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scuttlingcrab · 10 months ago

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So it's pretty obvious that Raphael would be a massive fan of luxury items. How would he react to Tav being able to make certain luxury items from scratch (such as lotions, massage oils, perfumes, soaps, etc.) and is really freaking good at it.

Maybe he learns this little fact about Tav when he receives a bundle of custom luxury items from one of his warlocks and it has a note which says, "To: Raphael. From: The mouse. A 'thank you' for the food." (assuming Tav filled a plate of food during the group's first encounter with the fiend)

Thank you for this awesome prompt. I took a liberty with this one, wanted to try something that maybe a writer hasn’t done before re: what luxury item Tav would make Raphael. I also referenced a few characters from my other stories. Marin, the composer from A Night at the Symphony and Dolofina, the warlock, from A Warlock is Born. I couldn’t resist! Hope you enjoy! And send on the next prompt if you haven’t already! :)

Summary: Raphael receives an unexpected gift from Tav.

Warnings: Mild violence/torture

––

A Perfect Fit

(Image via violadesdragons)

The screams were like music to Raphael’s ears.

The torment that resonated from each shriek, every wail that echoed into his House of Hope, if directed well, could create a symphony that would feed Raphael for weeks. A melody almost as magnificent as Marin’s concertos. Raphael mastered what buttons to push, what minute threads to pull, to achieve perfection.

Every human was an instrument in their own right. They had a unique cord, an unsung talent, that Raphael knew how to excavate and mould. He had spent millennia fiddling with mortals, experimenting with different techniques to inflict pain or even less conspicuous means to really persecute his poor unfortunate pets.

Nevertheless, Raphael despised it all. Torturing these creatures was so below his station, another idle role he had to play to keep up appearances in this never-ending farce to reach his objective, to reclaim the Crown of Karsus. He longed to see the players of his saga, his glorious ascension, leave the dark confines of the wings and enter the proscenium for all the planes to see.

Raphael listlessly looked up towards his current unfinished task, a withered mortal impaled on rusted spikes. No matter how hard Raphael stared at this rat, how tirelessly he worked his mind to calculate new methods to inflict agony, all Raphael could do was muster an apathetic groan in response.

He was almost relieved to hear footsteps approaching the dungeon, identifying the bouncy gait of one of his warlocks almost immediately. Dolofina.

Raphael smiled to himself, letting out a shallow breath as the doors slowly creaked open. He snapped his fingers, and another spike appeared, slowly lifting to meet the others.

“I do hope you have some interesting news for me. And think hard on your answer, or else I might swap you out with poor Boris.”

Raphael turned to greet Dolofina, the whimpers of the tortured human slowly rising as he approached her. She stared back at him without any emotion, unmoved by the threat. He taught her well.

“Apologies for the intrusion, but a woman was insistent you receive this. She wouldn’t leave Korrilla alone until she confirmed we’d deliver it to you.”

Dolofina lifted the basket in her hands with a sigh, offering it to Raphael.

“Pah! Which insolent creature is it this time? If it’s that damned–”

“She only referred to herself as the, and I quote, ‘little mouse.’”

Dolofina seemed perplexed at the name, rolling her eyes as she waited for his response. Raphael’s mouth parted, his eyes instantly becoming more animated at the mention of her.

“Could she be crawling to me already?” So fast, and such a pity. He had been looking forward to a tussle.

Raphael gingerly picked up the basket, holding it in his hands and carefully inspecting every inch as if it was an ancient relic. What a simple little offering, merely a straw woven basket. Its contents were hidden under gold wrapping paper and held together delicately by a red bow.

“Don’t worry, we’ve already inspected it for traps.”

Raphael gave Dolofina a flat stare.

“Do you think the creature would be so daft?”

Dolofina shrugged.

“I am merely a mortal, what would I know?”

There was a hint of mischief in Dolofina’s eyes as she smiled back at Raphael, so pleased with herself. He growled, pointing towards the threshold of his dungeon. The skin on his human disguise hissed, verging on transformation.

“You have overstayed your welcome. And might I remind you, I am your master. I can terminate our agreement whenever I see fit, be it from the smallest lapse in your performance. You know what that means for your future.”

“Yes, master.” Dolofina responded through tight lips. She promptly made her leave, but not without slamming the doors behind her.

“Must every creature under my employment be so thickheaded?” Raphael whispered, taking a moment to massage the bridge of his nose.

When Raphael was sure his boiling blood had cooled, he proceeded to focus his attention on the basket, now weighing heavy in his hands. It would’ve been a shame to have accidentally incinerated the gift with his temper, which was nearly uncontrollable in recent months, without even knowing what was inside.

Raphael started with the bow, carefully untying the knot. Once it was removed, he brought it to his nose, slowly taking in its scent. Cloves and roses. Oh how he relished it. Raphael placed the bow in his pocket and removed the wrapping paper. He discovered a small envelope sitting on top of a golden gift box. A sudden jolt of electricity shot through his veins as he opened the letter.

To: Raphael From: The Mouse Thank you for the food. Please accept this gift in exchange for your hospitality. If the measurements are not sufficient, perhaps we can schedule a fitting. You know where to find me.

Raphael snapped his fingers, leaving the letter floating in the air beside him as he continued with the box. His fingers, usually so calm and still, twitched with excitement.

Raphael gasped, removing a single doublet from the box, its red colour as dark as blood. The silk melted in his hands, the article of clothing sparkling against the roaring flames of the dungeon. Gold and silver markings were intricately embroidered throughout the jacket, infernal designs suiting Raphael’s tastes. The cuffs of the doublet were adorned with devil tails that swished and curled on a constant loop.

“My, my, the little mouse has been busy indeed.”

And what artistry! It had been ages, no centuries, since his eyes fell on such an alluring piece. Is this what it would feel like once he held the Crown in his hands?

Raphael snapped his fingers, the doublet now on his person. He sighed, oh it fit him perfectly, as if that creature knew Raphael’s body like the back of her hand. He raised his arms, bowed, did every possible movement that could come to his mind in that instant, and yet could find no imperfections.

Raphael was a generous devil, perhaps often too generous. He wasn’t opposed to receiving such luxurious gifts on occasion, but it was dangerous to play with his food. He considered for a moment being harsher to his future clients. The little mouse had a long road ahead of her if she was to help Raphael get what he desired. She needed to focus. No more distractions. No more gifts.

And yet…

Raphael clapped his hands and a mirror appeared before him. He gave himself a little spin, grinning. It was a suitable doublet. Cursed creature! Perhaps he could make other uses of these tadpoled yet. What was that mortal saying he heard so often? Ah yes, all work, and no play…

Raphael was pulled from his thoughts at the howls of the tortured mortal, still impaled above him. Raphael’s cheeks burned, he had been sloppy, overlooking that he was not alone.

He angrily snapped his fingers and the mortal combusted. Their screams died with the flames, leaving no signs of their previous existence as the ashes fluttered away. A waste of a soul, Zariel be damned. She’d never even notice it was missing.

And with that, Raphael stormed out of the dungeon, proudly wearing his new doublet.

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luneariaa · 1 year ago

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this really took me some time to decide on how to actually write the story lmaoo;; ngl the plot got somehow lost 😭

contains angst but comforting ending; not much proofread.

also tagging @sody-toast !!

. dividers by @/cafekitsune !! 💜🌻

"So, the usual, Mike?"

The girl behind the cash register machine asks for confirmation, along with a friendly smile plastered upon her face. Mike is spaced out-- as per usual, so when hearing those words, it's enough to bring him back to reality.

"Oh, yes." He gave his own quick reply, before seemingly becoming a bit lost in his own thoughts of the past once again.

"Got it!"

While the girl has her back facing him, he simply waits there silently. But that is, until he sees someone rather familiar from the distance.

He sees you, waving at him while grinning happily from afar outside the bakery he was currently in.

Your sudden appearance sends him into a temporary state of shock, clearly not expecting this. Without wasting any time, he reaches for the door and goes out, the food he ordered being left forgotten as he chases you out while you run someplace.

As his feet hit the hard ground below onto the pavement outside, he eventually caught up to you pretty quickly.

"Hey!"

Slowing down a bit, he grabs your wrist and prevents you from running away any further. "Where do you think you're going, huh?"

He wasn't even realizing that he's been smiling a bit all the while, though it didn't last when he finally realizes that it's not you that he's been chasing. It's just a total stranger who happens to pass by the streets, now looking at him weirdly.

That's not you, never was. He's just trying to convince himself that you were the one who just waved at him. Smiling, laughing at him..

By this point, he just feels pathetic and ashamed of himself.

But was it truly his fault, when all he's trying is to cling to the thin thread that he created upon himself? To come to terms with you being truly gone, but it's a hard process for him despite it happened a few years ago; he lost count.

Just great.

Working at Freddy's once again, and it's already quite exhausting for him. But he needed the job for the cash; for him and Abby.

So far, nothing really interesting has happened, so this leads to him deciding to take a quick nap at his security desk. What could go wrong, right? But the second he closes his eyes, his thoughts immediately drift back to you, replaying old memories that have passed through time.

Mike could remember the days when you both would spend time with each other even with limited time possible. Your eyes would meet his own every so often, a soft smile playing on your lips that's reserved for him.

The look of pure adoration and love in your eyes that he would never get tired of. And you're wearing the outfit that he bought for you during your first date with him.

How could he ever look away whenever you decided to wear it? It looks so perfect on you, he couldn't stop staring for hours shamelessly.

But nothing lasts forever. That's what he keeps trying to remind himself with.

You were supposed to buy something from the store while Mike was away at work around that time of day, but that fateful day has also marked your forever end as well.

You never came back.

The day you died-- it was a hit-and-run accident. Blood was everywhere, even staining your own clothes. Your head was being hit hard on the road, which caused you to go unconscious almost instantly. The phone you previously were holding has flung elsewhere; the screen cracked badly.

Maybe he shouldn't let you out that day. Maybe he should've stayed at home. Maybe, just maybe..

He would've changed the past if he could, but alas, there's nothing that he can do. He's just a human, after all.

A series of painful images flash through his mind while he's still asleep-- one of them being the day he found out that you're being involved in the said accident. He could never forget no matter how hard he tried to.

