#92 chapter and they held hands

[bladegirldiedthencamebacktolife]

im scared of people who hate slow burns

[aettuddae]

business matter — chapter 92.

↳ synopsis: two of the most important kpop companies covet a partnership with a huge global brand, only to be surprised when the deal is extended to both labels. fearing potential sabotage and cynical strategies to secure exclusivity for just one of them, both CEOs resort to desperate measures. in a bid to maintain trust and prevent betrayal before the signing, they come up with a pact: forcing a fake relationship between the leaders of their star girlgroups. if one side attempted to fail the other, they threaten to expose it all to the conservative south korea.

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[written chapter]

[warning: suggestive]

"just come here."

serim put her phone away aggressively, frustrated at not being able to stop her body from getting up from the chair and heading toward the restroom area without giving further explanation, grabbing the attention of the other people at the table, who knew exactly where the girl was going.

they knew that serim would go wherever karina asked her to.

she opened the door to the ladies' bathroom, making room for herself to enter. there was no one there, it was not crowded, there was only a girl at the opposite end of the entrance, with her back against the wall and her phone in her hands. her attention was on the screen of the device, but as soon as she heard someone walk in, she moved her eyes upward without raising her head completely, long strands of dark hair falling in front of her face.

the girl straightened as she recognized serim, now also resting the back of her head against the cold concrete she leaned against. a confident, preponderance smile spread over her lips.

"i knew you would come." she spoke, breaking the static silence within those four walls.

"of course i came." serim closed the door behind her abruptly. "you're in my company's public restroom taking provocative pictures of yourself to send to me during a party." she took quick steps to approach her, scolding her.

"do you really expect me to believe that you came to give me a lecture and not to rip my dress off and fuck me in one of those?" she pointed to the cubicles, the vain expression still on her face.

"are you aware of what might happen if we were caught in the act?" she found herself elated at the contrarian's stillness. "or even if you were seen in this state?" she extended her arm to point at her, exposing the girl. "fix your dress." serim ordered after noticing that the bottom of the garment was raised and uneven, revealing her thigh almost to the edge, possibly a result of those images she was taking earlier.

"namu." she stopped her with a composed yet flirtatious tone. "i don't believe you don't want to touch me." she let out a soft laugh.

"you're drunk." the older one declared.

"i'm obsessed with you." she rebutted. "come on, don't you want to find out what it's like to have sex at the risk of being discovered?" she held out her arms, waiting for her, but serim remained silent, serious, still. "or do you...?" karina propelled herself away from the wall quickly, walking towards the woman impatiently, staggering slightly due to the alcohol in her system, her attitude changing from haughty to indignant after realizing what the lack of words hid. "so you've already fucked other girls in public spaces before, but you're playing morally correct with me?" she grabbed the fabric of jang's clothes to pull her closer and force her to look at her. "are you incapable of keeping yourself in your pants?"

"ironic that you would say that when your first reaction to getting drunk is to beg me to have sex with you in a bathroom." she reciprocated karina's tug on her garment, standing just inches away from each other. "my coworkers are out there." she reminded.

"and you and i are in here." she slid her tact to serim's waist, holding her from both sides.

"jimin." she let out in a sigh, her eyes closed, trying not to lose herself in the touch.

"namu." her tone was low, imploring, claiming.

serim was already used to not knowing how to refuse jimin, or maybe she didn't want to, but she didn't dare to assume it. every time she gave in to her, a warm feeling flooded her chest, which could be so many emotions, but she always related to guilt.

the same guilt you feel when you go back to your ex, when you buy something stupid even though you know you will spend the money you had to make ends meet on it, or when you postpone your obligations until the last possible moment because you don't feel like doing it at that time. it was the guilt that came hand in hand with pleasure and desire.

there are times when human beings submit to delight and don't know how to anticipate reason to it, and this was another one of those moments when serim couldn't hold her conscious decisiveness over the need to kiss jimin. trapping her mouth with her in a power play, wrapping her arms around her body and running her hands up and down her back as they engaged in a wet, messy make-out session. pushing her and walking with her until she was leaning against the nearest wall, so clumsily and restlessly that, in the state she was in, if jimin hadn't been holding tight onto serim's shoulders and the back of her neck, she would have lost her balance.

serim lifted from both sides the girl's pink dress, which was already a mess anyway, leaving room for nothing beyond the girl's underwear to make her uncomfortable as she placed her knee between the blackhaired's legs and with it pressed her center, causing jimin to break the kiss for a moment to let out a deep sigh in reaction to the new contact, reconnecting their lips in desperation as she moved as best she could her waist over serim's leg trying to generate friction.

"i'm tired of you always getting your way." complained jang, though her agitated, longing voice was countered by her statement, her upper lip delicately resting on jimin's lower one, her mouth free to speak, but still not entirely detached from the girl.

"this is literally what you wish for me to do." she mentioned, feeling the skin on her neck moisten as she received serim's kisses upon it.

"so you're only doing this for me?" she pulled away a little, just enough to be able to speak, her breath still colliding against the younger girl's neck. "wasn't it you who asked me to come?" she suddenly lifted her leg that was already pressed against karina, slipping it even deeper, shooting a wave of sensations through the girl's body at the stronger, more direct touch she had just felt, facing the ceiling and closing her eyes, this time it was an explicit moan that broke from her throat.

"i do want it." she admitted, finding it hard to speak as she tried to keep her breathing in sync. "thank you for fulfilling my whims." she smiled indulgently, holding serim's cheeks and moving her until she could kiss her lips again.

"i'd do anything for you." she confessed, though it wasn't something that wasn't already known between them. "even if it's stupid things like this." with her palms on her waist she began to direct her to rock her hips on her knee. "or go against my reason."

"do you like me that much? that you physically can't turn me down?" her eyelids were drooping, leaving her eyes barely open just to look at her, for the reality was that they were closing on their own to focus all her senses on how good she was feeling, her fingers trying to cling and keep the opposite as close to her as they could, her lips struggling to stay entwined and just letting go so they could talk to each other in that careful, soft, eager tone.

"is because i love you."

silence. but silence of the tense kind, not the comfortable kind.

karina's eyes suddenly opened wide and all her movements stopped, her hips ceased going back and forth on serim, her hands not seeking to trap her between them anymore, her lips abruptly parted from hers, as she brought her head so far back she could almost feel the coldness of the wall against the nape. she stood static as if she had just been told that someone had run over hiro or she had been kicked out of her group. her pale porcelain skin seemed to have lost even more pigmentation, not even the pinkish hue that had accumulated on her cheekbones due to the arousal she was experiencing moments before had remained on her cheeks, the sobriety hitting her as if she had never ingested alcohol in the first place.

noticing the blackhaired's reaction, serim decided she should take some distance, detaching herself from the woman and taking a few steps back, still an arm's length away, but letting her breathe. she didn't know why she had said that, it was true, but she couldn't find a reason why to confess it. possibly she had no more tools to make that situation better, to fix it, to make it stop hurting. in desperate times, desperate measures. seeing the look of dread on jimin's face, she realized that she had run out of resources to make either of them start acting coherently and maturely.

"jokey joke." the older one tried to diffuse the tension by speaking in a high-pitched, awkward tone, raising her fingers simulating two guns and pointing them at the girl like someone who tries to look cool after saying something stupid.

"do you love me?" she ignored her.

"well, that's what i said, i guess." paralleling the horror shown by the younger girl's behavior, serim couldn't help the urge born in her to turn any unfortunate event into a funny one.

"do you love me?"

"jimin, you know me, i have a lot of love to give." she continued with her attempt to redirect the conversation.

"serim, do you love me?" she repeated, still in shock.

"yes, i do." she admitted, frustrated after failing to calm the mood.

"are you in love with me?" emphasized on the words 'in love,' walked up to serim, completely disoriented, facing her.

"yes, jimin, i love you!" she exclaimed, tired of hearing her say the same thing over and over again.

the dancer couldn't wake up from the trance she was in, everything felt surreal. of all the possible outcomes she calculated when she asked serim to go there, none of them ended with the woman confessing that her feelings were much deeper than a simple infatuation. it was as if her brain couldn't adapt to how quickly everything had escalated, how much her life had really changed since the moment the company called her to tell her that she would have to pretend to be the girlfriend of this person.

karina is a beautiful and captivating being, but realistically, how many times in a someone's life do they get a love confession told in the face?

jimin didn't know what to do, how she was supposed to react, the only thing she was sure of was that there was no way serim was going back home that night with a sane heart.

"that doesn't make sense." she shook her head to both sides, her eyes on the ground.

"what?" the first hints of disappointment were beginning to make their presence known in serim's chest.

"you can't be in love with me, namu." she furrowed her brows seriously, pretending to sound reasonable. "we barely know each other."

"jimin." she let out a dry, indignant laugh. "you live in my house, i've seen you every day for months, you've been fooling around with me for days." she began to list despairingly. "are you trying to invalidate how i feel about you?"

"you're confused." she tried to convince her, her voice soft, and she lifted her arms to wrap them around the oldest's neck. "when you spend some time away from me it will pass." she leaned forward intending to initiate a kiss.

"jimin, are you fucking bipolar?" she pushed her away without using force, just enough to keep her from reaching up to touch her mouth. "are you seriously denying my confession by telling me i just have to pull away from you while you try to kiss me?" the levels of exasperation she was reaching at that moment she had never experienced before.

"i'm drunk and i need you." the ravenhead must have been really intoxicated because she seemed sure that was a good excuse.

"are you admitting that you are using me to please you?" serim was not a person who cried often, but everything that was going on with karina was beyond her and tears began to form in her eyes.

"no, serim." she was so calm considering she had a person on the verge of crying in front of her. "i need you." she connected their eyes. "i really do, i treasure you." she admitted. "when i see you i can't resist the urge to touch you and kiss you." she cupped her face in her hands, caressing her cheeks. "when i lose control the first thing i look for is you." she took a breath trying to stay focused, feeling her throat beginning to ache, that she too was going to burst into tears. "but even for me it's going to happen too, it's going to pass."

"but, why would it have to pass?" she implored in anguish.

"because it has to." she sentenced coldly. "because you and i can't be together and that's the only certainty."

"no." she declined, not willing to listen to the same old speech. "the only certain thing is that we are not able to stay away from each other." she performed.

"namu." she tried to stop her words.

"jimin, do you love me?" she interrupted her, not wanting to look vulnerable, but with hope in her voice and eyes.

and karina kept silent. her pupils began to wander on serim, getting lost in her features. the older girl's skin was soft, delicate, a result of the care her work as an idol demanded of her, which she knew was even more exhaustive with serim whose diet consisted merely of cigarettes and very poorly organized meals at peculiar times of the day.

after remembering her bad habits she could not suppress the onset of the domestic fantasy of cooking for her and reminding her to eat at the required times, of being the person to give her a judging look and a reprimand when she lit one more cigarette than she was allowed, just as she couldn't help the nostalgia of not being that one, as if she had the chance and it had slipped through her fingers.

her eyes were small, but intense. whenever serim looked at her she felt exposed, observed. karina knew the oldest was like a big toddler in need of affection, but when she had no idea of that and saw her as just her senior in the industry, she thought of the heavy presence she had, distracted by how she drew the eyes of everyone in any room she entered with that star-like aura. serim's eyes were the eyes of someone who could command people's attention. and now that hazel color she liked to lose herself in was accompanied by the red of the sadness she herself had generated.

and those full, pompous lips, which at that moment were glistening from the remains of jimin's own saliva on them. of course serim was appealing to so many women, who wouldn't want to kiss those lips? even she had found a fascination in them, since the first time she had tasted them she had struggled to find anything else that would quench the desire to do it again.

karina could only look at her, part by part, as if trying to get to see her bones as well, and maybe even that would have seemed like a wonder to her. feeling her heart pounding in her chest at such a speed that it seemed like the seconds before it stopped completely, like when a light bulb explodes before going out forever. looking at serim she knew what she felt, she was aware, but she also realized that she couldn't let herself feel it.

"serim, i..." she began, the sensation of knowing you're letting someone down gripping her chest. "i have feelings for you." she explained, searching for the words, watching serim roll her eyes and begin to create distance as she heard what seemed to be more excuses. "but they're just sporadic things that will end eventually."

"sporadic things that will end eventually." she paraphrased, anger in the way she quoted her. "what a complicated way to say you don't love me." she turned on her heels, heading for the door.

"namu..."

"don't call me that." she stopped her, with her back to her. "and go back to the party after you fix your clothes." she left.

"there you go."

serim bent her knees to be closer to the height of karina's bed, standing sideways to it and close enough for the owner to slide off her back and land gently on the mattress.

because yes, jimin had broken serim's heart -again-, but still the older girl had to carry her on her back to her bedroom and up to her room since she could hardly stand up because of how drunk she was.

the ravenette, in her state bordering on unconsciousness, could still feel when her body made contact with the comfort of a bed and moved in search of the pillow to rest her head on, closing her eyes almost instantly when she found it. serim, as much as she felt a deep rage towards her at that moment, couldn't just throw her there and leave. she began to inspect the room for some sort of pajamas, but the only piece of clothing she could find was a t-shirt she recognized as her own on a stool where other things were also carelessly lying around, and she even remembered the time when jimin had asked her for it.

she took the garment and hung it on her shoulder and then approached the bed, put one knee on the edge to support the weight of her body as she leaned over the girl, slid one hand between her back and the blanket and pushed her up while she lifted her up pulling from the arm with the other, helping her to sit up and trying not to let go so she wouldn't fall again. she ran her fingers through her back to the side of her torso to find the zipper of the dress to pull it down with difficulty and once the fabric that wrapped around the younger's body was looser making it easier to slide it off, serim set about removing it, sliding down the straps that fastened it to her shoulders and then tugging it down.

"no." suddenly jimin regained lucidity, stopping serim's hands with her own.

"no?" the vocalist looked at yu in amusement as she swayed in place and stared lost to a point in the room, as if trying to make everything stop spinning. "are you going to sleep with the dress on?"

karina didn't move, at least not voluntarily, as she couldn't keep her body balance, she was only still upright because the woman was still holding her. "serim." she was able to articulate after a few long moments of silence.

"what happens?"

"serim." she repeated, trying to get an idea out, but finding it difficult because of the alcohol.

"what?"

"only serim can touch me." she finally mustered the strength to finish the sentence and turn her head, still looking down, but this time in the direction of the opposite, using the contact with her to push her, though it was pointless as she was so intoxicated she could barely generate any impact. "sorry, but this can't happen." her words were barely understandable as she had no ability to modulate and her lips formed a small pout.

"i swear you're bipolar." she shook her head, confused by the girl's statement, but being unable to contain a giggle because of the way she spoke.

"that's something serim would tell me."

"jimin, i am serim." she reminded when she noticed that she really wasn't able to recognize her.

the blackhaired raised her head with intentions of deciphering the identity of the other person, her eyes squinted in order to focus on her because, first, she had bad eyesight by nature, and, second, her state was making her see things double and blurry. after a few seconds she finally recognized those brown eyes that were looking at her incredulously and almost by instinct her senses were activated.

"my namu."

the woman squealed in such a high pitch and raising the volume of her voice to such an extent that the door opened behind them and serim turned quickly to see who had entered, already thinking of what explanation she would give in case one of the other members had woken up and found her late at night with a completely out of it and half undressed karina, but turning around she saw that it was only hiro who had been alerted by his owner. the puppy climbed up to the bed next to them and sat down, following very attentively the movements of both women while the younger one rushed over jang, running her hands through her hair, her cheeks, her neck, shoulders and any part that she could hold on to because her only intention was to give her comforting caresses while she started to spout explanations, without taking a breath, about the situation they were living. the same arguments and apologies about why they couldn't be together that serim had already heard a thousand times, so she decided to put all her effort into not listening to her.

serim, determined to change her clothes, lay her down and put her to sleep so she could go home and pretend that all that night hadn't happened, grabbed the top edge of her dress, pulled the fabric down until she finally managed to detach the rag from the young girl and, without karina having shut up for a single second, managed to put the shirt on her so she would be more comfortable to rest. she held her in her arms while guiding her back to lie down.

"namu, i do want you, and i'm sorry."

it was the tenth time she had said that same sentence within perhaps five minutes. her eyes were closed, but the words kept falling from her lips in a frenzy, intending to appease the seriousness and the pain serim was sure feeling.

jimin felt guilt too, only this was the guilt that comes by hand with a mistake, from the certainty that you are causing harm.

jang let go of the girl's body, removing her hold on her back, but karina sensed this and instinctively caught one of serim's hands with her own, to pull it to her mouth and begin kissing the woman's fingertips in the short, fleeting moments when she stopped justifying herself. the subtle and sensitive display of affection, the pout that still lingered on her face, her shirt decorating her figure and the eagerness she had to show her that, although she could not give in to her emotions, she did care for her, endeared serim, who, as annoyed as she was, and as much as she didn't want to hear any more about it, found herself absorbed in the dancer's gestures and demeanor. they were both so engrossed in each other's presence, for better or worse, that neither noticed that since he came in, hiro had been cautiously stepping towards them, until he was at the perfect distance to reach out his neck and bite down hard on serim's limb that was being worshipped by karina.

serim reacted to the feel of the animal's teeth digging into her skin and jerked her arm to pull her hand away from the dog's muzzle, standing up suddenly to make sure it was out of her reach in case he wanted to attack again.

"baby!" jimin exclaimed to serim after witnessing everything, making an effort to maintain clarity in case she had to help her, lifting herself up a bit and watching her with concern, grabbing hiro to hold him along with her so he wouldn't go towards the woman again.

"i'm fine." reassured jang as she looked at her skin for wounds, but it had only been a bite, hard, but nothing more than that.

but as she inspected herself she realized that hiro had targeted the same hand that he had the previous time, that time where it was her who had gotten drunk into a blackout and where she had to wear bandages for a few days. she still had the scar and maybe it would never go away. the whole scenario was so similar to what had been described to her. she turned her gaze to the pet, who was comfortably resting next to his master as if nothing had happened, on the bed.

hiro. bed. jimin. alcohol. bite.

it wasn't easy to explain how quickly the erased images of that night were being restored in her brain. it was as if someone was shouting it in her face. all very sudden.

how long had jimin been repressing her feelings?

