#((and like i said; 'return of the living dead' zombies don't go down thanks to blows to the head like romero zombies do))

[theheadlessgroom]

@beatingheart-bride

At this suggestion, June and Wilhelm were a touch surprised, but nevertheless exchanged a little smile: While they wouldn't have said no to Randall and Emily moving in together back at Emily's house (figuring the two of them would want to spread their wings elsewhere, and would come back regularly for visits), there was something wonderful about the idea of them all staying together. Their house, small and humble though it was, was a home, and it did them good to hear that Emily felt just the same.

(And it put a little less worry on the Pace parents' minds, knowing they wouldn't have to worry about Emily making it home safe and sound before the sun rose...)

"Well, I think that's a fine idea," June agreed, her husband and son nodding along-Randall in particular taking Emily's hand to squeeze as Wilhelm said, "We're more than okay with it, lass! Our home is your home, and we're more than happy to have you here with us."

Randall was only half-listening to his parents comments (as they resumed enthusing about the wedding and what little preparations they had left), too distracted by gazing lovingly at his bride-to-be. Although he knew it wouldn't exactly be the case (as they'd likely all still sleep in their beds, just as they had before), a part of him couldn't but imagine life (or something like it) as vampires, all four members of the Pace family as little bats, all huddled together on the ceiling, like bats all gathered in the craggy confines of a cave...

[heavysighing-dreamyeyes]

Hello you amazing wonderful awesomely awesome person! I’m so madly obsessed with your work

Very curious on your thoughts on this: zombie apocalypse au

Do you think Jason and readers first meeting would be need to be more in a life threatening situation in order to stick or would they be able to meet in a calmer environment and stick together?

This isn’t a push for you to write any one shot! Just curious what you think and any additional thoughts or headcanons you might have for this au 👀

Tysm for continuing to put out awesome writing all the time!

The Death Stench

Ahh, asks like this is why I love taking requests!! Thank you, nonnie!! Seriously, so many great ideas come through my inbox that I never would have thought of myself! I was actually so excited when I finally sat down to write this. Sorry it took so long! :)

~1.4k words

Gotham has always been a cesspool of filth and rot. It's something Jason has long grown used to. But the hoards of groaning, decaying zombies are something he's still learning to live with.

It's been four– no, five months since the world fell apart, since the apocalypse broke down society. The government is in shambles, if it still exists, and Jason hasn't seen or heard another living person in weeks.

He thinks he owes his survival to whatever the pit did to him. The corpses that line the streets just seem to ignore him and shuffle past as he breaks into a little corner store for supplies.

It's why he's started to get complacent. It is so easy to not double or triple check your surroundings when the undead treat you like one of their own.

It's a fact he didn't realize until he's staring down the barrel of a gun and maybe the only other living, breathing person on Gotham.

He blinks at them. They blink at him. "You're not one of– you're alive," You half question, surprise and shock clear in their voice.

Jason slowly raises his hands, the last thing he wants to do is get shot when his medical supplies are dwindling, "I'm alive."

He stares at you for a minute, and you stare back before slowly lowering your gun, "I was here first."

He laughs. It's ridiculous. The world ended, he hasn't had a proper conversation in weeks, and you're trying to lay claim to a corner store in shambles. But, he steps back anyway and gestures to the ransacked aisles, "All yours then."

He quirks an eyebrow when you actually look panicked. "Wait," You start, and lower your gun completely, "I'm sorry, I just– haven't seen anyone in a while. I think I forgot how to talk to people."

You're both aware of the risk you took admitting that, to tell a stranger you're completely and utterly alone in this city, that there's no one waiting for you to return.

Jason has the overwhelming urge to make your risk worth it. He can't explain it, but he chalks it up to some form of loneliness.

So, he smiles at you, easy-going and every inch the charming grin that used to win over the old ladies at charity galas, "I haven't been around people in a while either. Maybe we can figure it out together?"

His heart stutters when you smile back, so clearly relieved. "I'd like that," You admit and holster your gun.

The two of you carefully pick through the store, and an uncertain but steady partnership forms between the two of you.

It takes some time, but he learns which shots you can make and which you can't. You learn which knee hurts him when he jumps over chain wire fences. You both learn to cover each other's blind spots, to trust each other to make decisions.

You haven't quite learned that zombies just don't seem to detect him, and he hasn't found a good way to bring it up, to explain that, 'Hey, I was dead and apparently I qualify as one of them. But don't worry! I won't eat you!'

Yeah, Jason figures you wouldn't be too comfortable with him sleeping near you if he said it like that.

He doesn't really get the chance to explain until he has to use his uncanny ability to blend in with rotting corpses to save your life.

It was supposed to be a normal supply run. Pick over what's left of a pharmacy and get out. Cut and dry. Something you've both done more times than you can count. Until it goes wrong.

He'd cleared the area, he'd been so careful, you both were. But you hadn't been lucky. It was no one's fault, when you open a cabinet and a skittish raccoon jumps out at you, sending you falling back.

The animal knocks over cans and boxes as it frantically scampers to get away. It's loud. Too loud.

The two of you froze, when the sounds of shuffling feet start to make their way to the door. Jason weighs his options, and the piece of his heart that had become undeniably yours won quickly.

He grabs your arm and hauls you to your feet. "C'mon," he mutters, dragging you towards a supply closet.

"We need to run," You say quickly, tugging at your arm and trying to push him towards the exit.

"We won't make it," he says firmly and shoves you into the tiny space. He follows you in and pulls the door shut. The door doesn't lock, and he reaches around you to grab an extension cable off a shelf.

"Jason," You half hiss, eyes wide as the groans start to get louder.

He shushes you, heart racing as he ties one end of the extension cord to the door knob, and the other to the metal poles of the shelf.

It's a start, but it wouldn't stop anything from breaking down the door. "Sorry," Jason mumbles. He returns your confused look with an apologetic one, and immediately crowds you against the wall.

He grabs the back of your neck to press your face to his chest. His other hand grabs at your hip, almost desperate. Jason realizes he hasn't been afraid in a long time.

He buries his face in your hair and silently wills you to understand. If he can keep them from getting your scent, hearing you, you'll be safe. He can protect you, he just needs you to stay like this, hidden and sheltered against the dirty wall of the closet.

He knows you can't begin to guess why he's doing this, but you don't make a sound. Your fingers curl into his jacket as the zombies shuffle around the pharmacy. Grunts fill the air as they pass by the door, and Jason feels you stiffen against him.

It's instinctual, when his thumb starts to rub back and forth across your hip. He wants to help, wants you to feel calm and safe even as the smell of death fills the air.

He's surprised when you do relax against him, tucking your face further into his chest. He's not sure how long you stay like that. His thumb never stills, and eventually, the sounds of undead fade, and he's left with just you.

Jason lets himself linger for a moment, savoring your closeness, before slowly untangling himself from you. "You're okay," he says softly, he means for it to be a question, but it comes out as a fact, a complete certainty that you are okay.

You look up at him, eyes wide, "How are we even alive? I've never seen– they've never just ignored people before."

He winces, "I'll– Let me explain. Please. Just not here." He deflates a little at the uncertainty that flashes across your face, but you nod and follow him back to the rooftop that's become his and your base.

He tries to explain, really, does his best to talk about the Pit, who he was, what he used to do. You never interrupt, you listen to every word he says as he lights a fire, methodically making food over the open flame.

You don't say anything as he admits the undead have never been interested in him, but you do let him sit next to you to eat.

He runs out of things to say, as the sun sets over a desolate Gotham. Jason thinks you're going to leave. Or ask him to leave. But you don't. You lean your head against his shoulder, and all the air leaves his lungs.

"I'm glad you're here, Jason," You tell him. And for the first time in a long time, Jason is too.

"I'm glad you're here, too," he echoes, and he hesitantly lowers his head to rest against yours. He breathes a sigh of relief when you don't move, only relax into his side.

Jason closes his eyes to bask in the moment, in being with you, and swears there's not a thing he wouldn't do to keep you like this. To keep you with him, to keep you happy, to keep you alive.

He thinks it might be the reason he's still breathing.

[warmerstranger]

THE LIFE-SEEKER OF DEATH'S WARMTH

|| feat. yandere zombie x gn grim reaper reader

°°``Marked as and not excluding: Yandere (manipulative, obsessive tendencies, self-harm towards the end), light sexual innuendo/jokes, human meat cannibalism but also not..? reader is referred as you

a/n: trying another new post format, i sure hope it doesn't throw anyone off!

Recommended to read for those 16+, please proceed with caution.

It seems like your routine of sleeping on the metal operating table would have to change eventually, or you shouldn't even need to strip off from your outer skin anymore that often. How could it not? When the man currently occupying on that table is more of a good-looking catch with the low temperature of that freshly captured fish. You begin to understand, maybe this is the proof from that commonly said 'there are plenty more fish in the sea' idiom. Because, after grueling hours of a search mission for ways on cooling you down from where your hot place nearest to hell you're staying in, you finally find the solution.

The seemingly pristine dead guy who feels very much still alive and doesn't rot—must be the answer, he could be your sleeping partner—no, even better, your cool hug pillow! When you lean closer to inspect him with scrutiny, there's a vivid fragrant scent of perfume wafting off from him; citrus and a flower you can't recognize? Though, the latter is sharp and reminds you of the usual nobility would wear. He's cold to the touch, leaning to a muscular build yet not that rigid... That's what you can conclude after having poked, fondled, then hugged his muscles and torso.

Wait.

You can feel yourself getting grabbed too and pulled closer into a tight embrace where your shoulder is now chomped. He just took a big chunk of your shoulder.

So you lend him your helping hand, and your whole arm, and maybe half of your body since you're feeling generous. You need to change your flesh suit to another pair of body again in the end...—

—————

“Well, do pardon my brass and crust, but I meant no harm to you personally, that—I can assure you—is my deepest sincerity. Though the fact is undeniable that you tasted remarkable and I didn't feel disgusted biting into your skin, and so, thank you for the meal; the first delicious one in a long time.”

That's what he responded—this zombie who introduced himself as Chadley, adorned by a dazzling smile—how can his teeth stay sparkling white after all of that gruesome eating anyway? You merely shrug most of his words as you would only ask him to return his thanks in another manner for your personal interest.

“Oh, and could I be granted of the permission to guess what does that entail? Hm, perhaps,...” He gestures, a wave and roll of his hands to what kind of situation is he in right now; with how he's sitting on your bed with the sheets covering half his legs, “do you prefer me getting all cozied up and pampered before you have a bite of me? Really, you don't need to go that far for this little ol' me, I would still remain the same taste after everything. Even when I have lived between the rich and lavish, I still taste like the same rotten garbage fresh out of sewers.”

You sigh, no, that's way off the mark and you're sure he doesn't refer to eating as in sex matters. “I want you to be my pillow, to hug with and to cool me down when I sleep. Though, you can just thank me for that.. meal in another way if you're not fine-”

“Nah, I'm up for it, give me that job offer.” Too eager of an reaction, he grins soon, patting the empty area beside him on your bed. “We could start from today, right now.”

Since you suspect him of having some other ulterior motives, you set the boundaries and rules to start off from the reason for that favor and fair deal; because you wouldn't want to often sleep naked in your skeleton simply. Thus he will be needed for the purpose of being your cool pillow only for cuddling or hugging and even limited to his arm is fine, touching more intimately further than that is off the table, he can make himself at home properly in your residence here whenever he's comfortable to except breaking any stuffs and the likes.

Lastly, he's not allowed to eat you in any way possible without permission.

—————

A package of deal too good to be true, a promise sworn is made.

He even thought all the bare minimum treatment he receives as a living thing come too easily and fast for his liking as he tries to seep into the flow of things that you bring about in his daily life. If not for his unending appetite, he would've forgotten about being a disgusting low-rank zombie.

When Chadley have long gone used to the betrayal from the apocalypse back then in his past, molding through sharp and cunning ways to survive, getting any kind of cold shoulder, scorn and detest of most from the population even including his own race group—any of it don't prepare him for what he have to accept so openly; letting the warmth and peaceful normalcy wash over his repulsive existence, everything leaves him greedy wanting more he could only get whiplash adapting into it.

That's why he's rarely ever in your home, always roaming out and about after he leave you with some food he prepares most of the time; luckily for you, not much human meat.

It's not like you're a bad entity.

Not the slightest.

“I was about to think you brought that hot stuff to do them... In here.” you speak up with a shrug from the stairs as you descend into the aquarium basement special for his 'food' intake, approaching him closer where he stands above a ripped up someone around the corner of the room before you continue talking.

“I don't mind it even if you were going to have another purpose with them, but not here, you can do that somewhere else. I'm gonna ask though, is there any problem with the food I keep? I don't know how much different it is for you to eat one and another but if you have some specific taste you like, tell me which one close to it. It's the only reason why I bothered to give them a label you know. Just tell me what's lacking from the deal of my side, I'll also tell you.. that your food, those that you cook are a bit too salty and sweet on some unfitting parts so there's that.”

Things have been going too well so much that it feels off-putting for him to even take a liking to you. But, at this point, he has begin to seek whatever kind chance blessed upon him.

After a period of silence, Chadley chuckles and finally looks up to you as he joins his hands in a pleading look with a grin, leaning down closer to you. “I'll strive to do better, but can I have a bite or taste just a bit out of you? Pretty please?”

“No.”

“Ah, a shame. Better luck next time then huh? Maybe if I can impress you with my cooking...”

“You're not obliged to do that, though, I'm just saying what I wanted to say, like you don't even need to cook for me, that's what I meant.” A pause slips in while your tone quieten down, smiling faintly to him. “..I have to admit it's nice having someone to cook for me.”

Perhaps it's due to how you're of higher rank than him for you to regard him never with any loathing. But beyond that... He feels accepted, as if it's okay for him to stay as his nature, being able to have the right in living by another living being.

“You think you're my mom or something? And what with the.. lovely apron earlier...” you comment as you finish off another meal prepared by him.

Chadley guffaws. “I know in terms of loveliness, you're unmatched, but I would prefer the term househusband. Isn't it popular nowadays? But, more importantly, is the dinner more to your liking now?”

You merely hum, acknowledging his efforts and giving him points. Before you realize it, you have stopped acting as if you're some kind of a mastherchef judge and always dig in to his cooking without any reservation as a routine is formed from getting used to enjoy it every day. Along that routine somewhere, a some sort of civilized appreciation ritual is mixed in; him cutting up and cooking for his main food added whenever possible complemented with the proper eating etiquette.

Unlike when he would straight up feed into them raw, days ago. The reason being; “The least I could do.” without further explanation.

Of course, it's the least he could do for you, he couldn't be concerned about any of those whom he eat. If he could the very least gain your favor and respect... In your eyes, has he proven to be a better man?

He's certain for one thing, at least.

No one...

The increasing pile of disappearances—your acquaintance and coworkers moreover—has never been bothered you much up until now.

is better suited

Why can't you track or feel your friends' soul?

than him

Since when did your neighbors got infected and became a man-eating undead being?

for you.

You're bound to find out about it despite getting caught up in your job and all kind of business to clean up the mess left, caused by certain someone, who doesn't look even bit guilty when you confront him. Chadley doesn't flinch or panic, grasping your palms just firmly. “You know I've always liked you, right? So I was only doing you a favor, many of them, but of course you don't need to return them.” The uttered words, though doesn't mean anything that deeply, his widening gaze and smile says otherwise of the feelings lurking within as his hands slowly creep up to grab your arms. “Just trust me, it's only normal to do from someone like me who cares about you and all, isn't it? So you don't need to take it too seriously, right?” Being drawn closer, his hands reach up to your shoulder and then, neck... Under your awareness of your pulse beating beneath his tight grip.

“I'm doing a good job to take care every part of you, so you should fit me to a tee.”

In spite of everything, still, it doesn't matter. After you handcuffed his wrists together while he's trapped in a specialized cage, you intend to leave and fix up your problems earlier, but his voice calling out your name halts you.

“Ahh, it's useless you know? This punishment of yours.. do you like me then? I might as well think of it as some kinky roleplay. I would still do those things all over again, though I regret for having to be separated from you like this.”

Shaking your head in disapproval, you turn around before you hear a clanging sound and... Something being sunken into, ripped apart, cracking—

When you face him again, he's has bitten and devoured half his arm through. His look are still directed to you, a challenging glint reflected on his smiling eyes.

As expected, it suits him the best to go far beyond his nature after all.

[sugolara]

For the first time in a long time

ft. Katsuki Bakugo x Shoto Todoroki x Izuku Midoriya x fem! reader

Synopsis: After a deadly virus leaks all over the world, every country is forced to close down it's borders and airports to prevent anyone from coming in and out. Though, it's to late for some people. The dead has rose and is looking for revenge. Cw: gore, quirkless! au, apocalypse! au, zombie! au, weapons, death, angst, lots and lots of blood, cannibalism, suicidal thoughts, slow burn

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That familiar voice that he thought he'd never hear again had his eyes widening in shock, but most of all in serenity to know that Izuku is standing right before his eyes. His body was still intact, a relief that eased into the blonde's heart, "Deku, I can't believe...you're alive."

The freckled male had to hold back his relief as Katsuki grunted when the door was slammed against his back. The blonde was having trouble keeping the doors still. Whatever was behind it had to be at least a couple dozen rotters, taking them out one by one would work, but if it was the horde from earlier they could easily break the door.

Frantically waving his hands, Izuku took off to find something that'll barricade the door, "Okay, stay here Kacchan! I'll go look for something! Don't move!"

The blonde scoffed as he watched Izuku take off, "Where else would I fucking go?"

When he returned to where F/n last stood, she was gone. Her cart was still there, but there was no sign of her. If this was for the best and she truly decided he wasn't worth it, he still wished her good luck despite their argument. Right now he didn't have time to worry about her as his long time friend was holding the door that prevented the store from flooding with rotters.

Skipping aisles, he headed for the produce section where he found a rolling vegetable stand filled with potatoes, tomatoes and bell peppers. Only the tomatoes and the bell papers had turned bad, but the potatoes looked decent. If he remembered, he'll come by to grab the produce.

With that being said, he pushed the cart, having trouble doing so with the weight. It rolled little by little and he was very much thankful for the produce section being near the back door. When he turned the corner, he could see the blonde still struggling, "Hang in there!"

"Hurry it up, nerd!" He moved his position, using his front to hold the door as his feet began to slide. Beads of sweat collected on his head watching as Izuku got closer and finally he was close enough for the male to move to the side, allowing the rolling cart to shimmy its way in front of the door.

When he thought it was good to help, Katsuki moved away to be by his side, helping in pushing the cart. The door opened ajar letting in a bloody arm with chunks ripped in its flesh to catch anyone that was near. As they successfully blocked the door, the gap was closed and the hand in the way was cut off and bounced off the floor.

A sigh of relief came from their mouth as they gathered their breath. With Katsuki wiping his sweat, glad to live another day he was suddenly engulfed into a hug. He glared at the male, but looked away, leaving Izuku to sob his eyes out as he knew how much this meant to him.

"I really am happy to see you Kacchan!" He sobbed, "I wanted to go back to the dorms, I really did, but every access was blocked! I even wanted to go to your place, but the dead wouldn't let me!"

Katsuki softly scoffed. With the amount of tears that was coming out of Izuku, it was sure enough to flood the store, heck, even his clothing began to get damp. Nonetheless, Katsuki had to admit that it felt good to see someone he knows. Especially someone he grew up with and forgiving him after everything the blonde had done.

Weeks of being alone had begun to make the blonde feel hopeless of ever encountering someone he deeply cared about. He'll never say it, but Izuku does hold a place in his heart. He was like a brother he never had, "Alright, nerd, get off! You stink."

"Oh, right." He wiped his tears, a smile on his lips as he looked at the blonde, "But really, I am happy to see you. I thought I'd have to go a lifetime without seeing you or anybody else again. I couldn't stay in Musutafu with it being populated with dead and with you being out here I'm guessing it's for the same reason."

"I got tired of that damn place." He shrugged and crossed his arm as glanced to the side, "To many people thinking they can take shit like they own it, so don't even think we're here for the same reason, 'cause we're not."

The blonde then looked around, "This place yours or something? You staying somewhere or moving?"

His smile fell as Izuku looked back to the cart at the exit of the party aisle, "I'm staying somewhere..."

Katsuki raised a brow at the freckle male, feeling there is more to the sentence with the way his face held a look, "What is it now?"

Izuku placed a hand on his nape, feeling regret for hurting F/n—that is if she even had feelings, "To be honest, I'm not having any luck with...people."

At the mention of people, Katsuki looked around with his eyes narrowing, "Someone else is here? And you tell me this now?"

"It's okay, I think she took off." The freckle male waved his hands around, reassuring the blonde that he wasn't in any danger. He then let his hands fall and pointed to the front of the building, "We were out looking for supplies, but then hearing your banging got her nervous."

The blonde rolled his eyes at that as Izuku continued, "We should get going before the horde figures out we're still here. We'll take a few items and come back when we figure out a plan."

"You got a place?" Katsuki asked as he followed Izuku to the party aisle and reached the cart. He copied the younger male's action and placed the few supplies in his bag that rested on his shoulder.

"It's not far from here." Izuku nodded and looked at him carefully, noticing just how exhausted and the few minor scratches Katsuki had, "Did you just arrive or have you already been staying here?"

"I just arrived." He responded, his eyes dreading to close for the first time.

"Right!" Izuku moved quickly seeing just how sluggish his movements are. It wasn't normal for Katsuki to behave like that, "Let's get going. Hang in there, Kacchan!"

Hearing the door being pulled open and then closed, she stayed in her spot until she could no longer hear their voice. Then did she move from behind the register and watched from the window as their retreating figure got farther with every step they took. She averted her attention towards the back where she could still hear the bangings, but they were softer now.

Just like humans, the dead were growing tired and needed their rest.

Letting out a sigh, she moved around the building, gathering carts and looking at every item the store held before placing it back in the cart. She should have left, she wanted to, but she couldn't just leave Izuku here alone. It is true that she almost thought of hitting the male and she only held back as he glaringly stared at her.

His kind, beautiful gentle face shouldn't hold such hatred. The words that spilled out of his mouth didn't suit him either, but it's not like what he said wasn't true. She was born for her fathers selfishness, but Izuku didn't have to know that. He didn't have to know anything about her life and yet she only told him snippets because he was different.

Different from her and that's what she liked.

Whatever she was feeling was annoying as she let out a frustrated sigh. She slammed down the canned food into the cart, moving from product to product hoping that she could return back to normal. But his angry and his sobbing voice still echoed in her ears. Like a rhythm that she just wanted to claw out her eardrums.

With the dozen carts now filled, night time arrived. She placed them near the doors and when she saw no sign of rotters she opened the doors and headed for the parking lot. The first vehicle that was closer to her was a black truck. She pressed her ears near the window and hearing no sign of moaning when she tapped the window she slowly opened it. Luckily, the truck was empty.

She searched for a key and upon finding one, she entered and let the engine roar to life. The noise no doubt caught attention from nearby rotters so she readied her weapon as she backed up the vehicle to where the trunk was facing the doors of the building.

