#ALSO THEY GOT METAL PIPED BY THE SUMMONING???

[sandpitturtlescove]

top 10 things ive said ever, sorry poob - core

[theladyofmanyfandomsfanfiction]

Imagine Law finding you asleep and wrapped in his coat…

Part 1 | Part 2

The temperature plummeted. A valve had gotten loose and Shachi was working with Bepo to remedy the sudden shift. Given that the crew spent most of their time underwater, it didn't bother them too much.

Law was walking through the corridor when he noticed a sleeping figure pressed uncomfortably against some pipes. But what surprised him was what they were wearing - it was his blue feather-coloured coat.

He thought he had left that particular piece in his quarters. Apparently not.

Taking a step closer, his heart fell into his stomach when he realised that it was wrapped up around the shoulders of his temporary guest.

Clicking his tongue, sudden temperature change in the Polar Tang was exactly why he insisted on his crew wearing the boiler suits.

You refused and were now suffering quietly.

Law was about to wake your sleeping form with a small fright - his form of punishment for your disobedience - but he held back when he saw a shiver ghost over your skin.

An odd feeling bloomed in his chest. It wasn’t unwelcome, just strange.

The doctor in him noted that your sleeping position was awful at its current angle. He contemplated just shifting you but the way you were leaning against the metal beams, you were bound to wake bruised.

With another soft click of his tongue, Law made a quick decision to remedy the situation - and to not receive an angry call from the Strawhats' raccoon-dog, Chopper.

Law moved quietly and very carefully swept you into his arms with the coat. He was also accurately aware of the warmth you were radiating from being wrapped up.

Unconsciously, you hummed and nestled into his chest in an attempt to be closer.

Law stilled for a few seconds. The blooming in his chest exploded and forced him to feel emotions that he had otherwise cut out.

Thankful that the space was empty, Law summoned a ‘room’ and spoke ‘shambles’, easily transporting both into his personal quarters. It was the only place that he figured wouldn’t raise questions as the crew weren’t about and it was his private space.

He walked you to the edge of the made up bed and paused. With every intention to set you down, Law made the mistake of glancing at your sleeping form in his arms.

Fuck. You were perfect despite all the attempts to rile and defy him. And now, you were so peaceful in his embrace, silently clutching the man - wanting him and nothing else.

Gently, Law squeezed you against his chest. Not enough to wake you but just enough for him to get lost in this feeling. Then he bent down and placed you on the relatively-soft mattress. It was an improvement to the metal pipes from moments ago.

He absentmindedly pushed a stray hair from your face. Then you stirred which made him freeze entirely. Luck was on his side when you merely curled against yourself and let his coat do its work. Law watched your breathing even out and then returned to standing.

If this is how it would play out when you got cold and refused the uniforms during your stay, he didn’t mind.

Part 1 | Part 2

~ More imagines here ~ (for more One Piece)

Tags: @metonimia-de-bellota @i5didi @turtletaubwrites @isabeauwolf

[strangelittlestories]

It was in the 6th year of the Wars of the Real that the anti-magicians and their Realis project (that all should act in accordance with certain physical laws) were truly challenged. This was due in no small part due to a singular invention from a family of forest witches.

Their discovery was as ingenious as it was stupid. And it radically changed what a disparate collective was able to accomplish in the face of both overwhelming force and abstract certainty.

It also caused a truly historic amount of epic shitfuckery.

From “I Fought the Spore and the Spore Won: a history of Realis and Resistance”

- - -

“So, you’re the new recruit, huh?” The woman who spoke wore strange armour that looked like it had been grown out of wood. The helmet alone glinted with metal spikes.

“I … uh, I guess? Sorry, I’m kinda new to this whole ‘magical kingdom’ deal you’ve got going on here…” The recruit in question was wearing dull red overalls and a ‘what-the-fuck’ expression.

“No worries, kid. We put out a multiversal call for aid - so anybody with a latent magical destiny or a strong subconscious hero fantasy got pulled in. Very much a ‘To Whom It May Concern’ type of spell.” 

She patted him on the shoulder. Up close he could see that the spikes on her helmet were actually the shards of a broken crown.

“So, uh, do I get any kind of training?”

“You already did, buddy. The spell should’ve planted a ‘potential seed’ inside you. When you’re exposed to trauma, then just in the nick of time it’ll suddenly sprout into the skills you need to survive. Very dramatic.” She paused for a second. “Or you’ll die. Also very dramatic.”

“So … either I’ll be awesome or I’ll die?”

“Well, you would die … unless you have one of these.” She threw him a small vial. He fumbled the catch, but grabbed it on the second try. Inside the vial swirled a glowing grey-green mist. “You catch a mortal wound, drink it. Or smash it on the injury. The fungus inside will patch you up.”

“Fungus?” The man was a pretty even split of horrified and fascinated. He simultaneously wanted to throw the vial away like poison, or guzzle it like forbidden candy.

“Yeah, you ever hear of ‘ophiocordyceps unilateralis’?”

“The weird zombie ant mushroom? Yeah, I saw it on a documentary!”

“Well, a family of witch-mycologists - real wyrd scientist types - they brewed up this variant in their forest. They turned it from a parasite to a symbiote. If it knows who you are, it’ll heal your wounds, get your heart pumping, even move your limbs for you.”

“How do I get it to know who I am?”

“You feed it.” She grinned ghoulishly. “Chuck in some hair, some blood, whatever bits of you are going spare. Anything to sync it up to your DNA. Think of it as your very own cannibal sourdough starter.”

“And people actually use this?”

“Oh yeah. Folks swear by the stuff. They even had an argument over what nickname it should have. The winner was the truly cursed phrase ‘resurrection juice’.”

“...really?”

“Oh yeah. The juice brigade are pretty smug it caught on. Some smart alec tried to give it a mushroom name, but they got one-upped by the juice thing.”

“I’m not sure I’m a fan of sharing my body with a fungus.” He tried to find the right words to articulate the niggling philosophical nuances of the idea and failed. “It feels like, I dunno, a bad idea?”

“Oh, it’s a terrible idea. A real crock of stupid. Pure idiot-fuel. But sometimes, when the world’s against you, the truly bad idea is the only one you have.”

“But, I mean, once the fungus takes over … would I still even be me?” The urge to gobble up the taboo canape had begun to be edged out by the existential dread.

“Look at it this way: you’d be mushroom food anyways, right? Why not let it be mushrooms who think they’re you? I think it’s kinda comforting that when the time comes, I can just relax and let fungus take the wheel.”

The man paused for a second, pondering the nature of life, decay, and resurrection.

“Anyways, they’ll be summoning the portal to pipe us out on our first mission soon. So best get ready.” The princess (for that’s what she was) thought for a second, then asked: “By the way … what did you do before you got sucked up into this particular asscrack, anyhow?”

The man gulped.

“I was a plumber.” He said.

[l3viat8an]

HWAAAAHHH HEY ROOOOO ♡

A not so quick thought I've been dying to shareeeee ahhhhh

Omg- so yk how Mc has that long table in their room??? Imagine setting up a craft station each week for the boys to do a lil craft.

Beel, Asmo, Dia, Simeon and Luke are super excited for crafting. Barbie, Mamms and Levi are excited too even if they won't admit it. But Luci, Satan and Belphie need a little bit of convincing. They're not children! But after your first successful chaotic crafting session they start to like it.