"you really wanted me to believe that your dog attacked me because i touched his food." she pointed her finger accusingly at the woman, who was already falling asleep before serim spoke.

"what?" the girl was in no condition to deal with this at the moment.

"why did you hide from me that we kissed?" she asked indignantly.

"i do want to kiss you, yes, please." she only understood single words, her body was begging her to go to sleep already.

"that time we went to an event and you brought me drunk here, that hiro bit me and you had to heal me." she recapped patiently, trying to get the younger to assimilate each part. "why didn't you tell me that we kissed that night?"

"but..." she tried to keep her sense. "i did tell you." technically she wasn't lying.

"you told me it was a company order." she refuted.

"i had to manipulate the information for my own benefit." she said in a single, quick breath.

"you kissed me because you wanted to." realized.

"can we kiss?" jimin stretched her lips into a beak, waiting.

"how long have you wanted me?" she questioned, an empty feeling in her chest.

"well," she pulled herself slightly upright on the blanket, doing her best to remain coherent. "ning says that since the first recording of azza time." she admitted awkwardly as she spoke. "but the truth is, i think it was since that night."

"ning says?" she repeated, eyes lost, everything was getting more and more ridiculous.

"yizhuo knows how much i like you, obviously." she reasoned. "but she likes you too, what can i do about it? i'm her unnie, she's my world." she let herself drop again. "and to think that everything would have been easier if only i had admitted everything you made me feel that night."

serim couldn't find anything else to say. her breathing was labored to the point where her chest was noticeably rising and falling, and her eyes were once again crystallizing. she had avoided crying before, but she didn't think she could hold it back now. not that jimin was going to notice, the girl was getting lost in her dreams again and this time she wasn't going to do anything to wake her up, there was no point anymore, she had to let her sleep and get out of there. get out of there and finally stop running after someone who had so little perception of her emotions, someone who was saying in very clear terms that she wouldn't fight for her, and who, in fact, had months to do so, but never even tried.

as she faced the desk against one of the walls, she saw the plant that she had given to her some time ago, franky, decorating the table. she thought it was in ningning's possession, so it was unsettling to see it there. it was cared for, indeed, it looked like it had been watered recently, it looked pretty. that only caused the tears to come more easily. she spun on her heels, walked over to karina, leaned over her already sleeping body and placed a kiss on her forehead, keeping careful that hiro didn't get angry.

perhaps everything serim had to contribute to karina's life was already in that room, and there was nothing more for her to give.

serim left, closing the door carefully so as not to make any noise, she turned towards the hallway to walk through it towards the living room, but when she did, she found ningning watching her from the entrance of her room, aspect as if she had just woken up.

"ning." she spoke as she noticed the girl's presence. "please don't think anything strange, karina is very drunk, i just helped her get to bed" she informed nervously.

"semmie." the worried voice of the maknae was heard from the other side. "it's okay, don't worry, i know you weren't doing anything." even in the darkness, serim could make out that she was walking towards her. "are you crying?" she questioned, as she had noticed the trembling as she spoke.

serim wanted to rationalize herself, to help her understand what was going on, she wanted to talk to yizhuo, but it wouldn't come out of her. she was exhausted, mentally she no longer had the will to keep pretending to endure what she was going through with jimin or to keep trying to make the people around her think everything was normal. in the end, she properly burst into tears, not being able to beat the tears with glibness. ningning rushed over to wrap her arms around her and hold her as the older one broke down on her shoulder.

(!)

— taglist [CLOSED]: @yoontoonwhs @cwpiqwon @aliceiwk @xen248 @gtfoiydlyj @rinapomu @aeriuchinarga @multiliker @somedaydream @impossiblesharkcashrebel @yjiminswallet @nwjnsloona @yerimbrit @73vyn @dni-unavailable @yizhuobberi @sewiouslyz @yeetaberry127 @masuowo @yallatalla @aerithykly @chaenniefirst @minfolio @starrynini05 @hotluvlet @wmnrhot @mineige @lisaswifey @brocoliisscared @fae-the-wanderer

[winters8child]

It´s been a long, long time

Chapter 92

Panicked voices swirled around me—talking to me, at me, about me. Anger, fear, worry, and the faintest hint of relief laced their words as I sat there, the rough blanket they threw over me scratching at my skin. "She's cold," they muttered, as if warmth could somehow fix me. But nothing in this world will ever make me feel better again, not with the gaping hole where my child was supposed to be.

I should be cradling my baby, not tending to the wounds they left on me. I sob and scream, hands holding me down, voices spilling hollow words that mean nothing. The engines hum in the background, each second taking me further from the only place where I still had my baby. I want to go back—back to that cage, back to sleep, to find dreams where I can still be a mother.

"Call me if you need anything." She leaves after a gentle touch on my shoulder and a tight hug, the sound of the door closing behind her.

"Sweetheart," he calls, his voice broken, yet somehow still steady. He can speak, but I can’t. I try to move my lips, to find words, but nothing comes—only silent sobs as I curl into myself, hugging my knees.

Eventually, I drift into sleep, into dreams of being a mother. But even there, there is no solace. Grief twists my dreams into nightmares—ugly claws snatching my baby away, and I wake, empty, in a bed that feels far too cold.

I glance around the room—it feels unfamiliar, small, and run-down. "Steve?" I call out, my voice raspy, like I haven’t spoken or had water in days.

"You’re awake!" He rises quickly from the chair at the foot of the bed. Sitting beside me, he looks me over before handing me a glass of water, which I gulp down in an instant.

"Where are we?" I frown, feeling an overwhelming exhaustion despite just waking up.

"In a motel... somewhere in Alaska," he says, his voice heavy. His eyes are puffy and red, worn down by something deeper than just lack of sleep.

I stared out the window into the darkness, letting the silence settle around me.

"How are you feeling?" he asked. I scoffed. It felt absurd, asking that amid everything.

He reached for my hand, gently caressing it, but I pulled away. I didn’t want to be touched, didn’t want to be seen. I just wanted to disappear, to rot away.

"I know you’ve been through horrible things, but..." he began. I turned sharply to face him. "But what? At least I’m alive? Is that what you were going to say?" My voice rose, fueled by anger. Good, I thought. Anger was better than the numbness.

He flinched at my words. "I know you’re hurting," he said, his voice trembling. "And if you need to lash out, I’ll take it. But... I lost my child too..." His voice cracked, tears welling in his eyes.

I didn’t want to consider his feelings—how dare he compare his pain to mine, I thought bitterly. The urge to scream, to unleash something we might never recover from, boiled inside me. But I held back because deep down, I knew I couldn’t survive this without him.

"Where’s Nat?" I asked instead, steering away from the anger threatening to spill over. I hadn’t seen her in so long, and the ache of missing her gnawed at me.

He wiped his tears and cleared his throat, trying to steady himself. "She had to leave again. She said she’s trying to find them, but it’s complicated. We’re still on the run... She’s reaching out to her sources, but it might take time."

"So what are we going to do? Hide from the government and let that madman get away with this?" I snapped, the heat rising in my voice again.

"The minute we show ourselves, they’ll arrest us," he said, his eyebrows raised in frustration. "We have to be careful." His tone was firm, but I could see it—he hated this as much as I did.

My heart raced at the thought of my child in that man’s hands. What was he doing to my baby? I couldn’t breathe—grief wrapped around my throat, choking me as I clutched the sheets, trying to hold on to something, anything.

"So I’m just supposed to wait it out? I feel like I’m dying!" I yelled, my voice cracking under the weight of it all. "Do you understand?"

"I do!" he shouted back, his voice rising with mine. But his words only fueled my anger. Without thinking, I grabbed the empty glass from the nightstand and hurled it at the wall, the sound of shattering glass punctuating my scream. "No, you don’t!"

Despite the anger I hurled at him, he looked at me with nothing but love in his eyes. He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into a tight embrace, even as I struggled against him, tears burning in my eyes.

"I do," he whispered softly into my ear. And with those words, I crumbled. The fight left my body, and I slumped into his arms, letting the overwhelming grief wash over me.

I spent days, maybe even weeks, lying in bed, only getting up when we had to switch motels. We kept moving, never staying in one place too long. It made little difference to me; the beds were equally uncomfortable, and I barely slept. Steve and Sam brought me food, enough to keep me from starving, but little more.

In my dreams, I was haunted by the cries of a baby. I would run endlessly, only to wake up screaming, drenched in sweat. Steve, too, was restless. He tossed and turned beside me, his own sleep disrupted. Over time, the anger I initially felt toward him slowly faded. He was the only anchor keeping me from losing myself entirely. There was no hope left, but the thought of the Doctor paying for his crimes was the one thing that kept me going.

Natasha joined us at some point, though I had lost all sense of time. According to Steve, we had been on the run for nearly two years. Natasha brought no news on his whereabouts—only a file labeled "Asset 3.0," detailing their twisted version of a super soldier.

The file contained information about me and Steve, but it was the final sheet that made my heart stop. It read: "Subject was extracted from the female on the 12th of March. The boy is healthy and strong, just as expected."

A boy. I had a son. They were going to use him for their sick and twisted plans, and I had no way of finding him. The realization hit me with crushing force, leaving me paralyzed by a sense of helplessness. My son was out there, caught in their perverse scheme, and I was powerless to reach him.

I sat there, gripping the edge of my seat, when Steve’s phone rang, jolting me out of my daze. He stepped away to take the call, returning with an even grimmer expression.

Natasha raised her eyebrows, her gaze sharp. "What’s going on?"

Steve crossed his arms, his face a mask of concern. "That was Bruce. Something’s happening in New York. They need us."

My heart skipped a beat. Bruce had vanished years ago, disappearing with the Quinjet after Sokovia.

"Bruce? They need us for what?" Natasha’s voice trembled slightly, her nervousness barely hidden.

Steve glanced between us, his tone firm yet laced with worry. "They need our help against Thanos."

Next Chapter

[admirableadmiranda]

I haven't read the extra, but I saw the panel for the incense burner manhua. How am I going to sleep at night when I know that lan zhan and wei ying holds each other in their arms while they sleep😭😭❤️❤️

Oh anon, you think that them holding each other in their arms while they sleep is wonderful? Well lemme share some other really sweet things with Wangxian and sleep that are all hidden in the book and the extras.

All of these quotes are from Exiled Rebels Translation. Cut for length and cuteness.

Chapter 92: Longing, Part 3

He lay on his arm and stared at the ceiling for some time, turning around for his back to face Lan WangJi. Even after a while, he was still wide-eyed, unable to fall asleep. He couldn’t help but become irritated.

Back when he was playing the madman, he said something like he could only sleep when he was beside Lan WangJi. Of course, all of that was nonsense. But ever since however long ago, the nonsense seemed to have become a reality. Wei WuXian thought, What should I do now? Don’t tell me from now on I really won’t be able to sleep in a bed that doesn’t have Lan Zhan in it?

After a long struggle, Wei WuXian finally managed to clamp his eyes shut.

This is a very sneaky reveal that Wangxian have actually been sharing a bed for a while, before they got together. We don’t know exactly how long, but it’s long enough that when Wei Wuxian does try to sleep on his own, he can’t! Which can take a little while to get that comfortable with having someone next to you. Wei Wuxian can’t sleep anymore without Lan Zhan there to make him feel safe and warm.

(Yes, he does later manage to fall asleep by himself, but it is much harder when you’re used to someone sleeping at your side)

Chapter 114: Banquet, Part 2

These days, Wei WuXian adopted a strange habit. He liked to sleep on top of Lan WangJi’s body, no matter lying on him or clinging to his chest face-to-face. Anyhow, without this human pillow, he wasn’t able to sleep. Shamelessly, he turned the jingshi upside-down, and did indeed manage to dig out some things.

Wei Wuxian now has a favorite pillow and mattress! And is very adamant that he can’t sleep without it, so instead he’s going to dig around in his husband’s stuff.

In the few months he and Wei WuXian begun living together, he’d tried to set Wei WuXian’s sleeping habits right, but it was always in vain. After a disciple brought over the warm water used for bathing, Lan WangJi, who’d long since dressed himself, peeled the stark-naked Wei WuXian out of the thin blanket and carried him into the wooden tub. Somehow, Wei WuXian could continue to sleep even as he was steeped in water. Lan WangJi pushed him gently, and he’d catch Lan WangJi’s hand, kissing it both on its palm and its back, rubbing it on his cheek before he went back to sleep. When the pushing really began to annoy him, he’d whine a couple of times and pull Lan WangJi down, eyes still shut, cupping Lan WangJi’s face as he kissed a few more times, murmuring, “Good boy, stop messing with me. Pretty please? I’ll get up in just a bit. Yeah.”

And with a yawn, he’d fall back asleep, clinging to the edge of the tub.

Although he knew, even if the room burned down, Wei WuXian would probably find some other place and sleep, Lan WangJi still persevered in waking him up starting at five, then endure dozens of pecks expressionlessly.

He brought breakfast to the Jingshi and laid it on the desk that in the past only held ink, paper, and brush, then fished the dead-asleep Wei WuXian out of the tub to wipe him clean, dress him, and tie his sashes. Only then did Lan WangJi finally take a book from the shelves and flip open to the page with the dried flower bookmark, sitting by the desk and slowly beginning to read.

As expected, at almost eleven, Wei WuXian jerked up from the bed with extreme punctuality before feeling his way down the bed almost as though he was sleep-walking. He first felt Lan WangJi, hauling him into his arms for a few rubs, then squeezed his thigh out of habit.

Look at this cuteness! Lan Wangji still wakes up at five, but now his morning routine is letting his husband sleep as late as he wants while he takes care of him so that when Wei Wuxian does wake up, he’s ready for the day. He “endures dozens of pecks expressionlessly”, but can you tell me that Lan Wangji doesn’t absolutely love that part of his day? And then Wei Wuxian has to wake up by fondling and cuddling his husband till he’s ready to open his eyes and be ready for the day. And this is their daily morning. They do this every day! So precious!

Chapter 119: Incense Burner 2

(you’ve seen how they cuddle when they’re sleeping, but here’s some more lovely stuff!)

Wei WuXian, “You’ll know if it’s nonsense or not if you keep listening for just a bit longer. When you sleep, you like to hug me tightly, and you have to be hugging me or else you won’t be able to sleep;

“Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha…” Wei WuXian laughed himself awake from the dream.

He laughed so hard he almost rolled off the bed. Fortunately, Lan WangJi’s arms were always wrapped around his waist. Along with the laughter, his entire body trembled the moment he woke up, making Lan WangJi wake up from his sleep as well. The two sat up together.

Wei Wuxian is teasing the young dream form of his husband, but we immediately get confirmation that he’s likely teasing him with the truth because Lan Wangji is holding him so tightly he can’t get away and Wei Wuxian’s laughter wakes him up! They sleep so close together!

Later when they wake up after the wild dreams they share in the incense burner, we get this when they’re getting ready to go back to bed.

Lan WangJi pulled him back onto the bed, “I will not.”

Having acquired his promise, Wei WuXian was relieved, “HanGuang-Jun, mark your words.”

Lan WangJi, “Mn.”

With three nights of toil, he felt the fatigue slowly rise. Wei WuXian couldn’t keep going either. He snuggled into Lan WangJi’s arms again and mumbled, “Nobody had ever treated me like this…”

Lan WangJi stroked his hair and landed a kiss on his forehead. Shaking his head, he smiled.

Getting ready for bed means getting snuggled and held close. It’s adorable.

Taiwanese Extra: From Dawn to Dusk

This one is all about Wangxian just having a lovely night together, first having wild sex, then grading the junior’s homework. But then later in the night, we have more sleepy cuteness!

After Lan WangJi took a quick bath and got in bed as well, hugging Wei WuXian in his arms, Wei WuXian continued to be awake for a short while, hazily whispering by his collarbone, “The kids in your sect are quite good at writing essays. They’re just missing that tiny bit when it comes to night-hunting.”

Wei WuXian, “… I told you to stop talking… Even if you say just one word, I won’t be able to hold myself from responding… Okay, Lan Zhan, let’s sleep. I… can’t anymore… I really have to sleep… See you tomorrow, Lan Zhan…”

He kissed Lan Zhan’s neck, and indeed soon fell heavily asleep.

It was all darkness and silence amidst the Jingshi.

A moment later, Lan WangJi planted a gentle kiss in the center of Wei WuXian’s forehead.

He whispered, “Wei Ying, see you tomorrow.”

No goodnights; no goodbyes. Just see you tomorrow. And also more of Wei Wuxian using his favorite pillow, since all of his dialogue is muffled cause he’s talking into Lan Wangji’s chest.

Chapter 120: Intrusion, Part 1

We have a family outing with Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji and Lan Sizhui! And of course that means more sleepy fun with Wangxian!

Wei WuXian slept all the way until the sun was high up in the end. Only after much hugging and caressing from Lan WangJi did he finally manage to crawl up. As he proceeded through his morning routine with closed eyes, he even put on Lan WangJi’s inner-wear by accident. A few inches of white sleeves extended from below his outer robe, rolled up many times. It was quite unbefitting, really.

Not only does Wei Wuxian get to sleep in as late as he wants, but he gets hugs and caresses to wake up. Also we have the husbands sharing clothes, which is cute.

These are all the moments I can find of them specifically sleeping (and I did leave out the parts with them sharing a bed in Refinement, Allure and Dew just because I wanted these cute moments later in their relationship), but I think it should show that whether one of them is awake or not, Wangxian sharing a bed is just a treat!

[bratshaws]

through the hourglass 116. brb x oc

a/n: so good news is im seeing some changes in the app version of tumblr. PC is back to normal??? Anyway, hope it stays that way...also I know I said smut for this chapter but my mind went somewhere else entirely uwu. Reblogs and comments are so welcome! Thanks for liking my fic!

pairing: plus size!oc x rooster

warnings: none.

goodness gracious (pls read this one to know more what this fic is about!!)

chapter

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50/51/52/53/54/55/56/57/58/59/60/61/62/63/64/65/66/67/68/69/70/71/72/73/74/75/76/77/78/79/80/81/82/83/84/85/86/87/88

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-

“Bah bah bah!” Nicole was still bouncing a bit on Beatrice’s arms as they get inside the house, sleep nowhere in sight, “Bah bah bah!” followed by the monkey twinkling as she shakes it, vigorously, so much that the dogs turn to look up at her curiously.

