. I never wanted it." "No more than I did," her aunt said. "Jon Arryn was no dwarf, but he was old. You may not think so to see me now, but on the day we wed I was so lovely I put your mother to shame. But all Jon desired was my father's swords, to aid his darling boys.  (ASOS, Sansa VI)

I doubt Catelyn was mainly describing Lysa's exuberant happiness in that moment.

3 - Jaime about Cersei:

"How is Cersei? As beautiful as ever?" "Radiant." Fickle. "Golden." False as fool's gold.  (AFFC, Jaime V)

I also doubt that Jaime's main focus is Cersei's joyful disposition to answer his aunt's inquiry about her beauty.

4 - Reznak about Dany:

To rule Meereen I must win the Meereenese, however much I may despise them. "I am ready," she told Irri. Reznak and Skahaz waited atop the marble steps. "Great queen," declared Reznak mo Reznak, "you are so radiant today I fear to look on you." The seneschal wore a tokar of maroon silk with a golden fringe. A small, damp man, he smelled as if he had bathed in perfume and spoke a bastard form of High Valyrian, much corrupted and flavored with a thick Ghiscari growl. "You are kind to say so," Dany answered, in the same tongue. (ADWD, Daenerys I)

Is she thanking him for pointing out her incandescent joy? Or perhaps her appearance?

Clearly, this is a word that GRRM himself tends to particularly connotate with beauty, and given the rarity of its use in the books, it does stand out when Jon uses it to describe Sansa. It's extremely extra of him.

You don't have to agree with our conclusion. But that doesn't make it necessarily inaccurate according to what else is represented in the text. And the context.

[chessboredom]

It just hit me youre the smilk vibrator person... BWAHHAA but thank you for once again reminding THEY STILL FUCK UP THE TRANSLATIONS!!!... its been over 3 years crk pleaseeeeeee get better translators. (Its yu gi oh flash backs all over again)

Ahem so i was doing my good old stimming, then ideas. We all know candy apple has a HUGE crush on smilk in cannon (why do.. people erase that part of her i get it headcannons but its WHY she acts how she does!! Its erasing HER! Aus im fine with cuz well fuckin around and having fun) we know she isnt a fan of Tr and his relation with Smilk (girl you do not want that) it makes me think how would she act if Tr was there longer? Would Tr take advantage of that? Probably. ANYWAY

BACK to uh shadowvanilla, Sm probably updates his puppets when ever hes feeling a certain way about Pv/Tr or muliple puppets. Angry? A very crude puppet of them (like scribles) When Sm is happy, a very carefully maded puppet of pv/tr very accurate! I bet Sm would have just abunch of Pv/Tr puppets hanging around somewhere. OMG! Whenever Sm is upset at Pv/Tr for something he makes puppet shows of him basically insulting them to candy apple and black sapphire. Candy apple wanting to add to the slander but Sm is the only one allowed to do that (cuz he is POSSIVE, but candy apple is happy never the less to hear pv/tr being insulted)

Man those goofy twin idea stuff is rattling in me brain. Also i heard you wanna ramble.. i shall COME CLOSERRRR!! Mwehehe! I fear NOTHING!! -signed I kinda wanna write fanfic but my laptop keyboard is missing the A key

BAHAHAHHAHAHSHAJHA. "Smilk vibrator person" funniest fucking shit to remember me by. But I'm shameless. Anything just to make people see that Korean translations are superior AND gayer. (The current cake hound in the arena actually has romantic feelings for the cream sheep. SHADOWVANILLA WIN!!)

People keep doing Candy Apple Cookie dirty frrrrrr. Her entire personality is literally being obsessed with Shadow Milk and doing everything for Shadow Milk. And oh my GOD. You have NO IDEA how excited I am to show you a comparison between En and Kr THIS line of Candy Apple right now. (I'll soon a post of this in my translations blog.)

I couldn't care less to give a transcript of this right now, but as what the english translations ALWAYS write it to make everything NUANCE amd MYSTERIOUS. For WHAT.

Right!! And did you see that he was happy when he lost the chess game? Did you see that??

I'd give up every last drop of my syrup if only Shadow Milk Cookie could smile...

If it's because of another cookie and not me, I absolutely hate it~~!!!!!!!

Shadow Milk Cookie, what do you like so much about that cooke?! Cookies that have a faint vanilla scent with nonpower at all...!!!

Of COURSE Kr translation always ON POINT. "He was happy when he lost-" (Shadow Milk smiling"-because of another cookie" "Shadow Milk Cookie, what do you like so much about that cooke?!" CLOCK HIS GAY ASS CANDY APPLE COOKIE!!!!

Now with the Candy Apple Cookie thing presented above. HAHAHA. I don't think she's going to be happy about SHADOW MILK being GENUINELY HAPPY while INSULTING TRUTHLESS RECLUSE. She'd be on her KNEES, eyes watering, shaking amd begging that he rather make up insults about HER instead. Korean Smilk literally doesn't insult anyone BUT Pure Vanilla by calling him "half a penny" meaning fool because PV is his special little guy.(We need to KILL Shadow Milk Cookie.) Black Sapphire would also be like 😐"Why are you putting so much effort on these dolls, Master Shadow Milk Cookie?" And then Smilk would come up with some excuse, that's an obvious lie AND oblivious yearning, and having to listen to it makes him homophobic by the second.(Bsc: Okay faggot.) (I headcanon that Black Sapphire is gay. And I think the ship BlackBell is SO cute wtf. Make them toxic NOWWWW.)

AUGHH I'm gonnan do the Twin Lunar and Solar cookie and SagexRecluse rambling on a different post or else I'm gonna combust and be ashes(it's already 6 am on a school day help.)(And then I'll rise again!! Because I'm STILL DRAWING THE IDEAS.)

[echooefrost]

TGS MEDIEVAL AU :0

Is this Historically accurate? no. Does that matter? no.

Alright, This is gonna be a lot, so thou shalt be warned

In the Au, Robert is a prince and Lanyon Sr. is the King, they rule over a small kindom somewhere in England - name TBA (so not like real monarchies which rule over entire countries etc.) The premise is basically; The Lanyon's personal/private doctor recently passed away so they call in a new doctor/chemist from Scotland - did you guess? yep, It's Jekyll. Hyde exists before Henry/Edward meets Robert (I haven't worked out the exact logistics about it yet, but I will) Jekyll/Hyde are more Chemists/Alchemists than Doctors but they are both still very good doctors regardless (so they don't really wear the 'plague mask' thing) I aged only Jekyll, Hyde and Lanyon down to about their early 20's so it matches around the original timing of when J&H met Robert in TGS. There are other smaller reasons but they aren't to important, all you need to know is that it doesn't really change anything

Lanyon is betrothed to Everly from a neighbouring kingdom -this is where it differs slightly from TGS, it's a political marriage not a lavender marriage. Neither Robert nor Everly are happy about this however, they are both only children in royalty so they don't really have an option.