"No, no, no, no.."

"Not again. Damn it." He covers his face with his own hands out of frustration. He just wants the nightmares to stop.

But at the same moment, he could've sworn he could feel your touch; hugging him from behind. The soft caress of your hand on his back is unmistakable. He could feel it.

Mike takes a few deep breaths, as if to try to compose himself. His attempts to reach back to return your mere touch are futile, nonetheless, only grabbing at the nothingness in the air.

It's a harsh reality, and you are not coming back.

Mike was starting to give up once more, but stopped from doing so when he felt your mere touch on his cheeks. It feels so tender, loving, warm.. He could see you standing in front of him; placing a needed kiss on his forehead affectionately, before a warm smile was plastered on your features.

No words were needed at the moment. He doesn't really care if he's going insane due to the whole situation; he just needed you.

Even when you're not coming back alive-- to him, his memory of you will live on forever.

"Stay." His voice sounded quiet and hoarse, almost begging. "Please.."

You didn't respond, however. But the smile on your face is enough to reassure him that you're there with him at that exact moment.

But it's enough for him. He knows that you'll be with him for as long as he's alive when you start to embrace him ever so tightly and lovingly.

And that's all he needs.

#fnaf #fnaf movie #five nights at freddy’s #mike schmidt #mike schmidt x reader #mike schmidt x y/n #mike schmidt x you #fnaf x reader #fnaf x you #fnaf x y/n #aria's post 𖥔 ݁ ˖

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tigerlyla-of-metinna · 3 months ago

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Chapter 10: Old Friend New Life

Summary:

Geralt was given an address by Emhyr to seek the answers why he must accept the contract. There, Geralt meets an old friend and the witcher got more than he bargained for. Spoiler: This chapter follows one of the three endings of Blood and Wine, making it the canon ending for this fic.

The address led Geralt to an antique-esque establishment that has seen better days and looked out of place among its more up-to-date, prestigious neighbors. It looks like it belonged in a different district. Or a different century. Several centuries. Without the empires’ intervention in preserving heritage structures, the council of merchants- and the capitals planning committee would have demolished the place and erected a building to match the current times.

Geralt glanced up at the shop’s sign above the gray awning, and grinned.

Vinne Exotisch

The etching below it: a goblet surrounded by grapes and an assortment of painted herbs and tubers that are generally identified as deadly poisons. There was an odd sign that did not belong, carved in the center of the goblet.

Geralt recognized it immediately. To the ignorant, it is just any other daring danger symbol. Geralt has seen them carved inside the walls of the human pens in Tesham Mutna.

The symbol of the Gharasham Tribe.

The door opened from the inside and a well-dressed young man exited, holding a wine bottle wrapped in dark brown paper that looked finer than the establishment it belonged to. Geralt grabbed the door before it closes, entered and flipped the “OPEN” sign to “CLOSE”.

A familiar cultured voice greeted him from behind the counter.

“Pick your poison, witcher, I believe I may have a bottle or two that you’ve not tried yet but I guarantee, it is far more satisfying that the usual concoctions you imbibed before a hunt, and much more intoxicating than all the wines in Toussaint.”

Geralt smiled, unbuckling his swords to rest on the counter surface.

“Well, well, you finally decided to market your mandrake brews to the public. I expected you’d be a barber-surgeon or a medic, not a vintner.”

Regis stepped out from behind the counter to shake Geralts’ proffered hand. The witcher, instead, pulled the vampire into a bear hug. After, Geralt held Regis at arms length and gave his old friend a look over, and chuckled.

“Heh, mister fancy pants! Traded your threadbare coat for some expensive threads-” he sniffed “- and smelling of soap instead of the inside of an apothecary.”

Regis gave him a full toothed grin, showing off those frighteningly sharp teeth. “Why not! In this city, cleanliness is next to godliness is the unwritten strict policy that every citizen of the empire takes into heart.”

Like the majority of the nilfgaardians, Emiel Regis wore black. His doublet is embroidered with gold threads in the pattern of elven vines partly covered by a fine short black cloak chained across and below his left armpit. He posed like a matador for Geralt.

“You like it? The outfit gives off an air of trust: which is very vital for a merchant selling exotics. Separates the snake oil salesmen from the experts.”

An eccentric expert more like, Geralt though humorously. “I never cared for doublets so I don’t know much about fashion. Try asking Yennefer. But you do look like you belong with the nobility. I can’t say the same about your shop.”

Regis waved a hand in dismissal. “Ah yes, this building is outdated, but it adds to the appeal of my exotic brews. Did you notice the sign outside?”

“Pretty hard to miss, since you advertise the tribe you belonged to. That is a dangerous symbol to wave about around these parts, even if, as you say, that nilfgaardians are so modern in their sensibilities that they think your kind are just boogeymen to scare the children to behave.”

“No humans have seen our vampire symbols, apart from yourself. And there are Toussaintous who mistook the visible ones as signs of the old gods of this world, even pray to them.”

#emiel regis #emiel regis rohellec terzieff godefroy #witcher fanfic #emhyr x oc #canon x oc #oc x canon #ao3 fanfic #fic update #witcher fanfiction #witcher fanart #geralt of rivia #emhyr var emreis #tlylaedits/arts

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beesmygod · 8 months ago

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today is webcomics day. i am bea and i make "A Ghost Story" - part 1: pre-gaming

webcomic day is a yearly celebration of the art form concocted by the screentones podcast team as a way for people to see how the sausage gets made. my webcomic "a ghost story" has been running for over 10 years, and yet i still don't think i can say i am good at making a webcomic. regardless, the comic is getting made because otherwise i become very, very sick in the head. today i would like to share with you the process of making a page of "A Ghost Story" from start to finish. either this demystifies the process or will make you think im so cool and strong for doing this 2x a week. instead of reblogging this one post until it gets very long, i will be posting individual updates that i will then compile and post on my personal website. block the tags now if you HATE comics and want them to EXPLODE.

if you have any questions, even things like "what the fuck are you even talking about" feel free to ask. i want to feel confident in what i make again and i think sometimes interrogation from an outside source is really

---

that said, let's get started. wait just kidding i want a cup of coffee first, hold on.

ok now im ready. i have a big glass of water. i have coffee. i have a headset for the parts of work that don't involve typing words. i can't type words and listen to some streamer babble in my ear at the same time, so it has to be instrumental music or nothing. i just took my meds so they should kick in after about 30 mins. i woke up late today, which is weird and annoying. but maybe i can work late instead.

first off, i need to know where i'm going beyond this one page. if i dont know where im going with something, then i usually create something that sucks that i have to deal with later. hold on my internet died, i have to reset the router. ok, anyway.

what's rattling around in my brain is that not only do i have to deal with maxine's current predicament, i am also dealing with multiple plot elements i need to wrap back around to from the previous chapter. luckily, im about to put maxine down for a nap, which means i can get back to those other elements:

i need to finish the exposition from the three ankou characters for this story arc establishing their motivations as the oppositional force in the story. the "villain" is not these three specifically, but their boss. they need to have a loose understanding of what's going on in order to communicate this to the audience. god this started turning into a huge ass paragraph so i'll just keep it short there.

we've jumped back to before jack's horrible day from the first chapter of this storyline so we have to make our way back toward that and then lapping it, which means wrapping up his various open threads like:

feeding victoria and learning something new about her

finding out alice is a very exceptional employee who is getting many awards

watching valdo call lily while interrupting her during something personal to ask her for help with maxine's situation.

jack meeting with valdo and lily the day after they first met so jack can just tell them straight up that lily has 4 sisters she doesnt know about.

help that girl with her poltergeist problem. remember that. i've had jokes for this rattling in my head for like 4 years. im going insane.

and also the fucking tilberi!!! that has a point its going somewhere!!! there's a larger menace here!!!

other things to set up the climax of this storyline. sexual tensions, hints at larger emotional problems not immediately evident to the reader

lots of moving parts. and i feel like im moving in slow motion to get to them. i can see them all weaving together in my head, its the process of putting that onto paper that's proving difficult.

ok that took an hour starting and stopping. -_- let me write the next part as i keep brainstorming on how to approach this page. taking a "rubber duck" approach to this might help. heres an image from the last page i worked on (i have a 5 page buffer rn so the site does not match the finished pages) to get us semi-situated.

also because images will help people understand what skill level we're working with here. i need to be able to communicate an idea to the audience; if the art also looks good on top of that, then that's just an added bonus. but the ability to communicate my ideas is sometimes hampered by my lack of artistic skill or comics language ineptitude. like those speech bubbles kind of fucking suck but at a certain point you have to just hit print on what you're working on in order to keep your already glacial pace.

webcomics is a tightrope act where you're also spinning 4 plates at once. the trick is to keep the audience from realizing how many actually fall or how wobbly they all are. the act sucks but technically its not a failure.

#a ghost story #webcomics #webcomic #webcomic day

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octuscle · 1 year ago

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Last day I found out my boyfriend had cheated on me multiples times, so now I want to use Chronivac for revenge to transform him into something hot for me and humiliating for him.

I don't know your taste now… But if you give me free choice, I'll just run one of my favorite presets. Transformation duration two days. Start during the morning meeting of your cheating boyfriend.

Your friend stands at the flipchart and explains the status of the current sprint of the software development project he is leading. Confident as always. A seasoned man in his early 40s, but suddenly he keeps losing the thread. He is unfocused. After the meeting, he runs into his office, takes a pack of cigarettes from his jacket and smokes a cigarette outside the building. And another. And plays with his cell phone. He surfs through porn sites he's never heard of before. Only when a colleague calls him and asks where he is, does he get back to work.

During the lunch break, his colleagues all go out for sushi. He says he's not in the mood for that shit. Drinks a beer at the food truck in the supermarket parking lot and eats a kebab with fries. Your friend spends the rest of the afternoon surfing the Internet in his office. He doesn't even go outside the building to smoke, he does it in the toilet.

On the way home, your friend looks at his reflection in a shop window. Fuck, he urgently needs a new haircut. Half an hour later he comes out of a 5-pound hair salon. And happily strokes his short hair. When you get home, your boyfriend is sitting half naked in front of the TV and jerking off. He asks if you can give him a blowjob. He would also immediately return the favor. There is no dinner. But you fuck like rabbits.