Slowly, the trunk fit perfectly between the opened doors. She then climbed out, with windows rolled down and the engine still on she jumped onto the trunk. She watched her head as she entered the store once again and one by one she unloaded the filled up carts. She placed whatever could fit in the vehicle and before leaving she spotted a fake flower.

She gave it a glance, deciding to turn away until she let out a scoff and picked one up. Then did she leave. She made sure the headlights were off as she carefully drove through the neighborhood. The engine caused the sleeping dead to wake up and those who already were awake to follow after her, but slowly.

When the house was in view, her heart picked up. She hoped Izuku was still awake and decided on not leaving with whoever he saved as she parked the vehicle on the driveway. She listened carefully as she approached the porch. She couldn't hear anything and she couldn't see any light, but her hopes weren't up.

She softly knocked on the door and pulled out the single flower. Her heart only raced as she heard movement and the door opened with Izuku on the other side. Before he could speak, she held out the flower as she stared at him, "I'm sorry, 'kay?"

It's the first he's ever received a flower. Normally it would be him giving them out to a certain girl. To say he wasn't flustered was a lie, but he had to know what she was exactly sorry for. He crossed his arms, but she beat him again, "You're not stupid. You're not an idiot. You're not dumb. You're not anything that I said to you."

Embarrassingly, she scratched her head as she looked away, "This feels weird...but, I still want to be your friend and I have a weird way of showing it to someone I lik–haven't met before. I find it troubling to make friends...so, I'm sorry."

His eyes widened. He must be delusional or his lack of sleep was getting to him as it almost sounded like she was about to confess to him. He quickly shook that thought out of his head as he realized they just met and for her to have feelings for him was just out of the question. Still, the thought did make him feel...good.

"Also," She pointed to the truck, her other hand still holding out the flower, "I picked up the rest of the supplies."

His eyes moved away from her and to the truck. A few items peeked out and he looked back at her, "..Were you inside the store the whole time?"

She nodded and quietly spoke, feeling vulnerable, "I couldn't just leave you...alone with someone."

Was it her bashful expression that had his heart jumping?

He looked around for any sign of dead before grabbing her hand, as well as taking hold of the flower as he pulled her inside, "It's dark."

With the door closed he turned to her, noticing that she was staring at a sleeping blonde on the couch. She faced him while pointing at Katsuki, "That your friend? You two sounded close back there."

He nodded, "Yeah, he's a heavy sleeper so don't mind him."

He then waved his hand, going back to their original conversation. She apologized, so it's only fair he did so too and he couldn't believe he had called her a product of her fathers selfish reasons. He's been through this before. He didn't experience it, but he had to console someone and separate them from their father.

Like Shoto. Like Shoto who Izuku saw standing right in her shoes. He couldn't believe he had said hurtful words towards her. He knows better than to shame her for something she didn't have control of especially when it came to parents.

If Shoto was here, he'd most definitely give Izuku the nastiest glare he could ever hold, "I'm sorry to, F/n. I really didn't mean anything I said, I just wanted you to realize where I'm coming from and just because we're different doesn't mean we can't get along. For me to say such hurtful things especially when I don't fully know your background is so wrong of me.

"I know you aren't who you say you are. You'll grow out of whatever it is that's holding you back and I'll be there helping you when you need me." He gave her a gentle smile, a smile that hit her deeply, "You have a good heart, but you just refuse to see that and that's okay."

Disbelief she was in as Izuku moved away from her, "We should go to sleep. Tomorrow morning we'll unload the items. I'm sure no one will come and take them. I'm sleeping down here for the night, I don't want Kacchan to be worried if he doesn't see me."

Her mouth moved, wanting to say something, but it seemed like Izuku was finished as he called out to her from the couch, "Goodnight, F/n."

The girl zipped her lips as she muttered a goodnight and headed to the room upstairs. She did not feel any better and the conversation kept her up as the night went on. She wanted to slam her head until she blacked out for even apologizing.

What kind of apology was even that? She thought apologies were supposed to make people feel better but she certainly didn't feel any better. She annoyingly glared at the ceiling, hoping that she would just forget this night.

[katielovably]

Ok, for some reason, I have gotten into Eddsworld (I would watch it off and on over the years), but I have also been watching Eddsworld theory videos (which mostly talk about theories from the most recent), and I wanted to try so:

Part of me thinks that legacy came first... more importantly, the snogre and fun-dead since they show the making of zombies and people becoming zombies (besides Matt and Tord in Zombeh Attack) but these two come before the Zombeh Attack video. Since in those videos, they seem to live in a zombie Apocalypse where legacy is normal lives except for these episodes that show the making of zombies (like I said)

legacy and the "beginning" (I don't know what else to call the first half of Eddsworld) are in different universities hence the difference in Tord as in them (also in the end it shows a different Farwell to Tord when he leaves originally in 25ft under the sea because I love the episode because it's funny and the scene in The End gave me a "this is wrong" ick. This is interesting because that could mean that Tord from the beginning could be finding himself in that universe, and this could be proven by a picture of Tori (his female counterpart) having a picture where she's watching a sunset on a ledge wishing the girls were there. Also Slippery Slope, Tamara talks about a nuclear winter so this episode could be like the girls of the other universe where there was a zombie Apocalypse but they had to make a nuclear winter to get rid of the zombies and return to get to normality somewhat.

I don't know if this is right or not. I'm not used to making theories, but I rather like this theory because I like it better because even though it means in a universe, there's a Eddsworld that went through a nuclear war that then became a nuclear winter and the characters are trying to figure it out... by skiing/snowboarding down hills. The Alternate univers makes sense, along with doesn't ruin anything that Edd himself made but still keeps Eddsworld going and do they're own stuff. Now I'll stop before I go into a tangent.

Thank you for reading 😁❤️

[wolftails-funkin-arts]

Aight here it is (which is technically Canon since we can intrpet the ending)

Boyfriend was impaled through the chest both him and Girlfriend were dead M cackled and turns to normal and grabbed both corpses He threw them on the floor but did something......odd

He grabbed two one ups and fed it to both coming back to life They two bolt up and noticed M and start shaking and sweateming

M:....Good job AIGHT THAT'S A WRAP

Boyfriend and Girlfriend look confused

M:Good job on the movie guys

The two look shocked and see Secret History Mario holding a camera

SH Mario:Yep the recording is perfectly safe.....wow you did good

MM:Thanks I admit for a dictator you sing well

SH Mario:There's alot you don't know about me

MX walks up besides M M and MX fist bump

M:Good job dude but dang did you have to rip her in half?

MX:You turned her corpse into a zombie like puppet

M:That's fair

Boyfriend and Girlfriend look at eachother and back at them

M:Oh...wait weres the other one?

MR L walks up carrying Pico and throws him besides the two

Pico:OW gentle

MR L:Oh shut up

M:I admit I was impressed with you. That scene was improv

Pico:Improv?

DJ Hollyboo appears:Do we release him?

M:Eh sure

DJ Hollyboo gives the thumbs up and IHY Luigi and John open a door and SMG4 Mario bursts out

SMG4 Mario:FINALLY THAT ROOM WAS DARK AND CREEPY

M:Sorry but we didn't want you screwing up the whole thing

SMG4:BUT I WANTED TO BE IN THE MO-

DJ Hollyboo pulls out spaghetti

SMG4 Mario:SPAGHETTI OOO

SMG4 Mario takes the spaghetti and runs off

M sighs:Finally he'll be busy for a bit

Horror Peach and Yoshi.exe arrive too

Horror Peach:Good job babe

M:Thank you

Omega:Yeah.....impressive

Pico:Can someone tell us what's going on?

M:Oh....well me and the guys decided to make a movie

MX:Yeah and we figured that you three could be the perfect victims

Horror Peach:Originally you three were gonna be trapped but after talking with M we figured that it can be decided how well you fight

IHY Luigi:And you did pretty good

Pico:So this was a movie?

M nods:Yep congrats

Pico:So.........like why us?

M:Like I said to get revenge on Dearest but we thought that why not punish him ourselves

Pico:Oh.....

Chris Pratt appears:Sooooo I admit I'm glad that you gave me the chill part

M:Why not your one of the few non scary ones here

Somari and Grand Dad arrive

M:And you two

Beta Luigi is seen eating with Turnmoil

M:Anyway just about everyone here you fought was apart of our movie......you three can go

M summons a portal and throws the three through it

The three land in the living room and its night time

Pico:That was......odd.....

Pico hears sniffling and turns his head seeing Boyfriend and Girlfriend hugging eachother crying and shaking looking traumatized

Pico:You poor......guys Pico is furious in his mind since Girlfriend's dad is the reason why the three went through that

Pico:I'll be back

A few moments go by and Pico returns with a blanket and pillow seemingly wanting to spend the night Pico sats it down

Pico:I'll help you two change

Boyfriend and Girlfriend change into pajamas and return still crying and hugging messes

Pico sits besides them in pajamas and wrapped a blanket around them

Suddenly M"s arm reappears from the console with a bag and a note attached

Pico grabs the note and it reads: "Sorry for traumatizing you three..I hope this helps and thank you for playing in our movie"

Pico opens the bag ands it's filled with gold coins

Pico turns the note around "And P.S the money is safe

"Pico sighs and looks at the two

Pico:Wanna watch a movie?

The two nod and they watch a movie

In the morning Dearest and Mearest bust in and see the three

Pico growls:What are you doing here?

Dearest:Our daughter was missing

Pico:Because another one of your victims wanted to hurt them Dearest growls

Suddenly M"s are grabs Dearests and pulls him into the console Dearest lands on the ground

Dearest:H-huh?

Dearest looks up and notices M holding his knife with the others smiling devishly

M:Finally......

Dearest tries using his powers but is suppressed

M:Hehe....consider this your punishment for not just me but for all the people you've hurted

Dearest starts sweating:Uh oh

Back in the real world

Mearest:I'm......sorry your father is responsible for this......call me when he's released....and Boyfriend? You have my approval Mearest walks out the door

Pico smirks:Hehe

Pico turns to the three Pico wraps an arm around them both

Pico:I won't leave you three again....I promise The three smile and group hug and continue watching TV

Feel free to ask any other questions about this

No questions. I do like this ending better :>

[sleptwithinthesun]

ok so

hear me out

ed/die with a horrible cold that he just can't seem to shake, and st/eve helps him feel better by playing mother hen

asjhkf yes. thank you. enjoy the 1.1K words of pure fucking angst and fluff i have written because goddamn i am in a Mood tonight

The problem with this whole situation, Steve realizes, is that Eddie's a chronic insomniac. He's already been over at his friend's trailer for the past thirty-six hours and counting, and somehow, Eddie hasn't even been able to take a nap. It's the complete opposite of how Steve himself is when he's sick; if he has so much as a cold, he'll be dead to the world for at least twelve hours. Eddie, though...

"You know, you're kind of awful at the whole 'being sick' thing," Steve comments, leaning down to pick up a tissue from the floor and drop it in the wastebasket next to the couch. And yeah, normally he'd be grossed out by just the thought of touching someone else's used tissue, but he's practically desensitized to germs now. Plus, it kind of helps that Eddie's absolutely miserable and hasn't even said a word about it, where normally he's all over the place with his theatrics. That's motivation if Steve's ever known it. "I mean, seriously, man, do you ever take a break?"

Eddie looks up from his D&D binder, caught red-handed planning out a new campaign, as Hellfire is a few days out from finishing the one they're currently on. The pencil in his right hand doesn't even stop writing as he glances up at Steve, meeting the other's gaze with hazy, red-rimmed eyes that (for once) aren't a result of having smoked weed. To be honest, he looks like death warmed over, what with the pale skin and flush high up on his cheeks. Coupled with the dark circles that've been developing under his eyes for the past few hours, he almost resembles a zombie, or vampire, or something along those lines. It's hard to think of run-of-the-mill supernatural creatures when you've been face-to-face with monsters from another dimension.

He draws in a breath, preparing to answer, but gets stuck on a coughing jag that doesn't end for a good fifteen seconds. By that time, Steve is already seated back at his side, a supportive hand placed on Eddie's back as he hacks into his elbow. "Christ, man," he murmurs once the fit ends.

"Yeah," is all Eddie says, breathless, a hand clutching at his shirt right over his chest. "Water?"

"Of course," Steve replies, grabbing the plastic water bottle they've been refilling off the table and passes it to Eddie, who takes a long swig before replacing the cap. "Are you okay?"

Eddie shrugs. "I mean, aside from the cold from hell that's totally kicking my ass? I'm fine, Steve. Just peachy." He then gives him a smile that looks more like a grimace, and Steve returns it with a small upturn of his lips that never makes it to the rest of his face. They're liars, the both of them, just pretending to be okay.

They sit in silence for a few moments more, until Eddie speaks again. "I don't think so."

"What?"

"Take a break. I don't think I do. Not often, anyway." Steve looks over at the other man, taking in the way exhaustion pulls at his features. "There's always something to do. Something to be worried about. And when you live like this," he says, gesturing around the trailer, with its thin walls and cramped rooms, "there's not much time to actually relax to the point where you feel safe, or less stressed that happens naturally. It's all just... temporary."

Maybe the light fever Eddie's been running is melting his brain, because there's no way Steve just heard what he thinks he did. For as long as Steve's known him, which, admittedly, is not that long, Eddie's always been in motion. He's not a relaxed type of person, unable to just brush everything off or claim that nothing bothers him, even if that's how he acts at school. The anxiety that constantly rippled under his skin made sense when they were dealing with Vecna, but now? When they're pretty sure they're never going to have to deal with the Upside Down again? The flightiness makes no sense, unless he takes into consideration what Eddie just said. He doesn't feel safe in his own home, so why would he anywhere else?

"Hey, Harrington? I didn't just break you or anything, right?" Eddie asks, cutting through the sudden fog of thoughts in Steve's mind. There's an underlying note of tension in his voice, likely because the last time someone checked out on him, she died.

"No, yeah, I'm fine," Steve says, blinking his way out of his brain. "It's just a lot to process all at once, you know?"

And Eddie draws back, just slightly, but enough that Steve notices. "Oh. Sorry, then, about dumping that on you."

"It's fine, really. I'm just not exactly used to the sentiment." Steve rushes to reassure him, almost eagerly admitting his own ignorance, and Eddie smiles. For real this time.

"What, not used to hanging out with poor people?" he teases, some of the tension bunched in his shoulders easing as he speaks. Steve rolls his eyes at Eddie, but doesn't bother to deny it. Besides, it's not like he's wrong.

"I'm just trying to broaden my horizons, you know, by spending my time with a crazy metalhead who somehow thinks it's a good idea to try and plan a campaign when his brain is slowly turning into mucus," Steve returns. The grin comes naturally to his face as Eddie gasps lightly, drawing a hand up to his heart in mock offense. Thankfully, it doesn't send him into yet another coughing fit, but he still waits for a careful beat before speaking again.

"Please, I could plan a campaign in my sleep. It might not be great, but I could totally do it," he says.

Steve raises his brows in mock-challenge. "Oh, yeah?"

"Absolutely."

"Well then, how about you go to your room and go the fuck to sleep?" he suggests, tone turning from playful to serious in half a second. "I mean, Eddie, have you slept at all since you got sick?"

Eddie shrugs, completely unfazed. "I mean, I did pass out for about four hours right before you got here, but since then? No."

"You're going to be the death of me, Munson," Steve sighs, standing and gently pulling Eddie up with him. The other man sways slightly, pressing a hand to his temple with the headrush and whimpering slightly, the sound only partially muffled. "You okay?"

"Mm," Eddie hums, the sound coming out more like a groan. "Just let me sit down again as soon as possible, m'kay?"

"Yeah, we can do that." Steve gets an arm around Eddie's shoulder and guides him through the hallway to his room as the other man runs his hand along the wall. He carefully stacks up the cassettes that're strewn across the bed, moving them to the dresser while Eddie practically flops onto his mattress. "Yeah, naptime for you."

Eddie huffs out a laugh, rolling so that he's face-down on his bed. His voice is muffled when he speaks. "Whatever you say, Harrington. Whatever you say."

And then he's out.

[reidgraygubler]

multiply (kyle orfman/reader)

Title: multiply Request: no Couple: Kyle Orfman/Fem!reader Category: angst/smut w/ a taste of fluff Content Warning: SEXUAL CONTENT (penetrive sex, unsafe sex, mild hatefuck, grinding/groping, heavy petting, light breathplay (hand over mouth and nose) breeding/impregnation kink, fingering), zombies and zombies eating humans, death, descriptions of death, death of a grandparent (grandmother), mentions of guns and gun violence (but none actually happening), petnames (kitten/officer) Word Count: 5,943 Summary: After narrowly escaping her grandmother eating her, Reader is on her own to find other civilization. She meets the Orfman family and they take her in for safety. Reader and Kyle share a special bond. A/N: I am in love with this piece, so I hope you guys love it as much as I do. thank you to @reidetic for beta/editing this for me! this was also written for @imagining-in-the-margins "there was only one bed" trope challenge for june! thank you all so much for the support! i really do appreciate it. check out my masterlist!

{***}{***}{***}

My grandmother was alive… And then she was dead… And now she’s alive again. Which is very confusing because I watched her die. Like I can’t be the only person experiencing this, right? It’s not some weird fever dream either, I don’t think. This has to be a town wide phenomenon.

My grandmother was acting totally normal too. As if she didn’t die. She was living life day to day, making cookies, knitting, and sipping her tea, just like she did before she died. It was like life went back to normal. And then… She tried to eat me. That’s definitely not normal. Is it?

Who eats another person!? Zombies! That’s who! And how do you kill a zombie? I don’t really like that answer. Because I love my grandmother. She’d do nothing to hurt me, except eat me, I guess.

I gotta get out of this house. It’s not safe to stay in the house with her anymore, and it hasn’t been for a long time. So instead of killing her, like any other sane person would do, I just left. I packed my backpack with a few clothes, snacks and water, and I left.

Turns out it was a lot more than a town wide phenomenon. It was country wide. Everyone was experiencing their dead loved ones returning from the dead. Just showing up, like how my grandmother just showed up. It caused something of an uprise, too, considering people don’t just come back to life after being dead, and they’re eating other humans. It wasn’t an uprise. It was terror, pure terror of the people who didn’t die and come back to life.

I hadn’t left my house in a while, at least since my grandmother came back. So I didn’t realize just how dire the situation was. Piles of burnt stuff were all over the place. Cars with shattered windshields were crashed into trees or homes. And the number of bodies just on the street was… incredibly disturbing.

I needed to find any sign of civilization, and quickly. There was no telling just how long I’d make it alone. I probably only had enough water for the next day or two. And the only zombie movies I’ve seen were Shaun of the Dead and Zombieland, and that wasn’t very helpful… Well maybe Zombieland was helpful.

A long branch with a sharp and pointy end was sitting in the middle of the road. I grabbed it, hoping it’d be enough of a weapon to protect me from the disaster around me. I silently hoped, and prayed to whatever God was up there, that I’d find safety before nightfall.

I was beginning to lose hope as the sun started setting; the sky lighting up with the fires around the town. Several people wearing orange jumpsuits came running around the corner, each carrying various weapons in their hands and over their backs. I nearly fell to the ground because of how startled I was. I tried to pay attention to the crowd around me, but the pavement chewed up the palms of my hands.

A guy with a crew cut hairstyle seemingly looked in charge. Weird to have a gangly and scrawny man be in charge of a zombie take out group. He had this weird stature that he held, like he was trying to be intimidating but not everyone took him seriously.

The guy looked right at me and pointed a gun at my head. I slowly lifted my hands and stared at him.

“D-Don’t shoot! I’m human!” I shouted as I stared at him. He stared back, stepping closer to me. He dropped his gun away from me, but still kept his guard up.

“Human my ass!” The guy with the crewcut shouted. I looked at my hands, watching as blood began seeping from my palms. I quickly looked back at him, hoping he’d look at the human blood.

"Thoughts on smooth jazz?!" he asked in a loud tone. I stared up at him, feeling the terror bubble up my throat.

"I-I… Not my first choice in music?" I furrowed my eyebrows, as I wondered what this had to do with anything.

"Thoughts on dirt?!"

"Ew? Good for gardening? I don’t know!” I shouted back before I stumbled to my feet. The guy with the crew cut cautiously stepped closer to me as he examined my face and body. I’d assume it was because he was looking for any impurities I could possibly have. “I almost had to kill my grandmother. But… But I had to leave. I couldn’t do it. So I left. I left because she lunged at me… from across the table,” I mumbled as he stepped back. “I just need somewhere.. To lie low for the time being. I promise I’m safe.” I whispered as I looked at him. The guy looked back at the rest of his team, gauging their thoughts and concerns about letting me go with them.

“You can come with us. But the second you turn your back on us, or turn into them, don't be shocked when I’m the one to put a bullet into your head,” his voice got scary low as he stepped right up to me. I swallowed roughly and nodded.

“Understood,” I whispered as I looked up at him.

I was shoved into the middle of the crowd of orange jumpsuits. The guy with the crewcut took the lead and brought us to a house that was guarded by tall cement and steel fencing. The people who were currently occupying this home knew how to keep themselves safe.

We entered the fenced in yard of the house, the leader making sure everyone got in safely, and no undead beings followed us. Then we entered the house. I was half expecting it to be stripped down, or decayed. But when we got in… It looked like a normal home, just no power, and the windows boarded up.

“Oh! A new person!” A woman exclaimed once I stood in the area that was once a living room. She came right up to my side, looking at me with a bright smile. She was very happy that I was here. “Don’t worry! You’re safe now!” she cooed as she threw her arms around me. I froze, my body refusing to move as she embraced me.

“I-I…” I swallowed roughly as she pulled away from me. I barely had time to say anything else as she pulled us to sit on the couch.

“I’m Judy Orfman. Kyle is my son.” She smiled as she gestured towards the crew cut guy wearing the orange jumpsuit.

“Mom,” Kyle muttered as he pinched the bridge of his nose. I snickered as I looked back at Judy. I smiled softly as I gave her my name. It was weird how homey this place felt, albeit our situation in the world. Part of me wondered if Judy had any part in that.

“My husband, Noah, is out right now. And my other son, Zach, is with one of the women. She also had to kill her grandmother,” Judy whispered that last part. I looked at her with wide eyes, feeling a certain nervousness settle in the pit of my stomach. I could tell she meant well, and I shouldn’t be scared around anyone here. Everything that’s happened is just unsettling. When I woke up this morning I wasn’t expecting to have to escape zombies.

“Is it okay i-if I lie down? I’m just very tired after everything that’s happened.” I I looked between Judy and Kyle.

“Oh! Kyle, honey, you should let her sleep in your room. She obviously needs it,” Judy spoke to her son as she carefully smoothed out my hair. I looked at her with a small smile. I loved how motherly she was. It was definitely something I needed in a time like this.

“I’m not going to do that, Mom.”

“We don’t have any more bed space. You’re the only person with a bed big enough to hold two people. We aren’t going to force her to sleep on the floor or on the couch.”

“I-I don’t have an issue with the flo-”

“Non-sense! Kyle has plenty of space!” Judy clapped her hands together as she glared at Kyle. Kyle looked back at her with wide eyes before dropping his head and mumbling something. Even though Kyle was in charge of the orange jumpsuits, Judy was the head of household. Anyone could argue with her, but she would end up getting her way no matter what. Kyle probably knew better than to fight his mother.