𖥸 Luci is surprisingly artistic. Even if it seems silly, this little crafting session is very relaxing and it gives him time to bond with his brothers. He likes to follow the model closely first before experimenting a little bit with his technique and style

𖥸 Mamms + Levi are trying to 1 up each other the whole time. They will hate on each other's projects and will fight over supplies. Mammon will swipe the scissors from Levi mid-cut even though there are 5 other pairs currently not being used. Then Levi will try to get them back and a fight will break out. Mc has to use "stay" before Levi summons Lotan.

𖥸 Satan bbg I'm so sorry. He will make something beautiful that he's proud of but it will get ruined. He'll just be putting the finishing touches on his craft when Levi and Mammon's fight will cause something to ruin it. A paint cup got knocked over and now there's paint water soaking his hard work. Or the glitter got spilled and now there's sparkly bits clinging to the undried glue. Mc is gonna have to use "stay" again to keep him from wringing his older brothers' necks.

𖥸 Asmo's crafts can be described in one word. Shiny. He's using all the glitter, gold leaf and sequins available to him. He especially likes those gold and silver detailing pens. But don't mistake sparkly for tacky because even if his crafts are sparkly they are still tasteful.

𖥸 Beel + Belphie will make adorable little projects but Beel will try to eat the supplies duh. Please for the love of Dia get the nontoxic supplies. He can't help it though. That shade of pink looks just like a poison strawberry tart and the colors Simeon mixed look exactly like Madam Scream's Macarons! He just wants a little taste. Belphie will be busy trying to stop him from drinking paint. If he keeps a few extra snacks on hand then it will keep Beel at bay.

𖥸 Diavolo is just absolutely enamored by all the cool crafts. Like woah you made that little scarecrow!? And you made a pom pom pumpkin? He's so excited to try out all the crafts and is that one weirdo that is absolutely covered in 8 different colors of paint somehow even though he only used white.

𖥸 Barbatos will also create the most gorgeous crafts. Like excuse me sir, you're telling me you made that out of construction paper, pipe cleaners and popsicle sticks???? There ain't no way. 100% the chillest crafter at the table but he will snap Mammon and Levi's necks if any of the mishaps of their fight ruins his project.

𖥸 Simeon and Luke will probably work together on a craft. Like Asmo's projects, Simeon and Luke will add lots of pastel colors and shiny bits to their project mostly in the form of gold flakes or those metalic paint pens.

𖥸 Solomons crafts are similar to his cooking. They never end up being what was intended. Like today we're making kites and - Uhhh Solomon made an abstract Mona Lisa with construction paper shapes?? Alright then... You do you man

HIIII CHERRY!!! Omgg okay- this is all so cute <3 finally giving that silly table a good use too jsjsjsj besides homework 💀

Lucifer being good at everything doesn’t even surprise me anymore- but he’s genuinely very into it and it’s nice to see him try to relax and do something with his brother that’s just for fun!!!

Mammon + Levi- I wouldn’t expect anything else honestly- those two can’t stop for five minutes and they almost ruin it for everyone. (Until MC calms them down and fixes everything) also the fact Levi’s better at traditional drawing them Mammon is probably another reason they fight hskshsj

Poor Satan. Tho depending on how annoying Levi & Mams have been it might be fine to let Satan smack them up a bit- jkjk bad idea ik- MC needs to help him calm down and maybe start a new project together? (That’ll at least perk Satan up and piss off Levi ‘n Mammon which again will make Satan feel better :))

The first thing Asmo used was a pick glitter gel pen and his artwork is absolutely gorgeous~ (definitely something super shiny!!! but still gorgeous and he’s careful to stay at the other end of the table away from Levi and Mammon helpsjsj)

All the supplies have to be non-toxic and absolutely no one can try drawing or making anything resembling food- Also just imagine Belphie taking the paint water away from Beel and putting it by his drink….so a little later sleepyhead accidentally drink some instead lolol also anything Belphie actually makes looks like it’s out of a horror movie while Beel’s is just…abstract :)

Diavolo’s feels like a callout as the kid who was always covered in paint but he’s so happy with his little somewhat lumpy pompom and little painting!! Just look at his sweet smile!!!

Barbatos doesn’t even need to threaten Mammon or Levi- they take one look his way and see that smile and know they better knock it off and behave- also how??? Sir it’s gorgeous but how??? Hell he probably made a fully functioning little model of MC XD

Simeon and Luke are adorable as always!! It’s definitely something sweet, yet a little more simple, but still very cute! The shiny bits are perfect and they definitely made it with the intention of gifting it to MC when they’re done <3

Solomon……Solomon wtf why?….you could’ve drawn a stick man and it would’ve been better that…uhhh that- But he’s happy!! Also very, very proud of it and when you ask what it’s supposed to be he looks a little offended-

[luminouslywriting]

Chapter 3 (Mastermind)-MOTA Fic

A/N: We've got some introductions, some sassy moments, and some more insights into Ruth :) As always, let me know what you all think!

Ruth took her time sight-seeing all that Thorpe Abbotts had to offer.  She was nothing if not a meticulous memorizer of information.  Seeing the place was just as good as reading about it, if only for memorization purposes.  For instance, she learned that the mess hall wasn’t far from the Red Cross quarters—and there was a shortcut in between the barracks towards the mess hall if she really wanted to take it. 

She also learned that the base was spread out enough to warrant long walks every day or at least some sort of transportation.  Especially if she was to be going between the main building and the barracks to deliver summons and act in a secretarial position unless a court martial arose.  

After making two rounds of the place, Ruth was confident that she had the place down in her mind. Ultimately deciding that another lap towards the runways would do her some good, Ruth’s sharp gaze caught onto the field crews.  They were the unsung and silent workers behind everything that went on up in the skies—and you’d have to be crazy not to trust them with your life. 

Man wasn’t meant to fly, Ruth was absolutely certain about that.  If he was, then God would have blessed him with wings rather than gangly limbs.  Seeing as how Ruth didn’t have any sprouting wings or amphibian gills, she’d opt for staying on dry land and ground.  So for any man to put trust in another man and his ability to fix a rickety hunk of metal was something awe-inspiring and God-fearing all at the same time.  

Counting each of the spots for the planes, Ruth’s gaze fixated on a particular black spot on the ground where something had clearly gone wrong with an engine.  She wondered if the plane was still functioning or if it had been one of the planes to go up in the air—or if it was just gone, erased from existence and no one would know that it had been there, save it be for a few paper trails.  

“Earth to curls!” 

Ruth nearly tripped, spinning around and eyes going wide at the sight of a jeep pulled up to a stop behind her.  She hadn’t even heard them pull up behind her, let alone the tires or the engine.  She must’ve been seriously locked in her thoughts to not have noticed or heard them. 

“And by curls, do you mean me?” Ruth questioned, narrowing her gaze and tipping her chin at them.  

“Oh, a lady with an attitude!” One of the boys in the jeep piped up.  And that’s all they were—boys. 

“This lady has a name and a rank.  It’s Lieutenant Ruth Sharpe,” Ruth replied, straightening up her back and looking at them with a stern gaze.  It was channeling all of the sternness she had when she dealt with her younger siblings back home.  

“Well, Lieutenant,” One of them drawled.  “It’s great to meet ya!  You’re standing in our spot for the planes!  They should be getting back here soon and we wanna be ready.  Don’t wanna run you over, you know?” 

At that, Ruth let a smile spread across her features.  “I understand perfectly, thank you…” She trailed off, giving an expectant look at him. 