Hyde is essentially the local gremlin that has in-built eyebags and a sense to sell you things not very discreetly that he probably shouldn't be selling. His Cape is comedically large and has a very extensive collection of illegal powders, drugs, and other nefarious items. Almost everybody knows Hyde becasue at some point they have all needed some rare item from him. - this is where the blackfog comes in (yes it exists!) the Blackfog is basically the same but Hyde really wants to go so he can buy/sell lots of items for his little side-business he has going on, however Lanyon Sr. is opposed to it and it's existence because well... illegal.

*Hyde also goes by: The Spirit of [insert Kingdom's name] at night (soooooo original, ik)

Jekyll stays pretty much the same, He really cares about his reputation so he can move up on the social ladder and create his own Science business at some point, and I mean he doesn't want to make a fool of himself in front of the King of all people, that wouldn't be a very good look, would it?

In this universe, The lodgers are all citizens of the small kingdom and they all sort of have different occupations/roles in the town. They can't all be scientists, but do not fear because they still as equally crazy and chaotic as before. Rachel is the Lanyon's personal chef but she also helps run the bakery in town with Mr. Doddle. Jasper looks after most of the animals and creatures in the kingdom, he used to be a farmer but moved to get away from home. I am yet to work out how Jekyll and Jaspers relationship dynamic stays the same in this universe but I will figure something out.

There is A LOT of Jekyon and Lanyde going on here, so I've got something for everyone, (there may or may not be a masquerade at some point...) and it's not just centred around romance, there is lots of other plot stuff happening so do not fear my ace/aro friends (or just people who aren't a fan of romance)!

That's most of it for now... I'll draw some more stuff at some point and give some extra details, If you have any questions please ask (my asks are open) I'd love to hear from you all!!! Don't be afraid to offer any suggestions or other criticisms. Maybe I'll write a fanfic one day who knows, we will see.

Thanks for listening to my rant (*^▽^*)

*Footnote - I don't think you guys realise how hard it was to make hyde not look like either A.) a fucking elf or B.) Link. Did I succeed? not sure.

[saltydoesstuff]

King Bowser! Raph head canons

Wanted to hop on the train of the Four kings au with some head canons! Going off of the 2023 Mario movie and just what I know about Bowser in my experience (which isn't a whole lot so I'm sorry if some things are not accurate)--

CW: Kidnapping, Implied violence?

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

Much like Bowser, King Raph would be a powerful and often feared ruler to the other Kingdoms. He is seen as aggressive and impulsive, quick to react with a fight if anything offends the King. His anger can blind him, which as much as it can get him what he wants- it also can be his downfall.

But he is not heartless. Raph takes good care of his kingdom and his people, which leads to his citizens being very loyal to his cause. So long as you follow his rule, you are protected under his care. I mean, have you seen how the King fawns and babies the stray animals he finds?

Big puppy energy. This man is very lonely and kind of awkward when it comes to anything outside of war and conflict. He leans more towards a tsundere way of dealing with his feelings, brushing them off as quickly as they come with a huff of smoke from his nostrils or a growl. He is the King. He must not show weakness. But around you, he like an excited puppy. Stumbling over his words and twiddling his claws like a love drunken fool.

Would do absolutely anything for you. Want to sit on his throne? Go ahead! A piranha plant bit you? It can't bite you anymore when its ash! He would conquer any land or defeat any foe if it meant keeping you by his side. Just say the words and he's sending armies to take care of it. Has absolutely no idea how to be normal about crushes. Raph always just takes what he wants, why would you be any different? Expect to be kidnapped a lot by this big guy. Doesn't matter if you live in his kingdom or not, he will always find a way to snag you away to spend time with you. Though he is very gentle with you, so you are never harmed in these schemes. You seem to be the only person he can't be truly angry at. It's... a bit unnerving to his guards sometimes. But if keeping you around means they get thrown into the dungeon less, they don't really mind. If you choose to come with him willingly, he is over the moon! He is all over you giving you affection, carrying you around in his arms like the princess he sees you as (Though he hopes to soon make you a Queen). Despite all his spikes and his horns and sharp teeth, he is very cuddly. He'll often rest his head in your lap with his arms wrapped around you, churring loudly as you give him head rubs and gentle scritches. His tail will thump loudly behind him as well, which has knocked things off of shelves and tables more than once with the mini earthquakes it produces. Is very quick to jealousy. King Raph is often seen as scary or seen as a monster most times, which leaves him insecure about his appearance from time to time. He's afraid that you're scared of him too and will leave him for someone less 'monstrous' like his brothers, making him very clingy each time he thinks you're showing any signs of disinterest towards him. You're the one person he does not want scared of him. Please don't leave him or see him as a monster. His heart wouldn't be able to take it. :(

Overall, Raph is very brash and impulsive, but very kind and compassionate as well. Gives kind of wet cat energy in a weird way. He really is just trying his best here, even if his actions come off as intense.

[wayfayrr]

Here is the menace with your chosen word Farewell. So gather 'round, sit back, relax and please stay in your seat. Kick your feet up and grab some popcorn. Oh, and of course, lest we not forget, enjoy the show.

Now here is a Reader, that one of the boys is looking for, what seems like for millennias. This is Navi!Reader.

Instead of Navi, Time called them Reader.

They have blue wings and they change colour depending on their emotions.

Their glow also changes it's colour depending on their emotion.

Red is anger/ worried.

Yellow is focused/ determined.

Green is happy/ sick (like when you spin to often).

White is fear.

Blue is calm.

Pink is embarrassed/ flustered.

With that they are one of the very few fairies that doesn't have white wings and glow pink. And now the only one.

Beneath the light Reader wears a blue toga with green ends and a Sakura petal pattern, that petals 🌸, with golden a vein-like belt and pair of shoes, which looks more like an accessory than shoes.

They are the last fairy of the Kokiri and knows what happened to them.

They also saw how the Kroks came to life.

They hide inside the Deku Tree since they left Time as a child.

Sage found them as he slept inside the Deku Tree, since then he always has them around.

They call him "my little Zonai".