The next morning your friend gets up at 05:00. A round of running before work. He saves showering afterwards. He's been working for the security service for almost 10 years now, whether he's showered or not in his polyester uniform doesn't matter anyway after a few hours in the summer. That he wakes you up after the run with a blowjob is really sweet. But to be honest, the smell of cigarettes during the final French kiss with his cum-glutted tongue bothers you a bit.

You have made extra early closing time today. Your friend makes you so horny. The crisp young body this morning, his greedy tongue… In fact, his change has also rubbed off on you… You also had your hair cut short today. And you have also started to smoke. Nevertheless, the sight of your boyfriend almost knocks you over when he comes home at 4:00 pm. After the shift, he was working out. He stinks of smoke and sweat. He sees you lying on the sofa. And when he drops his pants, his hard-on jumps out at you like a jack-in-the-box.

Fuck, it's 10:00 o'clock when you wake up the next morning. Totally overslept! But the transformation is complete. Next to you lies an 18-year-old chav with a sneaker fetish and a sex drive that can hardly be satisfied. It is Friday. Take the day off. And let me know if you want me to adjust you a bit to your friend. In any case, have fun this weekend!

#male tf #muscle tf #reality change #chav tf #revange tf #age reduction #male transformation #muscle transformation

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thiswasneverthat · 1 year ago

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tuesday

ㅡ seven masterlist

❅ chan x fem!reader

❅ smut, slight fluff

❅ sexting, masturbation, fingering.

❅ wc: 1k

For some inexplicable reason, your mind wandered around during your lunch break. The memory from the previous night kept flashing before your eyes and you couldn't help feeling hot right on your core.

While chewing on your lower lip, you squeezed your thighs together as a low mewl slipped out of your mouth. Thankfully, there were no other souls around your desk because your co-workers were still out enjoying their lunch.

So, in the next second, you grabbed your phone and sent a text to your boyfriend.

'What are you doing, babe? Have you had your lunch?'

Almost as soon as the text was delivered, the three little dots on your phone screen were flickeringㅡ indicating that he was currently typing a reply.

'I'm still stuck in a meeting but I will grab a bite as soon as we're done here. You've had yours, right?'

'I've had mine, don't worry! But anyway, I have a lunch menu recommendation for you.'

'Sure, what is it, love?'

With a smirk carved on your face, you dashed out to the restroom and locked yourself inside the cubicle on the far left of the room.

You then hurriedly unbuttoned your black silk shirtㅡ leaving you in your black lace bra before you snapped a picture of yourself and send it to him.

And of course, as you have expected, the reaction was immediate.

'Baby.. The fuck you think you are doing?'

'Urging you to finish that damn meeting soon and enjoy your lunch.'

'You shouldn't bite more than you can chew, love.'

Even without hearing him saying those words directly, you could feel the venom dripping out of it. However, unfortunately for him, you were not afraid to bite more than you can chew.

Deep down you realized that you were about to get yourself into big trouble for messing with himㅡ maybe a bigger one than the previous night, but that what was you aiming for. You couldn't think of anything else except to seduce him because your head was haywire. And that was because you were driven by pure lust.

So, without wasting no time, you pulled your pencil skirt up to your waist and sat on the top of the bidet. You then spread your legs widely as you pulled your panties to the side before you angled your phone down to take some pictures of your drenched cunt.

"Enjoy this," you mumbled to yourself as you pressed the send button.

And once again, a reply came almost as soon as the pictures were delivered.

'Fake a headache or whatever and go back home. Now. I am on my way.'

Shit, it was too soon.

You were aware that you would undoubtedly piss him off for what you just did, but what you hadn't expected was that he would ditch his work.

For a brief moment, you let the instant regret sink in. You felt the hairs on the back of your neck standing up in fright as you shut your eyes tightly.

Maybe Chris was right.

You shouldn't have bit more than you can chew. Even though you knew he wouldn't intentionally harm you and you would still end up having a good time later, but when he acted this way, you couldn't help but feel your heart violently throbbing against your ribcage.

However, as much as you would like to take your time and prepare yourself for what would come next, you hurriedly fixed your clothes and scrambled out of the restroom.

And nearly thirty minutes later when you arrived at your shared apartment, the air you breathe got caught in your throat the moment you saw him sitting on the couch with his arms crossed over his chest. His face was displaying a countenance of complete ignorance, devoid of any emotional or cognitive response to your presence, and didn't engage in any form of acknowledgment towards you.

"Chris.. I.." you threaded carefully as you approached him closer, but then you quickly shut your mouth when he raised a brow at you.

"Take off your clothes."

Your eyes blinked in surprise for a moment before you quickly complied. At the speed of light, you were standing bare in front of him.

The stark contrast between you and him who was still fully clothed, got your heart skipped a beat.

"Come here," he demanded coldly as he unzipped his black trousers and pulled his cock out. While glancing up at you with a stern expression on his face, he hoised you up onto his lap�� which caused you to gasp slightly.

Without bothering to say anything else, Chris inserted two of his fingers inside your cunt to prep your tight walls for his girth.

"Chris," you breathed out his name and bit your lower lip. However, when you were about to place both of your hands on his shoulders for support, he grunted in disapproval.

"Don't touch me. Keep your hands behind your back."

'Fuck.' You muttered harshly inside your head but once again, you complied.

Truly, it wasn't easy to keep your hands to yourself while he had two of his slender fingers inside of you.

You wanted to wrap your arms around his neck, you wanted to let your hand wander around his chest, you wanted to kiss his neck, you wanted to stroke his hardening cock, and also to tug on his hair, but you couldn't. And that wasn't the worse part yetㅡ because a few minutes later when you were about to cum, Chris immediately drew his fingers out of you.

"But, babe I was about toㅡ"

"Who said this is about you?"

And that was the moment you realized what he was doing.

Before you got to say anything else, Chris lifted your waist a little as he aligned the tip of his cock to your dripping cunt.

"None of this is about you," Chris emphasized with a hoarse grunt once again once he was finally balls deep inside you. "You are not allowed to cum tonight. Let that sink in."

#skz smut #stray kids smut #bang chan smut #chan smut #skz fanfiction

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dreamofjoys · 1 year ago

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— 𝗖𝗛𝗣 𝟭 𝗪𝗔𝗟𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗨𝗣𝗢𝗡 𝗔 𝗗𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗠

→ this chapter is part of a series that I am working on. please visit here for more information before proceeding to read

→c/w: fem reader

→ prologue (previous) / chapter 2 (next)

Your eyes shot open, blinking once and twice to adjust to the darkness. Sitting up on your bed, you sighed, realising that it's one of those weird dreams that you were having ever since you have landed in twisted wonderland. Well, you are in a world full of magic, so it's normal to experience things that are considered out of the norm, right?

The crescent moon hung high above the night sky, an indication that it was still late at night. Seeing as how you are wide awake now, you decide it would be best to take a night stroll around ramshackle dorm. Slipping in your sandals, you opened and closed the door quietly, careful not to wake up the cat that was currently snoozing away on the couch.

The cold air hits your body the moment you exited the dorm, making you cross your arms over each other as an attempt to warm yourself up before proceeding on to your usual route. Ramshackle is located in a desolated space, so it shouldn't be a surprise at how eerily silent and dead the entire area is. You ignored the chills that were running down your spine, focusing to walk on the path that you usually take whenever you go on a stroll.

A little deeper. You thought, further stepping into the dark forest that just lies outside of the broken dorm. You weren't one to venture into a forest in the middle of the night just for a stroll. In fact, you could literally shit yourself in your pants right now from how dark the forest it. You don't have super eyesight for night vision, what if you trip and fall onto something?

However, there was a desire burning inside you that overcomes your fear of the unknown. Just a little bit more, he should be here-

"Child of man?"

A deep melancholy voice pulls you away from your thoughts. Instantly, you turn to face the man that you have been pining for ever since the both of you met in this same exact place. "Tsunotarou!" You smiled widely, feeling delighted to meet the dark fae - also the very reason why you decided to venture into this dark woods.

“Hm, your eyes seems a little puffy today. Did you just woke up?” Due to the height difference, Malleus had to peer his neck down to look at you. "Ah yes, I just woke up. But I couldn't fall back asleep so I decided to walk around the woods, uh, ACHOO-"

Your hands immediately fly up to cover your mouth, feeling embarrassed that your conversation has been interrupted by a mere sneeze. "Sorry about that, tsunotarou." Malleus hums, observing your small hands rubbing on each other to create some warmth for your cold body. He notes that you are only wearing a thin cotton layer of night gown that does little to provide warm. The tip of your nose and the plane of your cheeks were red, your body slightly shivering from the night air.

"You are catching a cold." Malleus commented, seeing the small goosebumps appearing on your skin. "It's fine, I have a strong immune system! I won't get sick easily." You tried brushing off the topic, hoping that Malleus would start rambling about one of his ruin discoveries, but Malleus only looks at you with a serious expression, his dark lips pressing into thin line.

Letting out a sigh, Malleus snaps his fingers, and a piece of cloth suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The cloth, or rather the shawl, lands on your shoulders nicely, covering your upper chest. You stare at the shawl in awe, mesmerized by the gold and green embroidery that thread into roses, decorating around the border of the shawl. The fabric itself is a soft black colour. Somehow, the colour palette reminds you of Malleus.

"You can keep this, it's made of high quality fabric that are meant to prevent one from getting cold." Malleus reaches out to help you wrap the shawl around your neck area properly. His movements were soft and delicate, making sure that it's not wrapped too tightly, careful to not let himself touch you inappropriately.

You were glad that your cheeks were already red. If not, you won't know of any idea to explain the reason behind your tomato face.

"Th-thank you." You almost slapped yourself for sounding so pathetic.

"No problem. Let me escort you back to the dorm, it's dangerous to leave a young lady like you alone."

The walk back to the dorm felt way faster than when you came out at first. You and Malleus were both engrossed in the conversation, sharing about your days, talking about the recent VDC competition, and basically whatever that the both of you had in mind.

Within a blink of an eye, the both of you had already reached the entrance of Ramshackle dorm. You were still laughing at one of Malleus's jokes, well, poorly attempted joke since you were only laughing at his failed attempt. When you set your eyes upon the familiar set of doors, your laughter starts dying down, and your expression seems down a little.