“So it’s agreed then! You guys will share the room!” Judy smiled brightly. “Just no funny business.” She then glared between me and Kyle. I looked at her with wide eyes before shaking my head.

“Ugh! Ew! With him!”

“Her?! Are you serious?”

Even though I basically said what he said, I was still hurt by his utter disgust behind his words. I tried not letting it bother me as I grabbed my backpack and stood up.

“Why don’t you show her around? The bathroom, kitchen, bedroom.” Judy stood up beside me as she looked at her son. Kyle begrudgingly moved towards the opening of the living room, leading off to a new area.

“C’mon,” he grumbled as he looked over at me. I looked at Judy before looking back at Kyle. I dropped my head before dashing up beside him.

Every room he showed, I was met with a new person distraught by the events of the day. Kyle just showed me the room. I didn’t really know what I was expecting when he showed me around the house.

“Finally, this is where I sleep,” Kyle muttered as he gestured towards the closed off bedroom. A small smile grew on my lips as I entered the room, heading right towards the bed. Kyle, however, stopped me by grabbing my backpack and pulling me back to the door. “And just what do you think you’re doing?”

“Judy said I could sleep in here, too. So I figured I should take my side of the bed.” I looked up at him, folding my arms over my chest. A smirk grew across Kyle’s lips before he nodded. At this point we were standing toe-to-toe, and our chests were practically pressed together.

“You’re adorable,” he muttered before pulling my backpack off my back and tossing it to the left side of the bed. “If I find out you’re cuddling with me, you’re outta here. And if I see you going through my shit… You’re dead.”

“Sir, yes, sir.” I whispered before looking away from him. I walked away from him and towards the bed. Even though I wasn’t facing him, I could feel Kyle’s eyes on me as I went through my bag. “Are you just going to stand there and watch me? Or are you going to let me sleep peacefully?” I asked as I dropped my shoulders and the things I was holding.

“Until I know you won’t fuck around with stuff you’re not supposed to…” He spoke out loud. I rolled my eyes before turning to face him.

“Do you want me to just mess with your stuff while you’re here?” I asked as I walked back around to his side of the bed. Kyle’s eyes widened and his jaw steeled as I went to his night stand. “Or will you leave me alone so I can get some rest?”

“I’ll leave you alone the second you back away from that nightstand.” His words were quick and sharp as he spoke. A small smirk grew across my lips as I looked back at him. I stepped away from the night stand and stood in the middle of the room. “I’ll come back in an hour,” he muttered before leaving the room.

With a deep sigh, I returned to my side of the room, finally getting ready to lie down for the first time in what feels like days.

{***}{***}{***}

I don’t think time exists anymore. Ever since the world went to shit, it feels like days felt longer than 24 hours. So it was hard to say how long I’d been in this safe house. I wished time was still relevant...

I try not to let things bother me. But I feel like it’s especially hard in this house with all of these people I hardly know. It was even harder because I was still sharing a room with Kyle. And he is probably the worst person I’ve ever met. He talks in his sleep. But he wouldn’t own up to that. Noooo, he’s too good for that.

The first night I realized he was talking in his sleep wasn’t too bad, mostly because it was him talking about stuff that happened before before a stupid zombie apocolyspe. But now it’s just annoying shit. I never get a moment alone anymore.

For a moment of privacy, I sat in the closet. It was just for a moment before the doors swung open and a woman my age sat down beside me.

“Zach wants to go to a stupid graveyard today,” Erica muttered as she sat down. I looked over at her with a raised eyebrow. “He wants to visit Beth’s stupid grave.”

“Beth’s his ex-girlfriend, right?” I asked, still unsure of who people were here. She nodded as she began picking at the loose threads on her pants. “You shouldn’t speak ill of the dead, Erica.”

“Okay, but when the dead start trying to kill me, then I’m going to talk ill of the dead.”

“That’s fair, I suppose,” I muttered as I looked at the floor in front of us. “It’s still not really safe to do that… Little weird.” I glanced back at Erica with a raised brow. She looked back at me and grimaced. I had nothing else to say, granted conversations between us didn’t last too long. We had nothing in common other than our grandmothers tried eating us, therefore we had to kill them. So what was the use of us talking? I knew a friendship would never grow between us.

With a resigned sigh, I stood up, leaving Erica in the closet alone. I ignored her bothersome questions as I walked away from her. I didn’t want to be around her, or really anyone. So I went to the safest place I could think of, hoping no one else would be there, my shared bedroom with Kyle.

Of course, it’d just be my luck that Kyle would also be there. He was sitting at his desk, wearing nothing by his boxers while he cleaned his gun. I just didn’t realize that till I had fully entered the room.

“What the fuck!? What are you doing?! Don’t you knock!?” he shouted as I entered the room more. I turned and looked at him, my eyes wide as I stared at him. “S-Stop staring! Are you crazy!?”

“Me crazy!? You’re the one cleaning your gun half naked!” I shouted as I gestured at his attire. I quickly threw a hand over my eyes as I blindly searched for the bed.

“It's how I relax!” He shouted back. Once my body finally touched the bed, I laid back, quickly throwing a pillow over my face. “Can you leave?”

“How come you get to relax but I don’t? Roommates remember?” I sat up and glared at him. He glared back at me, keeping his hands on his gun.

“It’s so funny to me that you were going to be a police officer?” I scoffed as I laid back. That seemed to strike a chord in him, causing him to stand and look at him.

“What? I didn’t tell-”

“You talk in your sleep,

“No I don’t, Kitten,” Kyle retorted. I stared at him for a moment, trying to comprehend what he just called me. Kitten? Really? Seriously? “If anyone talks in their sleep, it’s you.” He pointed at me. I smirked and shrugged.

“If you say so… Officer.” I grinned before reaching up to shut the lamp off. Kyle stayed sitting in the darkness. I could only imagine his face was beet red, and his knuckles were white as a ghost as he held his gun.

“What exactly do you think you’re doing?” Kyle’s voice came through the mild darkness. I shrugged, even though he couldn’t see me.

“Taking a nap, Officer, because it’s how I relax.”

{***}{***}{***}

It had to have been the middle of the night. I couldn’t be too sure. I just knew it was late at night, and Kyle’s whole entire body was clinging to mine as he talked.

“Someone’s gotta repopulate the world… Why… Why don’t you do it with me?” Kyle mumbled into my chest. I stiffened as his hands drifted all over my body. “You’re like the only feasible person to do it with.”

“Okay, first off, rude,” I muttered as I shoved his body off mine. It was impossible to keep him off me though, because the moment his body was away from mine, he knew, and instantly wrapped his arms back around me ten times harder than before. “Secondly, haven’t you heard of personal space,” I groaned as I laid perfectly still on my back. I finally just gave in and let him keep his arms around me. No use in fighting that.

“C’mon, Kitten,” he mused as he nuzzled his head into my chest more. I widened my eyes and looked down at him. “We’d make some pretty cute kids.”

I hate this so fucking much. And there was no way I was getting out of this. I just wish this was when I knew the weird sex dreams started...

{***}{***}{***}

I laid perfectly still on the bed. The lights were off, and Kyle was perfectly asleep. I was envious of his sleep. The last time I had a peaceful night of rest was ages ago. The nightmares I had were awful, keeping me awake till dawn. But also, Kyle also talked in his sleep and always clung to me like his life depended on it.

I’d be lying if I said Kyle and I hadn’t gotten close. Even though part of me still hated him, the other part of me knew that he was probably the last person I had to be friends with, other than his mother and Erica.

With a deep groan, I shoved Kyle awake, nearly pushing him to the floor.

“What the hell was that for!?” he shouted from his spot on the ground beside the bed.

“You know when you talk in your sleep…” I spoke aloud. I kept my eyes on him as he glared at me.

“No I don’t,”

“You sure about that, Officer. How else would I know you wanted to be a cop?” I scoffed as I stood up off the bed. Kyle watched as I walked around the bed and stood at the foot of it.

“You… You read through my personal belongings.” He shot back as he stood to his feet.

“Y-You have a diary,” I stifled my laughter as I looked at him. Kyle glared at me again. “No, I only know that because you talk in your sleep. And at first it didn’t bother me too much because it was cute shit like being a police officer, or having a family and kids, and cute shit… But now… For the last week, Kyle, you have been having sex dreams. And I wake up to you clinging to me…” I lifted an accusing finger as I spoke. Kyle looked at me, waiting for me to continue my rant. Which was rather surprising because he hardly lets people finish their thoughts or rants before he interprets them. “Do you know how weird that is?! Having sex dreams about someone who’s just sleeping next to you?” I stared at him for a moment, trying to understand if he was going to say anything. “Whatever, I’m going to help Judy.” I scoffed before turning to leave the room.

“With what? It’s midnight!” He gestured to the dark window. Yeah, that was true. Judy was probably asleep. I just needed to get out of the room and let my frustrations be out instead of held in.

“With something!” I shouted at him.

“Kitten, wait,” Kyle started before grabbing my wrist and pulling me to face him. I spun around on my toes and looked right at him. I couldn’t help but feel annoyance grow on my face as I stared.

“Why do you call me that!?” I shouted at him. Kyle stayed silent as he stared up at me. I could see a certain confusion grow on his face as he tried to connect the dots to my question. “Kitten! Why do you call me that?! You’ve called me that since I got here.”

“Well… I…” Kyle paused for a moment. I watched as his mouth opened and closed a few times, and his jaw clenching momentarily. I stared at him, as he sat in thought for a very long time.

“Whatever,” I scoffed as I turned to leave again.

“Because you’re attractive…” He finally spoke after an eternity of silence. He looked up at me with a stilled face. “Because I’d fuck you,” he stated truthfully. I blinked, taking a step back before I stared at him.

“That’s a bit of a raunchy way to say you want to sleep with me.” I folded my arms over my chest. Kyle smirked before shrugging. “I’ve been sleeping with you for the last month.”

“You-You know what I meant,” he muttered as he approached me again. I stopped right in front of me, our toes just barely touching. “Well, do you?”

“Do I what?”

“Want to have sex with me?”

“You… You want to have sex… During the end of the world. Bit cliche don’t you think?” I was still taken aback that he just asked that. I’m still stuck in the argument we had less than 10 minutes ago. And now he wants to have sex with me?

“Well I wouldn’t say that it’s the end of the world. But that’s essentially what I’m saying… Yeah, I wanna have sex with you, during the end of the world.” Kyle shrugged as he looked at me.

“If you say so… Officer,” I whispered with a shrug. Kyle looked at me, his jaw stealing at my words. “Someone’s gotta repopulate the world.” I smirked at him. I could tell my words did something to him. It was obvious that he did indeed want someone to repopulate with. And I was the winner of that contest. Not that I’m complaining.

“Don’t… Don’t call me that,” he warned as he cornered me between his body and the bed. I took a deep breath as I looked at him, feeling my heart rate pick up in my chest. He still made it possible for me to escape if I wanted to. But, at this point, who says I wanted to escape?

“Why? D-Does it do something to you, Officer?” I whispered as I lifted my hands to his shirt. A small smirk grew across his lips as I smoothed out the wrinkleiness of the fabric against his torso. I could feel the semi toneness of his chest through the light fabric.

“You tell me yourself, Kitten,” he muttered before pressing his hips into mine. My breath was instantly knocked from my lungs as his bulge pressed into my legs. “Tell me now… If you want to stop…” he half growled into my mouth. I quickly shook my head as he pressed his groin into me more.

“P-Please,” I whispered before I pulled my lips between my teeth.

“Please what, Kitten?”

“Don’t stop,” I whimpered into his mouth. He looked down at me, a pleased smirk growing on his lips before he quickly pressed his mouth along my face and then down my jaw. It was impossible to stay down on earth the moment he began leaving little bites across my neck. A soft whimper fell from my lips as he pushed me back down on the bed.

“We gotta be quiet… My parents are in the next room over. Don’t want them hearing us,” he whispered into my ear as he quickly threw a hand over my mouth. I took a deep breath before he pressed his thumb over my nose. “You think you can do that for me, Kitten?” He kept his voice low, almost a growl as he spoke. With his other hand, he carefully pushed past my pajamas and cupped my pussy.

I wanted to nod, but I knew the nod would mean nothing the second I whimpered again. Kyle smirked as he slowly moved his fingers over my clothed sex. I don’t think I’d be able to be quiet...

It just got harder to stay quiet the second he started stroking my clit over my panties. He knew exactly what he was doing. Driving me nuts, that’s what. He could’ve gone slower, and I would’ve hated him for it… Or loved him. At this point they were both interchangeable.

I bit down so hard on my lips I was sure they’d bleed as he moved my underwear to the side. My lungs slowly grew a blaze, feeling a certain tightness in my chest as he slowly moved a finger between my folds, slowly pressing it into my entrance. A dark smirk grew across his lips as he withdrew his hand.

“I didn’t know a kitten could get so wet,” Kyle mused as looked at his glistening fingers. He quickly glanced at me, his smirk growing daker by the second. Then he carefully stuck his fingers between his lips, sucking on them for a brief moment. A soft whimper came from me, causing him to laugh. “She tastes good, too,” he hummed.

Kyle carefully dragged his hand down my side, tracing over my waist and hips, before diving back into my pants and underwear. He knew exactly what he was doing, on purposely making me make noises. Because the second he started stroking over my clit, I couldn’t stop any sound that came from my mouth, even with his hand over it.

“This is already better than any dream I had, Kitten,” he murmured in my ear. I swallowed roughly and nodded. He smirked as he gently pushed a finger into me, quickly followed by a second. “If you’re quiet I’ll move my hand.”

I hummed as I closed my eyes, my head lolling to the side. Kyle dragged his hand from my mouth, sliding it down to my chest. My lips stayed between my teeth, forcing myself to be quiet as he started massaging my breasts.

“D-Don’t stop, whatever you do… Please k-keep going,” I struggled to say as his movements hastened. His thumb carefully brushed against my clit, causing me to push my head back into the bed beneath me.

“You like this, don’t you?” Kyle laughed lightly. I could feel my chest lifting away from the bed the heavier my breath grew. “How long has it been since you’ve been touched like this? Since you’ve been used?”

“Kyle, Kyle, please,” I bit down on my lower lip. I brought one of my hands to rest over my mouth, while the other held his arm.

“I’d call you a desperate, but I’m the one having sex dreams of you.”

The funny thing is… I was desperate. Even though he was the one having the sex dreams, I was the one having the thoughts when I was awake. And a lot of the thoughts were hoping this would happen. Guess we’re bothing having dreams coming true.

It was only a matter of moments before I was finishing over his hand. My eyes stayed closed as I tried catching up with time. And in the few moments I had, Kyle had climbed off the bed and quickly undressed, leaving me still in my pajamas. I didn’t feel rushed, but I hated that I was still wearing clothes.

Once I had my moment of recollection, I sat up, peeling my shirt off and kicking my pants to the floor. I was too busy undressing to even notice that Kyle was staring at me, watching my quickness and excitement. But when I finally did sit back and look at him, he was watching me with a smirk on his lips.

I tried not to let my eyes linger on his body for too long. When I noticed his hard length, I couldn’t help but stare. Then he laughed, forcing me to look up at his face and swallow roughly.

“No, please, keep staring,” he muttered with a smirk. I slowly blinked before shaking my head, silently lifting my hand to him. I could feel my sudden neediness radiating off my body, surely Kyle could sense it from where he was standing.

When he didn’t move, I slowly moved my legs apart, making it so there was space for him to kneel comfortably. He smirked again before crawling onto the bed, coming right up to my face.

“Tell me, Kitten, how badly do you want this,” he whispered against my lips. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before nodding. “Use your words. I trust you know how. You were pretty vocal a few moments ago.”

“I don’t think you understand, Officer, how bad I need you,” I murmured as I looked up at him. The corner of his lips twitched at the nickname I had so lovingly given him. “Only you can help me.”

“Damn right I am,” he muttered before roughly pressing his lips to mine. I threw my arms around his neck as he moved so his length was pressing against me. My breathing stuttered slightly before I began gasping for air as he very slowly entered me.

Once he was fully sheathed in me, Kyle knelt straight up. I stared at him, watching as he hooked his arms under my knees. With that, he managed to press deeper into me, inciting a moan from me.

“More,” I tried to whisper as I looked up at him. His eyes locked with mine for a moment before rolling his hips into mine. He fell into a steady rhythm, hitting the right spots at just the right times.

Any conversation between us ceased to exist, leaving us with struggling moans and gasps for breath. My hands ran over my body, trying to relieve myself of something.

Kyle dropped one of my legs, bringing his hand to between my legs. My head fell back before rolling to rest against my shoulder, feeling the eventual relief in my abdomen.

“You feel so good, Kitten,” Kyle mumbled before dropping my other leg and coming back down to my face. I huffed out a breath of air before lifting a hand to his head. “Better than anything I could ever imagine,” he added before pressing his lips to mine. I hummed, pushing my fingers through his hair.

“I’m gon-gonna cum,” I whined before biting my teeth into his shoulder. Kyle ran his hands up my back before pulling me close.

“Yeah?” he groaned into my ear. I nodded as my breathing grew ragged. “Me too,” he added as his movements grew faulty. He pressed his forehead to mine, his heavy breath fanning across my skin. My eyes stayed glued to his.

“Do it, please do it,” I whimpered. Kyle’s eyes grew darker the moment the heaviness of my words hit him. I don’t think I was supposed to notice his brief pause, but I did. “I’m serious.”

“You know what-”

“God, Kyle, I know. I know what it’ll mean,” I cut him off, lifting my back up into his body. He looked at me for a brief moment before capturing my lips in a gentle kiss. I threw my arms around his neck, holding him close to me.

“If that’s what you want,” he moaned, his movements turning sloppy. I knew I wasn’t about to last long. “Someone’s gotta have my kid.”

“Let it be me then,” I cried out. My legs wrapped around his waist, keeping him in place. “Please.” My whole body tensed around his as my head fell back as I tried to keep quiet. Kyle looked down at me before putting his hand over my mouth. Then a warmth- that I didn’t realize that I missed- grew in my stomach.

Kyle fell, laying against my body. With that, we fell into silence. The only sound was our heavy breathing and the sounds of crickets outside. The silence was nice though.

“My mother better not find out about this,” Kyle said after an eternity. I laughed and shook my head.

“Then you better hope I don’t end up pregnant, because she’ll find out eventually,” I sighed deeply as I brought my hands to hold the back of his head. His body stiffened before he lifted his head to look down at me.

“I’ll tell her in the morning.”

“Well you don’t have to do that,” I laughed. He stared at me for a moment. “You tell her she’ll probably break us apart. And, well, like I said earlier… Someone’s gotta repopulate the world.”

“No, yeah, you’re right. She’d probably kill me if she found out we’re having sex,” he stated before trying to move away from me. “Actually I think she’d kill me then pray I come back to life for that kid.”

“I’m not living through someone trying to eat me twice.”

“I can change that,” he teased with a smile. I stared at him once I realized what he meant.

“Tomorrow night please. I’m so tired.”

“If you say so,” Kyle laughed before slipping out of the bed.

Some months after the apocalypse ended

“You look mighty dashing in that uniform, Officer.” I looked at Kyle as I smoothed out the few wrinkles in his shirt. I tried my hardest to hold the young boy in my arms the moment he became fussy.

“Don’t start that now. I can’t be late,” Kyle warned as he looked back at me. I smiled and shrugged.

I looked up at Kyle with a soft smile on my lips. Although our son was young, he tried to blindly reach out for his father, but failed as he was just out of the child’s reach. “Be safe out there,” I whispered before pressing my lips to his.

“Of course I will.”

“Good, because your little man will be pissed if he finds out you’re not coming home.” I smiled before kissing him again. “But I think I’ll be even more pissed than your kid.”

“Please. I’ll come home in one piece, with no bites.”

“You better, Officer.” I smirked again.

“Well since you asked so nicely,” Kyle scoffed before rolling his eyes. I smiled and nodded.

“Good luck out there. Judy’s making dinner so be home in a timely manner.”

“Okay, for real, I gotta go. See you later, Little Man.” Kyle smiled as he rubbed the top of his son’s head. I smiled before puckering my lips. “And I’ll be home before you know it.” He quickly pecked my lips. “Love you.”

“Yeah, yeah, love you too. See ya later.” I swung our son over to my other hip, resting him gently on my hip. I turned around and slowly walked back up to our home.

“It’s not too soon for another one, is it?!” He shouted from the end of the driveway. I turned and looked at him as I made it to the front door.

“If anything, we can practice!”

if you want to be a part of a taglist (lmk if ur 18+ for smut) or have any comments about this one-shot, let me know here

taglist: @thebluetint @muffin-cup @itsmyblogandillreblogifiwantto @spencersmagic  @spenciegoob @flipperpenguins @broken-stardust​ 

[dabilove27]

How Far We've Come

Paring: Dabi x Fem!Reader

Rating: Explicit (18+ only)

Warnings: Angst, Character Death, Smut (female-receiving oral), A Cocky Dabi, Cussing, A lot of Pet Names

Word Count: 7.8K

A/N: This is my contribution to the Smut Pile Apocalypse Collab! If you have the time check out some of the other amazing pieces! Everyone has worked so hard to make some beautiful fics!

Thank you so much to my wife @lady-lunaaa for reading, encouraging, brainstorming, and helping me the whole way from start to finish. I have said it before but I will say it again. You are absolutely amazing and this fic wouldn't exist without you! 💜 Also thank you @/deathcab4daddy (not sure if you want to be tagged) for taking the time to read through and for your advice!

You've seen all those movies, the decaying zombie hoards, the massive explosions that wipe out nations, or an unexpected illness that mysteriously kills off the population. But you had never really expected for any of those apocalyptic things to become true in your own world.  They were just fiction, never something that could actually occur. Yet here you are faced with the reality of a hoard of rotting zombies. Like you have been thrown into one of the many movies or TV shows yourself.

People aren't even sure how it happened, especially in a world full of quirks where this should be somewhat controlled, right? Wrong, whatever caused this zombie apocalypse also seemed to nullify quirks over time. There was so much speculation whether it came into the water supply or passed through the air. But none of that really seems to matter anymore when you are fighting for your life every day.

And as the mass of decaying, walking corpses steps closer and closer to you, it seems like your end is near too. The smell of organs exposed to the air and sun stink up the room.  You can see the blank, milky white eyes of the undead that somehow can still find you even though they can't really see.  You've had a partner, at least—the man who has stood with you during this entire shit show.

He stands close to you, a single rusted knife covered in stagnant blood, not nearly enough even combined with whatever you could find for fighting off the seemingly endless mindless bodies coming your way. He's covered in burn scars and rusted staples that pull at his healthy skin. People used to jab at him for looking like the walking dead before all this went down.  His firepower from before would have solved this problem in an instant. This rotting mob wouldn't have stood a chance.