He knows that they went through something horrible and they told him about the time travels, the Kokiri, the Kroks. But they left Time out, as he maybe wanted to keep his privacy.

They feel incredibly guilty for leaving Time behind, but they had to.

If they wouldn't come back to the Deku Tree after their purpose was fulfilled they would've died in Time's hands.

I'd like to believe that Reader is Time's first love. He only got along with Saria for as long as he can remember, but then there comes Reader. His very own Fairy the very thing that caused him of being an outcast as he didn't had one.

Since then Reader was with him, nevermind if it was underwater or in a volcano. Reader was by his side and is the only one who REALLY knows how Time feels as they also got kicked back in time before Ganondorf attacked.

Reader was his partner, friend and guide. They teached him how to hold the sword and shield properly. They told him about the monsters around him and how to kill them easily or their weaknesses or helped him focus by flying around the monster's weak points. So he can kill them easier or that his shot is more accurate.

As a fairy they are immortal as long as they have a purpose they don't die beyond the borders of the Lost Woods, if their purpose allows them to cross it.

They love sweets and kinda act like a hummingbird as they normally ate/ drank(?) sweet nectar from the forest flowers.

They are scared of Skulltulas and they got stuck in their webs a few times in the Forest Temple and the old Deku Tree.

Time was their very first friend and so they always hope that he lives a good life.

If anyone would've told them that he went into the Lost Woods to look for them. They would be happy and disappointed as they don't want him to hold onto them.

They were his mouth for the first instances as he was too overwhelmed with everything, from being destined to purge the evil to stepping outside of the forest. He was just shy at first as he never met adults so they talked for him until he got the courage to do it himself!

They call him "my Kokiri".

Their Song is "Airplanes" from BOB feat Hayley Williams and Eminem.

How they met/reunited.

Reader's PoV:

I flew around searching that idiot who put me in a bottle! I flew around and saw him, Link. I was seeing red and completely disregarded the group that was talking to him.

„YOU IDIOT LINK! I APPRECIATE YOUR CONCERN BUT DON'T PUT ME IN A BOTTLE!! I ALMOST DIED AS IT SHATTERED!! I AM IMMORTAL BUT THAT ONLY MEANS THAT I CAN'T DIE OF AGE NOT INJURIES!! YOU IDIOT! MORON!! FOOL!!!“ I stomped with my foot the air in anger and he looked at me surprised and shocked.

„Sorry? But how should I protect you?! You are a frail and tiny fairy!! I thought you are safe in there!!“

„I WAS WITH ONE HERO ALREADY!! I WAS WITH HIM THROUGH HIS WHOLE JOURNEY!!! I KNOW, HOW TO DODGE ATTACKS AND AVOID MONSTERS!!! I DID IT MULTIPLE TIMES!! YES, I'M SMALL BUT DOESN'T MEAN I'M HELPLESS, LINK!!!“ I screamed at him but he didn't budge.

„But you don't know how the monsters here are you hid inside the Deku Tree for millennias! You saw more of the changes of Hyrule than all of Hyrule together! And You where only inside the Lost Woods! In your little house!!“

„Uhm... Excuse me?“ Our heads snap to the interrupting Hylian and screamed unison.

„WHAT?! DON'T JUST INTERRUPT OUR CONVERSATION!!“ but the Hylian just looked at me.

„Reader, is that you?“ he came nearer to us.

„That's my name how do you know... Wait a minute...“ I flew around him and his eyes looked so hopeful and scared at the same time.

But this sparkles in his eyes as he looked at me. I immediately knew who it was and hugged his cheek.

„Link?! The little Link!? My Kokiri!!“ he held his hands carefully around me, in fear to hurt me or that I will disappear any second.

„Reader it's really you! I thought, I will never see you again!“

„Me neither. As my purpose was fulfilled, I had to go back to the Woods or I would've died in your little hands and I didn't want that! So how have you been? You look so tall compared from the last time I saw you and I see you have sons! Many of them.“ one of the hero's children spit out his water or whatever he was drinking and was coughing roughly.

„They are not my children, Reader! Twilight is my descendant but the others aren't mine.“

„Twilight? You were never good with name giving were you?“ I shook my head disapprovingly.

„It's not like that! We all are called Link and Twilight is the Hero of Twilight that's why he has that nickname!“

„Ohhh... Sorry, just thought as they look a bit like you, especially the young one, his eyes promise that he is a gremlin like you.“ the man before me began to blush.

„Stop that!“

„Wait! You were with Time as he was child?“ asked one of the boys, he had a white cape with the Master Sword on his back.

„Well, kind of. I heard much about him from other fairies but also witnessed it myself. I was with that little Kokiri since the beginning of his journey and travelled through time with him.“ I looked at my now hero who looked shocked at me.

„You never told me, you were the guide of the Hero of Time!“ I tilted my head.

„Well, I wanted to respect Link's privacy and I was confused as I didn't know if you knew him as the Hero of Time or not. As we got send back in time and it was before Ganondorf tried to get the Triforce. So I didn't know how to explain that part very well. I'm really sorry, my little Zonai!“ I flew towards the young man with difficulty as my Kokiri didn't want to let me go but he just hugged me.

„I'm not mad and never would be. You've been through so much so I forgive now come we have to go. Hyrule doesn't save itself.“ he smiled something he did very rarely nowadays but it seem off like their was something sinister and possessive behind it. But my purpose was to travel with him and help him open his heart!

„Okay... See you again my Kokiri. I'm sure of it and it was a pleasure to met the other heroes and your descendant!“ I waved with a green yellow glow before following my Zonai who walked away but I didn't see his smug smirk or the glare that Kokiri gave the Zonai.

After the Zonai defeated the Demon Dragon I was about to fly back to the Deku Tree as my purpose was fulfilled but Link put me into a bottle again.

„Link! Let Me Out!!“

„I can't do that you will leave me again!!“

„Please! I have to go back to the Woods! You can visit me but please let me go!!!“ I sounded desperate as I felt my strength dwindling.

„NO! I WANT YOU WITH ME!! YOU WERE WITH ME!!!“

„This time you don't pack up and leave like back then Reader! I should have put you in a bottle back then.“ My Kokiri... His voice sounded so stern...

My consciousness disappeared more and more that I would wake up and fall back in the black every now and then.

„Reader...?“ I didn't know who spoke but it was like I could hear the bottle opening but I already lied there on the bottom of the bottle I was to weak.

I only felt how I fell out of the bottle into a hand. „Woods... I... Need... To... The... Woods...“ I whispered and suddenly I hear the two which normally fought the most running for their or my life.