Fortunately for you, Malleus is an observant person. "Don't worry, we can still hang out tomorrow." To anyone, he would have sound like a sarcastic person. But you know better that despite his lack of expression, giving you words of affirmation was just one of his ways to comfort you.

"Okay! See you tomorrow then, tsunotarou! Goodnight!" You turned to face him with a bright smile, waving goodnight and thanks to your friend. The moonlight shines on your face, making you glow brightly. Malleus watch you retreat back to your dorm. His sharp ears detecting your loud footsteps thumping up the stairs and into your room. It seems like you were giggling at something. Has his promise to hang out with you tomorrow excites you so much?

For the first time in his life, Malleus felt his heart skipped a beat.

♡♡♡♡♡

You were elated when Malleus had first asked you to hang out with him, so much so that you were skipping your way down the hallways and into your room.

As you dive back under your covers, the shawl that he had gifted you was still wrapped around your neck, and it was definitely something that you would treasure greatly. You bury your nose into the neck, snuggling against the warmth that Malleus had provided you. It would be good if his scent was on it-

No. You shake your head off those thoughts. Your feelings towards Malleus is nothing more than a puppy crush. You were painstakingly well aware about the differences between you and Malleus. You, a commoner without any magic. And Malleus, a SSR Magician that can literally change the weather on his will. Besides, you were going to return home soon anyway, what benefit would it bring to love someone who is going to be worlds away from you?

Shutting your eyes, you decided to just sleep and get over it.Those feelings won't last. You thought to yourself minutes before dozing off the dreamland. But somehow, those thoughts hurts.

♡♡♡♡♡

You start wondering if the sight that you are seeing infront of you is real.

There was 2 figure sitting together under a tree, watching sunset together. The taller figure, who seems like a woman, was leaning her head on the other person's shoulders. The other person, whose figure resembles a man, was holding up a strawberry, pressing it onto the woman's lips. The woman opened her mouth, revealing what seems to be a pair of fangs before taking a bite on the fruit.

Your vision was hazy and blurry, but you could still deduce that both figure were talking and laughing - though you couldn't hear them at all. Judging by the loving gestures, they were both lovers.

It's a dream again. You thought to yourself, wondering if this scene it's just a part of the movie that you had watch back on earth.

Geez, have you miss earth so much that you are dreaming about movies now? It's probably about time for you to wake up.

You couldn't control your body or speak in the dream. You had concluded that your brain was just making up weird fantasies, not until you notice both pair of figures facing you, almost as if they have finally noticed your presence. The woman's mouth opened, she was speaking but you couldn't hear her. Heck, you don't even know how they look like given the hazy situation.

Both figures starts rushing towards you in a frantic manner, but before they could touch you, you had woken up in cold sweat.

Your hands immediately reaching up to pull the shawl close to you, seeking comfort to calm down your frantic nightmare. That was definitely one hell of a nightmare.

#twisted wonderland #malleus draconia #dreamofjoystwst #imagines #y/n #diasomnia #twst malleus #malleus x reader #malleus hcs #twisted wonderland malleus #malleus x yu #malleus x mc #fem reader #dreamofjoysthedarkfaesblessing

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mysticwolfshadows · 28 days ago

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Taken - Zutara - Part 71

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If Katara ever found out who convinced Aang that crowning a new Fire Lord was easy, she would drag them from the spirit world herself, and kill them.

There were meetings with Fire Sages first, to confirm that Zuko was even still in the line of succession. Thankfully, Ozai had been so arrogant, that he hadn't even touched the scrolls about succession since they'd first been created. According to the sage that had been there when they'd been signed, Ozai hadn't even looked it over, just signed the default form saying his eldest would succeed him.

It was a long and all too drawn out process. To find one scroll.

So the coronation was set, three days after the Day of Black Sun. They couldn't sustain the invasion force staying in Caldera longer than that, especially as the Fire Nation citizens began coming back.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Aang said, as they stood at the coronation plaza.

The viewing section was filled with a mix from each nation. Red, green, and blue were scattered in clumps, with only a bit of mingling. Katara stood to the side. Suki and Sokka were pressed together, shoulder to hip, while Toph leaned against one of the statues. Mai and Ty Lee were somewhere nearby, but Katara hadn't really had a chance to speak with them.

"Wow, Twinkle Toes," Toph scoffed. "That's just asking for trouble."

Katara nodded, and when Suki looked at them confused, she elaborated. "The last time any of us said something was 'too easy', Zuko was taken prison after the Fire Nation retreated from the Northern Siege. And then put on trial to see if they would execute him."

"Oh," Suki blinked. Her eyes narrowed, and she turned to start looking for an approaching danger. "Do we think... You know... Azula?"

It was their only real loose thread. Azula could challenge Zuko to an Agni Kai for the right to rule. If she won, there would be no way for them to stop her. And every Noble that benefits from the war would know that. Would help Azula. And if Zuko tried to refuse, in front of so many, it would deal inconceivable damage to his reputation for the rest of his reign.

"Keep an eye out," Katara said, watching the crowds and rooftops. "If she shows up, we need to stop her before-"

"Zuko!"

The crowd parted from the origin of the shout. It was Azula, wild eyed and tense. She looked like she had tried to quickly make herself look presentable, only to miss half of her hair, leaving it messy and sticking out.

"You want to be Fire Lord?" Azula shouted, pointing up at Zuko, who was currently knelt on the dais. "Then you'll have to face me! Just you and me, brother. Agni Kai!"

It was clear from the confused way the Water Tribesmen and Earth Army were looking around, they had no clue what was happening. Meanwhile, the Fire Nation soldiers and citizens were whispering. An Agni Kai for the throne? A rare occurrence, one that hadn't been seen in centuries.

Katara turned to look up at Zuko. She wished that he could say no. But she knew better.

"You're on," Zuko said.

Immediately, the Fire Nation citizens begin to clear out. Soldiers move, shouting for the plaze to be cleared. When General How is about to protest, and the Earth Kingdom soldiers and Water Tribe warriors begin to tense, Zuko is quick to act.

"Please," he said, making everyone pause. "Clear the plaza. It's safer for everyone this way."

There was a moment of hesitation, before General How and Pakku begin to lead their people away. Iroh, standing up with Zuko, grabs his shoulder and whispers to him, clearly urgent. Zuko shakes his head, reaching up to unclasp his cloak.

Aang goes to join the Fire Sages, and Sokka tries to tug at Katara's arm.

"I'm staying," she says, load enough for Zuko to hear as he passes them. He gives her a miserable look, as if he knew she would say that, but still wished she would go. "Until this is over, I'm staying. The rest of you go."

After another moment of hesitation, Sokka and Suki turn to leave with the rest of the people, Toph pausing.

"You be careful," Toph said, before hurrying to catch up with the rest.

Katara watches as the two siblings get into their fighting stance, sees the wicked and wild grin on Azula's lips. She watches as they send bursts and waves of flame and fire at each other. She stands by as Zuko endures, and Azula's attacks get more erratic.

There's something off about Azula. She's not put together. Her attacks aren't as precise, sacrificing the perfectly curated control that normally made Azula so dangerous for raw power. And Zuko can handle reckless power with his mastery of unique blended techniques.

Without her precise control, Zuko is able to knock Azula down, making her cry out in fury. Azula pulls herself up, and Katara sees the crackle on her fingers. Zuko is already moving into a redirection stance, his back to Katara.

It's as the lightning leaves Azula's fingers that Katara knows she wasn't aiming for Zuko. Blue cracks fracture the world for what seems like only a second, before Zuko roars. She watches as Zuko dives in front of her, the snaps of electricity sparking off of him as he hits the ground.

"NO!" Katara screams, mind racing. His heart. He was still recovering from Hama, even if he insisted he was fine. The lightning would have touched his heart, gravitated towards it. She moved to rush forward, only to jump back as a burst of blue flames struck the ground between her and Zuko.

"I don't think so!" Azula cackles.

Heart racing, Katara looked towards Aang and the Fire Sages. She had only a second. And it was all she needed to make her decision. Katara lifted her arms, getting into her own battle stance. Sucking in a breath, she called out.

"For your dishonor," Katara shouted, more for the Fire Sages benefit. "For attacking a non-participant, I move to stand in Zuko's place!"

And with that, she attacked.

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#fanfic idea #atla #avatar the last airbender #fanfic #zutara #katara #zuko #wip #Taken AU

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d1xonss · 7 months ago

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Desert Rose

Chapter 50 ~ Bring me to Life

✧ Pairing : Daryl Dixon x Rose

✧ Era : Season 4

✧ Word Count : 7.5k

In this chapter ~ When all hope seemed to be lost and the sickness only getting worse, the group finally returns with the meds after a very close call. With her newfound freedom, Rose decides to take full advantage to spend it doing something exciting. Although, nothing can last forever, and just as she was finally feeling happy again, it all came crashing back down.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ROSE POV ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The sound of coughing bounced off of the walls around the three of us as we tried to help a man named Henry who was currently fighting for his life. Glenn and I panted heavily as we tried to hold him down on the ground as he continued to squirm, while Hershel was attempting to lower a tube down his throat so we could get air in his lungs.

"Henry, we need you to calm down. We're trying to help." Hershel said through the man's coughs and heavy breaths.

He kept fighting the feeling of the thick tube slowly slipping down his throat, and I honestly couldn't blame him, it probably felt awful. I wanted to gag just looking at the scene. But we needed to do this in order for him to live, clearing his lungs for him because his body could no longer fight and do it himself.

Eventually, Hershel got it down far enough and attached the airbag on the other end, squeezing it quickly so air could flow into his lungs, and the man stopped struggling almost immediately as his eyes fluttered closed. Glenn and I both sighed in relief as we pulled our hands away from his chest, continuing to cough and try to catch our own breaths after watching him struggle for so long.

"Drink some of that," Hershel nodded to the cups of tea sitting next to Glenn, "Both of you."

Glenn lazily handed one of the mugs to me as he lifted the glass up to his lips as well. Hershel just continued to squeeze the bag for Henry every few seconds as he watched us breath, drinking the tea he continued to provide.