But instead, it looks like it's the conclusion for the two of you. Memories flash through your mind. A memory of escaping the daily struggle of your mundane life by sharing take-out on your old couch.  Or how his kisses always felt like burning flames against your lips.  Your regular life consisted of trying to numb the pain of the past with alcohol or working endless hours.  Even though you didn’t have a traditional relationship where you could go on public dates, being in a relationship with a well-known villain was worlds better than this. But if you were going to die, at least it was together. Solidarity in times like this seems to help the never-ending dread that the Reaper looming around every corner ready to take you.  Every moment in this new hell had you wished you had more time to develop your romance with him instead of the tragedy that was about to befall you. You wished you had more time with this romance and that it wouldn't end in tragedy. It's hard to believe that there was ever a time when you couldn't stand this man, but even now, that's a fond memory for you.  You would give anything to return to that old bar where the two of you met and relive all of these memories.

It really isn't a surprise that you met Dabi in a dark, run-down bar near Kamino.  No, not the "bar" run by Kurogiri; everyone who lived in this area knew that it was just a setup. This bar is a tiny little hole in the wall with paint chipping off the walls and where the seats were hardly held together anymore, but that didn't really matter to people who lived in this area. You didn't come to this bar for a luxury experience.

The main reason people came to this bar was its location.  It sat deep in a seedy area which meant no police patrolling nearby so you wouldn’t need to look over your shoulder constantly.  Plus, the cheap liquor was enticing enough.

Every Friday night, you were perched on one of the worn-out bar stools as you nursed your gin and tonic.  This was your place to unwind after another hellish week of your mundane job.  It was still early enough in the evening that the bar wasn't thoroughly packed with bodies trying to get their drink.  The music was still soft,  later it would blare whatever song was currently sitting at the top of the Billboard charts. You were able to turn your brain off and listen to other patrons' mindless chatter in the background.  You could just sip your drink, maybe take a shot or two if you felt like, and then head home to pass out.

You relished this little getaway, an oasis in the slums that made up your small world.  The bartender and regular patrons didn't bother you, so you could have your own peace.  But your Eden got interrupted by a cocky, fire-wielding asshole who had set his sights on you.

You didn't stir when said asshole plopped himself down in the barstool next to you with a thump.  It wasn't until the jerk actually spoke to you that you were brought out of your mindless daydreaming.

"Hey, pretty girl, what are you doing in a place like this?"  He said with a smooth tone.  You didn't even have to look at him to know he had an arrogant smirk plastered on his face.

Who the fuck does this asshole think he is? The irritated thought instantly pops into your head.  Anyone who frequented this bar knew you were from around here.  You weren't some soft, delicate flower that wasn't supposed to be "on this side of town."  Preparing yourself by putting on your best "I'm not interested face," you maneuvered your body to face him, ready to tell him off.

Your words caught in your throat as your eyes met his two endless pools of cerulean.  Your gaze shifted to take in the burnt skin clinging onto the shining staples that were rooted in his healthy skin. A familiar black coat spread across his frame that was even more recognizable than those eyes, and the patronizing smile that you wanted to slap off his face. As much as you wanted to throw up your middle finger at him and tell him off, you knew who this was. Hell, everyone knew who this was.

The League of Villains didn't necessarily keep quiet around here. They didn't have to. This is the area where they recruited people to join them. You didn't just flick off and ignore a LOV member. Especially the infamous Dabi, who wasn't really known for his kindness or compassion. More for his ability to burn anyone who defied The League to a crumbling crisp.

But still, who did this asshole think he is? Waltzing in here like he owned it and saddling down into your escape from the world only to tell you that you don't look like you should be here?  Fuck that nonsense, League member or not.

You swallow down a bit of the initial anger as your eyes narrow into a glare at the cocky asshole.  "Thanks but no thanks, I'm not interested in being involved with the League. So if you don't mind going somewhere else to scout, that would be great." You try to say without a tremble in your voice as you wave your hand in a "shoo" motion.

You aren't sure what you expect Dabi to do next., burn down the whole bar you included? Tell you that you have no choice but to join, and you're coming with him? Rip you out of your seat and reprimand you for disrespecting The League? But instead, none of those things happen.  Instead, he does something you don't expect, and his grin grows a little wider as the staples begin to pull more at his healthy flesh.

You can feel your anxiety rising. Get out, get out, get out, this asshole will kill you, leave NOW, your mind is practically sending off every warning signal it can.

Your chest tightens when Dabi lets out a low chuckle. "Oh no, sweetheart, you've got it all wrong."  He says with a dark tone. "I'm not recruiting you for work. My interest in you is personal."  Dabi points at you and then at himself and finishes with an infuriating smirk that seems to be mocking you.  He's moved his hand and placed it on your forearm that was resting on the smooth bar top.

A shiver runs through you as the mismatched textures of his skin and the cool metal of the staples.  You feel your anger bubbling up again.  How dare this jerk think that you will just fall for him like a desperate fangirl.  You are livid at this point, frustration coursing through your veins, fuck the niceties and preservation. He needed to be put in his place.

"I know you think you are some big shot because The League is doing so well right now but fuck off asshole.  I'm not a League groupie that will just kneel down and suck your dick just because you want it." You spit out at him while shrugging off his hand and moving your body to face the way you were initially sitting. Grasping your drink and lifting it to your lips, you try and down what was left so you could leave immediately, any extra moment around Dabi was a moment you didn't want to have.

You were sure Dabi would have given up or at least killed you by now. You can't imagine that he is used to being rejected by women.  He's handsome in a way that doesn't fit with the norm.  He fills in that bad boy check-list like it's his job, which it practically is given his profession.  Again though, Dabi surprises you with his response. He doesn't yell, he doesn't use his quirk, and he doesn't kill you. He lets out another dark chuckle like he's enjoying this and continues the conversation you had tried to cut off.

"I didn't say anything about sucking dick, but if you're offering, who am I to turn down a gift?"  That smooth tone is back as he moves his hand to your hair and runs it through his fingers.

Bewilderment overcomes you, and you can't even stop yourself before you are turned towards him again, glass in your hand, ready to throw what's left of your drink on him.

As if he anticipated the response, Dabi moves quickly and grabs your wrist in a tight grip.  "Now, why would you want to waste what you have left, doll? That's not a very smart choice." His grip tightens a little more around your wrist, and you can feel the staples begin to dig into your skin as he lets out a deep chuckle. He moves your hand back down to the bar but doesn't let go even after your glass has left your hand.  "There we go, good girl.  Now let's talk just a bit." He says sweetly, loosening his grip just a bit, but not enough for you to move your hand.

If looks could kill, Dabi would have died a cruel death by now. You are seething at this point.  But instead, you're stuck there as he continues to do whatever it is that he’s trying to accomplish.  "What were you drinking?  I'll buy you another one and then leave, okay doll?"  He says playfully and with a cunning grin on his face as you mumble out your drink order.  You just want him to leave, and you really hope he plans on keeping his word.

Dabi motions for the bartender's attention, gives your drink order and plops a few bills on the bartop. He still hasn't let go of your wrist, and each and every moment he is even touching you, you can feel your annoyance continuing to build.  You want to ask him if he's done yet and will kindly get the fuck out, but you have a sneaking suspicion that he likes the cat and mouse game, which would just lengthen the amount of time he sticks around.

The bartender finally delivers your drink, and it takes everything in you not to rip your wrist out of his grasp and grab the new glass to pour over Dabi's head.  "Okay, one last question, and then I'll leave."  He drawls out as you put all your focus into the condensation forming on your glass.  You stay silent, waiting for his stupid question so you can move on and never see him again.  Dabi continues with that condesending tone that is starting to cause your head to ache, "How often do you come here? I'd love to see you again."

Your heartbeat picks up, and little shots of adrenaline start to flow through you as you contemplate how to respond. Of course, you don't want this asshole to know when you come here. This is your escape from the world. You never want to even see Dabi again,  but something from this interaction tells you Dabi isn't going to give up easily. So you tell him your regular time that you show up at the bar every Friday.

Dabi squeezes your wrist a little bit before letting out another "Good girl, sounds like a date.  I'll see you then." You never want him to know how those few words send a shiver down your spine. He saunters out of the bar without having a single drink himself. Patrons stare dumbfounded between you and the doorway that Dabi just exited, trying to comprehend what just happened.

You let out an exasperated sigh before leaning your head down into your folded arms.  The bar top isn't necessarily the cleanest of places to lay your head, but it’s pounding and racing with thoughts, and you can't really bring yourself to care right now.  You try to formulate a plan so you won't ever see him. You'll just move your regular day to Saturday instead of Fridays.  But then that stubborn anger flares inside of you again, and you sit up straight, glancing at your newly unwanted drink as the ice slowly melts, lifting the remaining liquid in the cup.  No, I'm not going to let that asshole ruin my spot for me.  He can come around here every Friday, but I'll turn that jerk down a million times. You think a little smugly to yourself.  We will see how the big bad Dabi feels being turned down over and over.  Maybe that will sting his ego.

And so you and Dabi play this game of cat and mouse. He comes every Friday when you are there without fail, buying you a drink, chatting to you with sentences filled with pet names, and planning another "date" each time.  And every time you tell him you aren't interested or to go away, or really anything to try and get that stupid fucking smirk off his face.  But it always remains cemented there as he watches you get fired up.  And what you don't realize is the two of you are getting to know each other.  Dabi adds in little questions, "what's your favorite food, least favorite, what do you do for work?"  And the questions go on and on.  You don't realize your walls coming down as the two of you find similarities in each other.  And if there is one thing anyone who sees these frequent interactions between the two of you can say, it is that Dabi is determined.

You are so used to Dabi's Friday visits that they don't bring headaches anymore, and you realize something more has developed when he doesn't show up one week.  A mixture of feelings rests in you, anxiety, confusion, anger.  You wonder if he's okay, or has he finally given up.  And then anger if he has.  You don't want to admit it, but you miss his company, and you don't even have a number to reach out to him.  You feel a sense of loss in your chest.  How could he just give up?  He's been trying for months!  You think as tears begin to sting for a moment in your eyes.

You leave the bar that night not feeling uplifted or relaxed but sad and angry.  And you aren't necessarily looking forward to returning the week after, but you do come back to your regular spot and hope Dabi will show.  Your heart almost stops in your chest when you see him walk through the entrance of the bar, and before you can contain the words, they tumble out in a frantic sound, "where were you last week?"  You are standing in front of him now, looking up at that little grin he always has on his face whenever you get annoyed with him.  You cross your arms over your chest and exclaim, "Well? I'm waiting."

"Aw, did you miss me, baby girl?"  His poker face never falls, but his grin grows a tiny bit wider as he stares into your fiery eyes.  And without warning, he wraps one of his long arms around you, pulling you into a tight side hug.

A small eep escapes you at the movement, and you move to push him off.  "What the hell are you doing? Answer my question, you jerk!" You practically yell as you push away from him.  He doesn't let go and just pulls you tighter to him, and you find yourself not struggling anymore as you take in the weathered texture of his coat pressed against your arm and the smell of cigarettes on him.  You feel your walls starting to fall entirely, "I was really concerned about you." You let out in a whisper, not really wanting to admit it to him, but you weren't sure how you would feel if something like this happened again.

"Aw, babe, you did miss me."  The delight in his voice makes you shiver a little.  He gestures you over to your regular spot at the bar, and the two of you sit down in the weathered chairs.  He puts a calloused finger under your chin to bring your gaze to his.  You stare into his cerulean depths that you used to hate and find yourself softening a bit.  "I had to do something for The League, but I don't have your number, love.  So I couldn't call and let you know I wouldn't make our date."  His face relaxes a bit as he watches your frown turn into a bit of pout.

"Okay, well fine, I'll give you my number.  But don't just text me randomly, okay?"  You huff as you lay your palm flat and motion for his phone.  Dabi chuckles and shakes his head before handing you the phone without another word.  Lifting the phone, you type your number into the cracked screen and hand it back to him.  "Okay, now text me, so I have yours. " You say, moving to grab your phone to wait for his upcoming text.

"Hmmm, I don't think so, doll,"  Dabi says, taking in your furrowed brow and then relishing in the way you roll your eyes at his taunting.

"Fine, whatever, Dabi.  Just text me next time you can't make it."  You say sourly while searching for the bartender to order your drink.  You don't want Dabi to see the slight sting of hurt in your eyes because he won't give you his.  The rest of the night goes as expected, drinking and talking, and you find yourself laughing more, not realizing how much you truly enjoyed this time with him.

The two of you depart with another hug, this one much shorter than the first, but you find yourself leaning into the warmth that radiates from him instead of wanting to push him off.  As you begin walking down the street home, you feel a buzz in your pocket.  Pulling out your phone, you unlock it to the message from an unknown number.

Unknown Number: Hey babe, see you same time next week - D

A small smile comes to your face as you type a response back.

The following year you grow in your relationship with Dabi.  There are never really any titles between the two of you.  Just that the two of you are together.  You never meet The League. Dabi is insistent you aren't involved with them in case things go awry.  But you spend a lot of time together when work or villain work doesn't take up the time.

Your relationship together comes to a head at the very start of the apocalypse.  The two of you sit snuggled together on your worn-out couch watching the news as a young reporter stands in front of a local research building in town and goes through the facts of citizens becoming "mindless and violent in a matter of hours."  And how they have people under lockdown who are experiencing symptoms of this "mysterious illness."

A slight shiver goes through you as the reporter goes on.  "That's really scary. No one knows what's causing it,"  you reflect aloud while you lean in closer into Dabi's outstretched arm that is resting around your shoulders.

"Aw, babe, don't be scared.  Those mindless fools wouldn't stand a chance if they tried to lay a hand on you while I'm there,"  Dabi says with a glint of amusement in his voice.  He always sounds so condescending, but you know it's the truth.  Remembering a time at the bar when a guy wouldn't take no for an answer-not that Dabi really followed that either- but Dabi didn't hesitate to let the guy know you were already taken.  He flirts and likes to jab a lot, but there’s a complete shift in the atmosphere when he's serious.

"Ugh, Dabi, you know I don't mean them attacking us. It's whatever is causing it that worries me. What happens if one of us gets it?  There's no cure right now,"  You say and worry your lower lip between your teeth.

Dabi picks up on your anxious state, and his cocky facade fades.  He pulls you on his lap so that you are fully facing him with legs pressed on either side of his.  Dabi holds one large hand on your waist, and the other he presses to your cheek.  Leaning your cheek further into his hand, Dabi moves his thumb to trace over the slight marks in your lip where your teeth were just placed.  "Hey, listen to me, nothing is going to happen, okay?  I won't let any of these maniacs hurt you, and we won't catch whatever they have,"  Dabi says tenderly as he gives you a small smile.

It's nice to see him like this- when his mask of superiority disappears, and he's focused on encouraging you.  It doesn't happen often because you like to keep walls.  Comfort from Dabi doesn’t need to happen often but you can’t say you don’t like it when he does.  You enjoy these softer moments with him that only you get to see.

You pull Dabi into a light kiss.  The gentle pressure of his mismatched lips fit seamlessly against yours.  You pull away after a moment to look into his deep blue eyes that now captivate you.  Dabi has that coy smile still on his face, and as his eyes meet your in that moment, it's like the horrible events of the world aren't happening anymore.  All that seems to exist is the two of you, not the TV still prattling in the background or even the noises outside your city window.

Dabi lightly caresses your cheek down to the length of your neck and finally ending near where your collarbones sit.  Everywhere he touches leaves behind a trail of goosebumps on your skin.  Even with these simple touches, you can feel yourself starting moving against him, trying to create a bit of friction.  Dabi knew how easily he could rile you up with simple touches.  It was frustrating at times, and you wished you could have the same effect on him.

"I love you, babe.  And no matter what, I won't let anything hurt you,"  Dabi tells you, and you swear his voice seems to be cracking, but the moment is gone before you can think about it.  Dabi lives on being mysterious most of the time, and you rarely get to see this vulnerable side of him.  Even if he doesn't say it behind that mask of cockiness, you can feel that there is fear of what's happening right now.  Or at least that's what you think the fear is from, but Dabi will never admit the fear is from losing you to whatever this is.  He isn't sure he could survive this hell of a life he's been given without you.

Your heart aches at his sincere words from earlier, and you whisper back, "I love you too, Dabi."  Drawing him into a more intense kiss.  Dabi begins to run his fingers along the hem of your t-shirt and delicately brushes the skin right under with his fingertips.  You feel a moan bubble up inside of you, but his mouth moving against yours swallows the sound.

"I want you so bad, doll.  Let's just forget what's going on right now, let the world fall away,"  he says in a husky voice after breaking away from the kiss.

You nod to him before letting out a content sigh and letting your eyes fall shut while Dabi continues to trace his hands over your body.  Dabi trails his massive heated hands under the thin shirt you are wearing and down to your hips.  You can feel the bulge of his cock through his jeans as it begins to press against your clothed core.

Opening your eyes, you meet Dabi's half-lidded lustful eyes and bite your bottom lip and allow yourself to give into Dabi taking over you.

You can feel your heart beating a little faster, watching Dabi drink in every ounce of you.  Dabi is one of the only men you have ever trusted like this.  To have you so totally vulnerable.  It's strange how someone you didn't want anything to do with for months has become someone you rely on for everything- love, comfort, pleasure.

Dabi places open-mouthed kisses along your neck that leave you breathless.  "Fuck, I'm obsessed with every inch of you,"  Dabi growls out before returning to kissing and sucking your neck and exposed collar bone.

You grip Dabi's shoulder to ground you back from floating away into complete bliss and tip your head out to give him more access to your neck.  Dabi's mouth is like a flame that licks at your sensitive skin as he continues to trail his mouth all over.  You could be trapped in this pleasure forever.

Dabi grasps the back of your head and roughly brings your lips back to his.  With your mouths slotted against each other, you moan as Dabi finesses you to where you are lying on your back on the old couch, and he is hovering over you.

You break the kiss to quickly pull off his jacket and expose Dabi's scarred arms.  And just as you have only trusted Dabi fully with yourself, he has done the same.  Of course, the two of you have had sex with other people, mostly with lights off clothing still left on to hide the imperfections.  But with each other, there is no more hiding.

Heat begins to pool in your belly as you watch Dabi pull off your shorts and slide his warm hands all the way back up your leg and massage the plush skin of your thighs.  Once your shorts are removed, Dabi brings himself back to your face and, with a lustful sigh, traces kisses on your jaw and neck.

"Just relax and let me take you away from all of this, love.  I want to hear every sound you make." He growls as he moves down towards your pussy and lays himself between your spread legs.  Dabi lifts your thighs to rest on his shoulder as you let out a little gasp.  You can feel the excitement and heat rising in you.

Dabi kisses down the inside of your soft thighs and stops to suck at certain spots, leaving minor marks in their place.  He stops for a moment until you are looking directly into his captivating gaze, and then he licks a stripe up your pussy over the cotton of your underwear.  You let out a breathy moan at the sensation.   That jerk knows precisely what he's doing.

Dabi then grabs the thin material of your underwear and rips them away from your body with a tear. Groaning, you are about to curse at him for ruining another pair but are cut short when he sleekly licks up your folds. A delicate, playful moan leaves your separated lips.  Your eyes close, and you cling onto his white shirt to ground yourself.

"Baby girl, you're soaking wet," Dabi teases as if you weren't aware but cuts off any retort again with a quick suck to your aching clit. You can't hold back the loud moan that bubbles up in your throat.

Dabi smiles against your lower lips and continues his ministrations.   His mouth is open wide, so he can move back and forth from quickly licking up and down your sensitive pussy as well as suck softly on your clit.   You feel light-headed at the extended sensations, little whimpers and moans falling through your lips.  Dabi has always been able to leave you speechless with just his mouth.

"Dabi please," Your breathing hitches, and you moan out as he flicks his tongue repeatedly over your small bud. You can feel that hot pressure building in your stomach as Dabi continues. He laps at you like you are holding the only source of liquid left in this world, his tongue working wonders on your dripping hole.

Dabi pulls back and looks up at you as you eagerly meet his blue eyes, begging him to continue.  He smirks before lowering his mouth back down and laps at your sopping core teasingly.  Fucking bastard.  Always a tease from day one.

Dabi licks his lips before returning to eating you out even faster as a series of cries and obscenities continue to fall out of your mouth.  You can't hold them back.  His mouth is so hot and wet against your core.

With another curse, you tell him you are close. A sigh escapes your lips, and your head tosses back onto the cushy arm of the couch.  Dabi pulls away but inserts two fingers inside of you in place of his mouth.

"Fuck, sweetheart, as much as I want to hear you beg and plead for me,  I want to taste you right now."  Dabi lets out with a rough voice filled with desire.  You whimper as he continues to fuck you with his fingers.  He smirks at your blissed-out face and then returns his mouth to your pussy.  His tongue flicks over your clit repeatedly as whines and cries continue to be let out of your mouth.  Back arching, you bite at your lip, barely able to even process the words that came out of Dabi just a moment ago.

"Oh, fuck, Dabi, please. Please, I'm gonna cum soon." The words fall from your lips, and your mind feels numb to everything except the feeling of Dabi's tongue on your pussy.

Dabi grunts and gives another hard suck to your clit before pulling away just a bit.  "Hell yeah, babe, come all over my face."

Your eyes roll back, and your mouth opens with another cry as your legs begin to tremble as the tension starts to rise in your stomach. One more lick, and you know you'd come. Dabi's continued suckling of your clit sends you careening over the edge. Your cries fill the room, and your back arches as your legs try to squeeze around his head.  Dabi continues to suck and lick as you orgasm.  Panting and with your eyes twisted shut, you cling to his shirt as you start to come down.  A final curse gently leaves your mouth as you wait for your legs to stop shaking.  Dabi takes one last long slow lick before sitting back and wiping his face with the back of his hand.  You can't bring yourself to move from the couch, still panting and weak.

Your mind starts slowly coming back to you as the bliss begins to leave.  The realization of everything happening in the world washes over you.  But you were thankful Dabi took the time to distract you from the horrors of what's going on.  You move over so Dabi can cuddle with you on the couch.  It isn't much room, but it feels good to be this close with him, wrapped in each other's arms.  You both slowly start to drift off to sleep, but you don't miss Dabi's final words mumbled into your hair, "I'll never let anything happen to you."

Shortly after that, the world seems to descend into madness.  The illness grows more and more rampant.  People are getting infected every day.  Whether it's through the original source of contamination or by those contaminated biting or scratching someone.  Panic spreads throughout the country.  But through all of it, you and Dabi stick together.

From the moment it was declared an emergency Dabi was banging at your door, insisting the two of you find somewhere safer than your run-down apartment.  Because while the two of you needed sleep, whatever these things are could go non-stop, and your apartment was not fortified.

You and Dabi lost your quirks a month after the emergency declaration, along with the rest of the population. People couldn't fight these zombie-like creatures off anymore.  Like all the movies and TV shows, the bodies became more zombies than actual living people.

After a while of jumping around from a destroyed place to another, the two of you found yourself in an apartment building that had a sturdy enough entrance that the zombies couldn't break through.  The daily struggles were still hard, though. Finding food and water to survive became a daily task for the two of you.  Through all of this, he never left your side. He always insisted the two of you stay together.  And so you did.  Fighting the living dead, but sometimes the living too when things got even more terrible, and scavenging was your everyday routine now.