Then I got snatched into the hand of another hero he gave me sugar water but that only kept me alive for a little while longer. Then he took of running again. He was definitely faster than the other two. But I didn't know if we could make it to the Lost Woods in time. Then I felt the familiar fog around me and I got my strength back.

„Ah... You came back, my child of the past.“ I sat up in the hands and looked at the Great Deku Tree.

„Sorry... For the delay... Had some... Challenges to conquer...“ I breathed in and out before turning to my hero, which was the Hero of Legends.

I kissed his cheek before circling around him. „Thank you! You are my hero!! If you wouldn't got me here, I would have died!!“

He got little red in embarrassment as the heroes didn't get much gratitude and appreciation but he nodded. So I flew to the Deku Tree.

„Purpose fulfilled, Great Deku Tree. The evil was purged and the hero is save and sound with the princess! So mission was successfully accomplished!!“ I said cheerfully.

„Can I ask something?“ said the hero.

„Of course, young hero. What can I do for you?“

„Is it possible that Reader can come with us? They know more about the shadow than any of us. They just have to see him and know as what he is hiding. We really need that help.“

„I understand. Reader get the light.“

„Really but Deku Tree that should be kept hidden until the world needs it again!“ I called out to him.

„I know young one, but you are the only being here old enough to use it and move. So your new task is to help this heroes with the light.“

„Understood, Deku Tree! I will go and get it!“ I disappeared into the Deku Tree and up to the crown, where I found the Minish hiding like me.

I didn't have to say anything. The little creatures gave me the Force. It may be not as strong as the Triforce but its for use for the heroes. I hoped, that these two calmed down by now. The light disappeared into my body and my body lighten up as I grew. My wings were bigger same with my body. It was strange but my shine was now dimmer, that means they would be able to see my toga I HAVE NO UNDERWEAR!! Good, flying is now forbidden Reader!! I stepped out of the Deku Tree and only saw the heroes standing on the resting place of the Master Sword with their jaws dropped, wide eyes and red.

„Seems like you still have a guide my dear heroes. I'm Reader, your fairy guide! If you have any questions just ask away!“ I said with a wink and a mock salute.

That's how they got Navi!Reader in their group until they fulfilled their task. But the Chain will find a way to keep them with the group until then. That's also the only Chain where Sage kinda listens to Time. Well, mostly because of Reader as Time was their partner in the past and they wouldn't be happy if they would fight. But as soon as all of them fall in love they will also notice that Reader doesn't fly as much as usual. Well as soon they find out the why, they are red with a nosebleed while Reader is screeching in embarrassment and explain that as a fairy they never needed things like underwear. Well, Wild hopes for a try again for his camera, Sage too. Wind wants them as his guide like Time, maybe with a little puppy crush. But at the end they try to solve the issue with the Triforce that Reader doesn't die when they leave the border of the Lost Woods. But Reader doesn't understand courting traditions from the Hylian as they are a Fairy. But Hyrule as a half Fae so he has more modern versions of Fairy courtship. So he is the only one who gets Reader to understand that they are being courted. But the others will see that and do the same, which confuses them dearly as it's a very sudden change in their opinion.

Navi!reader is an interesting concept, seeing as there is going to be one hero with a giant attachment to them first and foremost.

Time, if he gets the chance is never going to let them go ever. especially now that they have a more hylian form and can

[gachagon]

I love it when characters who were previously incredibly pompous and egotistical realize that the pedestal they've placed themselves on is actually worthless given the current situation they're now in.

Kaiser is realizing now that his idea of what it takes to be on top, to be the best striker is wrong and that it's probably been wrong for a while. And that's really got to suck, because while Kaiser has accomplished a lot of great things, ultimately his goal pales in comparison to the people he now has to go up against. Isagi and the other Blue Locker's aren't just there to rise up the ranks slowly, this is a last man standing program and Kaiser isn't strong enough to stand on his own.

He had become a great player, but he's not the best player. And he needs to be better in order to even have that position of acclaim in the first place. I am reminded of what Isagi taunted him with earlier, calling him a "Naked Emperor/King" which is an obvious reference to the "Emperor's New Clothes".

In that short story, a king orders himself new clothing that outshines everyone else and so the court creates "Invisible Clothing that only he can see" for the King. The king accepts the clothes and "wears" them, and so to him he is wearing the finest cloak imaginable, but to everyone else he is just a naked man making a fool of himself.

In a way, Kaiser ended up being the naked emperor in that he only came to the realization that his past achievements weren't good enough to stay in the team until this very game with Isagi.

I really think that fear of losing everything he worked for was always holding him back from really going above and beyond as well, because while he does have the support of a partner to do passes for him and he's able to read the field accurately, he doesn't take chances that tougher opponents hand him.

His backstory as a thief really puts this into perspective too because thieves wait for the right moment to strike instead of going out into the open to steal. And just like a thief, everything they get is "unearned" because they just take it from other people. In a way, you could almost say Kaiser's position as the best and the king was unearned because he hadn't actually done what needed to be done in order to get to that level.

And that's why I think this makes him so upset when Ness rattles off all of the thing's he's done, because ultimately none of those things will really amount to anything if he can't keep control of this team and be the best among them. It won't matter if he's scored a goal in every match, or if he's gotten offers from top teams, his goal is to be better than everyone and right now some dude from a no name prefecture in Japan is wiping the floor with him, and easily.

You really gotta feel sorry for Ness too, because he thinks of himself as one of Kaiser's "accomplishments" in a way, but Kaiser literally doesn't care about him enough. He just see's Ness as a tool to use, someone who's easily replaceable and loyal like a dog.

My moot (@miyamiwu) made a really good observation about how Ness might just leave Kaiser soon if he doesn't keep playing in that magical way that captured Ness in the first place, and I think that's true now especially since Kaiser himself seems to also realize it. When he's thinking about all of the achievements he could potentially lose if he doesn't win this, Ness is one of them.

"I thought I was becoming human." Is so sad too because I think deep down he really did think that by being close to Ness that he was truly becoming a normal player, that he was on the fast track to achieving his goals. But because he doesn't really know what that goal is anymore, the rug has been pulled from under him now and he has to literally reevaluate what is probably years worth of self reflection.

I also think this chapter is Kaiser ditching the rose as a symbol of his ego because he's truly looking back on things and realizing that the object that really gave him solace wasn't that symbol of the impossible, but the soccer ball itself. He is coming to terms with the fact that without soccer, he doesn't have anything at all, and that it is the only reason he was even able to get this far or have the courage to fight back against his abusive shitty dad.