Beatrice smiles before kissing their daughter’s head, the little girl still moving and wriggling, “My God, did your nonni give you sugar or something? You are so wriggly tonight!” she hears the sound of the doors being locked followed by Rooster’s grunt as he places Marcus’ gifts by the staircase. She wanted to help, she even voiced that she could but Rooster was relentless in saying that she should just keep those ‘soft hands of hers’ holding up Nicole.

His footsteps soon entered the kitchen, the sound of fabric ruffling followed and another heavy sigh left his lips. She turns around just in time to see him rolling up the sleeves to his elbows and unbuttoning the shirt even more to reveal his defined chest for her eyes to see…but she held back the commentary when she noticed his face, “You okay?”

“I’m fine.” he rolls his neck, a ‘crack! crack!’ echoing in the kitchen as he does so, “I should’ve just done that tomorrow.”

“I told you I could help.”

“Listen,supermodel.” he smirks when she blushes, “You can’t be busy picking your gifts, that’s my job.It’s in the ‘Bradley Nicholas Bradshaw’ contract.”

“Wha-since when?? I don’t remember signing that up anywhere.”

Rooster just laughs, dropping his head for a few seconds then lifting it back up as he approaches his girls, hugging Beatrice from behind to kiss the back of her neck, ‘Ah,gorgeous, you don’t have to sign that. It comes with the whole package.”

Beatrice giggles in front of him, which makes Nicole laugh as well, turning her body to look at her father with her chubby cheeks appearing even fuller because of that adorable grin, “How about you,Nikki? You aren’t sleepy?” Nicole just touched his chin, tapping the skin there then gently petting his mustache, all the while with her eyes wide and mouth parted open with pure amazement.

“I think she’s just excited to see us again,” Bea smiles, kissing Nicole’s cheek, “She’s so happy, aren’t you, honey?” more monkey shaking, more noises and more bouncing from Nicole, “God, she’s getting so big.”

“Wel she is six months old,gorgeous.”

“I know but…” Bea tsks, “She can stay a baby a while longer, you know? I know I wouldn’t mind it at all…would you?”

“Nah,I wouldn’t.” 

Ah, the fear that every parent had to go through: their children growing up and getting bigger in a blink of an eye.

Both of them could finally understand that.

Nicole kept on babbling, this time her focus was on her mother’s necklace and braid, well,mainly on Beatrice’s braid. Her pupils enlarged so much Bea was worried they might pop out of her eyes, but Nicole was so enraptured by the hairstyle, it was absolutely precious.

Probably because she had never seen her hair like that before, Beatrice usually let it loose or in a bun or even in a ponytail and it was so strange for a six months old baby that she had to touch it…several times, maybe even nom it-

“Okay, okay, not going to eat mommy’s hair.” It was Rooster who stops it, gently pulling the strands of hair from Nicole’s mouth and picking her up from Beatrice’s arms, kissing her cheeks when she whined in disagreement, “Well, missy, you can’t do anything you want, especially eat hair…and while mommy’s hair smells delicious, it’s not edible.” and he pokes her little tummy, just enough to make her giggle and hug his neck, “She’s not sleepy at all.”

“She’s not.”

“Well…that complicates things.”

Beatrice arched her brow and tilted her head towards her husband, smirking at him with her arms crossing, “Oh?”

“Yeah…there were things I had planned but…I can pause them because of my baby girl.” he smiles, lifting Nicole over his head and letting out an ‘ah!’ to match hers, bringing her down to kiss her cheeks, “I can wait.”

“You should,because she still needs to take a bath. And so am I.” Beatrice says, running her hands through her bangs, “Maybe the bath will make her sleepy, you know she loves water, it can tire her out.”

“i guess.” Rooster replies, gently holding that minuscule hand to bring it to his lips, kissing the small fingers and then the tip of her button nose, “I mean, but I wouldn’t mind if she stayed up a little while longer…we can watch more cartoons.” 

“Ah!”

“See? She agrees.”

Nicole had him in her little palm and Beatrice loved it. Because whatever Rooster had in mind, clearly it was the same thing he had when he looked at her during the party, was long gone and spending time with Nicole was much better. “Well, let’s wash her up first, then see how she gets.’ Beatrice says as she gets closer,kissing his jawline, “How does that sound?”

“Sounds good, doesn’t it,Nikki?” and he bounces her in his arm, her happy giggle echoing around the room, “Do you want to set it up?”

“Yeah, I don’t mind.” because she just wanted to see the two of them having fun together. Beatrice kisses him one final time before she walks up the stairs to their bedroom, inhaling happily as she recalls everything that happened that night.

It was a great night.

And her anxiety sickness was nowhere in sight, maybe it was good she didn’t feel like drinking alcohol, it’d only make her feel worse.

Now all they had to do was celebrate Christmas and then go to Virginia before the New Year! Simple!

She really wanted Brad to have another good time while in the holidays, she knew how much he liked it and now with Nicole he’d want her to enjoy the celebrations just as much! Beatrice bites her lower lip, running her thumb over her wedding band as she thinks about his Christmas gift…it was a bit of a callback, she had to admit, but now that she was getting back to Tiff’s class, she figured why not?

Plus, it’d certainly make him feel…energized before their trip.

Beatrice shakes her head with a smile, “But that can wait.” she whispers, “I need to set everything for Nikki.” she disappears into their daughter’s nursery to get one of her onesies, only for a sudden growl coming from her stomach interrupt her, “Wait…did I eat?” she blinks trying to recall if she snacked on something or just had drinks during the night, too excited to eat?

She was too excited to eat because she remembers eating something small and then ntohing else.

And she was starving. Another thing in the way of Rooster’s plan.

She pursed her lips into a little pout, holding the onesie to her chest and turning around just in time to see Rooster watching her from the door, “Hi gorgeous.” he smirks, “Got her outfit?”

“I did.” she pauses, “Roos I don’t think I had dinner.”

“...what?”

“I-I think I was too excited to eat.”

Rooster’s smile turns into a worried frown, “Gorgeous…you can’t do that. Come on,supermodel, you have to eat.”

Beatrice’s cheeks flushed just a bit, “I know…I-I was just really overwhelmed…can we order something after? I-If that’s okay?”

“Of course it is,why wouldn’t it be?” he asks, kissing her forehead when he gets closer, “Baby…I can wait, believe me,I can control myself…when I have to.” she laughs against him, letting him kiss her head again “After Nikki’s bath we are going to order something and you’ll eat.”

“I’m sorry…”

“It was a crazy night, I know.” he smiles, “But don’t do that, pretty girl, worries me so much…okay?”

“Okay.”

–

They genuinely thought that Nicole was going to be sleepy after the bath, she usually did, but something tonight only made the little baby even more active. So now they were all in the living room, sitting on the couch, Nicole was being held against Rooster’s chest and the two of them ate pizza.

And watched cartoons.

At midnight.

He couldn’t wish for anything better, especially since the dogs were lying around the couch, watching the tv just like they were, Eleanor sometimes sniffed the pizza but Jolene ‘boofed’ in warning so the pup lied back down. Rooster looks down at Nicole, just in time to see her looking right at the cheesy slice of pizza, mimicking the way he ate by opening and closing her mouth, “Sorry,birdie. But you can’t eat this yet, you got no teeth.”

“Ah!” she sounded upset!

“Hey,come on now,” he raises the slice higher when she tries to reach it, “No, mama already gave you food.I know it’s not what you wanted but it is what you can have for now.” she made another indignant sound, “I know,I hate it too.”

Beatrice watched the interaction with one hand holding her head up, her cheeks curving into a smile as Rooster talked to Nicole as if she was ten years old, no baby talking at all. It was the cutest thing ever, “You know,” she begins, “I think this is a great way to end the night.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, us, together, watching tv and having pizza? It’s amazing.”

Rooster swallows his bite to give Beatrice another grin, “Well…yeah it is pretty good. Core memories for Nikki,” he lifts his slice again when he sees Nikki’s hand moving upwards, “And for us.”

“Yeah…” her stomach was still fussy but she was eating slowly, she knew it could be nausea from something but she couldn’t pinpoint what. Maybe the whole excitement,maybe that was too much for her to handle and her stomach was taking the toll of it, “I like it…and thanks for joining me too.I know it’s late…”

“I never say no to pizza,” again his hand gets even higher and Nicole’s high ‘aah!’ reaches his ears, “And spending time with my family.”

Beatrice’s smile is nearing hurtful by how stretched her lips are, even if she’s still chewing her own slice. She sighs softly, looking back at the tv with her brows low, feeling another hint of nausea coming up in her stomach but she tried to hold it back as best as she could, lying down just a bit more on the couch.

She felt Nicole’s little hands tapping her bare calf, then her daughter crawled over to her stomach, “Nikki!” she did this without any of them noticing and that little girl had such a good balance she didn’t even rolled to the side, “Baby girl, don’t do that, I know you are strong but-”

“Ah!” she slaps her hand on her mother’s chest a few times before dropping her head on top, huffing angrily.

Beatrice looks over at Rooster, who’s still chewing his pizza, “She’s mad at you.” that made him stop and look over at his wife in pure horror, “Because you didn’t give her a bite.”

“She can’t even bite!”

“She doesn’t know that.” she didn’t want to show how Nikki’s weight, as minimal as it was, was making her stomach feel even more nauseous, she just adjusted herself on the couch while holding Nicole close to her chest, kissing her brown head, “You can’t be mad at daddy, you can’t eat grown up food baby girl.”  she sits up a bit more, “Don’t be silly, oh Roos, she’s pouting!”

When she looks up so is her husband.

“Roos…”

“I don’t want her mad at me!”

“Brad,she’s a baby.” she says sweetly, holding up Nicole so she looks over at Rooster, “She doesn’t hate you, you know that.” Beatrice scoots over to where he was so the two most important people in her life could look at each other, “She doesn’t get it.”

Bradley’s eyebrows were low as he frowned, looking back down at Nicole whose light green eyes only appeared lighter because of the light above their heads, “Maybe she’s just sleepy.I know some babies get fussy…and it is pretty late.”

“It is.” Beatrice agrees, clearing her throat when the nausea hit again. Stronger this time, “Oh wow.”

“What?”

She couldn’t hide it now, “I feel a bit sick.” she says, “Like my stomach is messed up, I think.”

Rooster’s pouting face disappeared and turned into worry, “What are you feeling?”

“Just…a bit nauseous, that’s all.” she tries to distract herself by bouncing Nicole in her arms, the little girl’s pout disappearing as her eyes struggled to keep open because it was obvious she was tired now and her anger was because of sleep “I think it’s because I was so excited tonight. Has to be.”

Bradley’s eyebrows furrow and he frowns a bit more, looking down at her stomach then back at her, “Baby…can you eat?” he nods to the half eaten slice, “You barely ate anything.”

“Oh no,I will…I just need a few seconds.”

Rooster grabs Nicole from Beatrice’s arms and tilts his head at his wife, “Do you want to lie down a bit?” she shakes her head negatively, “Do you want tea?”

“I…no, it’s fine, it’s just hunger.” she didn't know if it was hunger but it did feel that way. It felt just like that time she ate chili and felt bad for hours, it was extremely similar. Beatrice knew there was something off but she couldn’t pinpoint what…was she allergic to something now?? Maybe tomatoes? Was she allergic to tomatoes? “I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure?”

She nods with a small smile, “I just need to relax a bit…that’s all Roos.”

“If you are sure…”

“I am.”

But her husband knew her and he knew that if she felt bad it’d take some time for her to say it to him, which he hated but he couldn’t force it out of her. He sighed, kissing her head before he stood up, “I’m going to put Nikki in her crib,” he looked down at their daughter who was now peacefully snoozing against his chest, “I’ll be right back,okay?”

Beatrice nods with a little smile,watching him walk away and up the stairs, leaving her and her raging thoughts to herself. Why would she feel this way? She didn’t eat anything strange, she’s eating pizza for crying out loud! She chews her lower lip, trying to remember if there was any way she could really be developing some sort of allergic reaction to food.

She gently rubs her hands on her stomach, the nausea coming and going…strangely it reminded Bea of the time during Nicole’s pregnancy. Although the nausea was so much stronger than and–

Wait.

“No.” she whispers, “There’s no way, I took my birth control shots.” she could feel the anxiety rise up, “This is not what I’m thinking, it can’t be. There’s absolutely no way it’s that…there’s no way.” she did take her birth control shots, she remembers going to the clinic and seeing the lady there, the same lady as before.

She remembers the shot, she remembers feeling down in the dumps for a few days. “I’m just imagining things,” she whispers, “This is nothing more than a bad stomach day. That’s all.” but she continues rubbing her stomach, “...that’s all.”

[randomderp]

While playing the 4th Resident Evil Game(The Remake), I was lowkey struggling at this one section where you have to fight off a horde with Luis until Ashley opens the freakin' door to let you guys escape. I died probably over 20 times (the chapter review says only 5, but I had backed up to older saves at multiple points to try and get a better start before the horde). Anyway, one of the most common death screens I got was a villager grabbing Leon by the front and jabbing their thumbs into his eyes, where Leon just kinda flops back and dies. So, with that struggle still taunting me, I wrote a bored drabble(?) during my break at work and before going to bed.

Expect spelling mistakes and flawed logic, I haven't written fanfiction in years. And again, bored drabble to just get the writing out there. Feel free to yoink the idea and referbish it into your own thing.

Warning for Gouged out Eyes? Idk if it counts as spoilers, too, but basically, rewritten gameplay, lol.

-----

Pain. He was in pain. Excruciating pain. Everything was dark, and his head felt like it was close to exploding. What had just happened? He was in so much pain he forgot. His ears were ringing, but he could hear a faint voice.

"¡Sando! Come on, get up! ¡Mierda! Leon!" Luis... It was Luis' voice. He tried to move, he felt his body roll over onto its gut. His hands felt around, eventually feeling the cool metal of his gun. He tried to open his eyes to see the weapon, to see his surroundings. There was so much yelling, gargled voices from the feral villagers, and Luis begging Leon to stand up. He grunted, feeling for the wall to assist him to stand, but was immediately bodyslammed, then smacked down again by what felt like a shovel. Luis' gun could be heard for a moment, and after another second of struggling to stand, Leon was picked up by the scruff like some newborn kitten.

"Leon, come on, man. There's too many, we got to go. Open your damn eyes and start running 'migo!" Luis spoke, a sense of urgency in his tone as Leon felt said man start guiding him up some stairs while angered yells in a language Leon only knew basics in were heard behind them. He tried opening his eyes, his eyelids moving, but no light peeked through. Nothing seemed to work. He was still shrouded in darkness.

"Leon? Over here!" Ashley... Where was she? She was safe, right? A door had opened, hitting the wall adjacent to it, that's where she was. Leon's instinct immediately moved his legs to follow the voice, but without much visual aid caused him to run into the door frame. He grunted, holding his already pained head.

"Leon! What are you doing? Don't tell me that guy did something to yer eyes!" Luis again. Leon felt an arm wrap around his waist, a body pressed into him on the left. His left arm naturally wrapped around what he could only pray was an ally's shoulder. He was dragged out the door and soon a second body attached to his right side.

"Oh my God, Leon! What the hell happened to your eyes?" Ashley screamed in horror.

"Joder... ¡Señorita! just focus on running like hell. We need to get out of here before we get more hurt! I'll focus on Leon's safety for now. Go, go, go!" Luis pulled Leon, causing his body to start running on default to keep balance.

His eyes never cleared up, so he began counting his steps. 23, 24, 25... 42... 58... 92 steps until they finally stopped. Or at least, from the point when he started counting. Probably closer to 140 steps or so. The trio began panting like dogs, their heartrates reaching the clouds. Leon was pressed into a wall and urged to sit by the foreign friend. He complied, but only after non-verbally grunting to show distaste for being shoved around.

"Sit. Let's see what's going on with that face of yours," Luis spoke, his rough hands held up Leon's face. Leon hated the touch. He wasn't a child, or someone's girlfriend, and he didn't want to be touched like this. He moved a hand up to smack Luis away, but completely missed. "Watch it, Cowboy. I'm tryna help."

"I don't need help, I'm fine." Leon finally spoke, flailing his hands in front of him to get Luis away from him. He moved his hands to his eyes, rubbing the thick streams of dried blood off them. Disgustingly sticky... He huffed, assuming he couldn't see just because of the blood, that's all it was. Not because one of the villages stabbed their thumbs into his eyes, possibly puncturing the cornea or even past his lense, causing the aquous humour to drain and replace with blood. Surely not!

The more Leon cleaned away blood with his hands, the more Luis sighed, sounding more concerned, meanwhile Ashley mades sounds of distress by gasping or muttering the Lords name in horror.

"Let me see. I know a thing or two about medical shit, just hold still, Leon," Luis grabbed Leon's hands, moving them to Leon's lap. Luis hummed, patting something, most likely his pockets, for a moment. He cussed for a moment, then began patting Leon's face with something soft. A tissue of sorts. Leon cringed, the lightest touch to his eyelids causing him to wince. "Try to open your eyes."

Leon tried, boy, did he try. His eyelids tucked up and down respectively, but he saw nothing. Black as the night sky. He heard Ashley gasp than begin to cry, meanwhile Luis made an undefinable sound that can best be described as disgust.

"I can't open them, they're stuck," Leon claimed. He wiped his cheek as a subconsious act, feeling a tear trail down. The tear in question felt too thick to be aquadic. It was then when the situation finally clicked.

"Buddy, you have them open. And it ain't pretty," Luis spoke softly, a hand over his mouth while he though. "I won't sugar coat it, your eyes are destroyed. I didn't realise that one villager actually got to you like that. If I'd known... You're lucky, you shouldn't be alive, but it looks like he didn't dig far enough to reach the back of your sockets. But, well, uh... You may be permanently blind. Can you see anything at all? Flashes of colour? Simple blurriness? Anything?"