“Sergeant Ken Lemmons, ma’am!” Ken answered, tipping his cap at her.  “And these two scallywags with me are Jenkins and Conrad!” 

“Well I thank you for letting me know and for not running me over,” Ruth replied, stepping out of the way and onto the grass.  “You said that there’s a mission on now?” 

“Yes ma’am,” Conrad replied quickly.  “We ought to be hearing the sirens any minute now.” 

True to Conrad’s words, not even before he had finished his sentence, sirens began blaring loudly throughout the camp.  Ruth had never seen anything like this before—never been present at such an event.  It was entirely for that reason that her gaze was transfixed on the skies and on the planes that were flying in. 

Ruth could scarcely believe her eyes as the planes came rocketing into the runway—and sheer chaos spread across the entirety of Thorpe Abbotts.  Nurses and doctors were rushing to get men out of the planes, and the amount of blood that was spilling onto the tarmac nearly made Ruth’s knees buckle.  She felt a wave of nausea and dizziness roll through her as she stared—unable to rip her gaze away from the horrific sight in front of her. 

She wasn’t sure she had ever been this close to the war before.  And it made a shiver crawl down her spine.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ruth hadn’t had much of an appetite after seeing the gruesome sights on the tarmac.  Her mind was wandering in all sorts of ways, tangled up in her own ideologies and wondering about the why.  Ruth was a strange amalgamation of pure and simple logic and science mixed with religion and faith. 

War was senseless.  It didn’t make sense, it wasn’t logical in any sorts of ways, it just existed.  

Still, Ruth found herself being rallied by both Helen and Tatty into heading to the pub for the night, seeing as how the mission that the men had run was considered a success.  If every mission that went successfully ended in a pub night, Ruth was certain she’d end up having an alcohol problem or something.  She had full intention of observing and watching the dynamics at the pub tonight, not partaking in festivities herself. 

She had been to plenty of pubs here in England and they weren’t the same as bars back in the good ol’ US of A.  In fact, she found the pubs in England to be far more inviting and less unsavory than that of bars in the states.  There was something about the hospitality that was extended, the way that the social sphere seemed to revolve around them, and the way that everyone just seemed more at ease together here.  

By the time that she and the Red Cross girls got to the pub, it was already packed full of pilots and Brits, meaning that the dynamic was decidedly not as peaceful as Ruth would have preferred.  She had no sooner been waiting near the front counter than someone was sliding up next to her. 

At this point, Ruth was an expert in shooting men down and trimming their egos down to size.  And she wouldn’t lie, she found a particular satisfaction in watching men get torn apart verbally and being humbled by a gal such as herself. 

Ruth turned, nearly rolling her eyes at the grinning man beside her.  He seemed over-excited for someone who had clearly just flown a mission earlier that day.  Perhaps a side effect of adrenaline rush or wanting to feel it again—but whatever it was, she wasn’t all that sure.  He had distinctly blue eyes and a mustache that was just near enough to Clark Gable’s to be considered attractive—though Ruth had never really considered Clark Gable to be all that attractive anyhow. 

He was chewing on some sort of gum as his gaze washed over her—not in a rakish way, but certainly in an interested one.  “What’s a pretty gal like you doin’ in a place like this?  You must be new here since I know pretty much every girl on the base and you’re not one of them.”

The lines were as tired as her patience levels were, quite honestly.  “That’s not a real New York accent,” Ruth replied, looking at him innocently.  “So where are you really from, hotshot?” 

For just a moment, the man stared at her with nearly a gaping mouth—trying to decipher if she was really calling him out on his entire shtick.  “What?” He replied lamely. 

“As a real New-Yorker, we can spot fake ones miles away.  So where are you really from?” She asked, giving a teasing smile back in reward. 

At that, his shoulders deflated.  “Not impressed then?” 

“Unfortunately not.  But the effort is appreciated,” Ruth retorted as a drink was finally placed in her hands.  “And yes, I’m new.  I’m Lieutenant Ruth Sharpe—” 

Recognition dawned in his eyes.  “Oh shit—” he mumbled, running a hand through his hair.  “You’re the new JAG Corp lawyer, right?” 

“And if you know that then you’re one of the air execs and there’s four of those—so that narrows it down.” 

He finally gave a sigh and grinned wearily at her.  “Bucky Egan.” 

“Do you always hit on people who deal with court martials for a living or am I just special?” 

His cheeks burned red as he let out a breath.  “I suppose asking you not to court martial me on account of my ignorance would be a poor move?” 

“Considering Huglin’s no fraternization rule and that it’s only my first day AND you really had no idea who I was, I suppose I can let you off with a warning,” Ruth said pointedly.  “But I intend to clean this place up, and if that means shutting down flirtatious pilots such as yourself, then I won’t hesitate.” 

“Cutthroat.  No wonder Huglin likes you.” 

“Which begs the question why he puts up with you, given your track record and consistent erratic behavior—I must be the fifth or sixth woman you’ve flirted with tonight.” 

“Oh so you were watching me.” 

“Don’t flatter yourself.  I’m watching for problems.” 

“And am I one?” 

“Undecided at the moment,” Ruth retorted.  “I’ll be sure to let you know though.  And if you’re looking for someone else to flirt with,” Ruth’s eyes swept over the crowd, landing on a girl with curly hair watching them closely.  “That girl over there hasn’t taken her eyes off you since you came over here.” 

“You’re helping me?” 

“Redirecting your efforts towards someone who you might actually have a chance with,” Ruth corrected sharply.  

“Backhanded help,” Bucky murmured, eyes locked onto Ruth for a final time.  “You’re an interesting one, Sharpe.” 

“So I’ve been told. I hope to not see you in court.” With that, Ruth took her drink and made a beeline for both Helen and Tatty, who were chatting in the corner. 

Upon her arrival, Helen had grasped at her arm.  “What did Egan want?” 

“Is he always that brazen?” Ruth grumbled. 

“Usually,” Tatty stated dryly, taking a sip of her gin. “You sent him away like a dog with his tail tucked between his legs.  It’s good for his ego.” 

“Well if there’s one thing my father always prescribed for men and their egos, it was a dose of time with me,” Ruth grinned.  

“You didn’t find him charming?” Helen pressed. 

“As charming as a snail in its Sunday best,” Ruth murmured.  “I’m not here for men like him.” 

“You’re here for other men?” 

“Men who are problems, yes.  I’m the solution.  Or the thing that breaks the camel’s back, proverbially speaking.” 

Helen and Tatty exchanged a wide-eyed grin. “Oh you’re fun.  We’re gonna love watching you tear them apart, aren’t we?” Tatty questioned.  

“I certainly hope so.” 

[liesmyth]

For once I am not sending cursed TLT sex asks, because that post about hobbies in the nine houses has got me wondering about something specific:

What do you think they get up to musically? There's a string quartet and a piano at the ball in the Divine Highness AU, but like, do the third house have an orchestra at all their parties or is there a DJ and some dirty stinkin' bass?

Are the fifth folk music nerds? Are they making classic rock? I feel like the Sixth would either do super technically complex instrumental music, really avant-garde jazz or the most intense math rock you can imagine (because half of them have ADHD and need the extra sensory input to focus)

What's fourth house music like, and why is the answer Carly Rae Jepsen?

Fuck me all the way up with these answers.