Instead of the rose tattoo being here, we see there's a new tattoo that's prominent now and it's in the shape of a crown. And rather than being in a place where he's most vulnerable (his neck), the tattoo is on his hand, which I think symbolizes how he is able to take his own freedom and by extension his own place as a king with his own two hands.

Kaiser's solitude is something he really needs to become the best, because if he can't do it alone, than he can't do it at all. He is clinging desperately to the things he has managed to gather throughout these years, including Ness' loyalty and he's so afraid of losing even one of those things that it's making him a worse player.

However, whether or not being totally alone is what he needs to heal as a person is another thing entirely, which is ultimately why I don't think Kaiser will ever beat Isagi and that if he does it'd actually be the worst ending for him. Throughout this entire manga, Kaiser comes off as a really calculated person who's always thinking ten steps ahead, but inside he is just a damaged kid who is using soccer as his one means of coping with the trauma he faced as child.

And that phrasing "I thought I was becoming human" really just makes me feel so sad for Kaiser, because to him if he doesn't have soccer he is less than human and has nothing to give back to the world. He has never allowed himself any time to just be a normal teenager and just make friends in a healthy way, and the one friend he does have might just up and leave if he's not playing in a groundbreaking way. He thinks so lowly of himself that he hinges his entire identity around how other people perceive his abilities in the game, and if he's not the best at the game, he surely can't matter that much as a player, no matter how much Ness tries to placate him with words about how he's "already done enough".

Ego Jinpachi said it as well after Nagi made his really good goal, that some people are content with just being average and "good" instead of being great. And that it's because they're content with where they are in life, that they never advance at all. The idea that they are totally fine in their current position makes them lose the drive they normally would have if they weren't still thinking about trying to get better.

And Blue Lock's philosophy hinges on the player wanting to always get better and better and beat the other players on the field. Being "good" is never enough, hell being "Great" isn't enough at times, you need to be the best forever. You need to make it so that dethroning you is an uphill battle.

[doctor-hopper]

Tbf I think there will always be a variety of ways to interpret him anyway! Ask 5 different theorists or fic writers a non-surface-level question about him and you'll get 7 different answers.

The idea of a komaedologist hierarchy is sending me though. We should all be put in a killing game and the winner gets to declare their takes canon.

Yeah!! Komaeda pluralism, baby! Honestly, I think no one in the world can write the very same Komaeda as someone else. And even if I fundamentally disagree with them, I love reading Weird Takes more than cookie-cutter ones. If nothing else, they can help you clarify your own position in a dimension you never thought of befo—

Er, I mean, Komaeda is mine, move over Megumi and move over God, he’s mine, what fools these mortals be, he’s my OC and if anyone thinks they can out-Komaeda me I am going to…

…Actually, no, probably not “be the first Blackened”. More accurately I am going to curl up in my cabin, paralyzed in fear and overanalysis, questioning the very foundations of my autistic sphere of confidence, going “but what if they’re right though”.

[petals2fish]

@kay-elle-cee here’s a transcript of my live blogging of chapter nine of ISOSM:

Hello I am starting this live transcript review in my notes app because this is just what I do now I guess.

WELCOME TO PETALS LIVEBLOGS FIC.

Ahem. Let’s dive in.

Chapter 9: Abundance.

Hope it means abundance of sex JFC.

A continuation of my Jilytober 2023 Day 7 fic.

We need to discuss the chokehold this fic has had on me since 2023?!?!

I will be locking most of my fics—including this one—to registered users in the coming weeks due to the AI data scraping of Ao3. Every single one of my fics (with the exception of my recent April Fool’s oneshot) were scraped to train AI, and that just...feels bad, man. More information on this in the end notes so you can just get to reading!

TELL EM BABY

“Is there something you’re not telling me, Lily?”

Dorcas and I are both the aunties looking at our watches like “WHEN ARE YOU GONNA HAVE BABIES?! I WANT TO HAVE A NIECE OR NEPHEW BEFORE I DIE YOU KNOW.”

Rising to her feet as James strolls through the doorway, Lily notices a shift in the lighting of the room, the sun somehow filling it even more.

BABYGIRL THATS CALLED BEING IN LOVE YOU DUMB BITCH STOP HOLDING IT IN AND TELL HIM

“It is not silly,” he says in a low voice, bringing a hand to the small of her back.

Any time his hand reaches for the small of her back I’m like: 🤭🫠😏😏😏😏😏👹👹👹👹

As the time around them regains its usual passage, Lily and James stand there—fewer than three feet apart, eyes locked, faces flushed—and she finds herself utterly and completely lost in a sea of adoration, emphasized in large part by the steady, unyielding thrumming of her heart.

Stop being such a good writer god damn it. It’s making me love you more.

SAMANTHA AND DORCAS MY GIRLS JOKING IMMEDIATELY ABOUT JILY HAHAHA LOVE THEM CLASSIC SAMCAS

Lily reaches for some of the refreshing lemonade while Dorcas twists a grape off the vine and pops it into her mouth with a sound of satisfaction.

Oh to be period girlies having a picnic and discussing our lives with no qualms in the world 🤗

“The two of them shag like rabbits but heaven forbid they talk about their feelings.”

CLASSIC JILY HAHAHAHA

“I don’t need to speak to lord potter.”

yeah that man would do anything for Lily. ANYTHING.

OOP HES TOUCHING THE SMALL OF HER BACK AGAIN 🥵😏👹🫠 Abundance as a chapter title was referenced the abundance of small touches sending Petals to her grave.

Something about this picture creates a warmth in her chest, and she steps in closer, resting her head on his shoulder as they walk. Wordlessly, James reaches for the bouquet she holds between them, moving it to his other hand so that he can twine his fingers with hers.

DARE I SAY THE BEST PARAGRAPH YOH HAVE EVER WRITTEN?!?!

Listen my girl Samantha just wants to marry a hot woman and be everyone’s favorite auntie, I’m calling it.

I fear I cannot accurately explain to you the marked difference in my existence now that you are beside me.

OKAY MR DARCY DAMN LET ME BREATHE WITHOUT SWOONING FOR ONCE GOD DAMN

THE END

Ugh excellent boiled potatoes chapter, very good, compliments to the chef.

[bsverryin]

: ̗̀➛ Rizz-ing up genshin men pt.2

Who?

╰┈➤ Alhaitham, Kaeya, Wanderer, Neuvillette, Childe

Plot?

╰┈➤ how you became friends to lovers from rizzing them up.