You lost track of time and could only follow when the seasons changed.  But Dabi was really the only thing getting you through this.  Seeing people destroy one another for food or shelter destroyed you inside.  Never knowing if these zombies you were killing were someone you had known at one point, or just another faceless dead person tore at every corner of your brain.  Dabi stayed strong for the two of you.  Holding you every night on the ripped blankets, you could gather for the strange bed the two of you slept in.  You would sob into his muscled chest about how you couldn't live in this world anymore, how you couldn't kill another person, alive or dead.

But Dabi would never let go.  He would hold you close and let your never-ending tears stain the only shirt he had now.  He would rub your back with his warm hands; even though his rusting staples would catch on your shirt and rip from his skin, he still did it.  He would hold you until you fell asleep, whispering how strong you were and how he could never do this without you.  And after all the tears, you were thankful too.  Because without him, you'd be dead or alone.  You knew that without Dabi, you would have never survived this long.

But you could see Dabi was hurting too.  You couldn't find supplies to treat his decaying skin.  He hid his daily pain from you, but when Dabi thought you weren't looking or listening, he would hiss at the pain of another staple pulling at his burnt skin or let out a huge sigh when he would try to put it back together, but it wouldn't cooperate.

The only hope the two of you held onto was each other and that possibly a cure would come soon.  Not that either you could really access that information with no electricity; there wasn't any way to get information other than hearsay.  You survived the best you could in this world.

And as much as this wasn't what you would have picked for either of you, at least you had each other.  You tried not to think of a time when you wouldn't be together, even though the chances of that happening were high- it hurt too much. To survive in this world without Dabi would be too fucking much.

It's almost as if fate chose to play a cruel game with the two of you.  It seemed like a "normal" trip out to scavenge for food and water.  The two of you had to expand your search area since places closer were mainly empty.

This time you found yourself outside of a convenience store, a reasonable distance away from your home.  It hadn't been completely destroyed by some miracle and was not overrun by the zombified people.  Still, in a state of decay, though, Dabi was quickly able to kick his heavy boots through the door and get the two of you in.

Sauntering through the gas station, you quickly begin to pick up canned food and stale bags of chips and shove them in your worn backpack.  Dabi is doing the same on other aisles until he lets out a chuckle.  "Hey babe, look what I found."  He says with a cocky voice holding up a few boxes of wrapped condoms above the aisle for you to see.

You roll your eyes.  "Thanks, Dabi. Is sex really what we want to be thinking about right now? Let's just get this shit and get out."  You let out with an annoyed huff and continue to push the limits of how much your bag can hold.

Dabi comes over to your aisle and snakes his arms around your waist with your back pressed to his chest.  He places his chin on your shoulder and whispers in your ear.  "Yes, all I can think about is getting your beautiful body back home and finally being able to finish in you, and with these, I can."  He lets out a dark chuckle as he pulls you closer against him and bucks  his hips playfully.

"Okay, horn dog, let's get this shit done, and then we can do whatever you want back home."  You let out with an eye roll.  It's hard to stay mad at him. You know he's trying to keep things light for you, to keep you happy because he can see how hard this is.  And his regular teasing is one way he knows will bring a smile to your face.

As you are finishing up trying to take inventory of anything else in the store that you can take back, you spot the clear plastic that holds the cartons of cigarettes behind the cashier counter.  While you didn't necessarily want Dabi smoking, you knew he missed the vice. Cigarettes were just as hard to find as medicine in this new world.  Smiling to yourself, you move behind the counter and reach for the plastic flap to lift it up.

As you try to lift the latch, it doesn't budge. You look around for what might be blocking it before seeing the tiny silver keyhole to one side of the compartment.  Crap, of course, it's locked.    You really wanted to surprise Dabi with this.  Maybe you still could. The key had to be here somewhere, right? You think while scanning around the counter.  You try searching through the counters for a hidden key but no luck.  Letting out a heavy sigh, you call Dabi over.

Dabi wanders over to your annoyed face and can't help but smile at your slight pout.  "I wanted to surprise you! But I can't open it. Can you get it, please?"  It comes out almost like a whine as you gesture to the cigarettes.

Dabi's smirk turns into a genuine smile, and he pats the top of your head before saying, "My sweet doll.  Thank you for thinking of me. Let me help you out."  You could smack him, but instead, you watch as he hastily rips the plastic covering away and slips his hand below it to grab one of the wrapped cartons.

At that moment, everything changes.  The fun times the two of you were having shatters as a loud alarm rings through the store.  Panic floods your system as you stare at Dabi wide-eyed.  "There is no electricity. What's happening? There shouldn't be an alarm."  Horror is laced in your voice as words spill out of you.  Every walking corpse within miles will be here soon with the sound.

"Fuck, must have had a battery attachment. Come on, let's go."  Dabi's usual playfulness is gone as he abandons the cigarettes and grabs your hand.  He's grave now.  Getting the two of you out of here safely is his only goal.

You follow Dabi quickly, a hand grasped tightly in his as he runs towards the broken-down front door.   And that's when even more terror settles into you.  Zombies are pushing their way through the open door.  Their rotting bodies and white eyes focused on the area where the alarm is coming from.  There weren't many around when you broke in, but now it seems like they are multiplying by the moment.

"Fuck fuck fuck." Dabi curses under his breath, quickly turning around and pulling you towards the building's back exit.  You follow behind adrenaline surging through your veins fueled by your flight response.  Dabi grasps at the metal handle to the back door and shakes it only to find it locked.  "Damnit!"  he shouts before kicking the door violently.

Your heart is pounding, and you feel helpless as you stare at Dabi while he continues to slam himself at the door.  While the front door was glass and flimsier, this door was only budging slightly.  With all your focus on the door, you don't notice the continuously growing herd filtering into the gas station.  Not until you feel one brush against your shoulder.

Your eyes widen as you feel a scream bubbling in your throat.  This is it.   This is where the two of you die and either become fodder for a herd of living dead or turn into one yourself.   Your brain is pure panic as thoughts fly through faster than you can catch them.  You don't even realize you have screamed out Dabi's name until you see his face turn towards yours.

His typically blue eyes are almost entirely covered by his dark pupils as he takes in the monstrosities behind you.  But unlike you, he doesn't hesitate. He pulls out a knife he keeps in one of his pockets and slams it into the decaying skull of the zombie that is right behind you.  Splurts of dark blood hit your cheek as he pulls out the knife, and the creature behind you crumples to the floor.

"Keep trying the door! I'll keep them off you."  Dabi shouts, pulling you into the spot he previously stood.  Your heartbeat is so loud you can feel it in your head, and you can't even make a coherent response as you begin to slam your body against the solid surface.  You can feel it give a little more with each push of your body, and everything in you is screaming not to give up.  Doing your best not to glance at Dabi's grunting and movements as he continues to try and put down zombie after zombie.

You can't give up; this can't be the end . Desperately your brain is screaming as you continue to feel the door give more and more.  Your shoulder hurts from the continued impact, but you aren't letting it slow you down.  You can feel it; it's almost there.

Suddenly the door gives, and you can see the sun shining through on the other side.  You cry out in  relief and turn back to tell Dabi to come with you.  But as your eyes meet, fear fills every ounce of you.

He's still fighting them off, but there is a gaping bite wound on his right arm— rows of teeth marks embedded in his skin.  You feel like you're going to be sick. There is no coming back from this; there's no known cure.  At any point within the next twenty-four hours, he would be another one of the walking dead, no sense, no logic, and looking to consume others. This can't be happening, this can't be happening.  Your heart is sinking with every second that ticks by.

"What the fuck are you waiting for? Get out! Get out!"  Dabi screams at you as he embeds his knife in another zombie.

"No, no, I can't leave without you!  I-we can find something.  I'll find something, please! Come on, Dabi, I can't do this without you!"  You are sobbing now, hot tears streaming through the dirt and blood mixed on your face.  An ache in your heart starts to form.  You know you don't know how to help him, but you'll do anything to not leave him behind.

Dabi lets out a grin despite the feral dead people closing in on him.  And gives you a wink before saying in a voice that seems too calm for the situation, "Come on, doll, you are the most intelligent person I know.  You have to go.  Live for us, babe.  Look at how far we've come.  Go show this world that it won't ever break you down. I love you, and I'll come to find you wherever you are in the afterlife and annoy the shit out of you.  Now go!"

It's like your heart is being ripped into a thousand pieces. Your breath comes out in short huffs, moving towards hyperventilating.  You want to go back to Dabi and cling on for dear life, but you won't let him die in vain.  Not after that speech.  That would be an insult to everything the two of you have overcome.  So with all your strength, you give your lover, the man who has come so far with you, the last look before letting out a final "I love you too" and burst out the door.

You don't look back, aching feet propelling you forward as tears continue to stream and fall off your face.  When you first met Dabi, you would have never thought you'd miss him.  But you will , you'll miss every snarky comment, every flirty glance, and the tender way only he has loved you.  The man that you were sure was just some asshole trying to get laid became the love of your life and sacrificed himself so you could live.  And you could never let that go to waste.

[fakeloveaskblog]

(Hi, me again. Thank you for the cat picture, it was adorable, in return I have an ask for Remus because it truly is criminal not to.)

Hi Remus I’m the lawnmower ghost Janus was talking to. I wanted to check in with you and ask how you are doing? And how’s the sleepover going? Also you and Janus are adorable together, seeing you interact with each other makes my heart melt into a pile of goo because of the cuteness, I hope you have fun together. Now fun fact did you know that dandelions taste best in spring before they flower as well as in autumn (fall) and are completely edible meaning unless you are allergic you can eat as many as you want! bye for now.

Remus had his head leaned onto Janus' thigh and a controller in his hand as he showed his crush how to get through a level on resident evil 4. Jan kept throwing out very totally helpful warnings like "Look out, zombie!" and "UGgghh aagghg"

A zombie suddenly jumped out at the character and Remus could feel the way his crush jumped in their seat. They instinctively brought their hand down to cover his eyes while covering their own eyes as well.

"Jannie baby, I can't play if I'm not seeing anything" Remus said while trying to bite their hand.

"Oh- Sorry" They quickly pulled their hand away.

He sent them a shit eating grin while continuing to play. "Don't tell me you're scared" He teased.

"Me!? Scared!???? Such foolery! Complete and utter mockery! Defamation even! I would never get frightened by some pixels on a screen! Never! Never ever! Such is not my character! I have no fear!"

Remus chuckled at their grumpy expression "Sure Janister"

A group of zombies jumped onto the character and their stats weren't high enough to outrun them. Remus let out a lil "Oh noooo. We diiieeed" Before handing the controller back to his crush "Your turn"

"Ah yes, now you shall the ultimate tactics used by a master gamer" Janus replied sarcastically "Buckle up bitch. I am going to blow these zombies"

"WHAt?"

"BLOW! LIKE their HEADS! OFF! With a gun!!"

"You're right. A master tactic. I have never seen anyone trying that before in a video game"

It took about 5 seconds before Janus clicked all the wrong buttons at the same time and the character almost instantly died. He could hear Remus cackling beside him.

"Wow you suck. Guess you really did blow in some way then"

"Ha ha. Very funny" Janus replied dryly.

Remus wrapped his arms around their shoulders and pulled them close "Now I shall do a live reenactment of what happens to our lil guy when you keep getting him eaten by zombies!!"

He proceeded to open his mouth wide open and sink his teeth into a chunk of Janus' mini afro. He let out several zombie noises while continuing to nibble. His crush just sat there, accepting the fate that came with being Remus' friend.

"You're dead now" Remus helpfully informed while leaning back.

"Thanks. Being dead feels great"

“Your hair kinda tastes like lemons. Did you know that? Like the color yellow but like fruity-”

He was interrupted by your message. Both of the dudes turned to you. Remus sent his crush a smug look when he heard the message was only for him.

“I’m doing fantastic! I feel like a blood eagle right after finding a good human to feast from-”

“Do you mean a leech?” Janus filled in. 

“I said what I said. The sleepover went good as well!- or uh I had to lock myself in the bedroom before actually falling asleep ‘cause I got just a bit anxious- But up until then I watched the movie with everyone else and I cuddled with Jannie under a big warm blanket the entire time until he fell asleep and snored like GRAAh PHEEE GRAAhh PHEE-”

“That is certainly not how I sound in my sleep”

“Sounded like it to me. You drooled all over my shoulder as well”

Janus moved his hands around in front of Remus’ face while making magician noises “Poof. Now you’ve forgotten that”

“Huh. Wow. Feel like I just forgot something. Hmm must be a magician maniac on the loose again”

Your message continued. Remus bonked his head against Janus’ shoulder while smiling.

“Aww the ghost called you cute”

“They called US cute. Together. It’s like what Picani tells me about ‘fusing’. Too obtain optimal cuteness we must first fuse together”

“And create nuclear power in the process???”

“How am I to know. I haven’t seen the shows he talks about”

Remus’ eyes lit up when you told the fact about the dandelions. His head slowly turned to look at his crush while his lips slowly expanded into a mischievous grin. He jumped up on his feet and grabbed onto Janus’ hands to pull him up as well. 

They didn’t even have a chance to ask what he was doing before they were pulled along, out of the apartment and down the stairs. He kicked the entrance door open. The snow had started to melt away in some places of the grass. A few flowers could be seen sticking up like true champions.

Janus watched as Remus let go of them before slamming his whole body down into the grass. He rolled around like a feral Chihuahua. When he found dandelions he clawed them up and dumped them into his gullet.

He turned to Janus and beamed at him with flowers stuck between his teeth.

“This is some good shit!!” He exclaimed “Wanna try?”

“Honey this is the grass belonging to a fancy apartment neighborhood. There is definitely weed killer on those”

“Oh great! That just adds to the taste. I should add these to my gamer juice! It will fit well with monster and dishsoap”

“Yes dear. Your chances of surviving the zombies will most definitely get higher if you’re tripping balls”

“I mean. I know it doesn’t. I have literally been tripping balls while playing video games and I sucked at it. I started to cry one time while playing pac-man because I was high on a mix of ketamine and GHB and thought I was literally killing things”

“And yet you kept going?”

“Hey those guys I was killing could have been assholes!”

“...You’re not....wrong”

Janus sat down beside him in the grass and watched in awe as Remus ate dandelions at an inhuman pace. Sometimes he would stop the eating just to make a snowball so he could throw it at him. Sometimes he would lick up the snow instead.

Holy shit Janus loved him so much. How could there be a more majestic person on earth.

“Well this was a delicious breakfast” Remus said after a while. He had flowers and grass all over his cheeks “Wanna go back inside?”

“Oh no I’m actually waiting for us to eventually freeze to death”

Remus cackled at that while standing up. He took Janus’ hand again as they walked back. He swung their hands between them.

“I still have the rehab ‘coin’ by the way” 

“What?” Janus asked.

“The one you scribbled for me. it’s hanging on the wall in the bedroom so it won’t get destroyed. I look at it sometimes. It’s a nice reminder with the extra touch of Janniness”

Janus blushed a little “Glad I could help”

They entered the apartment again. Rowan was laying on one of the couches with Patty cuddled up on top of her. Pat had changed into a red hoodie that was actually her girlfriend’s so it was a bit tight. Ro had one arm wrapped around her and one hand on the end of her waist with her fingers lazily playing with the waistband of her underwear.

“REM!” Ro shouted while beaming “I have a girlfriend!!!”

“You already told me y’know. Lemme guess is the girlfriend an invicible mutant fish or Patty?”

“PATTY!!”

“Wow. Congrats. Getting that hot potent married nut I see”

“DUKEY! Foul language!”

“Sure is fucker”

Remus sent Patty a few sharp dagger looks to warn her in case she didn’t treat his sister like a queen, before dragging Janus along back to the game. The girlfriends continued to cuddle and make out and be overall grossly cute. Rowan kept murmuring small compliments like “My girlfriend has gorgeous hair” and “My girlfriend has a smile that can cheer up anyone” to test out the word girlfriend. They made Patty get all giggly. Especially when she murmured them while kissing her.

Patty peered over to them “We were thinking of a date to celebrate the girlfriendification. A full day thing. You wanna come along? I could be a double date!”

“We’re uh not dating” Janus replied.

“It could be a date for your blossoming bromance” Rowan added.

Patty nodded along “We were thinking a spa day, Some museum hopping, Ro said we could go to a film festival maybe. We’re just having a hard time deciding”

Remus shrugged while shooting a zombie “Can’t help you with deciding but if Jannie goes I’ll go as well. Unless you’re going to some opera that doesn’t include murder”

“Oh I would love to go! It all sounds lovely. Very high class. High art. I like that. I am a cultured snake. I am also a snake that loves to relax in a warm pool and or while being massaged. I am versatile”

“More like versi-tail!” Patty exclaimed. Rowan burst out into a cackle.

[the-coffee-story]

Rise of the Forest God

Chapter 2 - The Forest God

When Agatha came over to visit the next day, she found herself baffled when Alice opened the door with a wide smile.

"Agatha, you won't believe what happened!" She was giddy. "Oh, it's so wonderful!"

Agatha furrowed her brows and tried to peer her head past her shoulders and into the space between the doorway. "What is it?"

"He's back!"

"Who?"

"Eustace!"

"What?!"

"Come and see for yourself!" Alice excitedly jumped up and down and took her by the hand. "He's still weak, and he won't speak, but he's here!!!"

"Alice, that's-"

"Come with me!" She dragged her along to the living room, excitedly murmuring the whole way.

Agatha froze in the doorway, mouth slightly agape.

It was him, undoubtedly, but even as he raised his head and turned it to them, he didn't look like he was still among the living. His skin was white and mottled, and he was sitting so still he looked like a corpse at first. His face was empty of any expression or life, as if his soul had been left behind somewhere far away. "Eustace, look, Agatha's here!" Alice was beaming, skipping over to the still figure.

Agatha felt the blood draining from her face.

Whatever was going on, this was not natural. And yet Alice was as joyful as she hadn't been in months. Agatha was torn. Should she tell her to leave him? What had happened to him? Or should she let it be?

"I-"

"Yes, I know, he looks exhausted." Alice's voice was soft as she sat down next to her silent husband. She softly stroked the back of his hand. "But he's going to be fine again, aren't you, Eustace?"

His chapped, white-blue lips moved, only slightly, but no sound came out. His face was as expressionless as that of a deadman.

Agatha shivered, and took a stray step back. She couldn't bear to be within his presence any longer. "Well, I... I wish you two the best of luck with th-that then... I just remembered I still need to fix my husband's coat, he ripped a hole in it again, he's so clumsy..." She laughed nervously. "I'll see you then... goodbye!"

With that she rushed out.

***

"Zombie." The child grinned.

"Don't interrupt me." The mother gently booped her child's nose.

***

Months had passed. At first Eustace's miraculous return was nothing but a rumour, but then Alice began bringing him outside, and soon everyone knew that something had happened. By the time it was summer, despite whispers of witchcraft and unholy entities, the majority of townsfolk had simply accepted the strange pair. There wasn't much else to do.

It was a warm summer afternoon. The sun was drowning the world in a deep golden glow and the birch trees were softly swaying in the wind like it was singing them to sleep. Alice and Eustace were sitting in the garden and she was making a flower crown for him. He still hadn't said a word since his return, but it didn't stop her from trying. She loved him. She loved him so much.

She put the crown on his head and adjusted it a little. "There. Isn't it lovely?"

He turned his head a little, then reached out a bony hand to feel the soft petals between his fingers. The ghost of a smile was barely visible on his pale lips. Alice smiled and snuggled up to him, wrapping an arm around his thin frame and gently placing her hand on his. She closed her eyes. "I love you."

She heard someone call her name and looked up. Agatha was standing by the old wooden fence and waving. "Alice, can you come over for a minute?"

"I'll be right back, dearest," she told Eustace. Then she got up, brushed the grass off her dress and ran over to the fence. "I'm coming!"

Agatha's face was serious. "Alice, I wanted to warn you."

"What is it? If you're talking about the apple tree don't worry, I already cut the branch before it could break off and hurt someo-"

"The shepherd was found dead in the forest."

Alice paled. "My God. What happened?"

"Something tore him up. Nobody knows what it could have been."

"A wolf? A bear?"

"Something worse." Agatha's brown eyes were narrow, and stared into the garden just in front of her.. "Where was Eustace last night?"

"Well, he went outside to catch some air at around midnight..." Alice's heterochromatic eyes widened. "Good God, he could've gotten himself killed! I'll make sure to tell him not to do that!"

"Alice, don't you think-"

"My God, thank you for the warning Agatha, he could've come to harm..."

"Alice!", Agatha suddenly snapped, grabbing her arm before she could turn and run back. "Come back to your senses! Whatever that...that thing is, it's not your husband!"

"He just needs some time!", she pleaded, flinching her arm away. "He's going to be alright! He just needs a bit of patience and care, and then it's all going to be alright!"

"Alice, he is literally a rotting corpse, it's time to just let it go!"

"He needs me!!"

They both glanced over at the young man sitting, alone, in the thick grass. He was still wearing the flower crown and softly swaying back and forth with the dancing trees. There was even some kind of tiny smile still plastered to his pale lips.

"Alice, this is madness," Agatha muttered, more to herself, if anything.

"Give me some time," the younger woman pleaded, voice cracking softly. "I swear, he's going to make it."

"This feels like something that shouldn't be messed with, Alice-"

"He'll be fine."

"Are you saying that because you believe it, or because you want to believe it?"

Alice hesitated. "Because I love him."

Agatha sighed, and paused. It felt wrong. Everything felt so wrong. Agatha knew, somewhere deep down, she needed to help the grieving woman. This... thing wasn't her husband. No, she was going to help her, no matter if it shattered her healing heart back In two. But right now... She just couldn't bring herself to do it.

"Alright... be careful, dear," was all she could mutter. She kissed her on the cheek and pulled her into a hug, not daring to let her go. "Eustace!" He clumsily raised his head. "You better damn well appreciate what Alice is doing for you!"

He nodded, but his pale face was still empty of any expression. He looked like an empty shell, someone that once held such life and humanity, but now something different masqueraded inside.

A few days had passed. The shepherd was buried and mourned for. But, one day soon after there was another crowd carrying something from the woods.

"What's going on?", Alice asked a little boy as the procession passed by. "What happened?"

"Oh, they found the milkman dead in the woods." He shrugged. "Intestines all over the place."

Agatha quickly appeared by Alice's side, fury in her face. "It happened again! Something is going on here and I'm sure your husband has something to do with it!"

"Agatha, please...!" Alice bit her lip, looking at her battered shoes. "He's not hurting anyone."

"Enough is enough!"

Suddenly a weak sound escaped Eustace's mouth. He bit his lip and tried again.

"Agatha.... please.... don't shout....at Alice."

Despite it all, Alice's face lit up and she threw her arms around him, trying anything to pull her mind away from the gathering crowd passing them. "You're speaking again!"

"Not...her fault....."

Agatha clenched he fist and took a firm step forward, glaring at the pair. "Eustace, you're hiding something."

"Agatha, please...", Alice pleaded, drawing her arms from around Eustace's thin waist.

But the older woman just turned and walked away.