"Uh...." Leon didn't know how to process the information. How was he supposed to protect Ashley if he didn't have the one part of him that he relied on most? "No. Nothing. Just, it's... It's just dark. Very faint trails of colour, but, I don't think... No, they're impossible colours. I can't... Fucking. Damn it!"

Leon tucked his knees in. Hanging his head and hiding himself the best he could in plain view.

What was he gonna do now?

[maria021015]

“We’ve already got an APB out on Lydia's car - every unit on the road is looking for her,” Noah explained the precautions they had already taken to search for the missing girl.

“Isn't there anything else that we could do?” Scott questioned with hope widening his brown eyes.

“At this hour?” The Sheriff shook his head regretfully. “No, not really.”

“He took her for a reason, Dad. Look, if we can figure out the ‘why’, then we'll figure out the ‘where’." Stiles reasoned as he leaned both palms against his father’s desk, the cogs in his brain already churning to come up with a solution.

“We know he took her because she’s a Banshee,” Zaida pointed out where they should all begin, leaning to sit back against the desk beside Stiles.

“Okay…” Noah trailed off, his forehead creasing in thought. “What would a Nogitsune need with a Banshee?”

“That’s what we need to figure out,” The brunette nodded, rolling the sleeves of her blazer further up her arms. She didn’t know if it was because of her growing nerves, or if it was just warm inside but she was started to feel rather flushed.

“I don't know, Lydia's pretty good at finding dead bodies. Maybe he needs to find a body?” Stiles suggested, scratching the space above his eyebrow with a shaky finger.

“Scott, you know more about this than all of us-” The Sheriff looked at the werewolf, who gaped in return.

“Me?” Scott repeated incredulously.

“You said you heard the story from Noshiko?” Noah clarified with a frown.

“Yeah, but that happened during World War Two, like seventy years ago,” Scott explained and Zaida nodded.

“Besides, Stiles and I know the whole story too and we can’t find any relation between what happened back then, and him taking Lydia now,” Zaida added and Stiles straightened up in a fast, jerky movement.

“Wait - what did you say?” He questioned with narrowed eyes.

“What? About World War Two-?” Scott started to repeat himself.

“No,” Stiles held up a hand to stop the werewolf, pointing at Zaida. “You. Say that again.”

“That we can’t find any connection between what happened then and why he took Lydia?” Zaida’s brows furrowed, unsure as to what was so important about what she had said.

“No, before that,” Stiles shook his head. “You said ‘the whole story’..."

“What about it?” Zaida prompted him to share the thoughts that were racing behind his eyes.

“There's a girl at Eichen House...her name's Meredith,” Stiles explained the look of a metaphorical lightbulb going off above his head. “I think she might be able to help.”

Noah immediately ducked his head out of the door to his office and called out for the deputy on duty. “Parrish!” His voice echoed through the station and when he didn’t receive a response, he excused himself to find the young man.

“So now we know what the law can do, but what about what we can do to find Lydia?” Zaida turned to Scott with determination setting her jaw.

“Everyone already knows what they’re doing. Isaac, Allison, Ethan and Aiden are going to try track Lydia’s scent as soon as day breaks, and I’m going to look for her until then.” Scott relayed the plan he had already set into motion.

“Then what about us?” Stiles asked eagerly, ready to be given his own set of instructions.

“Stiles,” Scott winced, apprehensive at the next words to leave his mouth. “You need to rest.”

“I need to rest?” Stiles stared blankly at his best friend for several moments, suspended in disbelief. His voice broke despite his efforts to keep his tone neutral. “Do I need to rest, or do you not trust me?”

“Of course I trust you!” Scott bit back defensively in a way that made the walls of Zaida’s chest contract. She didn't quite believe him, and the expression in Stiles’ features told her he didn’t either. “But look at you, Stiles! You need to get some sleep. You can help us in the morning.”

“Unbelievable, are you hearing this?” Stiles turned to Zaida to back him up, the muscles in his jaw twitching with frustration.

“Stiles, he’s right,” Zaida admitted carefully, and the boy looked at her as though she’d grown a second head. “Don’t even try to tell me that you’re not exhausted. I can feel it, remember?”

She decided it was better if she didn’t mention the growing pain spreading throughout the boy’s body - and hers as a result. She kept that information to herself as they all left the Sheriff’s station. She and Stiles headed back to the McCalls’ house to get some rest for the last few hours remaining before dawn. It seemed their luck wasn’t set to change anytime soon as Noah called them to let them know Meredith had broken out of Eichen House and was currently missing. It left them both drifting off to sleep on opposite couches with the sour notes of disappointment and anxiousness hanging in the air.

“It’s like they’re stronger than the last ones!” Allison grunted and blocked the blow of an Oni’s sword with her bow, heaving from the effort it took to push the assailant back off her.

“It’s the last tail,” Kira called out to the huntress as she spun with her own katana, fighting off two of the ghostly ninja at once. “They are stronger.”

“Of course they are!” Zaida growled in frustration at their continuing streak of bad luck, using a long metal pipe to block another blade that took a swipe at her. She managed to dodge the Oni’s next attack by whirling out of the way, only to put her in direct view of Isaac.

She cried out his name in warning but it was too late. Failing to move out of the way in time, the black sword sliced completely across the werewolf’s stomach. Pain bloomed in her own abdomen and she took a step to help him, but her own attacker wouldn’t let her get that far. The pole in her hand was cracked clean in two by the Oni’s next arc, and the bottom half clattered to the floor loudly. Allison grabbed for an arrow in the sheath slung over her shoulder and notched it, aiming at the Oni who were still attacking Isaac, drawing blood over, and over, and over again. The boy dropped to his knees, unable to withstand the pain any longer.

“Artemis!” Zaida called out, a twisting feeling in her gut recognising that the Oni’s next movement was posed as a finishing blow. A werewolf could heal rather miraculously, but even a miracle couldn’t stave off death when it came knocking.

“On it!” Allison yelled out in response and let her arrow fly. Silver metal whizzed through the air and embedded itself into the Oni’s chest, causing it to freeze in place. A yellow-green light emitted from the head of the wedged arrow, and the Oni’s sword crashed to the ground, clutching at the arrow. It let out an inhumane shriek before exploding into a cloud of smoke, the force of it shaking the ground beneath them.

Allison’s lips parted in surprise at her success where all else had failed. Zaida gaped at the girl in astonishment, her lips tugging upwards into a smile. She’d actually done it. She’d actually managed to kill an Oni. Taking advantage of the distraction, one of the hooded ninjas charged at Allison, the moonlight glinting off the surface of its brandished sword. Zaida’s heart leapt in her chest as she automatically moved to intercept. Pulling her arm back, she threw the broken piece of the pole still in her hand. It struck its target with an echoing clang, knocking the sword away and alerting the huntress to the threat. Allison shifted quickly, reaching for another arrow as the shadowy figures dissipated and Scott and Lydia came running onto the scene, supporting a weakened Stiles between them. They’d done it. They’d won.

“Zaida,” A deep voice whispered her name and she briefly registered her own surprise before her eyes flew open and she was faced with a slanted view of the McCalls’ living room. Scott was standing in front of her and she hurried to rub the sleep from her eyes.

“What is it? What did we miss?” She questioned as her dream slowly faded out of her reach, falling to the forgotten wayside to be replaced by the urgent matters at hand.

At the sound of their voices, Stiles woke with a ragged gasp, jolting upwards and stumbling off the couch in his disoriented state. Scott was first to hurry to the boy’s side, helping him stand upright. “Hey!” The werewolf soothed the boy. “You okay?”

“What happened?” Stiles asked through heavy breathing, and it didn’t take a genius to know that he’d been plagued by nightmares yet again. “How long was I out?”

“Just a couple of hours,” Scott answered, trying to get his best friend to move back onto the couch. “You should sit down.”

“He just needs a minute to breathe,” Zaida offered and slowly pushed herself up into a sitting position on the furniture she’d been curled up on, recognising the symptoms she herself had experienced.

“Where's my dad?” Stiles’ eyes darted around the place, searching for his father, and from the panic in his voice, Zaida knew what he’d dreamed about. He’d admitted to her before that he had nightmares about his father and the awful things that might happen to him. She could only imagine how much worse those dreams had gotten since that night in the kitchen all those weeks ago.

“He's at Eichen House, questioning everyone, looking for Meredith…” Scott explained, and the events of the night before came rushing back in. “I promised him I wouldn't let you out of my sight.”

“Is there any news from the others?” Zaida spoke up, wondering if that was maybe why Scott had come to wake them.

“Allison, Isaac, the twins…” Scott trailed off. “They're all still looking for Lydia.”

“It's starting to feel like we're waiting for a ransom call…” Stiles rolled his eyes, his hands shaking nervously as she reached for his flannel, pulling it on. Zaida rubbed her hands over her face at the lack of good news - at this point, she didn’t know why she had even gotten her hopes up in the first place.

“We'll find her,” Scott promised them both, taking in the deep, bruised circles beneath Stiles’ eyes with a worried frown. “You all right?”

“Yeah. I don't know why, I just can't seem to get warm…” Stiles’ voice trembled as another shiver ran through his body, and Zaida’s hazel eyes fixated on him in alarm. She wasn’t well-versed in the supernatural, but feeling cold was never a good sign. The inability to stay warm usually meant death was closing in, and that was the furthest thing from a comforting thought.

“Maybe you should sit down, take it easy,” Scott reached out to touch the boy’s arm, about to lead him back to the couch when he felt an ache course through his arm. Zaida’s stomach squeezed tightly at the sight of Scott’s veins blackening before the colour dispersed as the werewolf retracted his hand. “...You're in pain.”

The echoes of pain that had been present only a few hours earlier had certainly worsened - Zaida could feel it in her bones.

It's not that bad - just more like a dull ache,” Stiles brushed off Scott’s concern, but the werewolf tilted his head as he picked up on a blip in the boy’s otherwise steady heart rate.

“Where?” Scott’s eyes searched his best friend for any apparent injuries - but they didn’t exist.

“Sort of everywhere…” Stiles fiddled with his hands, avoiding looking up when Scott reached to touch him again. As soon as Scott’s skin brushed his, he pulled away and sat back down on the couch. He couldn’t help but glance at Zaida, who was already looking at him with a poorly concealed agonised expression. With a jolt of panic running through his chest, he knew she felt it. He knew she was aware he was dying. To her credit, she didn’t say anything to expose his secret.

“Dude, you're freezing!” Scott gawked, appalled at the icy temperature of Stiles’ hands, kneeling down to the boy’s eye level. “Tell me the truth - how much does it really hurt?”

Before he could be forced to answer, Scott’s phone rang, breaking the cloud of tension that had fallen over the three of them. “It's Kira,” The werewolf explained, and turned to take the call. “Hey, what's up?”

Zaida watched Scott’s eyes widen and when she swiftly hung up she got to her feet. “What is it?” She questioned.

“Meredith is at the school,” He answered, and Zaida reached for the duffel bag Lydia had packed for her, pulling it out from under the coffee table.

“We’re coming with you,” She stated insistently as Stiles also jumped up from the couch, and Scott knew he couldn’t fight either of them on this one.

“Why didn’t you tell him?” Stiles whispered to Zaida as he pulled into the Beacon Hills High parking lot after an entire drive of silence. It was clear the question had been eating away at him. Zaida only looked at him in response and waited for him to elaborate. “You know, I know you do. So why didn’t you tell him I’m dying.”

The words hurt differently when they were spoken out loud, and Zaida winced at the painful clenching of her heart. “Because, Scott knowing isn’t going to change anything. No one knows what’s happening to you - no one knows how to fix it.” She reasoned honestly. “He’s got enough to worry about right now - they all do.”

“And what about you?” His eyes flickered to her before focusing back on the road before him.

“What about me?” Zaida shot the question right back at him in confusion.

“You said they have enough to worry about, but so do you,” Stiles explained sombrely, reading her anguish in the way the usual light behind her eyes turned dull and muted. “What’s that saying? Sharing the weight eases the load? You were the one who always insisted on no secrets.”

“I don’t know,” The brunette lifted her shoulders into a shrug, struggling to find the words to explain the divide she now felt like a widening gap between them and everyone else. She hated to be the one to bring it up, because talking about things made them feel all the more real, but she couldn’t lie to Stiles either. “This feels different than before.”

“Yeah, it does,” Stiles sighed, his expression mirroring her own conflicted feelings. He seemed relieved that he wasn’t the only one who had felt the dynamic shift. “It's like there's this invisible wall between us and them. They look at us differently, Zaida. Like we're...tainted. Like we’re bombs that could go off at any given moment."

"I noticed it too.” Zaida nodded, her voice barely above a whisper. It felt almost forbidden to talk about it. “They don't want it to be there, they don't want to acknowledge it, but it is there. And it's undeniable."

Stiles pulled into an empty parking space and shut off the engine. For a moment, they sat in silence, the weight of their shared isolation pressing down on them. It was concealed - only barely - in the way the others would look at them, in the way Scott had made plans without them, in the way they were left out.

“It’s never been like this between me and Scott,” Stiles shook his head, baring his grief to the girl beside him. “We could always share everything with each other. This…? I don’t know how to handle this.”

“We handle this together,” Zaida reached out to where he fiddled nervously in his lap and closed her hand over his. It was like touching ice, and though it startled her she wouldn’t show it the way Scott had. Her eyes locked onto his and she refused to look away under the intensity of his gaze. “You and I…We went through something that no one else will ever completely understand. It’s not their fault, and it’s not ours. It’s just how it is. This is our cross to carry.”

Fire breathed to life behind hazel depths and the storm raging within Stiles quietened, commanded into submission by the unbroken will of the girl before him. In that moment he was comforted by the fact that Zaida had seen the worst in him, and yet here she was unflinching before him.

“That’s a pretty heavy burden to bear,” He snorted humourlessly, but his lips pulled into a soft smile despite himself.

“Then don’t give me anything more to worry about,” She shot back teasingly, a challenge behind her mirth that swiftly gave way to seriousness. “I’m not kidding, Stiles. Don’t die on me, okay?”

“I’m not sure I have much of a say in that,” Stiles drawled in an attempt at sarcasm that fell entirely flat. Looking down at their intertwined hands, the warmth of Zaida's touch grounded him.

“You do,” Zaida stated stubbornly. “You have the choice to fight it. Promise me that you will.”

“Zaida Callis, I solemnly swear that the grim reaper himself couldn’t pry me away from you,” Stiles hooked his pinky finger through hers and used it to lift her hand to his mouth. His lips brushed over her knuckles in a tender kiss that set her skin abuzz - an oath that he wouldn’t give up just yet, or ever.

“Good, because I’m not letting you go that easy, Stilinski.” She beamed in response, reassurance settling the blood-chilling fear that she could lose him yet again.

“What took you guys so long?” Scott’s eyes shifted from Stiles to Zaida as they hurried down the school corridor.

“Sorry, we got held up,” Zaida brushed off the question, glancing at Kira. “What’s going on here?”

“Meredith showed up in Economics, and then a bunch of orderlies from Eichen House came to take her back, and now she’s missing and everyone is trying to find her.” Kira rambled, updating them on the events that had transpired at the school that morning.

“Well then we’ve gotta find her first,” Zaida nodded determinedly, and their group was loudly interrupted by a familiar voice as Coach Finstock emerged from a classroom.

“What the hell is this? This is a school, not the haunted nuthouse!” Finstock yelled into an orderlie’s ear as he gripped him by the scruff of his neck and hauled him into the hallway. “You don’t have any jurisdiction here. Now get out!”

Zaida and Stiles’ blood froze at the sight of the man. The last time most of them had seen him, he was bleeding out and screaming in delirious pain as an arrow jutted out from his stomach. An arrow Zaida had planned and planted. The naiad felt a cold knot of guilt tighten in her chest as Coach Finstock's booming voice echoed through the hallway. The memories rushed back vividly - setting the wires in the woods, placing the chain as a red herring…She exchanged a quick, uneasy glance with Stiles, who looked equally haunted by their shared past. Stiles swallowed hard, trying to push down the rising tide of guilt and fear that threatened to overwhelm him. He remembered the anguish on Coach Finstock's face, the raw agony and panic.

“You two…” The man’s gaze landed on them with drawn brows as he approached and stopped right in front of them with narrowed eyes and pointed fingers. For a moment - despite how senseless it was - Zaida thought he was about to confront them for what they’d done. “Weren’t you two reported missing?”

“Uhah,” Stiles barked a nervous laugh of relief, nodding his head. “Yeah, yes, we were. But we’re not missing anymore, obviously, because we’re standing right here…”

Coach Finstock's brow furrowed deeper, his eyes scanning them suspiciously. He scratched his head, muttering to himself, "Well, I'll be damned. I swear you kids vanish more often than my socks in the dryer." He glanced around as if expecting them to disappear again.

Zaida stifled a chuckle, partly out of nerves and partly out of Coach’s permanently absurd disposition. "What can we say, it’s Beacon Hills,” She trailed off with a tight attempt at a smile.

“Hey, Coach?” Scott interjected. “You wouldn’t know where Meredith is, would you?”

The man eyed them all suspiciously for several long moments before pursing his lips. “Come with me,” He gestured for them all to follow him.

They made their way through the corridors, passing orderlies as they went. Some of them Stiles and Zaida recognised, and they ducked their chins to avoid being recognised. Technically, they had both been escapees as well. “I left her in here,” Finstock nodded into one of the dark music rooms from which they heard the staggered echo of piano strings being plucked.

“I just...I need another second, okay? They're trying to tell me something.” The sound of a panicked girl drifted from inside the classroom. Stiles recognised it immediately to be the girl he’d heard at the pay phone.

“Meredith-” A colder, gravelly voice of a man also filtered through the open doorway and it sent a chill running down Zaida and Stiles’ spines. They knew that voice. Brunski.

“Please…” Meredith begged and Finstock burst into the room. “They're trying to tell me something!”