[sorry this has been in my inbox for Days the horrors start coming and they don't stop coming]

This is about by this post originally by @/thewinterstale.

The only thing I'm ABSOLUTELY sure of re: music in the Houses is that John saved 1) Carly Rae Jepsen (because she has only like 2% straight fans, which is about the % of straighs in TLT) and 2) Fleetwood Mac (self explanatory)

I think the Eight do both religious hymns AND sick metal music. Isaac gave me punk vibes and the Fourth is a House of teenage soldiers and orphans so they are very into pop punk, like, idk, space Green Day. You're SO right about the Sixth and also I think maybe they'd be into violin? Just for the technical proficiency. And also every kid on the Sixth goes through an amateur producer phase because the idea of playing around distorting sounds appeals to them. (Don't @ me but I'm thinking. Grimes)

The Third have really sophisticated ballroom music but also synth pop, electronic, dance pop. The Fifth are into waltz AND prog rock AND the kind of 70s rock you could have an orgy and/or summon spirits to. The Second are very basic, radio-friendly pop music. They absolutely do the thing where famous singers tour Cohort facilities for troops morale. The thing that immediately came to my mind was this iconic performance montage of kpop group Brave Girls (turn on english subs for max amusement)

The Ninth developed a whole new musical genre based on bone instruments. Bone flutes, bone xylophones, bone organ pipes. Also they're big into power ballads. Think the kind of Epic Music that comes up in instrumental epic fantasy playlists, Scandinavian metal or, like. Blind Guardian.

[thirsty4villains]

Bound | A Loki x Reader fic - Chapter 18

Rating: E

Warnings: Eventual smut, human sacrifice, mentions of torture, blood and injury, violence, angst

Tags: slow burn, romance, fix-it, canon divergence of Avengers Infinity War/Endgame, humor, limited use of Y/N, action, sharing a bed

Consider joining my Patreon – where all fics are posted earlier than anywhere else and you can make fic requests at certain tiers!ヽ(•‿•)ノ

Read on AO3 | Wattpad

Summary:

A year has passed since the Snap. As you look to find a fresh start in life, you end up in the wrong place at the wrong time. A small cult dedicated to the newly revitalized Norse religion chooses you as a sacrifice with the belief that this will give Thor and the other gods the strength to undo what Thanos has done. What you don't know is that human sacrifices come with a powerful magic — those who are sacrificed become linked with the god they have been given to.

It's been a millennia since a human was sacrificed to one of the gods. You've been bound to Loki.

CHAPTER 18

Loki

The attack came out of nowhere. A ship appeared in the sky and rained hell down on the Avengers compound. Dust, rubble, and glass came down as the building caved in. Some of the heroes got caught in the descent of the rubble and collapsed with the lower floors. Others made a mad scramble to avoid the concrete, wood, piping, and other hazards coming right at them. 

A metal beam screeched as it dislodged from the walls and Loki’s head narrowly missed it as he dodged out of the way. However, he dodged right into the path of a large chunk of cement. It took Loki with it on the way to the floor, crushing him.

“Loki!” Thor said, running over to his brother and avoiding the last of the crumbling debris. He bent down and helped Loki push the piece of wall off him. 

Loki grunted as the weight of the cement was lifted. He took Thor’s hand and was lifted back to his feet.

“Thank you, brother.”

The compound – what was left of it – finally settled in a large heap. Loki wondered if there were any casualties. The Avengers have faced far worse than a building collapsing on top of them, so he was not too worried of any deaths. There were more pressing matters on his mind because below the compound, in the crater caused by the explosion filled with dust and debris, sat the Mad Titan on a piece of rubble.

Out of instinct, Loki’s hand reached for his dagger, then stopped upon realizing that Thanos was just… sitting there.

“What is he doing?” Loki asked under his breath.

“I do not know,” Thor replied.

The brothers and Thanos watched one another from their respective spots.

A few minutes later, Steve and Tony approached the Asgardians. Tony had a large gash on the side of his face from where the debris had obviously collided with him. Steve’s red, white, and blue colors were muddled from the dust. Thor and Loki also had some bruises and dust accumulated from the attack.

“What’s he been doing?” Tony asked.

“Absolutely nothing,” Thor said with bewilderment in his voice.

“Where are the Stones?” Steve asked.

“Somewhere under all this,” Tony replied, looking around at the absolute mess before them. “All I know is, he doesn’t have them.”

“So we keep it that way,” Steve said.

“You know it’s a trap, right?” Thor said.

“Oh, of course it is,” Loki said, without breaking eye contact with the Mad Titan from his spot below.

“Yeah… But I don’t much care,” Tony said, also responding to Thor.

“Good,” Thor nodded. “Just as long as we’re all in agreement.”

A crackle of thunder sounded, and Thor’s eyes glowed electric blue. The clouds in the sky electrified with lightning, and the god of thunder summoned Stormbreaker and Mjolnir into his hands.

“Let’s kill him properly this time.”

“Brother, here,” Loki said, pulling one of the golden apples out of thin air with his magic. “Eat.”

Thor grabbed the fruit and took one large bite. “I’m not going to wait any longer.” He threw the apple back at Loki. Lightning crackled down the thunder god’s biceps. “Mmm, I already feel stronger. Thank you, brother.”

“Captain,” Loki spoke, holding up the partially eaten apple. Steve caught it in midair and took a bite out of the other side.

“Incredible,” Steve said, staring at his own reflection in the golden fruit. “I know exactly what Thor means. I feel… I feel like I could run ten marathons.” He passed the fruit to Tony, who waved his hand.

“I’m not much into sharing food.” He shook his head at Loki, who held out one of the other uneaten apples. “Also never really been much of an apple person.”

“Suit yourself. Hope you don’t die,” Loki said, disappearing both apples with his magic.

“Enough talk,” Thor said. “Like I said, let’s kill him.”

They descended the hill of debris.

—-

“You could not live with your own failure,” Thanos spoke as the four men approached him. Each had weapons in hand or weapons at the ready, and adrenaline on high. “Where did that bring you? Back to me.”

The heroes said nothing, just silently came forward. Thanos pressed on. “I thought by eliminating half of life, the other half would thrive. But you’ve shown me that’s impossible. As long as there are those that remember what was, there will always be those that are unable to accept what can be… And will resist.”

“Yep, we’re all kinds of stubborn,” Tony spoke first.

“Unthankful,” Thanos mused to himself with a smile. He stood up and slowly armored himself. “Because now I know what I must do. I will shred this universe down to its last atom. And then, with the Stones you’ve collected for me, create a new one. Teeming with life, knows not what it has lost but only what it has been given. A grateful universe.” 

Thanos pulled his double-edged sword out of the earth it had been lodged in, and looked down at the Avengers, tempting them to make a move.

“Born out of blood,” Steve replied to his monologue.

“They’ll never know it,” Thanos said. “Because you won’t be alive to tell them.”

“No. It ends here,” Loki said.

Thor roared, and the battle commenced. The four heroes and Thanos ran at one another to begin the final battle for the Infinity Stones. Thor and Tony worked together to charge his electricity into Tony’s tech, amplifying the lightning into a super laser into Thanos. Just in time, Thanos was able to hold back the blast with his double-edged sword. Tony, attempting to increase the energy output on Thanos by moving closer, was snatched up and thrown several yards away, landing headfirst into a heap of rock and rubble. Out for the count.

Should have taken a bite, stubborn fool, Loki thought.