On that evening while Alice was preparing dinner Eustace went out into the garden to catch some air. He returned when the sun had just sunk behind the net of emerald trees, the red sky reflecting on his white hair and giving him an ethereal appearance. He looked otherworldly.

Alice hugged him in the doorway and buried her face in his jacket. "I love you. My darling."

But suddenly she heard a woman screaming down the street.

"Something must have happened," Alice whispered, pulling him inside. "Let's close the door."

Darkness had quickly cast it's shadow over the village. But outside people gathered, with torches and pitchforks, a demonic mob, hoarsely screaming obscenities at the top of their lungs. Then someone knocked hard on the door.

"He killed my husband!", Agatha screamed from outside the house. "That evil creature killed my husband, let me in, Alice!"

"No!", Alice screamed. "It wasn't him...it can't have been him!"

"We'll break the damn door if we have to!"

"I won't let you hurt him!" Alice was sobbing. She ran back to the table and hugged Eustace, her long dark hair falling over his shoulder like a waterfall. She cradled him in her arms. "I won't let them hurt you, my darling. Just you wait. You'll be fine again. I promise."

Eustace raised his head a little and his ashen lips moved. She came closer and he whispered something, barely understandable and raspy.

"I love you...run..."

She hugged him and cried. "I love you... I won't run anywhere, I'll stay with you... I love you...!"

"Please...run..."

"I love you...!"

Suddenly he froze. Then his slender hand reached for his blindfold and pulled it away. And when he opened his eyes and glanced up, Alice was met with the full force of his golden gaze, like the sun on a summer evening in the forest.

The door broke down with a sickening crunch, and the mob flooded inside.

Eustace was sitting on the floor, Alice's head resting in his lap. Her beige dress was soaked in vermilion blood, and her beautiful dark hair surrounded her pale face like a halo of shadows. Her eyes were wide open in wonder and an expression of love was frozen on her face. She was dead.

Eustace was wearing his blindfold again. When he raised his head his lips moved. "Run... please..."

***

"And what then??"

The woman smiled. "They captured him. They decided to make sure he wouldn't ever return from the grave again, so they built him a coffin of iron, with locks and chains around it, and buried him deep in the woods, praying that no one would ever release him." She gently booped the child's nose. "Now good night, Miss Walther."

[starlightxsvt]

Sunrises || Choi Seungcheol au

Pairing: Seungcheol x Female reader

Genre: apocalypse au, slice of life (?), angst, kinda fluff, some action

Warning: zombies, death and stuffs

"Thank you for saving me that day." You murmur to the male sittig next to you.

Seungcheol, in return says nothing, focusing on peeling the apple in his hand.

It was the third day after he saved you and gave you a place to stay. The man didn't offer his name or any other information - though you figured it out from craved wood that hung on his room's door saying, 'Seungcheol's room' - neither asked yours but you enlightened him with it. He doesn't talk much and doesn't like to be talked much but you kept your mouth open anyway.

It was about two months since the strange virus spread and begun the apocalypse and you were lucky enough to have stumbled upon Seungcheol.

"I really mean it." You whisper. "I'm new in this place. Believe it or not but I moved here literally a few days before the apocalypse started."

You didn't get any response to that either.

"Do you have any family? I don't. My mother died long ago and my father's an addict so I basically ran from him."

More silence.

You take in his features which are too concentrated on peeling the apple. His brows were knit to a frown and he chewed on his lower  plump lip.

You swallow, "Who's Sunghoon?" You know you probably shouldn't have asked the question but curiosity got the best of you. You saw the name hanging on one of the rooms which was apparently locked.

He looks up at you, an angry look on his face. "I swear to any higher being up there, if you don't shut your mouth I am going to feed you to the corpses by myself." He stands up murmuring, "This is why I don't like helping people." 

You watch his retreating figure walk inside the house and you sigh, leaning against the apple tree and watching the sunset.

A week later

You thanked the heavens everyday for making you stumble upon a guy who's a farmer. Seungcheol had his own produce, a small field of rice and corns and a few apple and lemon trees. It was safe to say these were more than enough in a time like this.

The electricity is unavailable most of the time but it takes some surprise visits every few days for a few hours. That's when you and Seungcheol wash up and store water.

Your days go by rather quickly thanks to the neat system Seungcheol seems to have established. He had things run so smoothly that it was pretty unbelievable the world was going through an apocalypse right now. You help him around the house, cleaning things up, watering the crops and such. He had his own rules - don't waste water or tissues, don't eat too much, don't talk too much. You tried to follow them at your best but you couldn't stop yourself from starting a little conversation more often that which were only met with silence or threats. But so far, Seungcheol was a guy nice enough and you counted your blessings for meeting him.

A few more days later

When you ran from your place you only took your female necessities. Those were dumb things compared to others who ran away with guns and foods.

You sat in the guest room Seungcheol offered you, thinking about what you were gonna do after these necessities were finished.

Suddenly Seungcheol appears knocking on your door before entering. You turn to look at him as he takes a seat. "We'll be heading out tomorrow."

"Huh?"

"There's a super shop a mile away from here. We're going there."

"Why?"

"Why do you think, smartass? We need to stock up on tissue paper and dry foods. I visited there a couple times after the apocalypse started. Apparently the government and NGO's provide foods and stuffs there for the survivors out here."

"Really?Then where are they? We need to find them. They probably built a shelter, we can go live there."

"Do you think it's that simple?"

"Huh?"

Seungcheol sighs. "They are moving in their own pace, okay? The shelters are probably full now with survivors. When their capacity increases they'll let us know. I have a friend who works at the NGO. If he's okay he'll come for me."

"When was the last time you spoke with him?"

"On the day of the breakout."

"I see."

"Prepare yourself for tomorrow. Since you are living in my place, you are coming with me." He stands up to leave.

"I'm not a wuss, you know." You roll your eyes.

"We'll see."

"Yea. And you know, it didn't hurt to speak with me! We could talk more often Mr. Grumpy!" You call after him.

"Shut up."

The next day

"Listen carefully, don't waste anytime. Just grab the things you need and walk into the car." Seungcheol says parking the car in front of the convenience store.

You nod and watch him load his gun and tuck it behind him.

The store is a mess. Broken pieces and bits of metals everywhere. You both walk in and look for the things you came for. Luck seems to be on your side as you find a couple of dry food packets, some toilet papers and some pads -though they are not the best quality, you have to make do with these. You quickly put them on the tote bag you brought with yourself and turned around.

Seungcheol was on the opposite Isle looking through selves for God knows what. You walk out to the front of the store and see and notice taped there.

Food will be supplied here every week along with other necessities. If you are a survivor please hang in there. Once we manage more accommodation, we will come for you. Regarding the infected, our research says they are deaf, so please use that to your advantage.

You turn around to tell Seungcheol about this but instead you meet the eyes of a corpse. It stands there, a mess of blood and gunk as your soul leaves your body.

It approaches you, making garbled sounds and you take back a few steps. From behind him you see Seungcheol approaching will a huge piece of metal rod.

The corpse doesn't turn back to the noises Seungcheol's feet makes while approaching you through the mess, instead it's focus is solely on you, ready to devour. They're really deaf, huh. It opens its mouth ready to chunk a piece of your body when Seungcheol hits him in the head and bangs a couple more times to make sure it's immobile.

"Quick, get in the car. More of them might be around here."

You two dash back to the car, carrying your goods and he starts the car quickly. You look behind to see more of the corpses appearing from around the store. Dusk was approaching soon which meant the corpses will be more alive and ferocious.

The car speeds through the empty road as you clutch onto your tote bag. "Did you know they were deaf?"

"You didn't?" He throws at you. You roll your eyes at him.

"Thanks for saving me again."

"Maybe next time I won't."

Another couple weeks or so later

"I'm going to the supermarket."

"At this hour? It's almost dusk. Are you crazy?"

You watch as Seungcheol puts on the necessary protection on his arms and legs and checks his gun.

"They people from NGO deliver foods during this time since there is no survivors out at this hour. I'm gonna go there and try to meet the delivery guy. Also I need to refill my car."

"Why?"

"To pass a message."

"To your friend who works at the NGO?"

"Yes. I need to let him know that I'm alive. Then he'll come for me."

"What if he's dead?"

Seungcheol says nothing. You forbid him to leaves a few more times but he completely ignores your pleas saying he has to take a  chance. Before he is out the door, he hands you his gun. "Keep this with you. Until now, they corpses have never been around here so just stay inside the house and you'll be safe. I don't know if you have your memories after you becoming a corpse but if you see me coming here looking like one of them, shoot me."

What? You swallow as your heart tugs.

"Stop talking like that. You don't need to leave. We've plenty of food. We'll get by. Don't do this Seungcheol."

"Remember what I said." He speaks, ignoring you and turns around.

"Wait." You call, tears pooling in your eyes. "At least take the gun with you. You'll need it more than me. Besides I dont even know how to use it."

Seungcheol looks at you for a beat before taking a gun and giving you a small smile - the first one he ever gave you.

You watch him leave as the sky turn in hues of purple and black.

You spend a restless night, sitting in your room watching the sky and thinking about Seungcheol. You think of how he opened up a bit more in the last few days and the moments you shared.

Sunghoon was my brother. He was in the military. We were outside, celebrating his discharge when the infection spread. The corpses got him while he was trying to save me. I failed him.

I waited for him for a long time, thinking he'd come back. He didn't.

Y/n, if I don't return by dawn don't wait for me.

As the night passed anxiety got the best of you. This is it. I lost him. He's gone. I'll have to survive now, alone.

You were about to have a break down as you saw the first streak of light spread through the sky. You walked to the roof of his farmhouse watching the colors in the sky. You start to accept the fact that you're alone from now on. That is until you see Seungcheol's jeep approaching towards the house.

You held your breath and didn't move your position, waiting to see him come out.

You thought sunsets were pretty until you saw Seungcheol's tired figure getting out of the jeep, his eyes meeting yours and flashing a smile, the brightest one probably, at the crack of dawn.

Sunrises were pretty too. Even prettier perhaps.

A/N: Tbh I wasn't so confident in this one but oh well, here it is. Also thank you for loving my previous work, it really means a lot. As for this one, if it doesn't flop, maybe I'll write a part 2 👀.Anyway thanks again! 💖

[msmarvelwrites]

The Winter Ghost - Part 3

Info: A Devastating car crash causes you to lose your memory and start over. The only thing left in the wreckage was the horrific nightmares which plagued your mind. If you knew what today would entail you would have just stayed in bed. But you didn't and because of that, everything you knew was about to change.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x y/n

Warnings: PTSD, violence, swearing, anxiety. 

W/c: 2k 

A/n: Big thanks again to @cutie1365​ for editing this chaper. Girl is a hero, honestly. And thank you guys for all the love on the previosu chapter. Enjoy! 

   "Welcome back, мой ребенок " His breath drifted across your cheek and startled you awake. The sound of the lights above you buzzing, mixed with the musty smell of wet basement made you nauseous. You tried to move, but your arms were chained down to the table. Frantically you looked around the small room for some way out. That's when you saw him. A ghost of someone you couldn't quite remember. The way his crooked body twisted as he approached you made you squirm. 

   "Do you not remember me? Did I not leave a lasting impression? мое сердце разрывается." He chuckled and clutched his chest dramatically. You opened your mouth to scream, but nothing came out. Instead, you pulled on the chains violently trying and failing to free yourself. 

    "Please, do not hurt yourself. That's his job..." He trailed off looking in the direction you couldn't bend your neck to see. Suddenly there were two large bodies on either side of you, holding your arms tight against the bed. 

      "Where is the blueprint, мой ребенок ?" He questioned. You thrashed against the two zombie-like men but it was no use.

 "Fuck you!" You nearly spat. His only response was a sinister cackle that bounced off the walls of the room. 

"Fine. Have it your way... Tell me, Y/n. If I cut off your arm, do you think 2 more will grow back in its place?" He smiled a wicked grin. The two men next to you looked to him, awaiting his orders. 

   "Сломать это." He shrugged, casting his gaze to the floor. In seconds, the man on your right twisted your arm so it was stretched out, palm down. In one swift movement he brought his elbow down, colliding it against yours, shattering the bone. Your screams mixed with the sound of your bone cracking echoed all around you.

     "Fucking monster! I don't care what you do. You've already taken everything from me! I'm dead already." You all but shrieked. Purple and yellow bruising was already growing around your twisted arm.

   The lanky man took two wide steps toward you, now hovering over your head. A long deep scar ran from the top of his brow, down his nose and along his lip. His eyes bulged and he spoke.

"Not everything... However, that can be arranged. We cannot kill you, you have our blueprint..." He paused for a moment like he was thinking.

 "Это готово?" Is it ready? He asked the man to your left. He only nodded. A sickly grin spread across the ghost’s lips. 

"Perfect. Call me when you're done. We'll put her on ice, so to speak." He walked towards the steel door in the corner.

   "What do we do with her after?" One of the men by your side asked. You were surprised by how high pitched his voice sounded. Their leader grumbled and pinched the bridge of his nose. 

"Put her in a car and push her off a cliff for all I care. I don't need her remembering anything but the blueprint. Not yet anyways." With that, he left. The steel door slamming behind him. There was a horrible drilling noise as an excruciating pain ripped through your brain. Tears welled in your eyes as you passed out.

   Your eyes burst open, squinting as you adjusted to the bright lighting. You looked around panicked, realising this was not the coffee shop. The room was white and clean and bright. You noticed a quiet beeping from the machine beside you, echoing your heart beat. I.V's protruded from your forearms. Your eyes slowly fell to the man sitting in an arm chair across from you. 

     "Hey there, slugger. How'ya feelin'?" He chuckled. You recognised him as Captain Rogers. As you focused, you noticed he had a pink gash on the bridge of his nose and bruising under his eyes. You opened your mouth to speak, but a dry cough came out instead. You cleared your throat, and tried again.

 "I-I'm okay. What happened to your face?" Your voice only came out as a raspy whisper.

   "You." He spoke matter of fact. When you only stared at him he continued. "You can really pack a punch. Are you sure you're just a barista?" He scoffed, eyeing you carefully like at any moment you could attack. As if your body didn't ache at the thought of moving a finger. 

"I'm not sure of anything anymore." You signed, staring at the tiles on the ceiling. You looked back to Captain Rogers. "Where are we?" He smiled and stood crossing the room towards you.

 "You're safe. That's all that matters, Y/n. A friend of mine will come by later with the nurse. He's kind of an expert when it comes to your situation. Hang tight, get some rest. I'll come check on you later." And with that he exited the room. 

  About an hour later you began to feel your muscles relaxing. Slowly, you sat up on the bed, taking in your surroundings. ‘I'm never going to financially recover after staying in this hospital,’ you thought. 

   "Well it's a good thing this isn't a hospital, doll. Not really." You looked up startled by the man leaning against the doorframe of your room. You weren't aware you had said that outloud. He noticed your surprise and chuckled deeply. He had a sort of lopsided grin and long, dark-brown hair that framed his stoic features. The deep red shirt he wore was pulled taut against his broad shoulders. And then you noticed a silver metal arm loosely tucked into the front pocket of his dark jeans. The man quite literally looked like he could tear you in half like a piece of paper, but his eyes gave him away. They were soft and kind and crinkled just slightly at the edges when he smiled. You stared at him, hypnotised for what felt like forever until he cleared his throat, knocking you back into reality. You felt the blood rush to your face and looked away, the floor suddenly becoming very interesting to you.  

     "It can be really overwhelming when you first get here. Trust me, I know." He spoke, asking with a nod if he could enter your room further. You smiled weakly and he took a step through the door. 

"Steve told me what happened. You really knocked him around good." He laughed, his ocean eyes sparkled as he did. 

"I don't remember," Your voice was much softer than his. He must have been referring to Captain Rogers. You didn't peg him as a Steve. Maybe a Brian, or Bruce... Or Grumpy. The nickname made you smile. 

    "Yeah, I know that feeling all too well." His smile faded but his eyes stayed locked to yours. The intensity of his stare made you blush. "It used to happen to me a lot. But, Steve helped me remember myself. He can help you, Y/n." The way he said your 'name' made you shiver. You couldn't tell if you really liked it or not.  

   "Who are you?" You blurted, sounding more direct than you meant it to. He smiled, "Everyone around here calls me Bucky." You looked around as he said that. 

"And where exactly is 'here'?" You fired again. He chuckled softly. 

"Welcome to Wakanda, doll."

      A little while later, after Bucky explained to you several times who the Avengers were, who Steve was and why you were here, one of the nurses entered. The nurse took a few tests, drawing blood from your arm. You winced and instinctually looked to Bucky. His eyes were soft and filled with concern.

   Steve took a seat beside Bucky on the windowsill and smiled half heartedly. "I'm sure you're very confused Y/n. My friends and I are going to do our best to try and help you remember everything Hydra made you forget." He disclosed. 

You looked to Bucky and he nodded reassuringly. "Piece of cake, doll." He offered, kindly. 

You smiled and looked back to Steve. "Okay... Fill me in."

   An hour and about 80 questions later Steve finished explaining and you finished asking. You didn't remember anything he spoke of, but you knew if you were here, there must be some truth to it. It helped that Bucky sat beside you the whole time. Steve explained that your father had worked for S.H.I.E.L.D for many years but when he realized they had been infiltrated by Hydra he left. Same as you. Hydra was behind your family's house fire. They  murdered them, just like they did Tommy. Steve explained what a good man he was. That he worked across the hall from you and would often leave you notes on your desk. You looked to Bucky who was staring at the floor, picking at his nails uncomfortably. 

     "They were working on a new type of brainwashing. One that would wipe a person's memory's completely leaving only fragments of the truth. It was a way to keep S.H.I.E.L.D agents who knew too much quiet." He continued. He looked to Bucky, whose eyes were still fixated on the floor. 

"Is that what they did to you?" You asked him. His head snapped up, empathy in his eyes. 

"Nah, doll. Not exactly." He explained. You waited for him to continue but he never did. 

     "What about my car crash? The doctors said-" Steve cut you off, "Hydra staged the whole thing. After they cleaned your slate they couldn't have you questioning where your memory had gone. It was easier to keep you thinking the crash had caused brain damage and that's why you had pieces missing." He finished. Suddenly the strange nightmares began to make sense. Maybe your memory was beginning to return?

   "Will I ever remember?" You asked, your voice small. You didn't know if you really wanted to. From what Steve had told you, your life sounded pretty fucked up. Maybe Hydra did you a service by wiping your memory. 

   "There is a way," Steve started, looking to Bucky who was gazing out the window now. "One of our friends, Shuri, has come up with a remedy. She helped Buck regain his memories, too. We can start the process today. We have to take it slow, though. A lot happened to you, Y/n. It may be really painful to re-live. But, you have the blueprints to a weapon that could quite literally end the game, so-"  

  "Ultimately, it's your decision Y/n. We're here to keep you safe. Not just from Hydra. I won't let anything bad happen to you." Bucky interjected suddenly, cutting Steve off before he could finish. His words were soft and kind. Steve looked to his friend and back to you, knowingly. 

"Thank you Bucky. But, these assholes took everything from me. I can't stand by when I know how to end this." He nodded in understanding. Part of him looked almost disappointed. But you quickly brushed it off. 

  "Then it's settled. I'll ask Shuri to start prepping. We'll get you a better room to keep you comfortable. Oh, and Y/n" he paused, getting up and heading to the door. 

You looked up and he smirked, "Welcome to Wakanda -" 

"I already said that." Bucky mumbled over Steve. The blonde gaped at him, taken aback by his sarcastic tone. 

"Fine whatever, I thought we agreed that it was my thing but okay."

.................................

A/N: ahhhh chapter three!! Im having so much fun with this you guys! thank you so much for reading. As always, any and all feeback in welcomed! Hope you have a great day! 

[doyelikehaggis]

Rowing the Rarepair Rowboat: Fleurdora/Delatonks | Nymphadora Tonks x Fleur Delacour

Requested by @halfthealphabet

The Order slowly trails into Grimmauld Place, one by one, all with the air of people living through a zombie apocalypse. Grim, weary expressions on every face.

Molly's bustling around as soon as she lays eyes on them, ushering them into the living room where the fire spreads a pleasant warmth into their bones. They certainly need it. Duelling a group of rogue Death Eaters is not exactly what any of them wanted to be doing at three in the morning, in the pouring rain.

Tonks is practically slumped as they join them, Fleur walking in beside them with Fred and Sirius somewhere behind.

"Damn fanatics," Moody growls, taking his frozen eye from its socket, motionless when it should be spinning.

"You'd think they'd have a bit of common sense considering their dark lord has been well and truly dead for a good year now," says George, flinging himself onto one of the crimson armchairs.

All of the old dark green ones (and pretty much everything that represented Slytherin, really) were thrown out by Sirius after the battle at the Ministry. Decided that if he was going to come that close to death at the hands of his own family again, he wasn't going to be stuck surrounded by constant reminders of them. Tonks happily helped him replace everything, since he needed someone who could actually leave the house. The tapestry is still proving to be a bit of a pain, but they've managed to rework it a bit, so it highlights the "disowned" and excluded members and has a majority of the blood-purists replaced with far more worthy members of the family they've created for themselves, or simply burned off instead.

Tonks shrugs their denim jacket off as Bill agrees. He looks the most tired out of them all, aside from Remus. He's not a full werewolf, but the full moon being only days away still seems to affect him almost exactly the same as it does for Remus, who becomes irritable and drained.

"They seem to think, he was "resurrected" to power once before, they can make it happen again," Bill says, shaking his head as he gingerly pulls his sleeve back to inspect the large patch of blood soaking through from a relatively deep cut; the work of a nasty jinx. "Too scared to desert after last time, in case he pops back up again and they land themselves on his bad side."

"They are idiotic," Fleur fumes. Her blouse has been severly singed around the collar and Tonks can't help but worry at a glimpse of blistering skin beneath it.

"Did you manage to get all of them?" Harry asks. "Anyone get away?"

Tonks had barely noticed he was there at all. He was just quietly watching in concern from a chair in the far right corner of the room, with Hermione in the one beside him next to the fire and Ron and Ginny between them, planted cross-legged on the floor. They seem like they were trying to keep Mrs Weasley distracted while the rest of them were out; now that Mr Weasley is back, her attention is fully captured, worrying over the cuts lining his face but with subtle relief shining in her eyes.

"Nearly," Sirius answers, with an undertone of bitterness as he adds, "One disapparated before we could get the bastard. Right after leaving me with this lovely little gift."

He grabs the collar of his shirt that's just as torn and burned and stained with blood as the rest of theirs, and yanks it down at the left to reveal a deep, long gash running right across his collarbone, stopping somewhere down his chest. It's not bleeding, but smoking. And it’s dark green rather than red.

There's an outburst of disgusted noises as well as gasps and a couple of cries.

"You git!" Tonks chides him, slapping his good arm lightly. "You never said they got you!”

"I didn't—you're—“ Sirius tries to say, sounding indignant, but he can't seem to find a good comeback.

Mrs Weasley's attention is immediately focused on him, pushing him towards the door into the kitchen before anyone can ask any further questions so that she can fix it up, something apparently too gruesome for any of them to bear witness.