Zaida exchanged a wide-eyed glance with Stiles before they all followed the teacher into the room to see him grabbing Brunski’s dominant arm - the one clutching the active taser. “This school has a very strict no-bullying policy,” Finstock snarled and jammed the taser into Brunski’s own shoulder. The orderly grunted in pain as the zaps of electricity filled the room, and he dropped to the ground.

They were all left staring in shock as Coach turned to them. “Well?” He said in a way that asked them what they were waiting for. “Get her outta here!”

“You don’t have to tell us twice,” Zaida muttered as Kira and Scott rushed forward to usher Meredith out of the room.

They took the back way out of the school to avoid any Eichen House staff who were still searching for Meredith. “I’ll call you,” Scott nodded a short goodbye to Kira and swung a leg over his bike, pulling his helmet on.

“We’ll see you back at your house,” Stiles called out to his best friend as Zaida helped Meredith get into the back seat of the Jeep. Once they were both sitting inside, they whirled to eagerly face the girl and ask the question of the day. “Okay...Where's Lydia?”

Meredith simply looked at them blankly. “Who's Lydia?” She asked, and Zaida's heart sank. There went their only lead.

[whimsicallyenchantedrose]

Fluffy Fridays—Chapter 175: Of Werewolves and Anatomy Scans

Fluffy Fridays—Chapter 175: Of Werewolves and Anatomy Scans

Pairing:  Captain Swan

Summary:   A series of unrelated, fluffy one shots featuring Killian Jones and  Emma Swan and the relationship that makes us all swoon. Will contain  both canon and AU stories. My contribution to Operation Rainbow Kisses  and Unicorn Stickers (aka, my attempt to drown out the season 4 finale  angst with ridiculous levels of fluff.)

Other Chapters: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14) (15) (16) (17) (18) (19) (20) (21) (22) (23) (24) (25) (26) (27) (28) (29) (30) (31) (32) (33) (34) (35) (36) (37) (38) (39) (40) (41) (42) (43) (44) (45) (46) (47) (48) (49) (50) (51) (52) (53) (54) (55) (56) (57) (58) (59) (60) (61) (62) (63) (64) (65) (66) (67) (68) (69) (70) (71) (72) (73) (74) (75) (76) (77) (78) (79) (80) (81) (82) (83) (84) (85) (86) (87) (88) (89) (90) (91) (92) (93) (94) (95) (96) (97) (98) (99) (100) (101) (102) (103) (104) (105) (106) (107) (108) (109) (110) (111) (112) (113) (114) (115) (116) (117) (118) (119) (120) (121) (122) (123) (124) (125) (126) (127) (128) (129) (130) (131) (132) (133) (134) (135) (136) (137) (138) (139) (140) (141) (142) (143) (144) (145) (146) (147) (148) (149) (150) (151) (152) (153) (154) (155) (156)  (157) (158) (159) (160) (161) (162) (163) (164) (165) (166) (167) (168) (170) (171) (172) (173) (174)

Tagging a few people who may be interested (Let me know if you want to be added or taken off the list): @sailormew4 @annaamell @flslp87 @emmateo26@bethacaciakay @ultraluckycatnd @ineffablecolors, @ilovemesomekillianjones @kat2609 @brooke-to-broch @missgymgirl @galadriel26 @the-lady-of-misthaven @charmingturkeysandwich @jennjenn615 @laschatzi @kimmy46 @snowbellewells @iamanneenigma @daxx04 @nickillian @a-rose-for-a-savior @gillie  @britishguyslover @ginnyjinxedandhanshotritafirst @kmomof4  @linda8084 @golfgirld @captain-swan-coffee @searchingwardrobes @hollyethecurious @laughswaytoomuch @deathbycaptainswan @allyourdarlingswans @killiarious @winterbaby89 @facesiousbutton82 @therooksshiningknight, @lfh1226-linda @tiganasummertree

(ao3) (ff.net)

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Warning:  This one’s so fluffy it may make your teeth rot.

“Yeah, so I’m having a lot of abdominal pain,” Leroy said loudly to the receptionist of the Storybrooke Walk In Clinic, which shared a wing of the hospital with the OB/GYN ward.  “Feels like my bowels are all twisted. Maybe if I could empty them fully I’d feel better, but I’m all stopped up.”

Emma rolled her eyes as she sat with Killian waiting eagerly for their big prenatal appointment.  “I don’t know about you, babe,” she said, squeezing her husband’s hand, “but I can safely say that is more than I ever wanted to know about Leroy’s bowels.”

Killian laughed, bringing their joined hands to his lips and giving her hand a quick kiss.  “Quite so, love.  Almost makes me long for the days where we were so busy chasing the latest villain, we didn’t have time for such mundane things.”

She chuckled, determinedly pushing aside the small kernel of insecurity his statement brought up–fear that Killian would grow bored with a mundane Happily Ever After and leave her for further adventure.  She knew she’d never completely rid herself of the insecure inner child who’d never mattered to anyone and didn’t think she ever would, but she wasn’t that child anymore.  She was an adult with many, many people who loved her and who she loved.  She wasn’t going to let her insecurities ruin her idyllic life.

Inside, she felt the small flutters of their baby moving and kicking away, and she placed a gentle hand on her slightly swollen belly.  She’d only just begun to feel their little magic bean, and every time she felt the sensation, it was like magic.

“Everything alright, love?” Killian asked, eying the way she held her belly with concern.

“Absolutely wonderful,” she said, beaming a smile at him.  “The baby’s kicking!”

Killian placed his hand next to hers and was still for a moment, before shaking his head.  “I do wish I could feel it.”

Emma reached up and cupped his cheek.  “All in good time, Killian,” she said.  “Just wait a few months, and this little guy or girl will be waking you up at night with their kicks.”

“You’ve no idea how much I look forward to that,” Killian said, with a bright smile.  “Now explain to me again what is so momentous about this particular appointment today?”

Emma had reached the twenty week point in her pregnancy last Monday, and so today was the day for the big anatomy scan ultrasound.  She’d opted for a 4D ultrasound, because she couldn’t wait to see her baby; really see it, beyond the grainy images standard ultrasounds provided.

Nor could she wait to see Killian’s reaction when he got to see his son or daughter for the first time.  She had no doubt he would declare it to be magical, and come to think of it, maybe he wasn’t far off.  Imagine being able to use sound waves to see your baby inside!

She’d had her first ultrasound at her first doctor’s appointment at seven weeks.  She’d been alone that time–not that Killian wouldn’t have dropped literally everything to be with her, but because….well because she didn’t want to get her hopes up.  They’d been trying for a baby for so long, and there had been a few times her period was late that they’d really believed they’d succeeded.

Only for the pregnancy tests to all come back negative.

The disappointment had been hard on both of them, and so this time around when she missed her period, when she started feeling nauseous and fatigued, even when she took a positive pregnancy test, she was afraid to believe.  She’d decided to get verification before she got Killian’s hopes up yet again.

Her heart swelled as she remembered that day, Whale doing the ultrasound himself and showing her her baby on the screen and the strong beep of his or her little heart. She’d never forget the look in Killian’s eyes when she showed him the indistinct still the ultrasound tech had printed out and then explained to him what he was looking at.  Happy wasn’t a strong enough word for it.  He looked like a man who’d been given the greatest gift of his life, and the kiss he had given her afterwards, tears streaming from his eyes, would go down in history as one of the best kisses in the history of the kiss.

“So today’s the big day, isn’t it?” Leroy said cheerfully as he took a seat next to Emma in the waiting area.  “Lot’s riding on this, you know.”

“....a lot’s riding on my prenatal appointment?” Emma asked with a raised brow.

“Well, yeah,” Leroy said.  “Dwarves and I have a pool, betting on whether you got a boy or girl in there, the size, birth date. The works.  I went girl all the way.  Just a feeling.  The winner of the pool gets all his meals at Granny’s paid by the rest for a month, so I’m counting on you two.”

Killian rolled his eyes.  “We shall endeavor to ensure your meals are properly paid for, dwarf.”

Leroy shrugged and for a moment was silent as he watched Storybrooke citizens slowly filter in and out of the waiting room.  “Lots of people coming into the clinic today,” he mentioned idly.  “You know why it is, right?”

“I’ve no doubt you’ll soon enlighten us,” Killian said, putting an arm around Emma and leaning back in his chair.

“It’s that big forest fire up north,” Leroy said, “makes the air quality here really bad.  You know it’s the werewolves that caused it, right?”

“The were….what?” Emma asked.

“The werewolves!” Leroy said.  “Somebody was up there hunting them, and as everyone knows, if you don’t catch a werewolf the right way, they catch on fire and then become REAL werewolves.  Gotta be what happened!”

Granny, who’d come in complaining of a sinus infection, slapped him upside the head before really laying into him as he continued to plead “I don’t mean good werewolves like you and Ruby!”

“Never a dull moment around here, is there love?” Killian asked with a grin.

She laughed along with him just before a nurse called them back.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Killian sat on his living room couch, looking down at the photo he held and feeling his eyes mist again.  This was her; this was his daughter.  The level of detail available on these 4D ultrasounds was incredible.  Love like he’d never felt rushed on him yet again.

Emma plopped beside him, wrapped an arm around his waist and set her head on his shoulder.  “She’s cute, isn’t she?”

“She’s gorgeous, love,” he answered softly, almost reverently.  “Looks just like her mother.”

Emma chuckled.  “She does kinda look like me, doesn’t she?  Except for when the ultrasound tech first focused on her face and she raised one eyebrow.  She was her father’s daughter all the way there.”

“She’ll be the best of both of us,” he said, running a finger across the image.

He’d had many singular and unexpected experiences since he first came to the Land Without Magic, but he knew that never in all of his days would he forget this day.  He remembered the tech slathering Emma’s protruding belly with a slimy, gelatinous substance and then running a strange looking wand all around.

He’d been curious about the procedure, wondering how it all worked, but then his daughter’s image had appeared on the small moving picture box the wand was connected to, and everything had fallen away.

This was his child, his and Emma’s, the physical embodiment of their True Love, and she was perfect.  He watched as she smiled, yawned, waved her arms around and kicked. She was an active one, their little magic bean, and she’d likely lead them a merry chase.

The tech had taken her time, examining their child and monitoring her progress.  “Everything looks good,” she said.  She’d gone on to give them the news that their little cygnet was a girl. She’d congratulated them, printed them out a few pictures from the scan and then taken her leave.

“You’ll spoil her rotten, Killian,” Emma said as he leaned down to kiss her, still overcome by the news they’d received, even all these hours later.

“Aye, that I will,” he agreed, “but the gods help any suitor who breaks her heart!”

“This kid is lucky to have you for a father,” Emma said, eyes fixed on their baby’s first picture.

“Not nearly as luck as she is to have you for a mother.”

“We are pretty great together, aren’t we?” Emma asked with a grin.  “We must be if we can make someone like her.”

“The road has been long,” Killian said, “and far from smooth, but we’ve made it; we’re a family.  This may be the greatest adventure of our lives, but I can’t wait for it.”

 Notes:

–So apparently pregnant Emma is all I want to write about lately.  I just really, really wish we’d gotten to see more of CS’s happily ever after!

–This story was inspired by real life events.  My allergist’s office is in the same building as an urgent care center.  Last week, while I was waiting the obligatory 30 minutes after my shot, an old man came in and went into way too much detail to the receptionist about his abdominal pain and bowels.  He then proceeded to take a seat next to this woman who looked to be in her early twenties.  He began talking….and pretty much never stopped, and the things he said….well, let’s just say, I wasn’t exaggerating Leroy for comic effect.  This old man told the (very much uninterested in the conversation) young woman that the recent forest fires in Canada were a result of people hunting werewolves.  He stated matter-of-factly that if people try to kill werewolves the wrong way, they catch on fire and then become REAL werewolves.  (What were they before being incorrectly hunted?  He didn’t say.)

–Naturally, this rather bizarre incident immediately left me with one burning question: How can I turn this into a CS au?  And here we are!

[comedianflagwriting]

TAPAAU sneak peak lol

Chapter 92: Lights On the Wallpaper

(OMORI fanfic)

Like a ghost, he floated through every spot in the store and left empty-handed. It was when he turned up at the convenience store, a thought passed through him. That thought led him to leaving with something that, while they might think it lame, it was meaningful and different. That night he sat on the floor of his room, his window locked, and the soft lilt of a holiday record dancing with the iridescent lights. He wove the threads through his fingers, attached the beads between the braids with a fluent agility, and tied the ends together, setting the finished pieces in a pile.

Beside them sat a plush that looked suspiciously similar to Bun-Bun, another plush looking eerily similar to a cat once known as Mewo, and another plush that had a horrifying, striking similarity in appearance to Hector.

They were actually really off and homemade, and one of Mewo’s buttoned eyes was already becoming undone.

When he had completed his task for the night, he shoved the bracelets in a dresser drawer and the stuffed animals under his bed. He had told himself not to bust out the crafts, but the truth was, each and every one of his friends were different and deserved something cooler than a Jade plant or a candle, as amazing as he personally thought both were.

He laid down in his bed hoping the energy he had spent on the gifts would give way to sleep, but was disappointed when he checked the clock and saw it was already just past four in the morning. He had tossed and turned for hours at that point.

The Christmas lights were bright, but he didn’t want to turn them off because they looked so pretty. They made the otherwise soft colors of the wallpaper and the warmth of the wooden floor spring to life. Their reflections on the glass of the window made the outside appear as though it wasn’t cold, but that the snow had fallen and snowmen were to be built.

He was too tired to read but too awake to lay there. Dandelion had jumped on the bed but stayed towards the end of it. He watched the cat for a moment and wasn’t sure when he fell asleep again.

When he woke up, it was the 23rd, and the house was warm and the blankets warmer. A smell glided through the rooms, one of chocolate chip cookies. He rubbed his eyes and sat up, almost finding the motivation to stand on his feet. Instead he laid back down and drifted off again. It didn’t last long until there was a knock that took him out of tranquility.

“Basil, I made cookies!” Polly said through the crack in his door. “They’re better when they’re fresh, I’m coming in now!”

He sat up quickly, not wanting to be cursed to her seeing how weird he probably looked when he was sleeping. She held a small decorative green tray with a plate of sweets and a glass of milk.

“Thanks.” He said, reaching over to help her sit it down.

“You’re very welcome! Your friends are also in the living room.”

He looked up at her, heart dropping and praying they couldn’t see him wasting away in his bed at what appeared to be two in the afternoon.

“Ah! Right, thanks!” He smiled, pushing the tray to the other side of the bed. “Tell them I’ll be right out!”

Snidbit of the next chapter! Feel free to check out the rest of the story here! It’s my passion project haha!

Also I adore liminal space stuff hehe

Feel free to leave any thoughts or criticisms ^__^

[renee-writer]

Loved Her First Chapter 92

AO3

Mercy held her books close to her chest as she moved through the crowd of people.

 

Her spectacles, (glasses she corrected in her head, they are called glasses in this time); were perched on the end of her nose as she moved.

 

She felt so out of place, so afraid. Wearing odd clothes, hearing odd voices. She missed the quiet of The Ridge,  the simplicity of it all.

 

Now, it was all rush rush rush. 

 

Maybe this was not a good idea.

 

Her inner monologue was interrupted when a body collided with hers.

 

All of her books spilled onto the ground and she looked up at the bemused young man that was looking at her.

 

“Oh! I am so sorry, please excuse me.” He kneeled and started gathering her books.

 

Mercy dropped just as fast to yank them out of his hands.

 

“Please, I can collect them myself.”

 

“But I made you drop them.”

 

“I have dropped things before ye ken.”

 

He frowned at her as she finished her gathering and rose.

 

“I’m Adam, Adam Jackson.”

 

“Nice to meet you Mr. Jackson.” She gave a small curtsey, and winced. Not in a dress, and not in this time.

 

“And her name was…”

 

Mercy blushed. “Mercy. Mercy Brianna Murray.”

 

Adam smiled and took her hand. She thought he was going to kiss it, but he started to pump it up and down.

 

“Nice to meet you, Miss Murray. I’m sorry I made you drop your books.”

 

“It’s alright, as I said, I have dropped things before.”

 

There was a moment of silence, and Mercy shifted her books.

 

“Well, if you will excuse me Mr. Jackson, I need to attend my class. Good day.”

 

Before Adam could speak, Mercy disappeared into the crowd.

 

Adam smiled after her, he very much wanted to get to know this young lady that seemed so out of place in 2008.

[abbatoirablaze]

At Door's Death, Chapter 4

Word Count:  1.5k

Warnings: sexual situations, threats with a knife, mentions of a gun, threats with a gun.

“Son of a bitch.” Dean growled, pulling out his gun, “God damn it, what are you doing here?”

“Dean,” Sam sighed getting between me and his brother, “come on…put the gun down.  I know you remember Dahlia, right?”

“How could I forget?” he growled, “the stupid bitch is a demon.  She nearly killed Hannah.”

“Singer?”

Dean nodded, “When Hannah turned 14.  Bobby let dad and I take her to Texas for a Poltergeist.  Turns out this bitch set a demon trap.”

“Nice to see you again Dean,” I muttered, “I got the S.O.S from one of your dad’s burners.  Gave me Sam’s address…I tried contacting him, but the line is dead now.”

“Dahlia is that true?”

I shook my head, “no.  I’m not a demon you ignoramus.  Your dad knows what I am.  If I didn’t use you guys as bait though, Houston would be a demon hell hole, so you’re welcome.  And anyways I wouldn’t have killed your beloved Hannah.  I don’t want to face the wrath of an angry Dean.”

“Dean put your gun down,” Sammy groaned, easily accepting my answer, “come on!”  

“Not a chance.”

“Do you want to find Hannah?” I asked, “your dad said something about that on the message too.”

“What do you know?” he asked, lowering the gun.

“Hannah has a fresh trail on yellow eyes.  Didn’t tell anyone.  Your dad found a pre-cog who told him she’s heading West.  Do you want to go before she gets herself killed, or are we just gonna stand here?”

Dean seemed to weigh his options, “I still don’t trust you, but if dad called you…”

“He did.”