✎ possible warning ⚠️ mention of alcohol. Neuvillette is not CHARACTER ACCURATE I just wanted to include him because he's hot Fluff/wholesome how you became their friend, lover after. HEAD CANNONS ONLY !! I don't know if it's character accurate enough but I tried my best, again I can't assure you of PERFECT grammar, enjoy!

: ̗̀➛ ALHAITHAM

Alhaitham didn't let it slide right after you tried to rizz him, he didn't have time for these childish things such as the thing called rizz, but this man also has that unspoken rizz. I can't even deny that

Alhaitham saved you from mentally dying because of you being careless around the sumeru, basically you were about to get tricked to spend all your money to have someone to guide you throughout the sumeru, turns out that doesn't exist in sumeru. They can't blame you, you're a visitor from another nation.

"Does the nation you live in teach you to be a fool or are you just that naive?" Alhaitham said. He was annoyed because you gave him more work which is saving you from being too nice and careless.

"No but it's important to be nice at all times." You said a little concerned, you were about to spend all your money on random strangers you just met, it was because they looked nice. It was your reason.

"That doesn't apply here." He sighed and he walked with you inside the sumeru watching you buy things that you won't even need. You're a rich person from the other land, he can't stop you and all he did was watch you. I guess it wasn't so bad for alhaitham to spend his free time with you.

After a few hours, you finally stopped shopping and you felt as if alhaitham felt happy and relieved that you're done. You stood in front of him to smile and you gave him a gift as a thanks, it was the most expensive jewelry you found on sumeru that fits alhaitham's style.

He was going to refuse your gift but you said it was your thanks and asked for his number, he was hesitating to give his number to someone he just met but he thought that it won't be that bad, that's what he thought. He regretted his decision when you kept texting him and rizz-ing him up all the time, he might've just put his phone on do not disturb but then finds himself looking for your messages.

You got closer through chats despite him leaving you on read most of the time and telling you to stop sending unnecessary messages sometimes you meet him and give him expensive gifts, it was your love language.

After months and months of being friends You confessed first, if he rejected you, you'd go back to your hometown but if he didn't maybe you'll stay for a while.

"What made you think that I don't appreciate someone like you? Y/N?"

: ̗̀➛ Childe

Childe knows what rizz is and he lets you rizz him because he doesn't see why not?! You both rizz each other up and boost each other's confidence, you have this very healthy relationship with him which is really good for the both of you.

You were up all night strategizing how you can steal toys for your little brother, your little brother doesn't show much emotion but this time your little brother showed so much interest over a toy, it was the first time he did, you wanted to be the best big sister and give him the toy he liked, however you didn't have much money for the toy.

"Hey girlie, it's not right to steal a toy.." someone behind you said as you shiver in fear, feeling scared that someone caught you from stealing something expensive.

You were about to run but he caught up to you saying that he will buy it for you since he's buying it for his little brother too, the man didn't look so bad and had fun talking about how much he loves his family. You thought it was weird at first but he wasn't so bad.

"how can I repay you?" You said curiously, he chuckled and said you didn't have to but you're so persuasive that he just asked for your number and that's all, he texted you first and started rizzing you up but he tries his best not to creep you out, in fact he was the one who taught you how to rizz someone up.

For some reason you got much better than him at rizz-ing up someone, you both got along so well and he was such a nice guy he may have confessed that he was part of a harbinger which made you act really surprised but didn't really know what it was about.

He confessed first, he loved the way that you're family-oriented just like him and you got along so well talking about your families and yourself at the same time, you loved him too much to reject him.

"You're really cute. Do you know that, YN?"

: ̗̀➛ WANDERER

Wanderer is always annoyed by you trying to rizz him up, but some part of it he can't deny that he likes it but he still hates it, he may have blocked you a thousand times but still unblocking you days later because you're his little pet.

"You crazy creature, what are you doing with that low-life creature?" Wanderer said with his annoyed and disgusted glare after looking at you trying to experiment the abyss mage he killed.

"I'm scientist Y/n at your service!" You gave him a positive-smiling look while you're putting your gloves on in the middle of a forest. Yes, you're experimenting an abyss mage in a forest. He gave you a look while you're experimenting the dead mage.

After finishing, you asked for his number so that he can kill those monsters who you'll use for your experiments, but he didn't give his number easily. You persuaded him successfully in return you'll do everything he asks. That's when you started to message him all the time, trying to rizz him which he ends up blocking you. You had to meet him and ask for him to unblock you sometimes.

"One more message like that and I'll never unblock you again." You chuckled when you heard his words as he started to kill the next abyss mage you're gonna experiment on, after that he made you run a lot of errands for him just because he killed the abyss mage for you. You had no choice but to do anything he asks.

The only time where you get along with each other is when you're both not talking and minding your own business because if not then it's always gonna be a war. You both are prideful and too much for each other but it wasn't that bad.

Again, you both are prideful that it took years for you to confess your feelings towards wanderer, you realized that you loved it whenever you're with him and annoying him as much as you can because he doesn't get mad as much as before but he still does. Surprisingly, he liked you back but you never knew the reason why.

"You're so silly thinking I don't like you. Scientist Y/N"

: ̗̀➛ Neuvillette

Neuvillette is so nonchalant but he loves it when you rizz him up, it makes him real happy but he doesn't show it, another man who doesn't like showing emotions.

You met this man when you were wandering in the streets around Fontaine, you didn't know where to go. Everyone was so private that they thought you were an enemy because you didn't dress like them.

That's where you saw neuvillette, he was having a little break and walking around Fontaine, it was his usual hobby walking around his own city and you knew him because everyone kept talking about him, some are good some aren't. You decided to go off and talk to this man and everyone around Fontaine looked at you like you were crazy.

It was a good decision at least, you got his number because you kept telling him you're poor, had no place to live and you're thrown out maybe he felt a little pity for you but he may have regretted the decision of telling you his number because all you did was rizz him up message him about what's the best thing to do in Fontaine, you didn't seem and sound like a poor person at all so he considered himself tricked by you but he still has a good heart and didn't block you.

You were cheerful around him, he was having a great time with you but for some reason you try and rizz him up whenever you had the chance too.

"Stop saying the same pick-up lines over and over again." He said as he sipped his tea while you ate a lot of good Fontaine specialty, it was his treat of course.

"It's not my fault you look heavenly!" You smiled and teased him a lot. After all, you couldn't pay him as much as he was spending to you.

He liked you first but you confessed first because of trying so hard to rizz him up you really did fall in love with him he was everything you could ever ask for.