Thor, Loki and Thanos squared up next. Thor and Thanos fought at melee range, with Loki casting spells from afar. Out of green mist appeared a cloud that rained fire onto the Mad Titan. Hot embers descended upon him, to which Thanos yowled in pain and quickly switched his attention onto Loki.

Thanos made like he was going to run at the trickster, but opted to throw his double-edged blade instead. It came flying at Loki, twirling in the air at immense speed. And Loki, caught off guard, was hit by the blade and crashed into debris. He stumbled, and his head throbbed for a few seconds. It should have hurt more, much more, but he knew by how quickly the pain subsided that the apple’s juices were working as intended. He badly wanted to get back at Thanos for the attack, but currently Thanos was brawling with Thor, who seemed to have it handled at the moment. Loki opted to find Tony and make sure he wasn’t seriously injured – or dead.

However, the tables turned quickly and Thanos had the upper hand again. Thankfully Steve, in a miracle, summoned Mjolnir to draw Thanos’ attention from Thor. The First Avenger and the Titan fought. Steve used Mjolnir and his shield to work off of each other to do damage to Thanos. Thanos took quite a bit of electricity and hits from Mjolnir, but ultimately gained back his footing, and with his blades, shattered the red, white, and blue shield until the Captain was holding a jagged semicircle.

Steve gritted his teeth.

“In all my years of conquest and violence, slaughters… It was never personal. But I’ll tell you now, what I’m about to do to your stubborn, annoying little planet, I’m gonna enjoy it. Very, very much.”

In the distance, a light beamed down from Thanos’ ship, and all of his forces came down with it. 

Steve grunted and managed to stand on his feet. He removed his shield and looked at the chaos that was about to rain down on him and whichever Avengers may have remained.

His concentration was broken when a familiar voice sounded in his ear.

“Cap, you read me?”

It was a voice he hadn’t heard in five years.

“Cap, it’s Sam. Do you hear me?”

Steve put his finger on his ear, where his audio feed was, like he was going to respond. But no words came.

“On your left,” Sam said.

Steve looked over his shoulder and an orange, runic portal swirled out of thin air.

Out of the portal came the Wakandans that disappeared with the Snap; T’Challa, Shuri, and Okoye. Then, gliding above them came the Falcon, and then dozens of more portals appeared, filling the skies. The heroes and victims who had been gone for five long years finally returned; Doctor Strange, the Guardians of the Galaxy, Spider-Man, Valkyrie, Scarlet Witch, the Wasp, Bucky Barnes, and thousands upon thousands of others. The sky was lit orange with portals and the hope to defeat Thanos once and for all, seemed actually feasible.

“Up, Stark, up!” Loki said, as he casted magic to get the unconscious Iron Man back on his feet.

“I’m up, I’m up… Oh my god,” he gaped as he saw the scene before him.

Thor stood on his feet too, resummoning Stormbreaker to his grasp and smiling triumphantly at the heroes who joined the fight.

“Is that everyone?” Doctor Strange asked after all the arrivals came through.

“Like you wanted more?” Wong asked.

Through the crashed structure of the Avengers compound grew Ant-Man, holding all the heroes who’d been caught underground in the palm of his hand; Rocket, the Hulk, and War Machine.

Everyone was here. Every Avenger who survived the Snap, and every single person who was Snapped out of existence five years ago was here on Earth once again, and they were going to get it right this time. They were going to win.

Shouting, battle cries, adrenaline filled the air. Steve, Captain America, The First Avenger – spoke.

“Avengers!”

He summoned Mjolnir to his hand, gritted his teeth, and looked at Thanos with ferocity in his eyes.

“...Assemble.”

The real fight began.

—---

Tens of thousands of heroes and monsters ran at each other, as the final fight of the Infinity War took place.

And after everything, the apples did come in handy. Loki worried that his plan was all for naught, but in a strange, roundabout way, it worked out. Now the tricky part was to hand them out while there was an active war happening.

The hardest person to reach was Valkyrie, who was fighting on her pegasus. However, with the right timing and a few failed attempts, Loki was able to teleport himself seated behind her on her steed.

“Valkyrie, I –”

“Loki?!” she shouted. She was so distracted by his sudden appearance behind her that she missed spearing one of Thanos’ monsters. “You’re dead!”

“Yes, well, there’s a long story there. Anyway, don’t have much time. Eat this.” He handed her one of the apples.

“Idunn’s apple? How did you..?”

“Like I said, long story. Now eat it!”

She looked incredibly confused. “Um… Okay! Thanks!” She took the fruit and began to eat into it while spearing some more enemies. 

“Wow, that packs a punch,” she said. Loki teleported back off of the winged horse and to the ground.

The Hulk was quite easy to find. He shouted to Banner and tossed the apple up at him, who snatched it and began to eat.

“Jesus, Loki, that’s some powerful stuff,” he remarked. Without even blinking, he pummeled about twenty monsters into the ground. One of them, armed with a glaive, sliced at him while his back was turned, but not a drop of blood fell. The Hulk turned around, and the alien took a step back before it joined its comrades in the dirt.

The next person he offered a golden apple to was Doctor Strange, who Loki had only met very briefly while he was busy falling between dimensions. He didn’t exactly have fond feelings toward the man for humiliating him, but now wasn’t the time to hold grudges.

“Strange!” Loki shouted over the commotion. The sorcerer was currently using magic to slice through enemies, gliding through the air as he did so. Wong and some other casters were assisting.

Doctor Strange looked over his shoulder down at Loki on the ground.

“Yes..? I’m kind of in the middle of something right now!” He shouted back as he casted a spell that melted some of Thanos’ cronies like ice cream on a hot sidewalk.

Loki threw the apple up to Strange. He was about to explain when Valkyrie flew by on her pegasus again.

“Eat it, Strange! It’ll make you ten times stronger!” The warrior shouted.

“I’m not really particularly hungry right now… But fine!” A large crunch as the sorcerer took his first bite of the apple.

“There you go,” Valkyrie said. “Hey kid!” She shouted down to Spider-Man, who was slinging webs around. “Catch!”

Valkyrie threw her partially-eaten apple at the teenage superhero.

“Am I supposed to eat this?” he asked, sounding very confused.

“Yes!” Loki shouted.

“Uhhh… okay! This doesn’t seem very sanitary though,” Peter pulled his mask above his mouth and began to chew. “Woah!”

The apples were being passed around more than a joint at a college party. Obviously there weren’t enough for everybody, as there were thousands of warriors on the battlefield, but many had their share of a few bites, including Black Panther, The Winter Soldier, Pepper Potts, Mantis, Falcon, Hawkeye, and more. And the power boost was visible.

At one point, Rocket Raccoon was swarmed by dozens of Chitauri. He should have been overpowered, but many of their weapons seemed to bounce off of him, like there was an invisible shield surrounding the raccoon. He taunted their failed attempts, shouting expletives while blasting bullets into their faces, and moving faster than he physically should be able as he darted from alien to alien.

The Hulk who can already jump up onto buildings was able to propel himself hundreds of feet into the air, catching onto a Chitauri Leviathan and bringing it down to crash into more of Thanos’ soldiers below. His left arm still hurt from the Nano Gauntlet nearly frying it to a crisp, but the apple’s healing properties kept the pain at bay. His green skin also emitted a light golden tinge. There were even moments where he surprised himself with his newfound strength, where he punched a member of the Black Order so far that it nearly crashed into the Wasp, who was fighting her own goonies.