“Seems like dad really needs us then, Sammy…” Dean said, “especially if he called her!”

“What was he hunting?” Sam asked with a sigh.

Dean ignored the question and turned to me, “Wait, he sent you a message?  He hasn’t even called me.  He’s missing.”

I nodded, “I’m a hunter too, Dean.  If you weren’t with him he probably figured you were busy doing your own job.  Figures he’d call me.  He probably figured he could count on me more, anyways.”

He shrugged off the comment, “thought he stopped talking to you when you and Sammy left.”

“We both knew I’d protect Sammy when you two couldn’t,” I said, playing my hand, “Guess he needed me to help you two asses.”

He sighed and led us around the car.  Both of them went to the trunk, and Dean held the compartment open with the shotgun, “Let’s see.  Where the hell did I put that thing?”

“So when dad left why didn’t you go with him?”

“I was working my own gig,” he said shortly, “this voodoo thing down in New Orleans.”

“Dad let you go on a hunting trip by yourself?”

“I’m 26 dude,” Dean said in a sassy demeanor.  He turned his attention back to a folder and pulled out some papers, “all right.  Here we go.  So dad was checking out this two-lane blacktop just outside of Jericho California.  About a month ago this guy-they found his car but he’d vanished.  Completely M.I.A”

“So maybe he was kidnapped,” Sam said trying to reason. 

“Yeah, well here’s another one in April.  Another one in December 04, 03, 98, 92—10 of them over the past 20 years—all men.  All same 5 mile stretch of road.”

“The timeline…” I said, “it’s getting closer.”

He shut the folder and turned towards me.  “Exactly.  Started happening more and more so dad went to go dig around.  That was about three weeks ago.  I hadn’t heard from him since.  Which is bad enough, and then I get this voice mail yesterday.” 

He pulled out a recorder.  It sounded distorted, but it was John, “Dean.  Something is starting to happen.  Hannah’s here.  I think it’s serious.  I need to try and figure out what’s going on.”  It began to break up, almost like he hit a hot spot where EVP would have distorted it, but it came back, “be very careful Dean.  We’re all in danger.”

“You know there’s EVP on that.”

“Not bad, Sammy,” Dean said, smirking, “it’s kind of like riding a bike isn’t it?  All right.  I slowed the message down and ran it through a Gold wave.  Took out the hiss and this is what I got.”

Dean replayed the message and it was the voice of a woman whispering, “I can never go home.”

“Never go home,” Sam said.  Dean gave a half smirk before dropping the recorder into the trunk and closing it.

“You know in almost two years I have never bothered you, never asked you for a thing,” Dean said, guilting Sam into it, “It’s sad I even have to convince you, when Dahlia, someone who isn’t even technically blood is willing to help dad and you won’t.”

“I care about him D-“

“Wait…weren’t you the hot chick from the bar dressed as a cop earlier?”

I rolled my eyes and nodded as his grin got wider.  He leaned against the Impala.

“You know, if we had a little extra time, I’d ask you to cuff me.”

“Oh, I thought I was a demon.”

“I could always take one for the team.”

“And what would Hannah think?” I asked smugly, batting my lashes at him.  He looked as if he were genuinely weighing the options of sleeping with me and having to explain it to the 18 year old he had a crush on.  I rolled my eyes and looked at Sam, “Sam.  It’s obvious your dad needs our help.  Please?  Don’t leave me alone with…him.  You know that the job won’t kill him, I will.”

Sam sighed and looked at the apartment, before looking directly at me, “all right.  I’ll go.  I’ll help you find him.  But I have to get back first thing Monday.  Just wait here.”

“What’s first thing Monday?”

Sam turned around, “I have an interview.”

“What, a job interview?” Dean asked, “Skip it.”

“It’s a law school interview,” Sam said, squaring off against his brother, “and it’s my whole future on a plate.”

“Law school?”

“So we got a deal or not?”

Dean nodded, “Deal.”

Sam told us to wait by the car and that he’d be back in a few minutes.  Dean kept throwing half assed compliments to me, but when I didn’t respond he muttered something about me being a bitch.

 “Oh Dean,” I said, walking over to him.  I placed my hands on either side of his jacket and leaned against him, “this is me being nice to you.”

“What did I ever do to you, huh?”

I leaned against him and felt his hands grip at my hips.  He pulled me so that all of my weight was against him.  I braced myself on the Impala.  I leaned towards him, my nose brushing his.  He was getting caught up in the fantasies in his head, “remember when I was 14 and you were 19.”

He shook his head and tried to kiss me.  I let our lips brush before moving up to the shell of his ear, “well I remember a very eager, Dean Winchester, who happened to break me and my boyfriend up…because  ‘girls are a distraction to a hunter.’ Hmm?” 

“Why would I say something stupid like that?” He asked, eyes closed, leaning even closer so that our lips were almost touching.   

“Because I was dating Sammy, and you didn’t like that,” I said, opening my eyes.  I had pulled out my dagger and aimed it at his jeans, “which is hilarious because you’ve been pining after a girl who’s been a minor as of a few weeks ago for years.”

“Son of a bitch,” he growled, “are you freaking kidding me right now?”

I shook my head and looked him dead in the eyes, “you ever, and I mean ever, fuck me over again…well let’s just say you won’t ever get to bang Hannah you pathetic man whore.”

He smirked, “I never fucked you over sweetheart.  Kissing is a 2-way street.  You kissed me back.  There is some part of you that wanted me, even though you were dating Sammy.”

“I had a weakness for you Winchester men…and I was young and stupid,” I said, poking him with the knife a little.  He sunk back against the Impala, “I see you for the grease ball that you are.”

“Dahlia?” Sam asked.  I looked over to Sam, “Dahlia what are you doing?”

“Nothing,” I said, backing away from Dean, “Just a friendly conversation.”

“Friendly with Dean like when we dated?”

I rolled my eyes, and bit my lip, “it’s not like that, Sam.”

“Sure,” he said, throwing his duffel in the back seat, “You okay with sitting in the back?  Or did you and Dean want some privacy while we drove to Jericho?”

I frowned, “Sammy.”

“Oh,” Dean smiled, “this brings up memories.”

“Shut up and drive,” I growled, crawling into the back seat while Sam and Dean got in the front!”

“Alright Miss. Daisy.  Cool it.”

Chapter 5

[scalamore]

Chapter 92 manhwa changes

+ thoughts

In the scene where Lari steps outside the room, blushing furiously, Amanda was supposed to be the one who hands her extra shirts for rupert to change into after his journey. We get backstory on the mirrors and she says that Rupert must really care for her to come down all the way to Belois to check up on her.

In the manhwa, Lehan is the one who brings her the extra shirts. After calming down, Lari notices for the first time that Lehan grew out his hair. They’ve had so many meetings since he had short hair, but she never noticed. Lehan says it’s because she said she liked long hair, but Lari doesn’t remember saying it at all. Lehan pouts a bit, but she reassures in him a fluffy moment that it doesn’t matter how his hair is, he’s still handsome regardless. She then takes the clothes and goes back to the room.

Thoughts: Another blow to lehan - Lari’s said it before, but she doesn’t really pay attention to men’s faces. She may objectively say they’re handsome, but that’s it. It’s an especially sharp blow to Lehan, whom I suspect again tried to imitate Rupert - this time, his hair length - but Lari didn’t notice at all. After all, all she sees of him is “her younger brother”, and definitely not as a man. At all. 

—

During the scene where Lari holds Rupert’s hand and thinks that although she may have hated him in the past, she doesn’t anymore; that scene was supposed to have Rupert staring at the wall where she made marks of her height - she grew a few extra cm in comparison to TL1 - he kabedon-ed her and asked her if she didn’t like him being there, that if she was uncomfortable or hated it to be honest, he’s not forcing her to say anything. I don’t think the’ll include the kabedon part, since all the dialogue from it was used up already. Oh well. 

—

Small detail/manhwa change:

Novel: After she gave Rupert the shirt to change into, and started taking his shirt off, Lari noticed the cursed seal and clung to him, trying to get a closer look at him. When he turned one way, she would too, with him telling her to stop it otherwise his shirt would rip, until he stopped and held his arm out to get her off him as he quietly took off the shirt by himself. She then gets close to him, and sticks her hand in his pants pockets looking for something sharp, and found a dagger. 

Manhwa: he took his shirt off, and lari is freaking out about the cursed seal. After admonishing him, she pushes him down as she searches his pants pocket and finds a knife. Meanwhile, he’s red and blushing and slightly out f breath because she’s pretty much on top of him, *digging through his pants pockets for something* HAHHA

It’s been a few months, but Lari’s less shy about seeing him shirtless, has no issues cutting her hand to draw blood, and like a boss, after finishing, she just wipes the blood off with a handkerchief and goes on with her day. At the start she was so scared of all this but now she doesn’t bat an eye - so boss!!

[casspurrjoybell-18]

Mutual Desire - Chapter 92

*Warning - Adult Content*

Damien Clarke was certain that his hands had, at that very moment, just been possessed by some mystical outside force.

It was the only logical reasoning that would explain his meaningless impulsive act.

When Alexander Nabokov half-turned to his direction and laid his grey eyes on him, Damien was still holding the man by the arm, stopping him in his walk.

His heart threatened to stop beating at any moment as he held, surprisingly, the Russian man's puzzled and intrigued gaze.

When what he had just done finally registered in his head, Damien wasted no time in freeing Nabokov's arm from his hand that had been a little too bold for his taste.

He quickly looked down, feeling utterly embarrassed by what he had just done.

He couldn't figure out the reason that had prompted him of preventing Nabokov from leaving.

But what the hell was wrong with him?

Why hadn't he just let Nabokov go?

Damien wondered where this sudden adrenaline came from that had led him to do this impulsive act.

Had he had not clearly told Nabokov that he needed time?

So why was he trying to hold back the man he himself had temporarily sort of rejected?

It didn't make any sense.

The questions tumbled one by one into Damien's disordered mind, who was confused and anxious.

This nervousness reached its peak when Nabokov turned fully towards him, now having barely a few millimetres between them.

Damien kept his uncomfortable gaze on the floor.

Now that Nabokov was facing him completely and was standing very close to him, Damien couldn't hold the man's intense gaze.

A gaze that was so indecipherable so intrigued, so grey, so...

"Yes, Damien?"

Damien's heart leaped at the sound of Nabokov's voice entering his ears.

The consequence of retaining Nabokov for a brief and of which he dreaded so much had to now be faced.

He had to explain himself and he just couldn't stay silent and expect Nabokov to go away without any questions and words being exchanged between them.

"Sorry, it's nothing," Damien lied.

‘My hand had been briefly possessed.’ Damien wanted to add but abstained.

"No, go ahead. I'm listening," Nabokov encouraged him.

Damien looked up briefly and his eyes met Nabokov's.

But half a second later, he looked away.

"No, it was nothing important," Damien insisted, the tone of his voice remaining low.

Damien did everything to silence this inner voice that kept calling him a liar but lost the battle.

"Did you stop me from leaving just to tell me something that turned out not to be important?" Nabokov asked in a voice that sounded amused.

Damien quickly concluded that his best option was to remain silent and offer no explanation for his reckless gesture.

It wasn't that he was sulking Nabokov, it was simply that he had no idea what to answer.

Damien could lie to Nabokov but he couldn't lie to himself.

He hadn't been quick to stop Nabokov from leaving on a whim.

There was a reason for that and Damien knew it very well but he refused to admit it.

For ten seconds now, an intense silence reigned in the air that the two men shared, while Damien hid his gaze, keeping it facing the ground.

"Well, since I'm here, you might as well say what you wanted to tell me, Damien," Nabokov continued to insist. 

"Even if it's not important," the Russian man added in a light tone.

Surprising himself, Damien looked up at Nabokov who was staring at him with warm eyes.

Damien had the impression that the very moment he had held Nabokov by the arm, that he had gradually locked himself in a trap without even realizing it.

His grip on Nabokov had been so impulsive and swift that Damien hadn't had time to prepare a plan on what he was going to tell the billionaire man.

Knowing Nabokov, Damien was aware that the grey-eyed man wouldn't settle for such pathetic excuses and wouldn't go anywhere until he got an answer that satisfied him.

The man had seen through Damien's acting game as he knew so well to. Damien was trapped and he knew it.

Despite this, he still remained in his position, refusing to admit anything.

Anyway, there was nothing more to confess.

Damien was of the opinion that he and Nabokov'had nothing more to say to each other now and that the next step in their relationship was to take a break so that he could emotionally heal and when he would be mentally ready, he would let Nabokov know.

“You might as well say what you wanted to tell me, Damien. Even if it's not important.”

"It's nothing," Damien Clark said, lowering his head.

"Damien."

Although Alexander Nabokov had evoked his name in an almost pleading and virile voice that troubled him so much, Damien didn't flinch all the same and kept his gaze aimed at the ground, silent, his mouth sewn up.

Nabokov brought his face closer to Damien's and ran his thumb on the lower lips of the one he coveted so much.

This gesture aroused a desire in Damien that he was unable to describe, and which frightened him.

"Please, Alexander. Let it go," Damien pleaded in a whisper.

"Okay, I'll let it go," Nabokov said. 

"On the condition... that you let me kiss you."

Damien quickly raised his head and met Nabokov's eyes who were watching him with an intensity and greed stare that Damien was beginning to discern, which caused his gaze to stare at the floor again.

He was completely taken aback by Nabokov's surprising condition and he was puzzled why there was one in the first place.

"You've never asked for my permission before," Damien said more sharply than he would have liked.

A faint half-smile drew on Nabokov's lips.

"I never needed permission because your eyes were always begging me to do so," Nabokov informed him. "Like they are right now."

As if to contradict the man's words, Damien leveled his eyes and stared at Nabokov without blinking.

He looked at him for a brief moment, feeling this inexplicable urge burning more and more on the inside and without warning, he smacked his mouth abruptly on Nabokov's.

Damien forced his tongue into Nabokov's mouth and a languid kiss began between the two men.

The kiss, though it had started with a certain aggressiveness on Damien's part, progressed with a slowness that was simply unbearable for Damien.

So, he took Nabokov's face in his hand, taking possession of his cheek with the aim of deepening the kiss.

The pace was still slow for Damien, however and he felt that Nabokov was holding back.

Indeed, the Russian man barely opened his mouth and didn't seem to fully respond to the kiss.

Damien had this funny feeling of being the only one participating in the kiss and forcing it.

He was perplexed and didn't comprehend why Nabokov was acting this way since he had never hidden his sexual urges.

On the contrary, the billionaire had always been brutally honest about what he wanted to do with Damien and those things went beyond kissing. It was even him who had requested the kiss.

‘Why this reluctance?’

Damien made use of a break that he and Nabokov took to catch their breath to end this kiss which seemed to be one-sided and which was empty of any passion and sensuality.

At the end of the kiss, Damien quickly regained sight of the ground.

He felt oddly humiliated and hurt by Nabokov's sudden coldness.

Rejection was something that caused excruciating pain and Damien felt as if his heart was bleeding profusely.

He figured a drink or two before going to bed might relax him and ease the pain in his heart.

"Thank you for stopping by," Damien whispered, his voice cracked. 

"I guess you'll have no problem in finding your way out."

Damien snuck to the side and pulled away from Nabokov who surprisingly let him go and didn't stop him.

Damien continued to distance himself as he walked, his face and spirit completely crumpled.

The kiss had completely woken up his cock which was asking for more but Damien decided to only listen to his hurt ego by Nabokov's sudden and illogical reluctance towards him tonight.

He told himself, to make sense of it all that the Russian man was probably tired from working too hard and that it had affected his libido or that he wanted to give him time as he had just requested.

"It's not very pleasant, is it?" Nabokov suddenly said.

Damien abruptly stopped his march halfway.

He half-turned slowly and his puzzled, intrigued gaze fell on Nabokov who had completely turned to face Damien.

"To see a person you want so much suppress their own desires when it's clear that they're very keen to explore them," Nabokov clarified, walking slowly towards Damien.

Unable to answer, Damien felt the frustration rising in him.

He wanted to divert the subject of the conversation that was taking place but found nothing to replace it with.

[pepperycar]

“Failed him?” Chapter 7: check-up and at last food!

“I’ve called the doctor.” Pauline said as she left “shouldn’t be long now.” She finished. Their Grandad gave a grateful nod and closed the door behind her. Now it was just the family, Peach, DK and Toad. “Whoa whoa!” Said Tony pulling the nearly empty jug from Luigi’s face “don’t drown your self now after all that!” He laughed, Luigi took a few gasping breaths before leaning back slightly, Uncle Arthur and his Mom let him go limp against them while Tony placed the cheese toastie on a plate then the table. They helped Luigi sit down as they heard a voice behind the door “should be just up here, the sad residents!” A childlike voice laughed. They opened the door revealing Lumalee floating next to a Doctor. “Lumalee!” Peach said surprised “oh no not this guy...” said Tony “Your-uh pet star is quite cynical..” said the doctor as Luigi went to take a bite. Peach nodded nearly smiling as the doctor walked in “I wouldn’t do that!” Said the doctor putting his hands infront of Luigi’s so he couldn’t eat. “I Would!” Tony Said nearly yelling “the poor boy hasn’t eaten in three days!” “I know, that’s why it’s dangerous.” Said the Doctor pulling a stethoscope, thermometer and some other medical equipment out of a small bag. “Consuming food after days without eating can send a persons body into shock!” He spat the last word to show how serious he was. His Dad pulled Luigi’s chair out a bit so the doctor could get a better look at him. He checked his ears, mouth and nose before checking his eyes, they were dull and tired but now had a slither of light in them. He grabbed Luigi’s face and arms, silently poking the burn marks . “Can you feel this?” Asked the Doctor, Luigi nodded “good, no nerve damage then!” He stuck the thermometer into Luigi’s mouth as he rubbed some cream onto the wounds, he took the thermometer ‘92:’ “hmmm okay.” Said the Doctor putting on the ear pieces of the stethoscope, pressing the bell to his chest ‘Ba-bump....’ Ba-bump....’ Ba-bump....’ Ba-bump....’ “hmm.... about 58 bpm” he said sounding a bit annoyed “it’s a little slow, so I guess we’ll have to try the food..” he said pulling the cheese toastie to him, Luigi took a tiny bite after a few minutes the doctor gave him the okay to eat a bit more, holding the stethoscope on him the entire time. By Luigi’s third bite his heart rate shot up to about 72 bpm. When he finally finished eating, Luigi was shaking but only slightly, the Doctor held his wrist and counted “87 bpm” Said the Doctor sounding satisfied. “His body temperatures a bit low so just keep him warm and if his temperature elavates to over ‘100’ then cool him down as best you can. Take it slow with food and be extra careful with sleep, have someone always on hand just in case. Give him plenty of fluids and of course some TLC.” The doctor checked his bag making sure everything was in place before getting up and heading for the door. he checked his watch “best I can do is come back in two days to come over and check on him, if anything worrying happens before then, bring him in as soon as you can and feel free to ring me for advice!” He said now out the door, his dad nodded closing the door while his Mom was writing down everything the Doctor had said “well someone keeping an eye on him shouldn’t be to hard!” Tony laughed “after all he’s got-“ a realisation then hit him “Oh my god, MARIO!” The family jumped as if bit by a wild animal, Toad, Peach And DK stared wide eyed. Uncle Arthur went to open the living room door when as if right on cue Mario walked through, rubbing his eyes, red and puffy from crying “I’m just going out.” He started with a broken voice “I promise I’ll be back soon, you all-understand....” he looked up to see Luigi at the table. Luigi smiled as he shakily got up from the table. Madelyn helped walk him over until he was comfortable enough to walk on his own. The family and Peach’s group parted for them like they were royalty. When Luigi got to Mario, Mario stumbled backwards, Arthur instinctively holding an arm out behind him. Mario finally spoke “No.... no you’re...” -To be continued.