"We'll catch him, don't worry," Bill says. The statement and the gentle smile seem to be aimed towards the kids. Having been advised to stay out of Order missions for the time being, to readjust and make up for their missed exams, they still look anxious, like they're going to be called up to fight at any moment.

But they seem to take some comfort in Bill's words. Everyone does; reassurances don't seem so false anymore now that missions like these are less common and haven't resulted in a fatal injury or even death since the Battle.

As the others fill Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny in on what happened, able to joke a little more now that they're here and winding down from the fight, Tonks catches Fleur trying to assess the damage beneath her shirt as discreetly as possible.

Tonks moves over to her, gently catching her elbow and motioning her head to the door that Mrs Weasley and Sirius left through. They both leave the others in the room to head out into the hallway, where there is thankfully no longer the constant risk of setting off Walburga's shrieking portrait; took a while to find the right spells to remove it, but they managed in the end.

"Are you okay?'" Tonks asks, referencing the wound. "I didn't realize they'd got you. What did they hit you with?"

"I'm not sure," Fleur admits, but she's able to pull the corner of her shirt down better to get a proper look now that she's away from the rest of the Order. She winces, peeling the fabric from the wound, which sticks to it.

It comes away enough to reveal a marred patch of skin below her collarbone and spreading down far enough that it seems to have knocked the spell she usually has on right off.

"I thought something didn't feel right," Fleur says, and winces again when she lightly presses her fingers an inch from the area to test it.

Tonks grimaces in sympathy and only just manages to keep their hands away, having been instinctively going to reach out and offer some form of comfort that would probably only result in making it worse.

“Looks like a simple jinx,” says Tonks, “maybe even just a hastily fired Incendio. Seen a few people panic in duels before, just fire off the first thing that comes to mind. Luckily, it must have bounced off the spell already on you, else could it have been a lot worse than just burning your shirt and, well, this.”

Fleur agrees. “I am beginning to think I need a more permanent solution that that spell, though. It’s not exactly the most reliable, and, truthfully, I’ve never exactly been the best at Transfiguration.”

Tonks grins, pulling out their wand. “Ah, well, it’s not an essential subject.”

“Says the one who can change everything about their appearance at will,” Fleur retorts, but there’s a flicker of a smile on her face.

“True,” Tonks says, as Fleur carefully peels back a little more of her shirt. “But the mediwizards at St. Mungo’s do a pretty good job, too. I have a friend there, particularly skilled in more permanent solutions for trans wizards and witches, like I mentioned, if you wanted to give that another thought? Right, this counter spell.”

Fleur gives another grimace as Tonks points their wand a couple of inches from the wound. She steels herself though, pressing her lips into a line.

With the, thankfully right, incantation and wave of their wand, a small cloud of pale yellow settles over the burned skin. It clings around it for a moment long enough for Fleur to hiss slightly, then it sinks in and a new layer of skin forms over the top until it’s smooth.

Fleur lightly touches her skin, testing for any sign of pain. None seems to come. Her expression settles as she sighs, then a smile is back on her face.

“Thank you,” she says, lifting her eyes to Tonks.

“‘Course,” Tonks says, grin widening with a wink. “I’m your assigned Order partner, remember? I should have been covering you in the first place, especially as I’m also you’re... well, out of Order partner. There has to be a better way to say that.”

Fleur says nothing, just gazing fondly at them, her eyes twinkling. She lays a hand on Tonks’ arm and says, “I can look after myself. But I appreciate this. And the offer. I think I’m ready to take you up on it.”

Tonks smiles and nods. “Okay. Tomorrow, we can stop by, my friend should be in then. You wanna head home the now—“

At that moment, George pops his head around the corner, looks left down the corridor, then right.

“We’re crashing here. More rooms and all that,” George explains. “You two staying as well, or are we getting more coffee and Mum’s breakfast buffet to ourselves?”

Tonks scoffs immediately, then glances at Fleur, who rolls her eyes but nods in a silent confirmation. Turning back to George, Tonks says, “We’ll stay as well. I’m sure Sirius would say the more the merrier, right?”

Fleur makes a little noise, as if disagreeing, and George snorts. But they all make their way back in to join the rest of them, and Sirius and Mrs Weasley return shortly after, though with Sirius looking considerably paler and prodding at the now thin line standing out on his chest every few seconds then wincing. He doesn’t, in fact, mind some of them staying.

They remain in the living room for another hour or so, until the exhaustion kicks back in (or more accurately, when Ginny falls asleep and accidentally kicks an also sleeping Fred in the shin). Then they slowly split off to claim a guest room or head home. Tonks and Fleur takes the room reserved for Tonks’ visits, and are out cold within ten minutes.

[stanbillyhargrove]

Ghosts chp 23

Another shorter chapter, some of Riley and Steve being adorable, things are taking a turn with Katrina

Steve's POV

Mid July

I strode into Riley's Apothecary, a brown to go bag clutched in my hand. One of the other girls that ran the shop with Riley was out front dealing with customers. She looked up when the bell above the door chimed and smiled at me before holding up one finger. I nodded and took a seat in the pillow covered windowsill near the door until the girl had finished and the customers had left.

She leaned on the counter with a sigh, "now what's a girl got to do to find herself someome like you? Shake down a leprechaun?"

Tris had moved here from Louisiana when she was a teenager and had been Riley's best friend ever since. She had bleach blonde hair shaved close to her head, contrasting her dark skin and a thick twang. A sharp face and apparently a sharper tongue when you crossed her. I'd only ever seen this bright, happy side of her and I planned to keep it that way.

I stood up, scratching the back of my neck as a blush heated my cheeks, "oh come on, we know I'm the lucky one here with a girl like Riley. Is she in the back?"

Tris nodded, "she'll be happy to see you. Had a rough couple days, the poor thing."

"Is it okay if I steal her for the afternoon?"

"Bring me a coffee in the morning?"

I smiled as I moved around her, "thanks, Tris. You're the best!"

I found Riley in the back room, cursing as she hung up the phone.

"Bad day?"

She looked up at me, shocked, "Steve?"

I held up the bag, "I brought grilled cheese, from the place you like."

She stood up, a tired smile on her face and crossed the room quickly, "with fries?"

I raised an eyebrow at her, "onion rings. I thought-"

Riley's hand was gentle on my arm as she pulled us close together, "just testing you."

I smirked and leaned down to kiss her softly.

"Thanks for bringing me lunch, Steve. I didn't even realize what day it was, I've been so busy. I haven't even been spending much time with Katrina, I feel so bad, she's just cooped up all the time by herself."

I crumpled the napkin in my hand and tossed it in the garbage before standing up with a hand extended towards her.

"Come on, let's take your mind off it for a while."

"But the shop-"

"Already taken care of," I assured, "I owe Tris breakfast tomorrow."

Her shoulders relaxed as she let out a long breath, "thank you."

"So what's got you so down?" I glanced over at Riley as we walked down the street.

She sighed, "we haven't found anything yet. The people we've reached out to either don't know anything or don't want to get involved. They act like Katrina's just...gone."

"And what do you think?"

She looked over at me, "I don't know...I mean, there has to be a way to get rid of Neil. We just haven't found it yet."

I nodded slowly, "and what if there's not?"

"She could die."

--

"Steve, something's...off."

I set down my coffee to hold my phone tighter and gave Billy a worried glance across his living room. Both our phones had multiple missed calls from Katrina last night, we'd tried to call back but there was no answer. We met up after work, trying to figure out when one of us could go to Salem for Katrina to make up for not being there this weekend.

"Off how?" I asked, pressing speaker on my phone so Billy could hear too.

"Katrina, she was so upset last night. Just, I knew she was really struggling but I had promised Tris...I should've stayed, I just was stressed and needed a night y'know? I left her phone with her but-"

"Riley, what happened?" Billy demanded.

She took a deep breath, "I don't know...she's, Steve, she's like a zombie."

--

"Katrina? Hey, wake up," Billy snapped his fingers in front of her face.

She didn't move, didn't flinch, just stared straight ahead with glassy, unfocused eyes.

We had raced here after Riley's phone call, calling out of work for the next couple days as we urged the time to go by faster. It was almost dark by the time we got to Riley's house. I checked Katrina's vitals as soon as we got there, all normal. Everything seemed normal, except she was totally unresponsive. It was like the lights were on but nobody was home.

"She's been like this all day?" I turned to look at Riley.

Audrey walked into the room with a small glass of water, "yeah, we woke up and came to check on her and she was just..." she handed the glass to Billy, "here, tip her head back. Can't let her get dehydrated."

He nodded, cradling the back of Katrina's head in one hand and pouring a small stream of water into her mouth. Her throat worked, swallowing the liquid, but she made no other movement.

"What do you think happened?" He asked.

Audrey shrugged, "she might have just...given up? Or someone we talked to said-"

Riley cleared her throat, shaking her head at Audrey.

"What?" I looked between them, "someone said what?"

Riley chewed her lip for a moment before murmuring, "someone said best case is if he kills her she could end up brain dead."

I choked, "that's the best case?"

She nodded slowly, "worst case, he kills her and keeps control of her body."

Billy grit his teeth, jaw clenching before standing up, growling, "there has to be something else, some way to get her back," and storming out of the room.

--

Billy's POV

"Mom, I don't know what to do. I can't let him take someone else I love."

The metal of my Camaro was cool against my skin where I leaned against it. I tipped my head up to the sky, letting a curling plume of smoke out of my lips. Watched it dance in the air, slowly disappearing into nothing. Felt tears escape, trickling down my cheek.

"I don't know how to help her, mom...maybe he was right, I am weak."

I heard crunching steps on the gravel behind me and turned to see someone on the other side of my car. A girl with bright white hair stood, watching me.

"I'm sorry," she smiled, "I wasn't trying to eavesdrop."

I wiped the back of my hand across my cheek and looked down at the driveway, "it's okay, not like she can answer me anyway...it was stupid."

She came around the car, leaning against it next to me, "your mom?"

I nodded.

"Did it make you feel better?"

"Kind of."

A kind smile pulled at her lips, "then it wasn't stupid, was it? She might not be able to talk back but she can hear you. She knows what you're going through."

I smiled a little, "thanks.."

She returned my smile and extended a hand to shake, "name's Tris."

--

August

Steve was sitting on my couch, having finally given up and let Pudge attack his feet. Pudge was rolling around, growling and pawing at Steve's toes until finally he bit down on the sock and started to pull.

"Why?" Steve huffed, pulling his foot back, "do you even know how many pairs of my socks you've destroyed?"

I smirked, "he likes you."

He rolled his eyes at me and was about to say something when his phone started ringing.

"Hello?"

He jolted to sit up, "seriously? When? ..fuck...I-okay, we'll figure it out."

He hung up and looked at me.

"What? What's going on?" I asked.

Pudge managed to wrestle the sock off Steve's foot and trotted away to hide it.

"Katrina's gone."

@alias-b @charmed-asylum @champagnesugamama

[blufeniix]

some questions about your dnd cleric, if you don't mind. she is a half elf, correct? has her issue cleared up yet? and if its not rude, could i ask what has happened during your campaign so far?

Diantha Alcyone ,or Dia, is indeed a half-elf! Trouble is, she doesn’t know which parent was what (her surname is not her parent’s surname, but given to her by the Head Mother of the orphanage she was raised in). She’s an orphan who was left in the City of Light, Illumina, and was brought up with basically the options of being a Cleric or a Paladin, and ended up becoming a Cleric. 

And sadly, no, her issue of “You have one month of not letting anyone know anything is wrong or else your head explodes” has not been cleared up, mostly because some things came up and we didn’t get a chance to pick up again until tonight (been a month, give or take). EDIT: This issue just got cleared up at last nights meet so!!! Yaaay!!

Oh man, what has happened during our campaign so far? Good golly ok, sit back kiddos, cause this is gonna be a DOOZY.

First, let’s get the setting behind everything, and with that the original cast. This is gonna be a bit of a summary of what our DM @herr-doctor gave us; one of our current players were not here for the beginning, and three dropped out earlier in. Which characters join and which leave will be mentioned.

Our campaign takes place on the continent of Erimead. It’s a solid chuck of land surrounded on all sides by a “mysterious” ocean (called such because not many cities or towns are built along the coasts, tales of ancient sea atrocities and what have you). 

In the center, give or take, is the capital of Whiteshadow, a bustling melting pot of culture and magic, ruled by kind and benelovent King Guillame Alanus and his family. Whiteshadow is named due to the enormous snow peaked mountain at it’s back, acting as a natural shield from attack from the North. 

South of Whiteshadow is the mining town of Kiellen, close to the Dawn Mountains and home of our two past characters Damron and Ranvir. It’s been a WHILE and I don’t recall what Damron and Ranvir were. Human Warlock and Ranger respectively I think? They were also cousins.

Just West of Kiellen is Vox, the last oasis before or after the Singed Sands, an unrelenting desert where if you aren’t killed by the heat or sands, there are plenty of critters to take care of that for you.

Now, to the East of Whiteshadow is the Winterlands, a vast forest of perpetual evergreen and frost, supposedly housing the entrance to the Elemental Plane of Frost.

Towards the Northern peak of Erimead lies the Widowed Plains, a vast expanse of grasslands and plains, home to nomadic tribes of orcs and barbarians who, as one would imagine, do a great deal of roaming and pillaging. In the North-eastern portion of the plains lays what used to be the prosperous town of Illumina, home of the College of Life and Light, culmination of hundreds of years of research into arcane healing. Illumina is Diantha’s home, and Jelani, our half-orc barbarian, once belonged to one of the wandering tribes of the Widowed Plains.

 It was Jelani’s tribe that destroyed Illumina and killed a great many, but when faced with a few of his fellows trying to make sport of a elderly woman who would be no challenge Jelani found he was annoyed and killed them. In return, his War Chief Gnoth decided to off Jelani and leave him for dead.

Jelani was lucky Diantha had stumbled upon him, returning from a trip to a near settlement. She witnessed him save the elderly woman (who was the ‘Mother’ of the orphanage she’d been raised in), and decided to save his life. After some talking and travelling, the two decided to join forces in the hunt for Gnoth to get revenge. They ended up becoming best friends along the way.

Our heros, for one reason or another, find themselves in the small settlement of Shale, a pseudo-ghost town with very few inhabitants left, and fewer amenities. 

The town used to be a lively settlement, one that exported various earthen materials like cobble, sandstone, and various amounts of metallic elements. Starting about a four months ago, various citizens would seemingly go missing in the night, leaving everything behind. Searches were held, but more and more citizens went missing. Now, after all the affairs, only a fraction of the townspeople remain, comprised of the sick and the elderly, by the time our heroes arrive.

And that’s basically where the campaign starts. The characters are Damron, Ranvir, Diantha, Jelani, a Dragonborn whose name I cannot recall and the read more is broken oops, and Ciaran (a Tiefling Rogue, whose story has not been revealed to us yet).

From here on is going to be a VERY ROUGH summary of our adventures, so bear with me as I type this out. One day I’ll get around to properly writing our little adventure in story form and sharing it.

Shale Arc

The group meets at a bar. Diantha is searching for her companion Jelani, Damron and Ranvir are traveling together taking odd jobs I believe, and honestly I’m not sure what Ciaran was doing at the time. Upon being approached by a man named Gary, the group agrees to go into the graveyard and to the crypt to place his mother’s ashes in the family tomb, because the place is currently overrun by zombies and other ghoulies. 

Everyone agrees for various reasons, and heads out. Upon getting underground Dragonborn is found and joins the party, unsure as to why he is there or how he got there. Finally reaching the end, the group finds three Necromancers performing a ritural and using a woman assumed taken from the town as a sacrifice (we were not able to save the woman oops). The mancers are killed and we place the urn with the ashes, then return to town for reward. We can’t find Gary so we go to his home and meet his cousin, who says he was out (meeting someone or something?).

Anyway, we get to the path outside town trying to find this guy, and a Man in a Cloak™ kills Gary and sends a undead Giant after us. Jelani shows up to help (and happily fights the giant as I recall) and Man in Cloak™ leaves after a mysterious warning.

Returning to Shale we inform Gary’s Cousin of Gary’s death and give him some money and some words of comfort before setting out. At this point I believe Ranvir and Dragonborn took their leave from the game due to personal reasons, and so the two were said to have gone off their separate ways from the party.

The party (now consisting of Dia, Jel, Ciaran, and Damron) decides to continue forward (for some reason we were headed to Whiteshadow??? I can’t recall why it’s been so long I think we were all pissed and curious about Man in Cloak ™ ?) and on the way we came to a tower. I don’t believe there was a door, and only one window way way up high. We had to fight some giant spider thing, and were teleported inside. Upon getting inside, we are greeted by an elderly man by the name of Grayden Longbeard (voiced by our DM in a very Sean Connery like voice).

Once everyone is convinced that Grayden is an ok guy, we have a chat, and Grayden tells us about how he has been in the tower for a few hundred or so years, just guarding it for some reason. He tells us that something is indeed wrong, and that we should meet with the King at Whiteshadow. He gives us each an item (Dia recieved a Silver Raven Statuette I recall), and a gold coin to help us through the forest, and we go about our way.

I think this is also when Damron’s player takes his leave, and Damron goes on his own way.

Halloween Special; The Haunted Manor!

SO Halloween came around, and our DM set up a special Halloween episode. On their journey to Whiteshadow it storms, and the party reluctantly decides to take shelter in a old manor. After a bit of exploring they find a couple doors with holes in them where some circle thing should be placed, and a book on a table. A bit of debate over their choices, and realization that Jelani’s muscles and axe couldn’t take down the door to get them out, and Dia opens the book, reading off the first chapter.

The party goes through a cycle of read a chapter, fight a beastie in a dream realm where they CAN die, wake up to have memories erased except for Dia’s, Dia cures them so they can remember, and repeat. Three chapters they go through like this and finally are at a party with many guests. But oddly, no human guests.

The butler warns them to be careful before leaving, and the party gets to watch everyone die from poison in the food and drinks. Going upstairs to finish this, they are met with the lord of the manor, a racist old bastard ghost, who was killed by his butler after killing all of his non-human guests, among other horrible things.

The party finishes the fight, Jelani dealing the finishing blow, and after collecting a few items (I don’t think anyone got anything important except Ciaran, who got Ghost Carver, a odd dagger that, upon dealing the finishing blow to an enemy, takes their soul) they make their leave, watching as the manor begins to burn.

Monty’s Quest Arc (Dia, Jel, and Ciaran)

Upon exiting the forest, the party can see Whiteshadow in the distance. We end up upon a little Imp named Scree who has been chained to a tree in the sunlight, and the poor little guy was left to burn and be tortured basically. With some talking from Ciaran and Dia, Jel pulls the chain from it’s secured place in the ground, effectively freeing Scree. Scree thanks us and takes his leave, gifting Jelani with a stone that is engraved with some letter in Abyssal I think?

After freeing the critter we chase off the asses who put him there, a couple of dudes from Whiteshadow. They decide getting to work on time is more important than fighting us and head off. The party enters the city of Whiteshadow.

The party makes it’s way to the castle to meet with the King, but lo-and-behold, the guards outside the gate are none other than the dicks who chained up poor lil Scree.

It takes a minute of talking, but both parties walk away, deciding a fight in the city isn’t worth it. A man in a cloak approaches us (note it’s not Man in Cloak™), and gives us a card to a place called Monty’s Magnificent Marvels or something along those lines, saying that he can help. (spoilers it’s Monty who gave us the card)

The party head’s to Monty’s and is greeted by a rather… what’s the word, unique individual. Monty is a hoot, full of energy and sass. He says that he can get us in to meet the King, as he is one of the Kings aids and best friend, but for a price. We have to retrieve a Scrying Stone. The stone was sealed deep in some cave system by his Father or Grandfather or something, and he really needs us to get it for him, so we agree and he gives us a orb to use when we’ve found it for him to poof us back to him.

We’re sent into the cave system and wander for a bit before fighting some monster crustation thing (Chuul I think?). After that we wander a bit more, and end up being put to sleep by some Drow (Dia had to be put to sleep some other way than Jel or Ciaran b/c of her elven ancestery but I can’t remember h o w).

Que next meet party wakes up and WHOOPSIE we’re chained up in a dark room and seperated. Jel is at one end, and Ciaran and Dia are at another. Jel is set loose by Scree who shows up thanks to the stone he gave Jel, and after freeing us Scree brings us a few of our items. We fight with the Drow and discover that a burn on Jelani’s arm indicates that he’s been marked to be sold into slavery. Jel demands to know and is rightfully pissed, and thankfully Dia is able to heal the scar completely.

Lots of fighting Drow and Spider-Drow later, and we get to the end of the cave system and meet a friendly little Beholder who was made by Monty’s ancestor to guard the stone. Only, he’s never been inside the building housing the stone behind him, so after a quick talk he lets us in and we discover UH-OH no stone. And some stone creature just kinda. Chillin in the corner? Weird.

Oh and there is a hole in the back of the building leading further down.

After Ciaran and Dia (let’s be honest mostly Ciaran, after the scare with Jelani Dia is Not Herself) talk the poor little beholder down since he thinks he’ll just cease to be, we give him a new mission to keep him alive and! Off he goes!! Explore the world little dude, stay safe!!

After giving the stone creature a bit of gold it gives us one of it’s teeth, and then we go down the tunnel and find some icky fish people who are worshipping some shrine to an evil god. (this SCENE. The ROGUE ROLLS LOW ON STEALTH. THE 4 FOOT 11 HALF ELF FAILS STEALTH. No, no, Jelani, the 8 foot tall half-orc barbarian rolls a Nat 20 on a Stealth Check.).

Dia exhausts herself using a Hold Person on Fish Priest for the full fucking fight, as well as buffing Ciaran and Jel (I ended up using two concentration spells at the same time because none of us…actually realized I was doing it?? oop. DM let it slide tho, and I’ve decided that should it ever come up again Dia will be ‘punished’ with a sort of sickness? She is almost motion-sick and just rough off until she gets a chance to rest), and after getting back the orb we are ported to safety.

Dia almost punches Monty, but the two civilly sort things out (and are p good friends now tbh), and Monty gives the party a card to get us into the castle free and clear! As well as a discount at the shop and payment for our trouble.

Saving the King’s Family Arc

FINALLY getting into the castle to meet the King, the party is faced with a new threat. Enter CSI:VoC, as the party NOW has to look over the rooms of the King, his wife, and their children, to look for clues as to who could have kidnapped the Queen and the children, and where they could have gone.

Jelani mostly stands off to the side observing at this point, while Ciaran and Diantha pass ideas and clues back and forth and manage to figure some stuff out. A monk and a thief/rogue of some type broke in, assumed in the dead of night, and took the Queen and Children some how. With a little asking about we figure out about a location of thieves just outside Whiteshadow, and the party sets out to investigate.

Upon arriving at the location (a single building with a short stone wall surrounding it) late in the night, they notice off the bat that something is a bit odd. The yard has a handful of men patrolling around it. Party decides to stealth around, and Jelani is spotted. He hangs back and plays it off that he’s just some guy wandering around, and manages to get away from the men after talking them down (rather threateningly if I recall).

Diantha and Ciaran make it inside the building, and Dia takes this chance to put her new Raven to the test. She gives it a name (we all decided on Poe since I wasn’t informed I would need a name and command for it before hand), and gives it a message to give Jelani, and a command to lead him back to them.