"Some council meeting, huh?" Hershel asked, his tone sounding as if he hoped to bring light to the situation.

I huffed out a breath, "We're a few members short."

"I think we should make some new rules before they get back." the old man announced, "I hereby declare, we have spaghetti Tuesdays...every Wednesday." he joked. The two of us just looked at him blankly. "But first we have to find some spaghetti."

I couldn't help but roll my eyes as I let out a dry chuckle, "You know what, I would love to live to see spaghetti Wednesdays."

The two men both gave me a look, staring at me with disapproving eyes, "Oh, what? He can make a joke, but I can't. Hypocrites."

Hershel chuckled lightly, "You okay to take over?" he asked holding the airbag out to me and I nodded, "Every five to six seconds, squeeze. You start feeling lightheaded, grab somebody else to take over. We'll take it in shifts."

I nodded again and began to squeeze the bag like he instructed me. I was determined to keep him alive for as long as I could, hoping that the group would be back any minute now and save the man's life. We had already lost too many people in the time that they were gone, I wanted desperately to avoid another. I could feel that everyone else was holding on by a thread.

Not only that, but my worry for the ones who went out was only growing more by each hour that they hadn't returned. In the back of my mind I knew that they were okay, they were smart enough to make a trip like this. But I couldn't help but think it was too far of a trip to make in such a short amount of time. It really hit me then, and only then, that I truly might die before Daryl came back.

I was racking my brain as I continued to keep Henry alive, thinking back to the last thing I said to him before he took off. Until I remembered I just told him I loved him, and felt myself sigh in slight relief, knowing that if I were to die, at least my last words to him was something meaningful.

About an hour passed and I was starting to feel tired, my hands growing weaker by the second as they started to cramp up. Keeping someone breathing really was a lot of work, I didn't know how Hershel was holding his shit together so well. Glenn took notice and offered to take over, allowing me to take a break as I slowly waddled my way out of the cell, wanting to check on a few others in the space. But Hershel seemed to read my mind, coming up to me the second I left the room and asked if I could make his rounds with him.

We walked down the stairs silently and looked in to check on who was still alive. We passed by a few breathing people before Hershel stopped suddenly at a cell and saw a man with blood coming out of his eyes, and I peered down at his chest to see he was completely still. I closed my eyes when I saw him, and Hershel was quick to set his light down to fully walk into the room. I knew what I had to do, and I slowly took out my knife with a breath, but Hershel placed his hand on top of mine.

"No. Not here." he whispered.

He then walked back out of the room quickly while I watched the deceased man, making sure he didn't come back at the wrong time. The old man returned only a few seconds later with a stretcher so we could roll him out and put him down without anyone else having to see.

"Help me get him on this." he whispered.

I sighed as my mind began to wander, "But what about in a couple of hours, when Henry's dead,-"

"Rose." he whispered sternly.

"How are we going to get his body down the stairs and across the cellblock without anyone noticing?" I asked, "It's hard enough to do that when they're on the ground level."

"If that happens- if- you're going to help me." he responded.

I took in a breath as I looked at him seriously, "And what if I'm gone?" I asked quietly.

"Shut up," he whispered harshly, not even wanting to think about my words, "Help me get him on this."

Letting out a heavy breath, I moved to grab his legs to help pick the man up, setting him down on the stretcher gently without making too much noise. We then slowly tried to make our way out of the cellblock without too many people noticing, not wanting them to be aware of the amount of people we were taking out. Though right as we were about to make it up to the door, a child's voice suddenly cut through the quiet cellblock.

"What are you doing?" Lizzy asked.

The two of us whipped around to see the younger girl standing there with a tilted head as she eyed the covered body. I hesitated for a moment, but Hershel was quick to think of something that wouldn't scare her, walking over to bend down to her level.

"We're taking Mr. Jacobson to a quieter place," he said simply before raising his hand to feel her forehead, "Why don't you go get my copy of Tom Sawyer from my room. I want you to read it by tonight."

She coughed into her hand harshly before looking back up to him with a shaking head, "I won't finish it."

"Why?" he asked.

"It's going to get too dark." she replied.

Hershel only nodded in understanding, "Well, give it your best try." he said calmly, hoping to distract her.

I watched as she slowly nodded and walked away, but not without looking back at us a few different times, before completely disappearing back into the darkness of her cell. To be honest that kid always creeped me out.

Though once she had gone back to her room, we quickly ushered the body out of the cellblock and took him down the hall a bit so we could keep this as quiet as possible. The stretcher came to a stop as we glanced around for a moment, pulling out my knife again as I stood up near the man's head, glancing back up towards Hershel with heavy eyes.

"You haven't had to do this yet have you?" I asked him.

He quickly shook his head, "There was one late last night, Glenn did it. People don't need to see it; I don't want them to."

It seemed as though as soon as he finished his sentence, the man beneath the sheet began to groan and try to sit up as he came back to life. I brought my hand down on his chest to keep him still before plunging my knife into the side of his head, ripping it out harshly as his blood began to seep through the white cloth. I mindlessly placed my knife back on my his securely as I looked down at his dead body, hearing Hershel recite a few words from the bible like some kind of funeral.

But my vison slowly began to blur, feeling myself begin to break out into a cold sweat as I could hear my heartbeat in my ears. I blinked repeatedly to try and stay awake, steadying myself with my hands on the stretcher, but the darkness was slowly consuming me, and I knew I couldn't last another second as I fell to the floor.

The last thing I managed to hear, was Hershel's panicked voice calling my name before it all went quiet.

My face scrunched up a little as I could see the dim light behind my eyelids, feeling a soft touch running across my head. I grew confused the longer my eyes remained closed, finally peeling them open again as my vison was still just as blurry as before, trying to allow them to adjust as I woke. Eventually my gaze focused on Glenn who hovered above me, his head facing down and his hand resting against my head, gently stroking my forehead with his thumb.

But once he lifted his head to look at me again, seeing me returning to consciousness, he sighed in obvious relief. "Oh, thank God," he muttered as he placed a kiss on my forehead, "Jesus...you've been out for hours."

My mouth parted in slight shock as I glanced past his head and noticed it was now dark outside. The day completely vanishing it seemed like. I shook my head and tried to think of the last thing I remembered before passing out, "What happened?"

"After you left to put that guy down, you just passed out cold. Hershel had to bring you back in here and lay you down, he said it was probably from exhaustion, dehydration..." he rambled on before sighing again, "God...I thought I was going to lose you." he finished sadly.

"I'm okay." I whispered in reassurance, resting my hand on top of his own as I slowly came back to reality.

He nodded, "Okay, good... just sit tight for a second, I'll be right back. I've gotta check on Henry quick, he's just in the next room."

"Okay," I agreed as he gave me a small smile, shakily standing back up to head outside, leaving me alone with my thoughts as I stared back up at the ceiling.

I laid there perfectly still as the minutes passed, trying to gather my thoughts as I leaned over, reaching for the cup of water conveniently placed right by my side. I knew I needed to get up, find Hershel to let him know I was okay, wanting to know if there were any signs from Daryl. But I paused suddenly when it hit me then that Glenn had yet to return, causing me to realize the area had grown oddly silent. A chill ran up my spine as it didn't sit right with me, slowly sitting up on my cot to try and listen for any noise, even so much as someone walking. Anything.

Lizzy's familiar voice then suddenly called out for Hershel in a slight panic, and that alone made my ears perk up. I slowly got out of bed while wincing at my sore muscles before someone else then started to scream. I tried to push myself to move faster out of the room, looking over the balcony to see that there were walkers everywhere, some killing the people who were still alive, while others fought with everything they had to try and defend themselves.

I had watched this familiar scene before, the sight taking me back to when the illness first started. A pit formed in my stomach as I knew we couldn't let it happen again.

My eyes widened as I turned to rush and find Glenn, but when I made it towards the next room, Henry was nowhere to be found, and Glenn was laying flat on the floor. I instantly dropped to my knees in a panic, turning his head to see he was choking and could no longer breathe, his eyes rolling to the back of his head as he struggled.

My stomach dropped, "Hershel!" I called out as I laid him down on his back, beginning to press firmly on his chest to keep his heart beating, performing CPR.

My hands pumped up and down on his chest at a steady pace as I counted to thirty in my head, pinching his nose and tilting his head back so I could breathe into his mouth, before counting all over again. I felt tears forming in my eyes when I saw he still wasn't responding, only growing worse as he fought for his life.

"Come on, Glenn please!" I cried, "Hershel!" I called again over my shoulder, desperate for the old man's help as my vision began to blur.

I repeated the actions over and over again, I wasn't going to stop until he had a heartbeat. My back was still facing the doorway as I hovered over him, barely even hearing the sound of a walker slowly making its way closer before I finally turned around it face it. It was just about to grab my leg until I reached for my knife and stabbed its head harshly, not even bothering to pull it back out as I faced Glenn again.

My arms began to shake as I cried, pushing down harsher and harsher as I refused to believe that this was it for him. I couldn't let him die, not when he was so sure that the two of us would make it out of this together. There was no way in hell I was going to give up on him.

Just as I was about to lean down and breathe into his mouth again, he was dramatically gasping for air, leaning over to spit out a bunch of blood that were once filling his lungs. I sighed in relief as my cheeks were wet with tears, patting his back to try and help him get it all out and clear his lungs.

Hershel then frantically turned the corner with wide eyes once he saw the state we were in, "He stopped breathing." I informed him, trying to catch my breath.

"You saved his life." he replied, "Hold on, we're going to need that airbag." he said before turning back around to find it.

"Wait!" I called out, seeing him stop in his tracks, "I'll go find it. Just keep him breathing, I don't think I can do it anymore." I said as I continued to try and catch my breath.

The man nodded frantically, quickly switched places with me as I walked out of the cell to try and find the airbag we had made. I racked my brain for where it could be, thinking back to the last person who had it. Before I stopped dead in my tracks once my eyes landed on a certain figure that I recognized quite well.

Henry had turned and was now trapped over the balcony, his body lying on the netting that kept him from falling down towards the bottom level of the cellblock...the airbag still attached to his bloody face.

"Son of a bitch." I cursed quietly, before slowly pushing myself to move forward.