"Y/N, just tell me when you want to meet me, I'll be waiting for your cheesy pickup lines."

: ̗̀➛ KAEYA

Kaeya owns the word rizz tbh he just has too many rizz and both of you just exchange your rizz lines and you both just got used to it, he likes it when you rizz him up as he does the same with you. You were casually drinking and making friends when you spotted kaeya, You decided to rizz him up without any questions, it was the best thing you ever did because you got his number easily, you message him a lot and send over the most rizz lines. It was a little unfair because he had all the world's rizz and he's just so cool all the time, he may be busy sometimes but you're his favorite lady and gives you half of his time, you drink with him and talk about many life related things. "Do you think I have more rizz than you?" you asked before drinking the dandelion wine you ordered. "I don't know, you wanna find out?" Kaeya said with the most flirtatious tone with his little smirk, you both kept flirting with each other overtime. You appreciated the way he gives you time despite his pretty busy schedule after all he was part of the knights of favonius. You both didn't confess at each other because you both knew you liked each other mutually, you both started a relationship because you knew it yourselves. He was sweet and all you could ever ask for. "Let's have another drink for the night, Y/N"

[16eggsforxio]

cheat code

Joshua x Reader

1386 words, fluff, established relationship

Summary: Joshua isn’t eating his vegetables. Thankfully, you have a trick others don’t.

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

“Do you think you could get Joshua to eat his carrots?”

Clive had approached you in the Ale Hall, somewhat hesitantly. Only a fool wouldn’t have figured out he was asking for a favour, so you had coaxed it out of him, and after a few reluctant sighs and furtive glances away, he finally blurted out the question.

You stopped chewing on your bread. “I beg your pardon?”

He shook his head. “I know it sounds ridiculous.”

“Well… it’s just sudden.”

“No, it is quite ridiculous, to be asking for your assistance in feeding my brother… vegetables.” Clive was frowning, but you were starting to find it amusing. “I’d turned a blind eye to it for the longest time, but Tarja and Jote have been more vocal about it recently.”

“Ah.” You dropped the piece of bread back onto your plate, leaning backwards. “And you ask me… because?”

You knew why, but you also knew Clive was funny to tease. He furrowed his brows. “Because you are his beloved?”

“Annnnnd..?”

Clive crossed his arms, eyes closed and heaved a sigh. “And you are the only one I could possibly count on to convince him.”

Your mouth stretched into a grin and you stood up, leaning forward to slap Clive on the arm. “Consider it done, Lord Rosfield!”

A string of grumbles left his mouth—probably something about always having to pay praises to you to get you to do something, but whatever. You had a very important assignment, and it was to deliver some very important nutrients to your very important, very adorable blond little prince.

You brought your arms up to stretch, taking a few paces forward. First, you weren’t a chef yourself, so you’d have to acquire an assortment of vegetables…

Before you could make a move on, Clive gripped your shoulder. You turned your head to glance back at him. He had an oddly grim look on his face, for the topic of vegetables.

“I know he can be stubborn. I won’t fault you if you fail.”

Yes, you knew, but you liked to think you were equally stubborn—or even more so. You grinned confidently. “Don’t worry. He can’t resist me.”

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

Unfortunately, it turned out that he could.

You’d found him at Harpocrates’, where you accurately guessed he was. Holding a plate with Joshua’s sworn enemy (carrots), you decided a blunt approach would be the simplest for now.

“Joshua, you need to eat these.”

He turned around the moment he heard your voice, soft blue eyes brimming with glittering excitement, which promptly died when his eyes fell on what you were holding.

“I’m sorry. I can’t do that.” Joshua turned away from you and back to his open book.

You blinked once, affronted by his initial rejection. You sidled up to his side, pressing your cheek against his shoulder.

“Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

“C’mon, they’re just a few carrots.”

“My sincerest apologies, but no.”

“Tarja and Jote said you should be eating them.”

Joshua just made a disgruntled sound. Of course! If he wouldn’t even listen to you, why would he listen to anyone else?

Tugging on his sleeve with a free hand, you tried again. “Clive wants you to eat them.”

“Is that so?” Joshua continued to flip another page in the book. So he would seal a horrible, eldritch entity inside of him for his own brother, but not eat a few carrot slices. You found the way Joshua weighed the severity of different circumstances odd.

Your simplest and most straightforward plan had clearly failed, but that was okay. You had backups. Pulling away from him, you folded your arms, careful as to not spill anything from the plate, and straightened your back, regarding him with rolled eyes.

“Then, I guess the almighty Phoenix trembles in fear in the presence of a few measly orange roots?”

That cracked a mirthful smile from Joshua, but he shook his head. “Very much so.”

“You are afraid of them?” you crowed.

“Petrified, even,” he agreed.

All of your backup plans were caving in. This man was not giving in. You huffed.

Harpocrates suddenly raised a hand, drawing your attention. He smiled with that gentle old man smile that could convince two aggressive countries to come to a ceasefire, and gestured at your plate. “I apologise, but I’d prefer to not have any food near the books.”

“Oh!” Right, it had completely slipped your mind. You hadn’t intentionally ignored it; you’d just been so set on your assignment that it hadn’t crossed your mind. Sheepishly, you took a few steps back. “No, no, I apologise.”

You were about to leave, head hung low in temporary defeat, when Joshua closed the book he had been holding, slotting it back into an empty space on the shelf. He faced Harpocrates and bowed his head, a practised, poised gesture he always did when leaving, then turned to face you again, touching your arm. With the sweetest of smiles: “Shall we go?”

Words weren’t quite forming properly in your mind, so you just nodded. Your steps fell into sync with his as you left.

Sometimes he really caught you off guard.

But only for a few seconds. The moment you stepped foot out of the books’ territory, you swung around back at Joshua, pushing the plate towards him wordlessly. He looked down at it and raised a hand to slowly push it back towards you.

You looked away, huffing dramatically. “You must not love me anymore.” Then you glanced back at him for a reaction.

Brows knitted, he maintained his smile towards you. “That’s not true. Please don’t ever think that.” He leaned over and pressed a chaste kiss to the side of your head.

You paused, blinking up at him.

Joshua tilted his head and continued walking.

Foul, unfair, beautiful demon…

Running forward a few steps to catch up with him, you sulked, nibbling at the tines of the fork you had brought along. Yes, you had known he was going to be stubborn… and you had resolved to be even more stubborn… but it wasn’t going to go anywhere with just brute force, clearly.

Joshua interrupted your thoughts. “Isn’t there anything else you would rather have me do?”