“Hey, watch it!” she shouted.

Bruce cringed. “Sorry!”

A large piece of building came down onto Spider-Man while he was holding back a hoard of alien monsters from swarming the battlefield. The rubble and cement crashed onto him, some pieces collided with his head. Some of the monsters were caught up in the collision too, each one killed. He, however, coughed a few times, stood up, and brushed it off as if nothing had happened. There was a decent throbbing in his head, but with every second that passed he felt it healing.

“That should have killed me,” Peter said, stunned.

With his super-strength and some webs, he was able to get out of the debris and back into the fight.

He looked down at his fists, which he felt brimming with the newfound strength powered by the apples, and back at the fight. “This is crazy.”

Iron Man, who at this point had been offered a bite of apple a few times by now, declined each time. 

“I don’t use anything in battle that I haven’t invented myself. Also, say no to drugs and all that jazz. But I will accept a nice glass of whiskey if you’re offering,” he told Loki.

“Stark…” Loki said under his breath. He shook his head at the man’s obstinate nature. Lucky for him, at least he was holding his own. For now.

Far away, on the other side of the battlefield, Scarlet Witch was facing off against Thanos.

“You took… everything from me,” she spoke, her eyes red with magic and hatred.

“I don’t even know who you are,” the Mad Titan replied.

“You will.”

Rising into the air, taking rocks and rubble with her, the Scarlet Witch threw the heavy material at Thanos with her magic. He was thrown back, but got back up quickly and ran at her with his double-edged blade. He nearly got her head, but just in time she stopped him with her energy. For the first time since taking a bite, she noticed little gold flecks when casting her magicks. She threw Thanos back and enveloped him with her energies, which she was going to crush him to death with.

“Rain fire!” he shouted.

“Just do it!” he said again in response to Corvus Glaive, one of his Black Order fighters.

Then, all turrets on Thanos’ ship turned downward to the battlefield, and hundreds of lasers fired down, hitting both hero and alien.

Much of the fighting stopped to prioritize taking cover from the deluge. Loki whipped his head up to see a bright blue laser coming right at him. It was then and there that he wished he’d revealed his true feelings for you before coming here.

You

Under Freya’s willow tree you sat meditating. For the most part you were able to fend off the fight-or-flight feelings the bond instilled in you from whatever Loki had to be experiencing right now. He needed you, and that mattered more than any distraction or Odin coming to try and stop you. And if he did find you, oh, he would try. But unfortunately, the magic just wasn’t kicking in. Still, you felt the grass poking underneath your legs, and the leaves of the tree swayed above you in the light breeze.

So, you took your mind back to the beginning. You recalled the pain and absolute terror when you were sacrificed; your first interactions with Loki; how you couldn’t stand each other; and when those feelings changed, leaving you confused and excited whenever he was around. And then there were the magic lessons in the hopes that you could break the bond, which eventually brought you closer together. You remembered the brief touches, the stares, the overwhelming feelings… And then, of course, there was the night you spent in the forest of Valhalla sharing a sleeping bag, talking about how it could never work. You remembered your feelings that night, and also your feelings when Loki poured his heart out to you about his true heritage. Then arrived the giants of Muspelheim and the feelings of affection, fear, and hope that Loki would come to rescue you. And when he did come… how tenderly he treated you, like you were a wounded bird fallen from its nest. After all this, you finally got Idunn’s apples, and you revealed to one another how much you really meant to each other.

Lastly, you focused on the bond itself. The pesky thing that got you in this whole ordeal in the first place, the magic that enhanced your desire of Loki and magnified your feelings. Just being in proximity of him drove you mad – and when you had your first kiss, it was like a drug.

How much of it was the bond and how much of your feelings were your own you did not know. This magic was ancient and uncertain, fueled by the anxiety, fear, and desperation of people who wanted their gods to make things right. But somewhere, deep down, you knew that despite your confusion, your affection, and your lust for Loki heightened by the binding magic – you loved him.

You loved Loki, the trickster god, the bastard Jotun son, the prince of Asgard, the almost-conqueror of Earth. The man who healed your wounds, taught you magic, and saved you from the fire giants.

And then he left you, but that didn’t matter right now. You knew that stubborn god only did it to protect you. It was out of love that he’d done it. He loved you. And you loved him. And now it was time to save him.

The bond within you tightened as you thought of Loki and your connection with him, and then in a flash, you were gone.

An amalgamation of confusing colors, sounds, and shapes whizzed past you as you were transported out of Valhalla. You didn’t know where you were or where he was, but you knew that you were being taken to Loki. You had tapped into the bond, just like Frigga told you.

It occurred in the span of half a second, then you appeared on a dimly lit battlefield. From the heavens, in the instant you arrived, a blue beam of highly-charged energy hit you, then reflected off of something, and redirected west, taking down a Chitauri Leviathan with it.

You uncovered your ears and opened your eyes after the blast was repelled. Loki did the same, and stared in shock at your sudden presence.

“Y/N?” He shouted, eyes wide. “How are you here? And… how did you do that?”

Loki and you looked up and noticed a faint, transparent bubble surrounding the both of you. The laser, it reflected off of you.

“The binding magic. I tapped into it to take me back to you,” you explained.

“And the forcefield?” Loki asked.

“I’m not entirely sure.”

The lasers continued to rain down, but the two of you were safe in your bubble. Another laser ricocheted off the forcefield and flew off into the dark gray clouds that overlooked the chaotic battle scene.

“Darling… I think when you tapped into the bond. In that exact moment you were transported here, the magic saved me.”

“I think you’re right. I was too focused on the bond to be casting any magic of my own. It must have known you were in danger, so it protected you.”

Loki nodded. He tried to appear calm and collected, but you could tell that he was processing that he’d almost just been killed.

“Thank you,” Loki said. And in that moment you swore he was about to kiss you. However, the battle for the universe currently raging probably wasn’t the time to do it, and his body language changed. 

Loki’s expression soured. “I can’t believe you came here after I expressly told you not to!”

You scoffed. “After you told me? I never agreed. You put me to sleep and then came here, and then when this whole big combat started I could feel you in danger. I’m the one who has a right to be angry!”

Another laser bounced off the forcefield.

“We can talk more later, but yes, I know my actions were incredibly deceitful and I hope that after all this you can forgive me.” Loki brushed a strand of hair behind your ear. “Thank you again for saving me.”

You smiled, then retrieved your half-apple from your pocket. “Eat, because if that laser would have killed you then I know you haven’t had one yet.”

“Perceptive,” Loki said with a small smirk. He took some bites, then gave it back to you. “Now you eat. And I see that you haven’t taken a bite yet either, despite the bond weakening with my absence. So finish it, because I’m not going to have your death on my conscience again.”

So you did, took bites of the apple until all that remained was the golden core. The fighting was sparse as heroes and foe alike were still taking cover from the lasers, until suddenly, the blasts stopped. The turrets on Thanos’ enormous flagship ceased fire and turned their attention to the sky. Everyone wondered what the hell could be happening that would draw the turrets’ attention from the battle at hand. Then, a huge blast came from the sky and Captain Marvel descended from the heavens.

“Right, so, there’s a lot happening here,” you said, looking at the enormous battlefield. “This is a lot more than a ship of fire giants.”

“Which is why I wanted you to stay where you’d be safe, but then again, you never really were good at listening to me, were you?” Loki said teasingly. “But since you’re here, why not keep the two of us safe?”