I kicked each of my legs over the railing clumsily, falling to my knees in an instant on the flimsy net that was now struggling to support both of our bodies. He noticed me quickly as I gasped for air, taking it to his advantage as he crawled over toward me in an instant, not giving me a chance to balance. He hovered on top of me as his teeth chomped right near my face, my arms struggling to keep the dead weight off of me as my jaw clenched. I could feel my muscles shake wildly as I turned my head away from his face, gritting my teeth as he attempted to sink his teeth into my flesh.

I tried to maneuver his weight slowly, reaching for the airbag from where it was latched onto his face, keeping his teeth away from me as best as I could. I cried out suddenly, not being strong enough to handle it on my own as I was only one step closer to death, before a sudden voice called my name from below me.

My gaze snapped down to see Maggie with wide eyes, aiming her gun towards the walker's head as she saw it was about to kill me, but my screams of protest stopped her. "No! You might hit the bag we need it for Glenn!" I yelled as I continued to struggle with the walker.

I groaned as I continued to fight with the dead, my arms nearly giving out as I tried to reach for the bag one last time. But the weight suddenly subsided in a split second as it collapsed on top of me dead, looking back down to see Maggie lowering her gun.

I nodded quickly in appreciation as I shoved the thing off of me, tugging the airbag from its mouth before trying to stand up on the wobbly net. My heart was racing in my chest and my limbs had never felt weaker as I fought with everything I had to try and make it back up to him, steadying myself on the railing.

"He's turning blue!" Hershel's urgent voice called out, only pushing me to move faster as I lifted myself back onto the second level in a not so graceful manner.

The moment I reentered the room, I handed the airbag to Hershel and couldn't pull my eyes away from his face as he continued to struggle. He was wheezing and gasping for air as blood continued to pour out of his mouth and my breath caught in my throat. I felt tears slip down my face effortlessly once again as Maggie held him down so Hershel could place the tube down his throat to get him breathing again.

My eyes never moved away from him the entire time, standing there like a goddamn statue, not allowing myself to relax until I knew he would be okay.

Once he successfully got it down his throat, he started to squeeze the bag, and Glenn finally stopped struggling as the room went quiet once again. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding and plopped down onto the floor in exhaustion, my hands shaking from adrenaline. I wiped the sweat off of my forehead staring down at him as his chest rose and fell with steady breaths. I could barely process the fact that I almost lost him so easily, I didn't want to think about it too much. He was almost ripped away from all of us, and it scared me so badly.

Maggie then noticed me struggling to catch my breath and placed a hand on my leg as she glanced back at me, "Ro? You okay?" she asked.

I tried to form some kind of reply but nothing came out as I started to cough again, blood beginning to pour out of my mouth. I heard Hershel instruct Maggie to keep squeezing the bag for Glenn as he quickly moved over to me, switching places as they both frantically moved. He gently pushed me over to the side so I could get all of the blood out of my mouth, but it just kept coming, a never ending cycle that I couldn't escape from nor prevent. My eyes started to get heavy again and he visibly noticed as he patted my back harder.

"Come on Rose, stay with us." he pleaded as he slowly lifted me up and onto the nearby mattress I was in front of.

I was trying, but I couldn't stop coughing as I struggled to stay awake. I kept trying to tell myself that Glenn needed the airbag, he needed it to stay alive and I needed to pull through for him. But I felt so tired and Hershel's steady voice started to fade again into almost nothing as it was replaced with a slight ringing. I felt myself slowly slipping away again like I did once before, knowing in the back of my mind that this could be it.

Until I suddenly heard the cellblock door slam open and a familiar voice calling my name.

The life was instantly brought back into me as my ears perked up hearing the sound of his sweet voice, however I didn't open my eyes. Though I knew that I was conscious, my eyelids felt as if they weighed a thousand pounds, the feeling being almost painful for me to open my eyes again.

"Up here!" Hershel yelled back, hearing heavy footsteps echo around the place before they were suddenly right in front of the entrance, a small gasp leaving his lips.

"What happened? She pass out?" he asked frantically.

I mustered all the strength I had left in that moment, opening my eyes slightly to see Daryl standing right above me with a bag hanging lazily from his grasp. He noticed almost immediately that my eyes squinted open, not wasting another second before he was kneeling at my side.

"Rosie? Baby?" he whispered softly, the pet name just slipping right out to prove how scared he was, raising his hand to run his thumb over my cheek.

I cleared my throat roughly before nodding my head, "I'm here." I breathed heavily.

There were sighs of relief all over the room upon hearing the sound of my strained and tired voice. I then felt Daryl lean down to place a kiss on the top of my head, "Thank God yer okay." he whispered against my hair, "Yer okay." he repeated.

I smiled weakly at him and saw Bob lingering in the doorway, hesitantly making his way inside to hand out the medicine we needed.

"We need to get her an IV to get the meds in her." Hershel said, beginning to stand.

I sat up quickly upon hearing that, "No." I protested before a cough cut off my words, "Glenn," I breathed, "Help Glenn first."

All eyes were on me in question, but everyone seemed to understand as I laid back down, resting my eyes again. Relief filled my entire being now knowing that Glenn, Sasha, and anyone else who was left was going to be okay. I was going to be okay. A weight was lifted from me, knowing now I could finally relax as everything was falling into place.

Opening my eyes again to look at Daryl, his gaze had never left me, "You're back." I said weakly.

He smiled, "Yeah m' back, angel. And yer gonna be okay." he said quietly, pushing some of my hair back and out of my face.

"You know I'm too stubborn to die."

He chuckled lightly, "Damn straight."

It had been about a week before Hershel would even let me step outside. He wanted me to recover fully before being around everybody else, and I haven't had any human contact other than him in a whole seven days. I had briefly seen Maggie and Glenn since they were in the same cellblock that I was in with Glenn still recovering, but that was it.

After Daryl and the others came back with the meds, he wouldn't let us see each other for the soul purpose so no one else would get sick. So now I was anxiously waiting for his approval, so I could see everyone again after what felt like an eternity. He held the stethoscope up to my chest, telling me to take deep breaths as he listened to the sound of my lungs. But once he was done checking nearly everything under the sun, he didn't utter a word, silently knowing I was dying for him to say something.

I rolled my eyes at his silence, "Oh, spit it out please!" I exclaimed.

He chuckled before slowly nodding his head, "Well it looks like you're in luck...you're free to go, dear."

I squealed in excitement before quickly wrapping my arms around him in a hug, feeling him laugh again before squeezing me back tightly. I wanted him to know how much I appreciated him always, how I noticed how hard he was working to save not only my life, but everyone else's. And how I knew he would still look after me even though I was completely in the clear.

When we pulled away from one another, he kept his hands on my shoulders to make sure I wouldn't rush right out, "But take it easy, you hear me? Doctor's orders." he said.

"Oh please, I've been taking it easy for a whole week. I think I'll be okay." I assured.

He nodded, giving my shoulders a soft squeeze, "I love you...I just want you safe and healthy. I'm allowed to worry."

My eyes softened as he voiced his concerns and his adoration, leaning back in to hug him once more as if I couldn't help it, "I love you too..." I whispered, "Thank you for just...everything."

"It's my pleasure, dear." he said as he held me tight, before pulling away again to keep his hands securely on my arms as if he was scared to let me go. It warmed my heart at the thought, knowing that he's always cared for me like a daughter, and I couldn't have cherished it more.

"Why're you acting like we're never going to see each other again?" I laughed, "I'm just going outside for a bit."

He nodded, "I know. But be careful, alright. Don't push yourself too hard."

I rolled my eyes slightly, "Yeah, yeah." I muttered while giving his hand a squeeze and standing to my feet, "See you later, old man." I said over my shoulder, hearing him chuckle to himself as I made my way out of cellblock A.

As soon as I stepped outside the prison walls, I instantly felt relieved as I breathed in the fresh air. I always loved being in the sun because of how much happiness it brought me. Being inside for that long didn't exactly do me any good, feeling like an actual prisoner most of the time as I could hardly even stand up on my own without Hershel scurrying to make sure I wouldn't fall on my ass.

"Rose!"

I turned around when I heard the brief call of my name, seeing Carl and Beth rushing over toward me quickly with excited smiles. My face broke out into a grin of my own when I caught a glimpse of them, opening my arms for them as they both collided into me to give me a giant hug. I hung onto them tightly, slowly realizing how much I had missed them the longer I held them again in my arms.

"Oh, I missed my babies." I muttered as I squeezed them tighter, hearing them both laugh happily.

"We missed you too." Carl said seriously, beginning to pull away.

"I was so worried about you." Beth said as she looked at me now, clear sadness filling her voice as her features contorted in concern.

I shook my head quickly, "Hey, I'm okay. You don't have to worry about me." I said while placing a hand on each of their cheeks.

Whether they realized it or not, they both leaned into my touch the second I reached up, my heart warming at the sight. I knew how concerned they were, but I would rather go through that a million times over than have them be the one to catch the illness. I would have been a nervous wreck, so I was silently grateful that they were perfectly healthy, and not the other way around.

"So, what are you guys doing?" I asked as I pulled away.

Carl shrugged, "Just taking a walk, do you want to come?"

I went to answer, but then my eyes briefly landed on where Daryl and Rick were standing, leaning against a few of the cars as they spoke. "How about I take a raincheck?"

The two of them turned to where I had been staring before giving each other a certain look, Beth starting to make kissy faces at me which caused me to roll my eyes while Carl snickered to himself. "Oh, shut up." I muttered as I pushed her shoulder. "Bye you two!" I called over my shoulder.

"Bye!" they yelled back as they made their way to the field side by side.

I had a bit of pep in my step as I made my way over toward the vehicles, a part of me a bit surprised that they were talking in the first place considering how they left things. But right on cue, as if they could hear my thoughts, they both turned at the same time when they heard me walking up to them, and Daryl wasted no time jogging over the rest of the way.

He quickly picked me up into a hug, leaving me squealing in surprise as I squeezed him tightly around his shoulders. I felt him sway me back and forth a little as my feet still couldn't quite touch the ground, before lowering me back down with his arms still secured around my waist. I had missed him like crazy, wanting to spend every single second with him until the sun went down to make up for the lost time.

"I missed ya so much." he finally said, pulling back slightly to look me in the eye.