Most of the time you had a quip ready, but this time you were too lost in thought to. “Let me think about it.”

“I would do anything else for you,” he said earnestly. You believed it.

“It doesn’t matter because you won’t do this for me.”

You were just being dramatic, and he knew it.

The two of you were walking somewhere. You didn’t know where exactly, but it happened often enough where Joshua would be heading to one of his destinations and you followed him around just to be by his side. You liked to think his pace slowed to a leisurely stroll whenever you did. Sometimes you’d also get to steal a kiss or two on these walks…

Oh, you had an idea.

You skewered one of the carrot slices with the fork and popped it into your mouth. Reaching out to Joshua, you tugged on his arm to get him to stop walking. He obediently ceased and cast a curious gaze down at you.

One of your hands was occupied with the plate, so you grabbed his chin with your free hand, thumb pressed against the front of it and index finger tucked behind it, tilted your head back and pressed your lips against his before he could react. He squeaked a muffled sound of surprise; you tumbled the carrot from your mouth to his without much resistance. Then you sealed your lips with a cheeky smile against his mouth, blinking triumphantly into his confused eyes. It took a couple of seconds, but you felt his mouth move in a chew, then swallow.

Finally, you pulled away.

“You’ll eat all of them this way, right?”

Joshua gave you a blank look. He tilted his head backwards and stared at the ceiling thoughtfully, then down back at you. “Hm. I’m not quite sure about that.” He raised an index finger and pressed it against your lips. You resisted the urge to clamp your mouth over his pretty finger. “Would you like to try again?”

(It worked only another two times, and the rest of the afternoon was spent wrestling with him.)

[ironmandeficiency]

silly king

pairing: thorin oakenshield / half-elf!reader

word count: 1025

summary: silence is nigh but unobtainable with your joining of the company

req: Can I ask for 🎶 do doo do do 🎶 "FUCK!" with thorin oakenshield pls?

a/n: giving a MASSIVE hug to the darling and stupendous @nicole-lightfoot who beta’d this for me & helped me with writing the ending

none of the company believed they could find someone in all of arda that spoke as loud as sugar-rushed kíli or sang as cheerfully as bofur deep in his ale

you proved this assumption very wrong very quickly, loathing the silence that made you feel like your head was dipped in molasses

there was always some form of song flowing from your lips when your hands were too full to tap them to whatever song you’re hearing in your head, every footfall against the earth synchronized to the same tune (sometimes you skipped as you sang, hummed, or whistled, much to the disbelief of the others)

your joining of the company happened in rivendell. as a half-elf, there was only so much respite you could find in the last homely house, surrounded by what many (somewhat accurately) believed to be the uptight half of your bloodline. it was safe, yet stifling, and you felt akin to a caged bird yearning for the open sky

the presence of a half-elf in their company didn’t bother as many of the dwarrow as you believed it would. your jovial disposition rubbed off on them quickly, and soon you were joining several of them in a modified chorus of ‘that’s what bilbo baggins hates’ to coincide with more recent events of the quest

bilbo took the playful jabs with a grin, getting small bits of payback by “accidentally” knocking members of the company in the ankle with the walking stick you procured for him

bofur, nori, and the princes took to using you as a shield when they feared the hobbit was about to strike, laughter all around

despite the grim nature of what lay ahead of the company, you’d never had so much fun. it’s why you found such joy in your new companions, your new friends, because that’s what they were

you ignored the tense glances from the king under the mountain and his stalwart captain during these moments. there were vague ideas to be had of why the two royals saw you as a liability at best and a threat at worst, and many of them pertained to your blood

logic (and well-meaning princes) reminded them early on that you were of neither faction that caused such strife for the dwarves of erebor, and had proven yourself as a loyal member of the company ten times over

the distrust ended, but you could still tell they were wary of you even on a good day

in the beginning, your charming disposition and lackadaisical attitude had thorin seething. every smile and laugh and song boiled the blood in his veins. did you not take this quest seriously? was he saddled with a jingling fool of an elf by lord elrond as a plot against his mission?

now, months later, watching you dance with the princes in beorn’s fields, he realized just how faulty those thoughts were

kíli was riding fíli’s shoulders while you held his hands, the three of you playing merrily around to bofur and nori’s raunchy tune

thorin was sitting on a stump nearby when he heard your voice across the field, your laughter joining the silly little ditty

thorin knew better than to let himself grow distracted while cleaning his blades, but he was so lost in your merriment and sweet-sounding do-doos that he didn’t notice his hand moving wrong before it was too late

“FUCK!!”

his exclamation scared some of the local fauna away and startled several members of his company. fíli whipped around so fast to check on thorin that he forgot his brother was on his shoulders until he suddenly wasn’t, and the two princes found themselves toppled in the grass in a true dwarfling pile

you were on your knees in front of thorin before he could fully register the pain and embarrassment of slicing his finger on his own blade. your nimble hands held his wounded one gently, tending to the cut with precision

you gently cleaned his ill-gotten wound while he growled with all the dignity of a wet cat. “oh you silly king, just let me take care of you”

“this is all your doing.” you smiled at his facade, knowing that his grumpiness wasn’t actual malice and he was just frustrated at his own folly

you felt his gaze on your head while you threaded the needle. “tell me, my king, how exactly is this my fault?” the words were an almost teasing whisper, a small attempt to goad him into better spirits once again

in the distance, you could hear various members of the company whispering amongst themselves like a group of gossiping old biddies, and it took strong effort to not cackle in thorin’s face. he was already iffy about you tending to his little scratch, you didn’t want to jeopardize what pride he had left by calling attention to his nattering company

the small huff of exasperation that escaped him would have been mistaken for a wince by someone who didn’t know him. “you’re distracting. it’s difficult to get things done when you jaunt around with your heart on your sleeve and a song on your lips. you weren’t made for battle, nor for the hardships of the world, so i have to keep an eye on you lest you fall victim to your own nature.”

when thorin noticed you smiling at his chiding, he was not amused. this was exactly his point! you didn’t take his warnings seriously, which attested to how desperately you needed to heed them.

“thank you for your concern, thorin. it’s touching. but you must know by now that i don’t ‘jaunt around’ anyone i don’t feel safe with, i have at least a few skills in self-preservation, you know.” your voice was soft as you finished the last suture, securely wrapping the wound and taking a risk by placing a small kiss atop the bandages

he stared at you speechless, mouth gaping like a fish and cheeks ruddy. you give him a smile as you walk away, feeling every moment his eyes stayed on your back and hearing his personal scolding about keeping his head straight around you