[temperedgods]

Part 1 Chapter 7

I'm pretty sure that last week or the week before I mentioned it being close to the end. Well this starts on pg 92 and the end is around pg 160. Probably shouldn't have said it. But this part I like, really begins to tie in the rest of the world from the little adventure that's been going on. Also the bard is very much being the bard here.

The ride was long enough for everyone to get in some sleep, despite the rough road conditions. While the city of Cherryville was quite beautiful, especially during this time of year with all of the trees blooming, it would have to wait for later as the caravan pulled down into an unnaturally foggy valley filled with dragon bones and an intimidating stone tower.

The caravan stopped and everyone stumbled out of their rides. Lawrence ordered the drivers to stay back as Charlie quickly gave them some autographs. The group marched to the front door of the tower, two stone dragons guarding each monstrous wooden door of the tower.

Lawrence casually handed Morgan a heavy caliber pistol.

“You know I don’t like using guns.” Morgan quipped.

“You know I wouldn’t give it to you unless it was important.”

Morgan took the gun and readied it.

Joseph also had a gun, a heavy caliber revolver.

“Joseph, you have a gun?” Jordan asked.

“Of course I have a gun! Sometimes magic doesn’t cut it! Let's kill this guy so I can get back to my cube.”

“Could you get the door for us Joseph?” Lawrence asked him.

“Right right, stand back and let me take care of this.”

Joseph didn’t use something like a fireball to obliterate the door or perhaps rot to  disintegrate it but rather a simple heavy force spell that shattered the door into fine splinters. Without missing a beat all of them stepped forward and began firing into the tower, at a dragon with Naturius on its back.

The dragon had bright white scales and intense magma red eyes that glowed even in bright daylight. Its huge wings were held tightly behind its back and four fingered claws that could rip a house apart without resistance.

The hail of gunfire did nothing to the dragon as Naturius laughed behind its magic shield.

“Glad you all could come and see my official coronation as I, King Naturius, clean this land of the living.” Naturius snapped his fingers. “Mufon, men, take care of them, I have work to do.”

Naturius looked terrible. He’d been shot multiple times in the past day and previously slashed in the face by a dagger. But clerics had done their best to heal him before this encounter. Despite this he looked even worse than all of the sleep deprived members of the group.

His men and his serpent dragon descended upon the group, however Joseph wasn’t having this. With an interesting spell that reloaded all of their weapons, and a fireball, the group gained an upper hand. But this slaying of the serpent dragon and The Dismayed yielded Naturius time to escape with his new dragon, smashing through the top of the tower and flying out into the distance.

The dust settling the group looked upon the pile of corpses they had created.

“I do not like having killed an endangered species.” Lucan mumbled.

“Not getting any disagreements here my friend.” Morgan acknowledged.

Morgan crouched down by Mufon and said a small prayer, hoping that the dragon would be judged nicely by Grimbergen and Ikos.

It was here when everything that has occurred in the past two days finally caught up to everyone. Gunfire, the encounter with possibly the last vampire in existence, the mind breaking spells that said their friends were actually ready to cut their skin off, the multiple deities certainly angered, came to a head right here in a cursed tower.

Lucan stared hard into the distance while Kracak wondered how she even made it this far.

Jordan almost crumpled onto the stony floor if not saved by Malan and Riley, as they all had realized the multiple times of near death experiences.

Lawrence considered for a moment that maybe it was time for retirement.

Morgan closed the eyes of the lifeless Mufon and pulled the talisman out of his pocket. He raised the talisman high into the air, pointing at the stone statue of the other dragon. 

“Great dragon of Lunaren I call for your aid!” He yelled as his voice echoed through the tower. Everyone felt a stir in the tower.

“We are in desperate times and the followers of the goddess of darkness. Those who scurry through the night, who raise themselves to the light of the moon, we call for your aid now!” The stir turned to a tremble.

“For those who cannot fight for themselves, blinded by the light of day, we need YOU!”

The trembling stopped, then the statue erupted, throwing stone and dust everywhere revealing the dragon who slept within it.

Its scales were matte black, almost absorbing light. Wings extending out and ocean blue eyes that could light a whole room.

Morgan stared directly into the dragon’s gaze and it spoke to him telepathically.

“I am Corlyx, champion of Lunaren. I thank you for releasing me and I ask what my orders are.” Kracak rose and addressed the dragon.

“I am a follower of Lunaren and I am blessed to be in the presence of her champion.”

Corlyx angled her head.

“Then why is this follower of Polotos the one who summoned me?”

“I uh, actually haven’t really followed her in some time.” Morgan muttered.

“Wonderful! I shall show you the ways of Lunaren.”

“Sure, but we need you to deal with your half-sibling. Was here about 5 minutes ago and split with the guy who summoned them.”

“Of course it’s always Garrick who is stirring up trouble! I will help you in stopping him but I believe there are some others outside that I sensed as I was unleashed from my tomb.”

Morgan raised an eyebrow and turned to the group.

“Giant dragon says there are some people outside.”

“Are they friendly?” Charlie asked after finishing a nip of rum he had in a flask.

“Don’t know but they haven’t come inside so who’s to say?”

Morgan quickly realized Jordan had collapsed and rushed over to see them being tended to by Malan. Riley was also helping by giving her something to lay back on.

“Jordan, all of us really, have been running on fumes.” Malan explained. “I think they’ll be fine but it’s time we got a proper rest that’s not on a train or the back of a military vehicle.”

Morgan nodded to the affirmative and got back up to go investigate their visitors.

Save for Malan, Riley and Jordan, the group opened the door to see who was there. A cohort of violet robed individuals stood outside, the drivers looking on in confusion.

“Aw shit it’s them.” Joseph said glumly. He stepped forward and raised his voice. “Look guys we’re on a bit of a timetable here so if we could get moving we can get back to saving the world or whatever.”

The individuals responded by raising their right hands to eye level. Each hand cast a yellow beam that hit Joseph, dropping him and taking a tumble down the steps.

“Joseph!” Morgan yelled, being stopped in their place by another spell. Standing motionless, all of them unable to cast or raise weapons, the figure in the middle pulled his hood down.

It was Luther Armsworth, the head member of the council of mages. The others revealed themselves as the other members of the council.

“Your actions have not gone unnoticed by us and the crown, spellcasters. Your presence is demanded by the king, immediately.” Luther announced. He snapped his fingers and a door between their plane and that of Ykasha formed. He and the council members went through the portal and pulled the frozen group through with them.

No one directly watched but they heard Riley trying to quickly follow behind before the door rudely closed in front of him.

Riley barked indignantly and dispelled his bound quarterstaff. He turned and saw Joseph slowly getting up. He rushed over to help him get on his feet.

Joseph rubbed his head and groaned at the bruises he got from taking the tumble down the steps. He looked to Riley, who smiled his big dog smile. He patted Riley on the head

“Thanks bud. If you'll excuse me I have some murdering, er, business, to attend to with the mage’s council.”

Joseph looked straight up and flew high into the sky. Riley watched on as the wizard flew out of sight before seeing Malan and Jordan come out from the tower.

“Where did they go?” Malan asked Riley. He barked unsure, not knowing where the rest were taken. Jordan rubbed their head and answered.

“I think I heard Luther from the mage council. So probably the capital?”

“Do you think the dragon would take us there? It would take a while for those guys to drive us there.”

“Wouldn’t hurt to ask.”

Malan turned back and approached Corlyx.

“Ah, a follower of Mikaela. Yours and mine are quite good friends.” Corlyx announced telepathically to Malan.

“I’m glad to hear that. Could we get a lift from you? Morgan, the one who freed you, just got snatched up by some creepy old guy and his sycophants who are taking them to the capital, Gregora.”

Corlyx dipped her head down to Malan’s level.

“I believe I could help with this request.”

Riley had seen this as a perfect opportunity. He bolted straight to Corlyx and gave her a head pat. Malan giggled at the sight.

“An Anthu. It has been a long time since I have met one of these powerful warriors.” “And he’ll also be going with us too. Also my friend Jordan too.”

Corlyx looked over to Jordan, still gathering their breath.

“I can sense you two-” “Yeah more than friends, I know.”

Corlyx raised her head and extended out a large claw. The 3 hopped on and the dragon exited through the same hole Garrick and Naturius had done so earlier.

The group was spat out in front of the king’s court. Luther ushered them out of the doorway as the rest of the mages took another door to their chambers that sat on the opposite side of the king’s castle.

The hall was royally furnished, exotic wood from Atrocostas with fancy designs carved or burned into their surfaces with expert cut jewels and shiny metal adorning it. 

The king, Gregory the 8th, sat idly on his throne. Rather than in a cape, gilded silks, and a scepter, Gregory had on sports wear of tan shorts and a light blue breathable t-shirt. He had been quickly informed of this meeting and could not get time to get his fashion brigade to get him changed in time.

“You have been called here today for your paramilitary actions on Talmin soil, wanton destruction of ancient sites, and chaos within our most vital port city.” Luther announced.

“Paramilitary?” Charlie yelled “Wanton destruction? Look pal I don’t know what you see through your crystal ball but we were trying to stop that shit from happening. I just shot a dragon who breathes thunderstorms on the college and you think we’re the bad guys?!”

Luther saw the druid and the celebrity Charlie was.

“I do not take answers from Druids, or has beens.” Luther sneered.

Charlie took one step forward and began to draw his saber before Lucan and Morgan held him back.

“Luther!” The king announced, echoing through the court. Luther slowly turned to his highness. “This is not your interrogation. I asked you to bring them here and that is all. You will excuse yourself back to your council and I will debrief you afterwards. Do I make myself clear?” Luther cursed under his breath.

“I understand clearly.” Luther answered and then marched out of the court. The giant wooden door chattering as he slammed the door shut.

The king stood up from his throne and walked down the steps. He investigated each of them before finally walking forward again and reached out for a hug from Lawrence. “It has been so long my friend!” He announced in a much cheerful voice. Lawrence stepped up and returned the hug.

“I must plan another hunt for us to go on in the near future. Our last trek through the Giant’s Pass was wonderful!”

“It sure was Greg.”

“I do apologize for the Mages. We hadn’t gotten word that Northwin was already aiding you, I only got that information a minute before you arrived. If I had known that I would have had them airlift you here instead of taking that path through Ykasha.”

“We had already taken the path once. It wasn’t that big of a deal.”

“Nonsense I will make sure that they’re informed of this blunder in communication. And one thing they didn’t communicate with me is why you have been taking these actions. So, what has been going on Lawrence?”

“The Dismayed are here again Greg.”

Greg took a deep and long sigh. A few years wore on his already creased face.

“I was hoping this was just improper communication about some training you were doing. Not some cult trying to bring the end of the world, your bread and butter.”

Lawrence nodded along.

“I will contact Northwin and they will give you all the resources you need to stop them. And Lawrence, when you are finished with this, I would like for you to really consider having your operations under the purview of the crown. So we don’t have issues like this again. I will extend this offer to your, uh, recruits.”

Greg gestured towards the rest of the group.

“Please see yourself out as I have a match to finish. Take care of yourselves. And it is good to see you’re alive Charlie”

Lucan opened the door and they followed a path pointed out by the King’s guard. They were a collection of soldiers and spellcasters, some of the few combatants not on the Northwin payroll.

The giant gates of the castle opened and revealed the sprawling metropolis of Gregora. The castle and the mage’s council looked quaint amongst the steel highrises and brownstones that littered the city.

Joseph landed in front of the group shortly after they emerged from the castle

“Hey guys, gonna go kill the mage’s council, wanna see?”

“Absolutely!” Charlie yelped. Lawrence grabbed him by the shoulder.

“No, no murdering the mages Joseph. We have things figured out and you aren’t going to ruin those plans, Joseph.” Lawrence announced.

Joseph grumbled and remembered what else he had to say.

“Right the two clerics and the cute dog took Corlyx and they should be here any moment now. See, right there.” Joseph pointed in the sky as the entire city looked up and saw a giant black dragon fly over the city and land in an open lot.

The group rushed to the parking lot and heard car alarms go off from Corlyx’s heavy landing.

She had already dropped her 3 passengers off as they waited for their friends to regroup. Morgan greeted Jordan and Riley with a large hug between them.

“Are you alright?” Morgan asked Jordan.

“I’m fine, just still feeling exhausted. What about you, are you okay?”

“Yeah the mages didn’t roughen us up or anything. Joseph is feeling back to his usual self, albeit very angry at the council.”

“I would imagine.” Morgan pulled in for another hug and as he did so he looked to Malan. He mouthed ‘thank you’ to her as she smiled back. 

He pulled away and looked up to their dragon friend casually observing the city.

“Christon looks much different than when I saw it last.” She said to the group telepathically.

Except Lawrence and her three recent passengers, the group was confused.

“Right, Corylyx hadn’t known the name was changed with Gregory 1st. She’s been asleep long enough it was still run by the Christopher lineage.” Malan explained.

“Wow.” Charlie exclaimed. 

Corlyx quickly turned to him.

“Another champion in my sight. The one of the natural form, Janall. I am blessed by your presence.”

“Well it is always nice to meet another champion. There is Lawrence here who holds the title of the Mikaela bloodline. He’s a bit of a wet blanket but you're quite the sight to behold.”

Lawrence shot daggers at Charlie.

“We have many hunts under the moonlight and love the creatures who find solace in the nightlight.” Lucan raised an eyebrow and whispered to Kracak.

“I think Charlie is trying to flirt with the dragon.”

Kracak cracked up in laughter at the realization.

“Okay Charlie!” Morgan spoke up. “I believe you and Corlyx will have a lot of time later to speak about the night. But for now we probably need to find a place for you to stay while we get final preparations underway.”

“Ooh!” Joseph yelped. “I got a guy who can help with that.” Morgan turned.

“You do?”

“Of course I do, let me give him a call.”

Joseph prepared a 2 way message spell with some rolled up paper and copper wire. After a moment he got his contact to pick up.

“Yo what’s up?” 

“Yeah I can imagine. Listen, I have a bit of a problem with storing a dragon, could you help with that? One of the ones from the tower out by Cherryville.”

“Really? You want that?” Joseph stood for a moment pondering the barter. “Alright fine you can have it.”

“Fine whatever, see ya.” Joseph hung up.

“Alright he’ll help out, but it’s only me, the dragon, and Morgan that goes to this exchange.”

“We can get a place to stay while you go out!” Charlie replied. “I know a nice bed and breakfast that can lodge all of us.”

Without thinking Charlie began walking away towards his place with the rest following.

Joseph turned to Morgan and let him in on the situation, but only just barely.

“You’re way out of your depth with what’s about to happen, let me do the talking.”

He looked up to Corlyx.

“Take your friend and just follow me to where we need to go, okay Corlyx? It should be pretty quick.”

Corlyx nodded and knelt to give Morgan a ride.

After a quick ride out in the middle of nowhere Joseph stopped at a ravine with two people waiting at the top. The group landed and saw a human in a silver robe with a well kept goatee, jet black hair, and intimidating green eyes. With him was a Halcyon, an offshoot of the guardians of Ykasha who came to the world of Omnus for a much different life. Her skin was a pinkish violet, a long tail, silver hair that complimented her companion’s robe, and disarming light blue eyes.

“So, the one who summoned Lunaren’s dragon was a paladin?” The man announced.

“Sure did, now can you help us out with the dragon?”

“Sure. This is a freebie but I can give your dragon a bit of a boost in battle as well, given she’s about to throw down with her half brother I would assume they’re evenly matched.”

Joseph eyed him.

“Why give us this?”

“Because I am a caring person Joseph, why else? Maybe I wanna see those Dismayed creeps get what’s coming to them.”

Joseph never mentioned The Dismayed once.

“Fine, here.” Joseph held out a small canvas bag and was quickly snatched and stuffed inside the man’s pocket.

“Do you have the object that summoned the dragon?”

Morgan shook his head yes and pulled out the talisman. The man whistled.

“Wow, didn’t know that’s what that was for. I always thought it was some old trinket. Well anyways.”

The man held a scroll in one hand and casted with his other. A dark fog emerged from his hand and entered the talisman.

“There you go, now you can store your dragon in there for future use rather than holding it inside a giant stone statue. I will give a warning, that thing is now under a lot of pressure so don’t drop it or the world will probably, almost definitely, cease to exist.” Morgan’s eyes widened as he carefully slid it back into his pocket. The Halcyon chuckled at his reaction.