The party finds two men in cloaks in the top floor, and after knocking them out, Ciaran momentarily gets her hand caught in a Mimic Chest. Sorting that out, the party wakes one of the men and questions him (Dia and Jel fall back on their merc habits), and don’t get a great deal out of him before realizing that (some how *jazz hands*) the other man has crawled away after being right behind them.

Party follows the blood trail he left down into the basement, and has a fight with a Elven Monk, a large Barbarian (goliath I think?), and a couple little dudes. The party cleans up house, and then begins the search for the Queen and the children. Discovering a staircase that leads them further down, they find the children safe and sound, though obviously very frightened. They talk a bit, and after finding out that the Queen has been brainwashed and sent back to Whiteshadow, end up having to rush out with the kids and the one thief from upstairs because WOOPS somehow the building is now burning from the inside.

Everyone makes it out safe, and (Look I’m still pissed over this, I am NEVER FORGIVING DM FOR THIS) Dia sends Poe with a message to beware the Queen ahead of them to Whiteshadow; Poe can mimic her voice and essentially ‘replay’ any message she gives him in her voice. The party travels and OH GOSH WELL POE IS JUST SITTING OUTSIDE (look I’m fuckin BITTER OVER THIS).

The party gets in just in time to get all the civvies outside as the Queen stabs her husband, and then comes to long enough to cut her own throat over the guilt. Diantha uses a healing spell on the King, and with his crown as payment uses a high level revival spell on the Queen (or maybe it was another healing spell??? I can’t recall I like to forget this day tbh) and saves them both.

And that’s how the party of outcasts became the heros of Whiteshadow!

Cthulu Fish Village Arc

Now, you’d think after saving the King and Queen of the Captial City would get you a break from your hero duties, but nah. Following this, the King asks the party to travel to a village and locate the Royal Scholar, who has not contacted them since she headed out to investigate a fishing village.

The party agrees and heads out to the village, which is a good week or so trip even by horse. They make a pit stop in a small town inn, and when they wake up WHOOP Sarenrae (Diantha’s Deity) decided to pick them all up and drop them off in a random building in the fishing village SO thanks for that miss Goddess ma’am RUDE.

The group goes through the town, avoiding most of the fishmen and fighting the ones they couldn’t and making it to the town jail where the Royal Scholar was kept, and a Great White Shark Man Sheriff slept. Ciaran tried to stealth up and steal the keys, but the Shark Sheriff noticed her (he had super high natrual perception I think?) and the fight started. Ciaran nearly got bit in half, but the party beat Shark Sheriff and freed the Scholar who introduced herself (telepathically) as Jadine.

Ciaran gets a crush, and Jadine informs them that there are Bad Things™ goin down, and request’s their help to take care of it. They agree, and the party follows Jadine down below the village to the source of everything; an ancient evil god, very large and very mean, with a couple evil fish men with it.

The party fight it, and Diantha deals the finishing blow, for it’s obvious intent to not repent for it’s crimes, banishing it back to it’s realm.

With that taken care of, the party returns to Whiteshadow with Jadine.

Hunting the War Chief Arc

One thing after another with the party, Jadine tells them of three incidents that need to be investigated. Firstly, a group of barbarians roaming the plains destroying towns and settlements, a forest mysteriously burning and tales of a monster, and an ancient relic.

The mention of the barbarian group, led by a Orc who appears engulfed in flames, catches the attention of Jelani and Diantha, and there is little discussion had before they decide they want to check it out first. Ciaran agrees, having little care where they go either way. Before they leave, Jadine gives Jelani a small red stone, and Ciaran a glossary of monsters (can I google that?). I can’t… recall if or what Diantha received.

And so, once again, the party heads out to the plains. They stop by a settlement first, but it is barricaded and they claim that if the party wants to come in then they’ll have to take the long way around. They agree, and the party passes through the ruins of another town on the way there. Ciaran, who is able to see the ghosts of everyone there thanks to Ghost Carver, swipes a magic lute from one of the homes. In the forest outside the town, late in the night, the party is approached by a priest from the town that was destroyed.

He asks for aid, and Diantha heals his injuries as best she can, and after giving him some food, he goes on his way to the town, to try and put the spirits of those still lost to rest.

The party continues on and come upon another settlement, clearly recently attacked by the barbarians. After a bit of talking they get the people to understand that they are there to help, and begin with the repairs and healing, while trying to plan what they will do when Gnoth and his barbarians return.

During the night, Jelani is dragged away by some kind of wolf-man creature, and ends up ‘killing’ it; but not before it bites him. Ciaran and Diantha wake, and when Dia notices Jel missing she takes off trying to track him, sending Poe to the air to find him. The three met back up and Jel tells them about the monster he killed, but when they get to the spot the body is gone.

Returning to the settlement, the party go back to resting, and the next day they have a choice to make. Do they go on ahead and meet with Gnoth, or do they wait for him to come to them?

With some argument from Ciaran, and Jelani and Diantha explaining their thoughts as best they can, the party decides to continue on ahead to the near city where seemingly nothing has happened. Diantha and Jelani are sure Gnoth has set up some sort of base there, while Ciaran thinks they should have waited to defend the settlement.

The party makes it to the city, and upon entering are met with a bustling crowd; something no one expected considering the whole ‘Barbarians pillaging everything’ going on.

The three got separated by the crowd momentarily, and someone approached Jelani and slipped something in his hand, telling him that he ‘dropped his pouch’ and carried on. Jelani put the pouch in his pocket and Diantha and Ciaran got back to him. Diantha noted the pouch as she approached, knowing full well that it wasn’t Jelani’s, but the half-orc insisted that it WAS his. Ciaran picked it from his pocket while he argued with Diantha, who got Jelani to see reason, and opened it, revealing three stones (ruby, emerald, and sapphire). Sure that they were stolen and that someone was trying to pin it on them, Ciaran insisted that they get rid of them.

Before they could, however, they were met with challengers; men bearing war paint, in markings Jelani and Diantha noted were the same as the ones worn by the lower ranking members of Gnoth’s tribe. They fought, and took one of the men back to a inn to question him (the barkeep was very understanding).

While questioning him, Ciaran used an alchemy jug (I think she got from Grayden?) to make acid to torture him. Before he could give much of anything, something thudded against the door. A note, handwriting Jelani recognized as Gnoths. The message told the party where to go if they wanted to face Gnoth.

Jelani runs out the door, looking for whoever left the note, Ciaran helping him, but to no avail. Diantha draws her magic necrotic blade Wounding, and offers the man one chance to repent. He cuts his throat on the blade.

Before leaving, Ciaran decides they should just toss the stones that Jelani was slipped into the jug of acid. Diantha tries to protest, but Ciaran just. Tosses them in.

Nothing happens.

The party ditches the corpse and leaves, following the route that Gnoth specified. On the way they find a cave, and do battle with Dwarves and a Giant who are holding a few women from the various settlements around the plains hostage.

During the battle, Ciaran’s knife Ghost Carver does something odd. The gem on the hilt cracks, and a strange black mass emerges from the cracks and stabs her arms. And then nothing. Jel and Dia do not see this. The party defeats the hostage takers and free the women, then continue on their way to Gnoth..

Gnoth was in the plains where he said he would be, at his side his Second, a Orc Druid by the name of Dura.

Jelani wasted no time in charging Gnoth, knowing he would need to get in the first blow if he stood a chance. Diantha and Ciaran kept their distance and the battle that followed was intense, and eventually became very one sided. Jelani couldn’t stay up and Diantha couldn’t heal him enough. Oh, and Ciaran got polymorphed into a cat by Dura.

Jelani died. At Diantha’s side, Jelani died, and for a moment Diantha died with him.

And then a red light shone from Diantha’s pocket, and there was the sound of something cracking. Diantha pulled the red stone Jel received from Jadine from her pocket, unsure as to how or when it got there.

And then Jelani lived again.

The fight started back again, and finally both Gnoth and Dura died, and Ciaran was released from Dura’s spell. Behind the large stones that Dura and Gnoth had once stood on was a Winter Wolf that was chained to a tree, assumed the companion of one of the Orcs.

Ciaran approached it quickly, Diantha and Jelani taking a moment to themselves. The wolf bit at Ciaran, and she got the other two to help her get the wolf loose. After checking the bodies of Gnoth and Dura, the wolf decided it would stay with Jelani. Ciaran was a touch jealous.

With that complete, the party returned to Whiteshadow.

The Burning Forest Arc

The party returns to Whiteshadow and speaks to Jadine and the King, and are rewarded with a key to a Keep in the city that is for their use when they aren’t travelling, and after Diantha goes to see Monty (with the rest of the party in tow). Monty is drunk, claiming to have been ‘celebrating the trios safe return’. Dia light heartedly scolds him, and thanks him before they have to head out to their next mission.

Once again the party is given no time to properly rest up, having to head back out again to a remote town with a forest that has, apparently without reason, burned.

The party arrives and questions the villagers, learning about a rumor of a monster- possibly a dragon- living deep in the forest. They also learn about another group of adventurers that have asked about the forest, and ventured out. The party is suspicious, and follows their path to the edge of the forest, keeping an eye out as they venture through the burned, ashen woods. They see no sign of the other party.

And then they come to the center, and find a girl. Suspicious, Diantha approches first, and begins talking to her, learning her name is Mara. Once Diantha is comfortable that all is well, she let’s Mara know about her friends, and then motions them to come forward.

And then the other party appears, and reveals that they are looking for Mara, though they don’t answer as to why. Ciaran and Jelani essentially take care of them, Diantha needing to only stay by Mara and keep her safe. She does cast Hold Person on one and they capture him. They learn very little, and decide to take Mara back to Whiteshadow with them.

On the way out of the forest, the party is attacked by two basiliks, and Diantha is paralyzed and then turned to stone. Ciaran and Jelani defeat the creatures, but are left unsure of how to help Diantha.

And then a woman appears; tall, elven, with ashen skin and long white hair. She cures Diantha (”You poor dear..”), and then gives the party a item, a warning of the town ahead, and takes Mara with her through a portal.

The party returns to the town, the man in tow, and get him put in a jail cell, and then take their leave. They camp out during the night, and when they wake the town is oddly quiet. They return to check, and find everyone dead, brutally killed.

In the jail cell, the man is blown, seemingly from the inside out, and a bloody sigil is drawn on the wall. A hand with an eye in the center.

They return to Whiteshadow quickly, Diantha wanting to speak with Jadine about the event.

The Ivory City Arc

At this point in time our newest member joined us, playing the Halfling Scholar and Arcane user Elowen.

The party returns to Whiteshadow, and fills Jadine in on what happened. It is then they are introduced to Jadine’s friend, a halfling scholar named Elowen. In order to complete the next task, the party has to travel to another city, part to learn about Vecna, part to find a Holy Item, and part to help Elowen learn about something herself. The party heads out with their newest member after getting a few drinks.

It takes around a week for the party to arrive at the city, and when they do they find that the city is quarantined, due to an illness that has been affecting the arcane users of the city. They manage to talk their way in (a bit of Dia making sense, a bit of Elowen sarcasm, and a bit of Ciaran and Jelani Sass/Threats combo), and head to the library.

They are locked out, and told that unless they can figure out what is causing the illness that is affecting a great many of the arcane users there, they will not open the doors for anyone.

Angry and tired, the group heads to the light house after learning that the source of a smog that is probably linked with the illness is coming from underground, and the light house probably has a link to an old sewer system under the city.

They venture down, leaving Jel’s wolf Hak at the surface (he’s plenty capable of caring for himself for a few days), and find a odd shimmering pool with a couple chests in them off the bat. Before anyone can question it, Ciaran hops in and begins wading through to the chests. She gets halfway before she slows, realizing the pool is actually a slime monster and she is it’s next meal.

Elowen banishes the slime to another dimension for a minute, freeing Ciaran (who checks the chests) and then gets out. She has aged a bit, but Diantha is able to reverse the damage done with a Greater Resto, and they carry on.

The group comes to a city. An underground city, that looks like it is made entirely of bone. Upon entering they have a few short chats with some locals and learn it is a ‘Dead City’ called “The Ivory City”. Dia is quick to cover her head with her cloak. Told to speak with the King, the party ventures through the city and finds a old temple of Sarenrae, and upon entering find a white and gold tome. Diantha takes it, and the party finds a few pages torn out around the  main room, before leaving to the palace.

The King of the Ivory City, Selat, greets the party ‘warmly’, and suggests that if they want him to help with their problem, they should help him with his. A Red Scourge is taking his gold, and he wants them stopped. He introduces his Jester, a bard named Symund (Ivory Symund he calls him) and says that Symund will be their guide through the underground to the Red Scourges domain.

Diantha agrees, shaking the finger (literally this guy is HUGE) of Selat, and gets a spell cast on her. A black ring around her right middle finger. Selat tells her it is so she will keep up her end of the deal.

The party travels a few days, fighting a few various creatures and learning about Symund. That he was an adventerer with a party 15 years prior, but that they were stopped by Selat; Symund kept as a play thing, his Paladin friend left to wander half crazy in a maze, and his other party members killed.

The party finds the Red Sourge, a group of goblins painted red, and a Red Dragon. The party fights and kills them all with the help of Symund, and finds Selat’s gold. Cursed Gold. Anything that touches it is swallowed up, consumed by Greed. Symund finds a scroll, but keeps it to himself, and upon being asked promises the group that it is a key to defeating Selat and getting them out. Promises that it isn’t a self sacrificing plan.

The night before they arrive, Symund pulls Dia away from the group and reveals that he can free her from Selats hold, and uses an experimental spell to remove her ring, and place it on his finger with his own ring. He says that it is part of his plan, and to trust him. To make sure the she gets the rest of the party out when the time comes.

Diantha agrees.

The party makes their way back, and confronts Selat, who reveals (Shockingly) that he never planned on letting them go. He agrees to let Elowen, Ciaran, and Jelani leave, and stops the smog from forming, thanks to Symunds smooth talking, and says he wants to keep Diantha as another of his toys with Symund.

Symund strikes, using the scroll he found and trapping Selat. The party does not know what exactly happened to Symund, as he forces them to leave the palace with Mage Hand, and then Diantha gets the party to flee with her.

Elowen is broken-hearted and furious, but they get out.

The party gets to the library, finally able to check it out. Diantha and Elowen stay at the library and research, learning about Vecna and a Maester, Jelani walks the city with Hak, and Ciaran finds the nearest bar and gets smashed.

When everyone is settled they find Ciaran at the bar, and the barkeep gives them a room and some drinks.

The next day, Elowen and Ciaran manage to find enough to know that Symund is ok, but no more than that. They all decide to return to Whiteshadow, emotionally and physically drained.

The Winter Festival Arc (current arc; Name may change??)

The party returns to Whiteshadow after a week of traveling, just as tired as they were a week before. But the city has changed, and during the time they were away the seasons are shifting; winter has arrived, and thus Whiteshadow is preparing for their Winter Festival!

The party meets Monty as they make their way to see the King and Jadine, and have a quick talk with him, learning about the Festival, and an upcoming ball that the party is of course invited to. They say they’ll think about it (spoilers they’re going anyway), and Diantha, Jelani, and Ciaran go to meet with the King and Jadine, while Elowen decides she wants to look about the Festival.

Elowen is approached by an old man (Grayden!!) and he asks if she has seen (the trio) about.

Before Dia, Jel and Ciaran can get to the King or Jadine, the entire city is frozen over in an instant. Elowen and Grayden included.

The trio return outside, and encounter a pale blue woman wandering the crowd looking rather distressed. She is surprised to see them free from the ice, claiming they are ‘touched by fire’ and asks for their aid. She introduces herself as Boreal, and explains that her queen is fighting with another Fey, and is losing. Her people are dying, their lives and power connected to their queen, and so the ice realm is freaking out and freezing over things it shouldn’t.

The party asks Boreal if she can release Elowen and Grayden from the ice. She only succeeds in freeing Elowen, claiming she is too weak to get them both. Saying it’s ok, Diantha agrees to help Boreal.

Boreal takes the party through a portal, and they are separated; Diantha in a room with Boreal, and Ciaran, Jelani, and Elowen each in a different place.

From their, Boreal has Diantha watch over everyone through three portals, while Ciaran, Jelani, and Elowen each perform a task for Boreal to help lower the power of the enemy army.

The tasks essentially go off without a hitch, and Ciaran, Jel, and Elowen each go through a portal to take them back to Whiteshadow. Diantha is releaved, but Boreals attitude suddenly shifts, and a rush of images Diantha isn’t familiar with rushes through her mind.

She realizes that it’s the party, performing the before tasks, but the scenery is VERY different.

Ciaran destroyed a shrine to the God of the Hunt. Elowen killed a city of Fire Elementals. Jelani killed the Father of Giants.

Diantha is in shock, and before she can properly react Boreal casts a Guias charm on her, preventing Diantha from saying or letting on about anything that has happened for a month. If Diantha ever does try to force her way through it, then she will die. Boreal says that it is because she hates Diantha; that she has her fathers eyes. Diantha is confused by this, but before she can ask Boreal sends her back to Whiteshadow.

The party meets up, and Diantha acts as if all is fine.

From there, they head back into Whiteshadow and decide that since everything is done for now, they’ll wander the festival and go to the ball. To prepare they all do a bit of shopping, and while Elowen waits on everything to be touched up, Diantha, Jel, and Ciaran finally go to talk with the King and Jadine.

They speak with the King, and he offers them a more permanent position; The Kings Shadows, a title that has not been used in many years. The party agrees (Jelani the least enthusiasically), and are given medallions that have an old magic on them, and allow them to communicate with each other even at great distances.

From there the party goes to Jadine and shares what intel they learned, and in turn learn that things are far more dire than what they originally seemed.

Agreeing to continue doing what needed to be done, Jadine sends the party away to prepare for the evening ball. Everyone needs a break sometime right?

The party attends the ball, pretty much doing their own thing; Ciaran at the food table keeping away from people, Elowen helping Jadine keep from having to talk to everyone, and Jel and Dia off at the side observing the party.

Diantha takes the quiet moment to ask Jelani what he plans to do. Five years prior to the start of the campaign they made their agreement to find Gnoth and get their revenge, and they’ve done that now. Jelani replies that sometimes things change, and when asked if he’ll stay, he replies that ‘Until every star in the universe dies’. It’s one of Jelani’s rare softer moments, one that is quickly ended by a drunken Monty approaching them.

After a bit of drunken babble, and more lighthearted scolding from Diantha, Monty asks Dia to dance and leads her to the center of the dance floor, deep into the crowd.

A few minutes after, Monty seems perfectly sober, and Diantha is confused by this sudden change. Monty looks… odd, not his usual cheery self, and he mentions that Diantha’s eyes have changed, that she looks burdened. Claims that she needs a vacation, to Riven, get some fresh air and a break. Diantha jokes that the lack of a vacation is a bit of what she signed up for, and he says that vacations are a bit different for everyone. 

He pulls her close, and leans down so he can whisper for her to ‘take this’ to Riven, and meet a friend of his.

He slips her an item, and then leaves her on the dance floor.

Diantha finds a golden dragon scale in her hand.

The party goes on late into the night, and after Ciaran follows Monty to his home to question him, getting little to no info, and then getting caught by Diantha sneaking back into the party (and NOT talking to her shame shame), the party returns to the Keep for a night’s rest. Before sleeping Diantha confronts Ciaran, and reveals the Gold scale Monty gave her. They talk about Monty’s odd behavior, and agree to see him in the morning and decide on whether they’ll go to Riven or not.

They all have dreams that night, some remembering more than others, and wake up the next day concerned; Jelani has a black hand-print on his torso, Elowen has a red chain ‘tattoo’ on her wrist, and Ciaran finds a 2-foot feather at the foot of her bed. Diantha has repeated nightmares of what they helped Boreal do, refreshing the situation in her mind.

The party discusses their findings, and goes to meet Monty, who they find has left already, claiming to be on a trip, and that he’ll return when he returns.

The party goes to ask the King, who doesn’t know where he is, and from there they begin their trip to Riven, which is only 2 days away. A quick trip by horse compared to most of their other trips.

The party arrives at Riven, and heads to the Riven Geological Institute, meeting Ash, a Gnome who works there. They speak with him, learning a bit about the place, but before they can get to the heart of the matter there is a loud commotion from the streets. 

A group of men are handling a dwarf woman roughly, holding her in the air. Ciaran, who can read lips, sees one, asking about ‘A Dragon’, but before they can find out any more the party winds up in a battle with them. The men talk about ‘Keeping the blue one alive” but the others can die. They tell Diantha that she can leave, they have no bounty for her, to which Diantha replies ‘Like hell!”.

The Bounty Hunters it’s revealed essentially… kill themselves. Using odd weapons (spoilers; it’s guns. experimental guns), they try shooting the party, but the guns end up misfiring 98% of the time and blow up on their users. Part of the street catches fire because of one of the guns blowing up and in turn causing some barrels with oil to blow and burn, but Diantha and Elowen take care of the fire.

The part catches one of the men, but he knows minimal. The group of hunters got their posters, happened upon them. Ciaran was the only one wanted alive, to be put on trial for ‘crimes’. Diantha knows, but cannot let on she knows.

The man is taken by the guards, and Ash approaches the party and thanks them for their help. They talk a bit more, and return to their previous conversation; why their here, and about the gold dragon scale that is decroating a great many things in Riven.

Diantha shows him the scale that Monty gave her, and Ash takes them to a secret place.

There, in a deep cave connected by some sort of magic door, they meet Lav, who… reminds them a great deal of Monty? And behind him, in a large cavern unseen by the party save for it’s breath, his master, a Gold Dragon.

When asked, Diantha tells Lav that Monty sent her, and this rings a bell with Lav. He offers his hand to Diantha, who takes his hand. He kisses her knuckles, and after a moment she notices an odd sensation.

She can actively think about what happened with Boreal. Lav smiles knowingly, and before anyone can ask Dianthas legs give out from under her and she falls.

Jelani rushes to her, Elowen close behind, and Ciaran is ready to fight Lav. Diantha finally explains that it’s fine, and after hugging Jelani and apologizing profusely, she explains to the party what really happened when they helped Boreal, and why the men from before had bounties for them.

Lav explains that (since Diantha shared a good bit of information) that the woman they described is named Auril, a Arch Fey and ruler of an Ice realm. He gives them a scroll that will help them open the door, but they have to find a way into the Fey realm themselves.

Elowen asks about Diantha’s father, and tho Lav can’t tell them who he is, he tells them that they should check the Fey; after all, he can tell (somehow?) that Diantha was born there. Jelani inquires about the Storm Ruler he’s dreamed of, and Ciaran inquires about Monty’s odd behaviour.

And that’s where tonight’s session ended! Remember, this is a basic skeleton of everything and there’s lots of details left out b/c I can’t… really recall everything, and I’ll do my best to keep up from here on out so you guys can follow our adventure too!

Holy wow we’ve been through a lot, and it’s been a really fun thing over all! If any of you ever get the chance to try out playing a DnD campaign, I highly recommend it; you don’t have to make it strict by the rules, just have fun and create a story with each other!