“Shield us both?”

Loki nodded. “Yes, since no one has eaten a full apple, no one here is truly invincible. Stronger, yes. But still killable. Shield us or anyone else if they are in danger.”

“Okay,” you said, unsure but ready.

At that moment, a group of hostiles attacked. Four of them jumped on Loki and two on you. They must not have seen the shield because their eyes never left you nor Loki. The aliens made contact with the shield instead, bouncing off of it. They laid on the ground in a daze, grunting in pain. The shield disappeared with the impact. While they were incapacitated, Loki stuck his dagger in two that attempted to jump on him, killing them swiftly. 

The third alien jumped up quickly and snarled at Loki, lunging at him and scratching his side with its talons. Loki retaliated with a blast of light blue magic. The magic froze the alien’s limbs and it howled in agony until it toppled over.

While Loki dealt with that, the fourth one tried to ambush him from behind, but in time you managed to tap into the bond to regain the shield, centering it on Loki. Its corpse flew back comically and hit the ground several feet away.

“Thank you,” Loki said.

The two that made to attack you were still on the ground, seemingly not aware of where they were. You sliced one’s throat with a sword you conjured out of the air. The other Loki roasted alive with embers he spewed from his hands.

“This is just a fraction of the dangers here. Thanos’ entire army is here to fight, a half-dozen aliens is nothing compared to the thick of it.” Loki spoke your name. “Do you understand?”

You nodded your head. “Yes, Loki, I understand. I knew what I signed up for when I came here.”

He nodded in return but there was something in his eyes, fear perhaps, or worry. He didn’t want you here, you knew that, but nothing could be done now. You were here until the battle had a victor.

Nearby, the Wasp and Spider-Man were being overrun by Thanos’ forces. As you and Loki ran to approach, you redirected your shield onto them. This was enough to give them breathing room, and many more aliens bounced off their shields the same way they did yours. With enough space to get their bearings, the two heroes got back into the fight. Spider-Man slung webbing to trap most of the horde, while the Wasp finished them off.

“Thank you magic shield lady!” Spider-Man shouted.

Loki killed the last few aliens coming their way, using his illusory duplicates to draw them into a trap.

The two of you moved on, and in that time you shielded Captain America from a laser blast from a bulky, ugly creature carrying a bazooka looking weapon.

“Thank you,” he said, grateful yet confused at the new participant in the battle. With his shield, he sliced the creature in half.

Close by, Iron Man and Falcon were fending off some of Thanos’ soldiers, when a member of the Black Order aimed to shoot Iron Man in the back. The first shot hit, and he careened into the ground. The alien grinned, and went to shoot him more, but the blasts bounced off of your shield and back at her. Falcon dealt the final blow.

You and Loki helped Iron Man get back to his feet.

“Are you okay?” you asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks for the assist. Glad I didn’t die back there…” He shook his head. “I’m sorry, you are who?”

You said your name and he introduced himself as well, even though you and nearly everyone on Earth knows Tony Stark.

“So you’re the one who helped Loki get here, huh? Well, thanks again for the help.” He turned his attention to the god of mischief. “Still don’t trust you.”

“I wouldn’t expect any different, Stark.”

“Pff.” And with that, Iron Man took off into the skies to rain lasers down on more of Thanos’ soldiers.

Of all the heroes you encountered, some you’d heard of, many you hadn’t – the last you met was Thor. He was one of the ones you knew since he fought in the Battle of New York, and of course, he was also Loki’s brother. Now that you knew Loki… you weren’t sure what to think. Loki tended to avoid talking about his family, but of the times he did, when he mentioned Thor there were many mixed feelings. There was love for his brother but also a deep-seated jealousy over the favoritism shown to him by their father.

At the exact moment you shielded Thor from an enemy’s attack, Mjolnir collided with the barrier. The shield rattled and shook, emitting a high-pitched sound. Thor, Loki, and you covered your ears and hunched over in pain from the vibrations it emitted. The alien, however, was less fortunate. It, which attempted to gnash Thor’s throat but hit the barrier instead, rattled from the inside out and shattered into a million pieces.

“Woah,” you said.

“That was intense,” Thor remarked, looking between you and the disintegrated alien. “Thank you, m’lady.”

He approached you and Loki. “I don’t believe we have met.”

The two of you exchanged names, although much like with Iron Man, you didn’t need much of an introduction from the god of thunder.

“Oh!” Thor clapped his hands. Then, without warning, the god of thunder pulled you into a bear hug. “Thank you for helping my brother.”

Choking through his immense biceps, you squeaked out a ‘you’re welcome.’ 

“Please, Thor, don’t kill her,” Loki said.

“I’ve heard much about you,” Thor said to you. “You are very special to Loki, I know it. He doesn’t like to show it, but I know he cares deeply for you.”

You felt your face grow warm for a second. “O - oh.”

“I mean, you two are –” Thor broke off, pointing between the two of you. He raised an eyebrow.

“Bonded?” Loki said.

“Together,” Thor corrected.

“Brother, please, now is not exactly the time to…”

“Fine, fine,” Thor interrupted. “But I know what I’ve heard about her from you, Loki. And I see it, too.” He bent down and smiled, taking your hand in his large one. “You’re a fine match.”

All you managed was a nervous laugh.

“Like Loki said, we can talk about it later. I have more alien heads to bash in.” 

The god of thunder, with his mighty strength, leapt into the air and rained lightning down with Stormbreaker onto another horde of Thanos’ soldiers.

“I apologize,” Loki said awkwardly.

“No, no, it’s fine. I like him,” you replied.

Up in the skies, Captain Marvel used her energy abilities to annihilate more foes. Meanwhile, as you and Loki focused more enemies a voice sounded: “Loki! CATCH!”

Hurtling at the god was the Nano Gauntlet. Its trajectory was high; he grunted and jumped into the air, just barely catching it in his arms. Talking to the two of you was Valkyrie again, she had thrown the gauntlet.

“We need to keep it away from Thanos!” she shouted from her pegasus.

And sure enough a swarm of aliens was approaching, all eyes locked onto the gauntlet in Loki’s hands.

“Darling,” Loki addressed you, holding the gauntlet out. You took it tenderly, afraid you may drop it – and you very well could, given how heavy it was. By simply holding it, energy surged through you, coursing through your fingers and up your arms into your entire body.

You shielded yourself. But what was Loki going to do?

A battalion of dozens of Thanos’ soldiers charged at you and Loki stood peacefully. Back straightened, he took slow, deep breaths. His hands were together, one on top of the other. From him, there was complete silence. And then, it happened.

A blaze of flames erupted around Loki, shooting outward and upward. It happened so quickly that most of the foes charging were caught in the inferno and incinerated upon impact. They shrieked and screamed, their bodies burning to a crisp and falling to the ground, blackened.

Loki swooped to the side, swaying his arms with him, using the dancelike motion to redirect the fire. The remaining aliens who had not collided with the inferno had little time to react as it came thrashing toward them. Right before they became enveloped, the flames formed the shape of an enormous phoenix. The flaming bird bent down and wrapped its wings around the encroaching foes, bringing them to the same fate their allies suffered just moments before.

With one last flourish of Loki’s hands, the phoenix cawed, spewing ember and ash into the sky, then – it dissipated.