“Well, it hasn’t been a pleasure Joseph. Don’t ever contact me again.” “Oh you know I will. Morgan, let’s go.”

Morgan eyed the man as he turned away. The Halcyon gave him a wink and turned away with him.

[bratshaws]

through the hourglass 101. brb x oc

a/n: do yall think Brad went to therapy to talk about his feelings. (also pls forgive me but I really go crazy when it comes to Rooster's backstory)

pairing: plus size!oc x rooster

warnings: personal issues that Rooster chooses to ignore, Bea being a good wife, <3

goodness gracious (pls read this one to know more what this fic is about!!)

chapter

1/

50/51/52/53/54/55/56/57/58/59/60/61/62/63/64/65/66/67/68/69/70/71/72/73/74/75/76/77/78/79/80/81/82/83/84/85/86/87/88

/89/90/91/92/93/94/95/96/97/98/99/100

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-

He sighs heavily the second he’s past the threshold, inhaling soon after, dropping his things on the floor and running his hands up and down his face. The dogs rush over to greet him, which made him lean down a bit to pet each of them before he dragged his feet to the couch.

He didn’t know why he was so tired, maybe it was because of the weight of his own anxiety.

The second he sits down he hears her bare feet tapping on the floor, his smile widening as he turns his head to the kitchen, “I didn’t hear you come inside.” she says, setting the glass of water aside and shuffling over to him, his eyes slowly dragging down her body, admiring the way his old shirts looked on her. He wasted no time in bringing her to his lap once she was close enough, their lips meeting in a lazy kiss, “Hi, handsome.” she coos, rubbing his cheek, “Oh Roos, you look exhausted.”

“Hi gorgeous…I feel exhausted.”

“What happened?”

“My emotional baggage is being a bit too heavy to handle.” his wife’s green eyes softened as she held his face, still rubbing his cheekbones with her lips pouting just enough to make him want to kiss her again, “I’m okay.I didn’t think that talking to Mav would…take so much out of me.”

Beatrice adjusts herself on his lap so she’d be taller than him, kissing his forehead then letting Rooster fall into her chest with a sigh, his arms wrapping around her waist, “You did good,Brad.” she coos, gently petting the back of his head, feeling his shoulders relax as he keeps himself there, “You are okay, do you need anything?”

“No, I just want to hug you.”

“Okay.”

He squeezes her waist a bit, “I just need you here,gorgeous.” he murmurs, shaking his head against her chest, getting comfortable “Nothing more.”

Beatrice kisses his scalp and keeps her lips there for a few seconds, only pulling back to tilt his head towards her, “How about you take a nice bath? I can order dinner tonight, what are you feeling?”

“...can we have Mexican food?”

“Of course,Roos. Anything in mind?”

He flicks his eyes to the left in thought, meeting her gaze after, “...I want birria tacos. And chicharron, if it’s available.” another pause, “And flan. Can we get flan?”

She loved how her husband, her 6’3” husband, stronger than everyone she knew, sounded like a little boy from time to time. His voice, usually so deep, goes quiet because he’s murmuring it, “Yes, of course Roos.”

“...thank you,gorgeous.”

Beatrice remains on his lap however, still caressing his head, “Is there anything else you want to talk to me about?” she asks against his skin, kissing his temple softly which made her husband heave out a heavy sigh that only made him deflate.

“...there is one thing.”

“I’m listening.”

He props his chin on the valley of her breasts, turning those whisky colored eyes to his wife who just smiled sweetly at him, “Mav wants me to join him…in one of his instruction classes. Just one, just to add some input.” 

“Didn’t you used to do that though?” he nods, “I remember you telling me you didn’t hate it but you didn’t like it either.”

“It can be very stressful.” he mutters, “But Mav said I can just stay there and add when I need to. There’s nothing more to it.” but Beatrice just kept looking at him, furrowing her brows, “...I never did anything like this with Mav.”

“And why does that worry you?”

“Because…I don’t know why.” he mutters, “I want to get back to what things were,Bea…but I was a boy when I–when he.” Rooster sighs again, dropping his forehead on the curve of her breasts to inhale the lavender scent embedded in his shirt - God, he’d never want to wash them anymore - “You know what I mean.”

Her eyebrows curved downwards as he explained the best he could why he was feeling that way. Beatrice cups his face with her hands, tilting upwards to kiss the tip of his nose then his forehead, “I know what you mean.” she whispers, “I know it’s hard,Brad.” 

“I don’t want to hate him.”

“You don’t hate him.” she reassures him, rubbing his cheeks, “Brad, you…were hurt- are hurt. For a long, long time…I love Mav and I love that you two are talking again but…years of hurt and disappointment don’t disappear in what? Three years?” he sighs again, leaning into her touch, “Roos, remember you two made a lot of progress but there were things that need to be talked about…especially…because of your mom.”

Talking about Carole, while welcome, always felt like dangerous territory. In her mind at least, she still felt like she should walk carefully around the subject. Rooster didn’t look angry when he looked at her, maybe a bit confused, furrowing his brows as she said that, “...Roos,remember when you told me about how she…talked to Mav about you?” he nods, “Remember how you said you found out about it?” another nod and Beatrice drapes her arms around his shoulders, “And we talked about it and tried to figure out why?”

“Yeah…?”

Beatrice frowns, “...you had nightmares a few days ago, you know.” she muttered, “You rarely do and when you do you don’t tell me.” he quickly avoided her eyes, but she tilted her head to meet his gaze, “Because I know you think that’s the one thing that you can hold to yourself.”

It was naive to think that Beatrice wouldn’t notice when he had his nightmares. They were very few, like she said, often happening when he’s under a lot of stress or when he gets a bit under the weather…he had nothing to complain, he had a great life with a great woman, he sometimes felt bad for stressing so much…but whenever he tells Bea that she does remind him that his job isn’t really the easiest and he shouldn’t blame himself so much.

Sometimes he dreams about his mom. About her last months, about the things he could’ve done. About how he didn’t really speak to anyone after her burial, about how he was alone in his dorm with the door closed…for weeks and his friends couldn’t pry him out of there.

He dreams about his dad, about how he died, sometimes - and those were the worst ones - he was the one in it instead of Mav. He was the one holding his dad, he was the one in the middle of the ocean, bobbing along the waves waiting for someone.

He also dreams about the day he was denied entry to the Navy. He didn’t understand, he was the son of an officer, that should be easy to handle, he should’ve gotten in. Why didn’t he? He dreams about Mav, about the anger and the hurt, about how he worked so hard to get where he was only to slip through his fingers.

He had no nightmares with Beatrice and he was thankful for that. She had no place in those, neither had Nikki. 

“I…” he didn’t know how to continue because he was about to toss it under the rug again. “How do you…know?”

“That you have them?” she questions, “...you rarely move in your sleep,Roos. When you do, you are changing positions…you also don’t hold me when you have nightmares. You are stiff as a board and you are…clenched, all over. Your teeth, your shoulders, your hands, you don’t move. And you sleep talk, sometimes. I try to wake you, but when I try you just relax immediately and your whole body appears loose.”

That makes a lot of sense.

“But this last one…you were very vocal, you kept calling for your mom and asking why.” she frowns, “That was all you said, why. Nothing else. And when I touched you, you barely awoke and turned towards me…then you got quiet again.” her touch is so gentle on his cheek, like she’s holding something so precious, “I don’t like prodding about those things, you know that…but that last one really worried me.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry.” she shakes her head, “You don’t have to…I know how this,” she taps his forehead, “Can be.” he huffs out a soft laugh, one that appeared to be heavier than he wanted it to, “It’s a long healing process,Brad.” she mutters, ‘But you won’t be alone…okay? You have me.”

“I know.” he replies quickly, brushing his knuckles on the side of her face, inhaling quietly, “I know,I have you.” and he did feel better letting that out, even if he hated doing so. Beatrice smiles, cupping his face and kissing him quickly several times before pulling back.

“Go on have a nice shower.’ she mumbles against his lips, “I’ll call for our food…okay?”

Bradley smiles back, sliding his hands under the shirt to reach the elastic of her underwear, pecking her one last time, “Okay.” he drags his hands over the length of her legs, dropping them on his sides as she climbs off of him. When she stands there and doesn’t move, he only smiles more, “I’m fine.” she offers her hand to him, wiggling her fingers, “Baby…” the couch was so comfortable…but she was right, a shower would do him good.

She takes him up the stairs, Rooster peeking over to Nicole’s nursery only to see his daughter fast asleep with her mobile moving above her head, her adorable face disappearing as they walked into their bedroom, “Okay,” Beatrice drops his hand, entering the bathroom and he hears her messing around in the shower, “I’m going to set to steam too, it’ll help you relax.”

Rooster chuckles as he kicks off his shoes, then removes his watch, “Thank you,gorgeous.”

“You can use my peppermint body wash too! It’s really refreshing.”

He laughs again, pulling his belt off the loops, “I’d appreciate that.” he didn’t deserve her, because she kept on rambling about how he could also use one of the loofahs she had saved in the cabinets.

“Oh!I know!” her quick footsteps walk up to the door, where she peeks her head out, “I know exactly what you need.”

His eyes drop to the expanse of her thigh that peeked on the edge of the threshold, “A nice warm shower with my wife?”

“Rooster.”

“It’d relax me a lot.”

Beatrice rolled her eyes, “No.” she grins, “A spa night. I’ve seen your skin care routine and while it is nice, you need something more…I have masks and everything saved up! Maybe some mani pedi too.” he just stared at her, “I-If you want.”

Truly his skin care routine was very nice, he had a few basic items for his skin and some lotions he liked to use…but maybe a full on spa night wouldn’t be bad. “Well…it is monday.”

“Hmhm!’

“And it’d relax me.”

“Yes!”

He laughs, folding his shirt between his hands, “Okay. Yeah,I like it.” 

Beatrice smiles before disappearing from his view, her husband undressing himself and setting his clothes on the bed because ‘I’m going to put your clothes away! Relax!’ as he walks to the bathroom wearing only his dark briefs. He stops by the door seeing Beatrice kneeled by the bathtub with a plethora of products, picking one up then putting it back down, “What are you doing?”

She looked over her shoulder back at him, - her eyes stilling on his underwear before vagarously moving up - “I’m choosing some stuff for you, something that’s not too…girly.” he chuffs a laugh, running his hands through his hair, “Do you still want a shower or a bath?”

“A shower is fine,gorgeous.”

“Okay!” she puts every other product - with the exception of the ones of her choosing - inside the cabinets again, pushing herself to her full height to turn towards him, “Very well, you can enjoy your shower…I’m going to get everything ready.” she stays in place, her gaze softening as she cups his cheeks, rubbing her thumbs on the bags under his eyes, “Oh,Roos.” 

“I’m okay…I’ll be okay. I just need a mental break.”

She nods after a few seconds, kissing his lips quickly and walking around him to leave the bathroom. Rooster watched her until she was gone, then let his shoulders drop, rubbing his hands on his face with the frustrated sigh leaving his lips. He hated feeling like this, he didn’t like to worry her so much and yet he did.

As he entered the shower he let the water hit his scalp and dribble down his face, funneling by his chin and creating a mini waterfall that landed on the tiled floor. He wanted to relax, so he stayed under the water for a few minutes, immobile, allowing the sounds to calm his brain and ease his memories.

When he opened his eyes he had to admit he felt a bit better, straightening his posture to grab the soap Beatrice gave him.

-

He walks downstairs feeling fresh, the white tee shirt was tugged down his body as he finished undressing by the final steps, rubbing his face with one hand as he turned towards the living room.

A lovely squealed giggle only made his heart soar.

“Dada!” Nicole was looking at him from her little mat, Eleanor and Jack on either side of her as she pushed herself with as much strength her little arms could handle, crawling over to him. Rooster, who didn’t want his daughter to crawl on the cold floor, just approached her little form and picked her up, immediately kissing and hugging her.

Nicole giggles again, hugging her father however she could and loving the attention given by him, “Oh, you smell so good.” he mutters, playfully sniffing her neck, “I love how baby soap smells.” Nicole babbles a bit, pressing her cheek to his shoulder as he carries her to the kitchen.

There are four large aluminum foil boxes on the kitchen table, two of them open and exposing the delicious interior, “Oh, holy shit those look so good.” he comments, making his wife peek out from behind the fridge’s door with a grin, “Fuck, the chicharron looks so good.” and it was cut in bite sized pieces, he couldn’t help but plop one in his mouth and immediately groan at the taste, “Oh fuck.”

“You better be careful,” she says, disappearing behind the fridge’s door again, “Because if you keep this up Nikki’s next word will be the F one.”

Bradley licks his fingers clean, looking down at Nicole who was mesmerized by the way his cheek moved, “Nikki,” he taps her nose with his knuckles, “Don’t say the bad word, only daddy is allowed to.” and he takes another bite of the pork belly, flicking his gaze at his little daughter who just watched with stars in her eyes. She followed when he brings it to his mouth, trying to mimic his eating only to make him laugh, “Not yet birdie, when you are old enough you’ll discover the wonders of Mexican food.”

Beatrice closes the door with her hip, holding two soda cans with a grin, “We got some special treatment tonight.” she comments as she plucks them open, the satisfying hiss followed, “I managed to get the extra combo tonight, so we not only got the usual but we got caramel flan and pineapple empanadas.”

“No way.”

“Yes way.” she smiles, “I felt like my husband needed that extra sweetness.”

Rooster licks his lips, eyes softening because he felt so…loved and warm all over. “...thank you,babe.”

“You are welcome,Roos.” she says, going back to the fridge to plop some ice cubes in their glasses, “Are you feeling any better?”

He inhales softly, arching his brows and giving her a small smile, “A little.” he gently picks Nicole’s hand and brings it to his lips, kissing the tiny dents of her knuckles and then her forehead, “Shower helped. And…” he laughs quietly, “I don’t know,maybe you were right about…me needing extra sweetness tonight.”

Beatrice knew what he meant, but it was good to hear nonetheless. She set the glasses aside, approaching him to quickly wrap her arms around his middle, propping her chin on his pecks just like he does to her, “You do.” she whispers, “You’ll be okay,Roos.”

“I know.” he says softly, kissing her head, “I will.”

She just leans into his kiss, meeting his lips with her own briefly and only leaving him after she kisses Nikki’s button nose, “Well,we better eat. It’ll get cold.”

“And we wouldn’t want that.” 

The best thing about dinner, besides how delicious it was, was seeing Nicole trying to snatch a bite with her toothless mouth, following her parents movements with her eyes, trying to reach any piece that she could and it was adorable how focused she was. Beatrice did feed her as the night went by, but it was obvious their daughter had her eyes in another prize.

After dinner, after he was happily full, Beatrice gently guided him to the living room, “Sit,sit!” she says sweetly as Rooster approaches the couch. He notices the several types of skin care masks and creams on the coffee table, “I’ll get the ice globes!” she rushes out of the living room so quickly he barely sees her.

Beatrice comes back gently tapping the frosty purple glass globes together, “Okay, now,” she begins, “You are going to lie your head on my lap and Nikki can stay on your chest, there’s no problem.” she was giddy “I’ve decided to not give you a mani pedi yet because I know you can be a bit ticklish.”

“Wha?” he furrows his brows, “Me? Ticklish? Where?”

“On your feet,” she smiles, “Plus your feet are pretty good, no need for it right now.”

Rooster purses his lips but shrugs, following Beatrice with his eyes until she sat directly next to his head. He drops to her thighs with a happy sigh, Nicole watching this with curiosity and vocalizing as her mother starts gently massaging Rooster’s face, “Oh, that’s nice…I like this.” she smiles while moving her fingers on his cheeks, “Feels soothing.”

“It should be.” she giggles, kissing his scalp, “I want you to relax,Roos.”

He knew that. And he physically did so, exhaling heavily as his wife gently massaged his face. He…was going to be okay, he didn’t want to have these thoughts so often. He wanted to move on but he also knew that in need to move on he’d have to talk about certain things he refused to.

He loved his mother.

He truly loved his mother…even if he imagined she apologized to him in the shape of a bird…it wasn’t the same. He’d love to talk to her, he wanted to understand why, he wanted to know why he wasn’t given the choice when he was old enough to.

He was severely depressed when he started college, he couldn’t join the Navy because of his uncle and his mother. He didn’t hate her, but he couldn’t say he wasn’t hurt about it…certain things, even if back then were ‘easier’ to figure out it didn’t mean it was resolved.

Rooster pushed it deep into his mind and forgot about it. 

Or at least he tried to.

Beatrice’s emotions were on her sleeve even when she tried to hide them, she couldn’t lie, whenever she was too anxious she’d either wring her hands or have a blank look on her face for minutes. Him was a different story.

Hold it in. Prevent. Hide. You achieved so much shoving those memories and how they hurt in your brain, why bother with them now? That’s how it was, maybe even since his father passed. He had to grow up so fast, he had to become the ‘man of the house’ and help his mother how he could.

Carole didn’t show her emotions in front of him either, probably because she didn’t want him to worry more but that only added to the overall stress and doubts. It wasn’t her fault, she was trying to get back on her feet after the love of her life passed tragically and she had a little boy to raise.

Maybe that’s why he was so hesitant talking about his mother, he didn’t want to blame her like that. Because that’s -” Ah! Holy shit!” He jumps when he feels the cold globes touching his cheeks, widening his eyes to look back at Bea who immediately pulls them back with an apologetic look on her face.

‘Sorry! Are you okay?”

“Y-Yeah, just,got surprised.” he sighs, rubbing his forehead with his free hand as Nicole giggles on his chest “Shit that’s cold.”

“It helps soothe the skin.” she says as helpful as she could “You were deep in thought.”

He looks back at Beatrice with his brows furrowed, “You don’t have to tell me.” she says gently, “You really don’t, just enjoy the rest of the night, okay Roos?”

Bradley inhales softly, trying to calm his brain down, letting a gentle chuckle that only makes Bea smile more, “Okay,gorgeous.”