"I missed you more." I whispered.

Rick clearing his throat from behind us is what made our heads turn to look over at him at the same time, "You have an audience." he reminded awkwardly.

I huffed out a small laugh before pulling away from Daryl, making my way over towards him to wrap him in a hug as well. He rested his arms across my shoulders as he squeezed me once, "Hey, Rosie." he whispered.

"Hey," I smiled, "Um...since when did you and Daryl make up?" I whispered in his ear.

I heard him chuckle a little, "Well it took a lot of talking, and me telling him I apologized to you and all that. But we're okay."

"Good." I muttered while finally pulling away from him.

"So, how do you feel?" he asked.

"Refreshed," I said simply, "I can't wait to actually do something." I rubbed my hands together excitedly.

Daryl came closer to me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders, "Well, why don't we get outta here and do somethin. Anythin you wanna do." he suggested.

I raised my eyebrows, "Anything?"

He nodded his head, "Mhm."

I thought about it for a few seconds before a slow smirk was brought onto my face, and I could tell that it made both men a bit nervous. "I don't like that glint in her eye." Rick said.

I smiled as I turned towards Daryl, "I know what I want to do." I spoke confidently.

"Shoot." he said.

"Teach me to drive your motorcycle." I stated without any hesitation.

He stared at me in slight disbelief for a moment, trying to decipher if I was being serious or not before shaking his head, "Nah, no way."

My mouth fell open slightly, "Oh come on! You said anything; that's what I want to do."

"That's really what ya want?" he asked hesitantly, watching as I surely nodded my head.

I had no idea why, but lately I had been itching to get out and ride on Daryl's motorcycle again. However, I wanted to be the one to drive. Though it made me a bit nervous, I couldn't deny that I was excited too, figuring now was a perfect time to learn. I was practically imprisoned for a week straight and I needed to do something.

He sighed and thought about it for a few moments before eventually giving in, "Alright."

I smiled brightly, kissing his cheek as a thank you before moving over towards his bike that was just a few feet away. In all honesty I didn't really know what compelled me to want to learn, but it sounded almost freeing. Although I thought it was funny that I wanted nothing to do with motorcycles in the beginning, and now I wanted to learn how to drive one. My guess could only be it was Daryl's constant bad influence on me.

Being cooped up in a cell for a week made me realize how much I take for granted. I missed being outside in the sun, I missed having the wind whip me in the face, and I especially missed my family the most. I knew I hadn't taken the time to see all of them yet, but I knew I would eventually when the sun went down, all of us usually gathering around for dinner. My mind wandered to Sasha and Glenn, knowing that he was still recovering as he had a bit more trouble bouncing back. But Maggie was practically glued to his side so I knew he was just fine.

I was snapped out of my thoughts when I felt Daryl begin to slow the bike down to a stop in the fairly open road, shutting it off briefly before turning back to look at me over his shoulder, "Alright, this ain't a toy. Ya gotta take this seriously."

I blinked, "Okay, dad."

He narrowed his eyes at me, "M' serious."

"So am I." I smiled.

He huffed at my sarcastic state, before getting off the bike as I slid myself down to the driver's seat. He then hopped on the back as I glanced down at the handles, trying to get the feel of things before he started to instruct me. I grabbed the two of them hesitantly, knowing already which was the brake versus the clutch from what I've seen Daryl do in the past.

He placed his hands on top of mine and gave me a quick kiss on the side of my head before I felt him pause. I then glanced up in the rearview mirrors, seeing him looking at the back of my head in slight confusion.

"What?" I asked with a tilted head.

He pointed to the small purple clip I had my hair pinned back with, "Where did ya get this?"

I subconsciously touched the back of my hair, "Oh, Maggie gave it to me a few weeks ago. I thought I would pin my hair back today; you like it?" I asked.

He nodded his head, "Mhm, it's pretty." he approved, watching me smile as I turned my attention back towards the bike, hearing his voice become a little more nervous, "Mkay, start it up." he said hesitantly.

I paused momentarily as I tried to remember how, but quickly picked up on it as it roared to life, nodding to myself as I heard Daryl mutter good under his breath. "Alright, ya remember which one is the clutch?" he asked over the sound of the bike. I nodded my head and motioned towards it, "Good," he said again, "So, when ya wanna go, ya let go of the brake slowly and lift the clutch a little."

"Okay," I said to show that I understood, though he could quickly tell by the slight shake in my voice that I was nervous.

He kissed my head again, "It's okay, just trust yerself...and don't kill me."

"Yeah, that's helping." I spoke sarcastically.

He chuckled, "I'm kiddin, you'll do great. Just let go of the brake, lift the clutch a little." he repeated.

I took a breath and nodded before doing exactly what he told me to do. He removed his hands from mine and placed them around my waist to hold on while I slowly let go of the breaks to ease myself into it. The bike began moving pretty slowly, but it was moving. I smiled and got a little more confidence and sped up just the tiniest bit to try and slowly get more comfortable.

But whilst I was speeding up, I accidentally hit the clutch a little too hard and it sped up a lot faster than I wanted it to, and I could feel Daryl fly off of the back at the impact. I gasped in surprise and tried to get control of the bike to check and see if he was okay, but I couldn't turn around to look back without it turning the whole bike right along with me.

Though the seconds of panic didn't linger for very long as I could hear him laughing loudly from behind me, his heavy footsteps following shortly after to try and catch up with me. He hopped back on the second he was close enough while the bike was still going, placing his hands over mine again to get me to hit the brakes slowly to bring it to a stop. We were both laughing wildly as it finally came to a halt, causing me to turn around to glance at him with apologetic eyes.

"I'm so sorry." I breathed as I let out another laugh, covering my face in slight embarrassment.

He chuckled as he gently moved my hands to kiss my forehead, "Don't be sorry darlin, it was yer first time. Ya just gotta practice some more."

"Okay." I sighed, turning back around to try again.

It took some time, but eventually I was driving the bike at a normal speed and didn't kick Daryl off of it in the process. In just those few hours, I had laughed harder than I had in what felt like forever, and it felt good. He really brought out the best in me in ways that I wasn't able to describe.

I couldn't help but notice the way he was looking at me as I drove by on the bike by myself as he watched me from on the grass, with his arms folded over his chest and a proud smile on his lips. But I also didn't miss the lovesick look on his face every time I passed him, but I liked it, and I was pretty positive I looked at him the same damn way. I was glad we got to spend a few hours just enjoying each other's company, while we laughed at the few times I made an ass of myself in the process of learning how to operate the thing that he knew best.

Eventually we headed back to the prison and to my surprise, he let me drive back on my own. To him I was going painfully slow, but I wanted to be careful, cautious as if I would somehow knock him off all over again.

Once we made it through the gates and up towards the prison, I hopped off first and saw that Daryl was about to follow my actions, but I stopped him. "Ah, wait." I said before holding my hand out for him to take.

He looked confused at first, but then seemed to realize what I was doing and rolled his eyes, taking my hand nonetheless. "I do that for a reason, so ya don't fall on yer ass." he said.

I smirked, "I thought I would be the gentleman for once. Plus I was the one driving, it's only fair."

He rolled his eyes again at my words, placing a kiss on the top of my head before we both turned to see Rick jogging over toward us with a small smile upon seeing our return.

"Hey, how was it?" he asked.

"Good. I didn't crash it." I responded while gesturing to the bike next to us dramatically.

He chuckled, "Good." he spoke with a nod, only turning more serious a second later, "I'm uh...I'm glad you came back when you did, I was actually going to ask your help for something."

Daryl narrowed his eyes a bit in concern, "What's wrong?"

"I was on my way to tell Tyreese about Carol, but uh... I wanted to have some kind of backup. I don't think he'll freak out again, but just to be safe."

I could feel Daryl tense from next to me, "So, yer willin to put my girl at risk of gettin her ass beat, again? Nah, no way."

I turned to look him in the eye, "Hey, it's fine, I'll do it. Nothing's going to happen. Plus, Rick came by and apologized for everything, we're good." I reminded him.

"Yeah, he told me, but that don't mean I want ya in there." he said.

I shook my head at him, "I'll be fine."

He thought about it for a second, and then probably came to the realization that he couldn't stop me, nodding his head reluctantly in agreement. We then followed Rick, making our way through the prison to try and find Tyreese to break the news to him about who actually killed Karen and David. I didn't know how he would take it, but I hoped that since she was gone, he would be a little more relieved.

My mind went back to Daryl and how he was taking the loss of Carol. I knew that they were closer friends, and I could only imagine how hard it was to hear that she was gone. But he never seemed to mention it, to an outsider he didn't seem to be affected by it at all. Though I knew him better than that.

I gently nudged his side as we followed behind Rick, "How are you doing...about Carol?" I asked hesitantly, keeping my voice down.

He only shrugged, "Sucks...but I'll be alright." he said as he nudged my shoulder in return.

I nodded in understanding as I could see he didn't want to talk about it much. I knew he was hurt about what Rick did, I could see it in his eyes, but at the same time I knew he understood too. Otherwise he would be on his bike as we speak looking for her to come back.

The three of us made our way down to the tunnels now, Rick calling out into the space, "Tyreese! You down here?"

There was a moment of silence before he heard him call back, "Rick? That you?"

We all then followed the sound of his voice, seemingly at the same time he started to come out of the darkness. He was taken aback a little when his eyes landed on me, probably shocked that I was out of cellblock A as I hadn't seen him since he had taken me.

He smiled warmly, "Hey Rose...you feeling better?" he asked.

"Yeah, Hershel finally let me go." I smiled.

He nodded, "Good," he said before looking back to the two men beside me, "Look you guys gotta see this." he said, pointing behind him.

"Can we take a beat? There's something we need to talk about." Rick said.

"It can wait, come on." he said urgently while heading back the way he came.

We all looked at each other cautiously before following the man back into the room where he came from. It was dark and the men had to raise their flashlights for us to see what he wanted to show us, but once my eyes landed on it, I couldn't help but let my mouth fall open a little. There was a dead rat up against the wall, with its insides spilling out of it.

I heard Daryl mutter, "The hell?" as he stepped closer to get a better look, shining his light over the bloody surface.

"I was just looking around, I needed...answers. Then I found this," Tyreese explained while pointing to the dead rat, "Same person who killed Karen and David did this. Remember the rats at the fence? They show up the same day she was killed, we got a psychopath living with us. We gotta find him Rick, and I'm not going to sleep until we do."

I almost wanted to laugh a little at Tyreese's detective skills, but I didn't. The rats had absolutely nothing to do with Karen and David and at this point I think he was just trying to find something, anything to lead him to who was responsible for killing them. None of us knew who was doing this with the rats, it was all too weird.

"Tyreese," Rick started calmly, "Whoever did this, I don't think that's who killed Karen."

Tyreese looked at him confused, "Why?" was all he could ask.

But before anyone could say another word, a large booming sound rang out from right outside the prison walls and the concrete around us crumbled a little at the impact. I jumped in surprise at the sudden explosive sound, growing confused and uneasy as my heart started to beat out of my chest. My eyes panned up to see Daryl who was already looking at me with the same panicked expression and I knew we both seemed to have the same sinking feeling.

"No..." I muttered.

~ Thanks for reading!

Taglist - @justareader95 @hayley1998 @ryoujoking @sipsthecoffee @winterassassin1804 @marsmallow433 @catlalice @writingstreetspirit

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tsarisfanfiction · 9 months ago

Text

Family Reunion

Fandom: Trials of Apollo Rating: Gen Genre: Family Characters: Apollo, Lee, Will, Michael, Cabin Seven Apollo-as-Lester wakes up for the first time in Cabin Seven. Having children older than him is just plain wrong, thanks. TOApril day 11 - First Meeting! This is set in the aftermath of an AU of mine that I haven't yet written, and for the sake of avoiding spoiling the whole premise of that AU before I do write and post it, there is a distinct lack of explanation hanging around, oops.

Apollo jerked awake, his breathing shallow and rapid while his weak, mortal body trembled and sweated in a broadcast of distress to anyone in the vicinity – and any hope that his immediate vicinity was, in fact, vacant of company was immediately dashed into tiny pieces by the gentle touch on his forehead.

It was cool, which meant that either they ran cold or Apollo was running hot (and yes, Apollo was always hot, in both senses of the word, but Lester was not, a fact he was still struggling to come to terms with). Apollo did not consider that a good sign, although the gentleness of the touch at least suggested it was no-one meaning immediate harm.

“Can you open your eyes?” they asked – a familiar voice, and while the identity of the owner currently escaped Apollo (an alarming fact, given Apollo wasn’t used to forgetting sounds, or anything at all), he was reasonably confident that it belonged to a male. “Blink once for yes.”

There was a wryness to the voice, a thread that might be light-hearted at the joke.

“What if I cannot?” he asked, cringing at the raspy slur that came out of his mouth.

“Well, you can always just tell me that,” his companion pointed out, and Apollo might feel half-deaf but he could still tell there was a new note to the voice – one associated with relief. “But given I know you’re awake, I’d rather you at least tried before giving up.”

Rather annoyingly, he had a point – and Apollo was also getting rather fed up with not being able to place the owner of the voice by aural clues alone. He knew he knew that voice.

His eyes resisted opening, perhaps basking in the chance to be lazy for the first time since crash landing in a dumpster and becoming the servant of one Meg McCaffrey, but his companion had more or less asked nicely, so Apollo persevered until his eyelids cracked open and he could make some sense of his surroundings.

The elegant ceiling was the first thing to catch his attention, simple but homely. It was also vaguely familiar, a feeling that increased as more of the cabin – because that was clearly what he was in – came into focus. Plain white walls, simple wooden bunk beds, and wide windows with heart-achingly familiar yellow flowers blooming along the sills.

“Curse of Delos,” he rasped, digging a clumsy elbow into the soft material beneath him until he could force his unwilling sack of mortal flesh into something resembling a sitting position, although perhaps a pathetic recline would be a more accurate description.

“Your flowers,” his companion agreed. “They’ve grown here for as long as I can remember.”

Finally, Apollo’s sight landed on the companion in question. A young man, tragically older than Lester’s body by a couple of years, with short, honey blond hair and eyes closer to green than blue was perched on the edge of the cot he had awoken in. His face was thin and drawn, a little too much to be strictly healthy, and there was dark shading around his eyes as though his eyelids had forgotten how not to have bags.

It was a sight that made Apollo’s already aching body ache a little bit more, because it was wrong. So much of it was wrong, more wrong than right, although he’d seen those eyes before, set into the face of a first chair violinist in the Portland Symphony Orchestra.

“Lee,” he said, the name escaping him in as a breath. His son – and the fact that his body was physically younger than that of his son’s was one of the things that was so, so, wrong – gave him a glimmer of a smile, tired and weary but a twitch of the corner of his mouth nonetheless.

“Hi, Dad,” he said. “It’s good to see you again.”

Apollo couldn’t help the scoff that wrestled its way out of his choked up throat, because how could anything be nice about his current situation. “Is it?” he asked despondently.

“Yes,” Lee said without hesitation. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s not great that you’re mortal now, but I’ll take that over not knowing.”

He didn’t specify what he didn’t what to not know, but even Apollo’s patchy mortal memory could put together enough of the pieces that he couldn’t really argue that point.

Or perhaps more importantly, that arguing that point would only drag Lee’s mental state down further, and his son didn’t need to suffer any more.

He pushed himself up further, internally grumbling at his reluctant body as it begrudgingly obeyed. Lee’s hand dropped from his forehead, but settled on his arm instead, a cool touch to Apollo’s forearm. His son had thick, soft wrist warmers on each wrist, the flicker of gold barely visible beneath the long sleeves of his hoodie. Had he always liked those? Apollo couldn’t remember.

Instead of letting on just how many holes his memory seemed to have, enough to make his mind a fully functional sieve, no doubt, he turned his thoughts elsewhere. “Where’s Meg?”

The smile that crept across Lee’s face was fond. “Making friends,” he said. “Connor’s going to need an eyepatch for a few days, and Sherman’s going to be walking with a limp for a while after that kick to the crotch.” He sounded amused.

Apollo couldn’t say he was surprised, given his brief but intense crash course in the consequences of spending time in the personal space of Meg McCaffrey, but he had to ask. “Making friends?”

Lee’s smile grew. “Michael was the same when he was her age,” he said. “And she’s Kayla’s age. Either those three are going to tear each other to pieces, or become a gremlin trio. They’ll be fine.”

He seemed wholly unconcerned at the prospect of Meg potentially tearing apart other demigods – or other demigods tearing Meg apart. Then again, the necklace around his neck was laden with beads, reminding Apollo that Lee was as close as an expert to camp dynamics as any demigod.

The cabin door crept open and quiet feet pattered across the floor, accelerating the closer they got to him until there was another blond young man in his eyeline, this one still a teenager, although still too close to Apollo’s mortal age for comfort. “You’re awake!” he said, his hands immediately reaching for Apollo’s head. “How are you feeling? I tried to heal you, but-”

“Take a breath, Will,” Lee interrupted him gently, the hand that wasn’t still resting on Apollo’s arm coming to wrap around his younger brother’s shoulders. “He can’t answer you if you’re still talking.” Will – his hair had the exact same curl around the ears that that Texan country singer had had, this was her son – obediently silenced, and Apollo found himself the recipient of twin expectant looks.

If he hadn’t already known the two of them were brothers, he would’ve realised then. Lee’s eyes were greener than Will’s pure blue, and of course he was about five years older, but the look was identical.

“I ache,” he admitted, his voice whining pathetically. “I have acne and flab.”

“Welcome to mortal teenagerhood,” Lee said wryly, as Will gaped. “Will, want to give him the rundown?”

“Swollen nose but not broken,” Apollo’s younger son – and Olympus he was not going to be getting used to this teenage son being a similar age to his body, let alone the son that looked to be more or less out of his teenager years and into full adulthood being obviously older – reported. “Your ribs were cracked but are healing well, and your vital signs are all good for a mortal.” His voice broke on the last word, and to Apollo’s alarm, his eyes started to dampen. “I gave you nectar,” he admitted, his voice shaking. “I didn’t know- your lips started smoking-”

Lee tugged him closer, rubbing his hand along Will’s arm. “We didn’t know,” he assured him quietly, but that didn’t stop Will’s lip from quivering. “It’s not your fault.”

Apollo distantly hoped that that explained his fire-and-brimstone-esque nightmare.

“I take it Meg didn’t think to tell you,” he said instead, and got a fond head shake from Lee.

“I think she was too busy screeching at us to remember to give medical critical information,” he said. “Connor and Sherman winding her up didn’t help.”

“She’s waiting outside,” Will added. “Along with everyone else.”

As if on cue, the door slammed open, the person responsible clearly not particularly caring that Apollo might have still been passed out. It was exactly the sort of behaviour Apollo thought Meg would be capable of, but while the height of the figure was about right, the black hair was too long, and there was a distinct lack of glinty rhinestone glasses.

They were also, unmistakably, another boy.

In his wake trailed several other figures, all taller but something told Apollo they were all younger, too. It might have been the impressive collection of beads around his neck, or – and Apollo was going to persuade himself it was the second option – his memory wasn’t so terrible that he didn’t recognise more of his children, even if some of the newcomers were also the same age or older than his Lester-body.

It took him longer than he liked to put names to faces, but at least they did come, before he had to face the awkwardness of admitting he’d forgotten any of his children. The two African-American boys, both in their early teens and blessedly younger than Apollo’s current state still, were Elias and Austin – Elias with the long locs, and Austin with the intricate cornrows – while the third boy, the one with a permanent limp and a strangely-dangling jacket sleeve, to say nothing of the trio of slashing scars across one side of his face, was Nathan. The older girl, liberally freckled with her hair dangling in brown bunches, was Joy, and he was pretty certain the youngest of the group with hair the colour of Greek fire was Kayla.

Then there was the oldest teenager at the head of the pack, striding forwards with all the confidence of someone that was going to get his answers, regardless of anyone else’s wishes – or Apollo’s injuries.

Michael came to a stop next to Will, flanking his younger brother and just about in arm’s reach of Lee if the young man chose to reach out any further, and Apollo found himself fixed with an unimpressed look.

“Where the fuck have you been?”

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