A few dozen fried corpses were strewn about Loki’s immediate area. He turned around to look at you and your heart swelled. Sweat beaded on his brow, from both the effort and the heat of the fire. But you didn’t care about that; what did make your heart flutter was the look of confidence in his abilities and then the change to immediate worry. Loki ran to you.

“Are you hurt?”

“Me?” you asked with incredulity. You jerked your chin toward the dozens of dead Thanos soldiers. A laugh escaped your throat. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Good,” Loki said. 

“I thought you said the Phoenix’s Glory was more for show than battle,” you said.

“Well, it just so happened that it was useful at that moment.”

“Mmhmm,” you remarked.

“Anyway, I’m glad you’re okay.”

Loki reached for the gauntlet, which you handed over gingerly. Then, Loki’s silhouette warped for a moment and an illusory clone of himself also holding a clone Nano Gauntlet sprang into being.

Nearby, Bucky Barnes and Star-Lord had just finished fighting off their own horde of enemies.

“One of you, HERE!” Loki said, tossing the gauntlet. Both turned their heads. The Winter Soldier jumped and caught it in midair. “Don’t let anybody have it!”

Bucky nodded and sprinted away. Loki sent his double off in an opposite direction to distract the aliens from the real one. It proved effective as a decent amount of hostiles caught sight of him and went to attack.

With most of the attention on the gauntlet you had an opportunity to breathe. You watched the battlefield and, by the looks of it, you could actually win this. Much more enemies were going down than allies. They seemed desperate, and Thanos in the distance grew angrier. You had to push down the fear within you that you were actually fighting against Thanos right now.

Further up the battlefield, one of the hostiles finally caught the Loki double. It vanished, and the gauntlet double with it. Upon realizing they’d been duped, they scrambled to look for who had the true gauntlet. Like a hot potato, it was being tossed from hero to hero in a desperate attempt to keep the key to the universe out of the hands of the Mad Titan. 

At one point you overheard something about getting to a van, but you had no idea how that could be relevant.

Loki and you ran, doing anything in your power to keep the aliens from achieving their goal. You kept yourself and Loki shielded, whilst he employed magic and daggers to delay, distract, or kill.

In the distance, Thanos threw his double-bladed sword at the old van half-buried in dirt and rubble. An explosion erupted, and Captain Marvel with gauntlet in hand, just inches from the vehicle, was thrown backwards hundreds of feet. The gauntlet fell from her grasp and skidded to the ground.

The gauntlet didn’t have an owner.

It was a free-for-all.

Thanos, Captain America, Thor, and Captain Marvel scrambled for the gauntlet, each vying for possession of it. One by one the Avengers attacked Thanos. With the power stone, he flung Captain Marvel out of the picture. Thor came in next to try to grab the gauntlet, but Thanos stopped him. They were at a stalemate, with Thor pressing Stormbreaker against Thanos’ chest and Thanos keeping Thor at bay. Then, Captain America jumped onto Thanos’ back to give Thor some support. In desperation, Thanos headbutted Thor and threw Captain America off of his back, punching him in the face hard.

“I have to help,” Loki said as the two of you looked at the scene ahead.

“What are you going to do?” you asked. “Even with the apples Thanos is incredibly strong. You could still die.”

“I know, but I can’t let him wipe out the entire universe. That’s why I am entrusting my life in your hands.”

“What do you need me to do?”

“Stay far away from Thanos but protect us as best you can. You’ve come a long way since the first time I asked you to conjure a needle. You can make a difference.”

You nodded slowly. “Okay.”

You didn’t realize that the two of you had been holding hands. Loki kissed the back of your hand, and then parted from you to face Thanos. You watched him leave you and fought the tears that stung your eyes. Now wasn’t the time to cry; it was time to act. You pushed onward and found a small hill you could use as a vantage point.

Loki broke into a sprint. Thanos was currently on Thor, punching him relentlessly.

“That’s enough now,” Loki said, trying to hold back his rage upon seeing Thor’s face bloodied and bruised. The god of thunder was entirely unconscious.

“No, it’s not,” Thanos said, punching Thor again with his massive purple fist. “Now it is.”

The Mad Titan stood up, looking Loki up and down. “You Asgardians are exhausting to deal with.”

“And I’m about to be so much more exhausting than him,” Loki said in response. With a flick of his wrist, four clones materialized next to Loki; two on each side.

“Ugh,” Thanos said.

All five Lokis dashed forward and then split up to surround Thanos from all sides. Thanos ran to scoop the Nano Gauntlet from the ground, but one of the Lokis was too quick, materializing in front of him and picking it up just to throw it to another Loki. Thanos stuck out his right leg to kick the Loki, and it poofed out of existence. He ran to the Loki now holding the gauntlet, but another intervened and conjured a cloud of black ravens. Blinded by the birds, the real Loki took his opportunity to jump on Thanos’ back and hold his dagger to Thanos’ neck.

From your vantage point you had no idea which Loki was what after all the running around, but you did know the real one would be doing the killing. From afar, you casted your shield again onto Loki. Thanos attempted to elbow his assassin in the face, but the shield forced it back. Thanos growled in frustration. He jumped backwards in an attempt to fall and sandwich Loki between his back and the ground. The force was too much for your shield to handle and it popped on impact. Loki groaned in pain underneath Thanos’ crushing weight. Struggling, he attempted to push Thanos off of him. As he did so, a golden glow formed around the god, and with one final push of strength, Loki shoved Thanos off of him. 

He gasped for breath and two of the remaining three copies rushed in to distract again. The two copies worked together to surround Thanos with fire. Thanos got up quickly and charged, jumping right through the fire without a thought. The flames that caught on Thanos’ clothes were extinguished almost immediately with how furiously he ran. The two Loki clones began to conjure more fire, but Thanos was too quick for them. He leapt into the air and punched them out of existence. But it had been long enough now that Thanos did not know which of the last two Lokis was the real one. All he knew was: one of them was currently holding his key to the universe.

“You are exhausting,” Thanos said with disdain. “Like a little gnat, and I will swat you.”

Thanos looked between the two Lokis, weighing his options.

You wanted to put the shield up again so badly. But it was not completely invisible and Thanos would notice it, and give away the real Loki’s position, so you had to wait until the last moment. 

Thanos looked past the Lokis in front of him and in the distance, saw you.

“And your little girlfriend’s a gnat too.”

“Don’t talk – no, don’t even look at her,” The Lokis spoke, irate.

“I don’t care about her. But unfortunately for you,” Thanos remarked. “I can see through your trick. You have a golden aura around you, and your doubles do not.”

“Well, that’s unfortunate,” the real Loki said. He and his clone looked at one another.

“Throw it to me!” A shout came from the skies. It was Iron Man. A puttering noise came from his jets, and the last five or so feet to the ground was a fall. 

“I guess no more flying for me. Loki, throw it!” He repeated.

The Loki double made to throw it, but Thanos picked up one of his dead soldier’s weapons and chucked it at him. The clone dematerialized, the gauntlet clattered to the ground, and Thanos made a mad dash for it.

The last Loki left – the real one – also sprinted to pick the gauntlet back up.

You made to conjure another shield around Loki when one of Thanos’ soldiers tackled you to the ground. 

“Ungh! Get off of me!”

The alien snapped its maw at you, bending lower to try to take a bite out of your neck. Slobber dribbled down from its jowls.

A surge of strength flowed through you as you were able to push the horrid creature off you. It toppled onto the ground and attempted to tackle you again as you stood up but you dodged out of the way just in time.

“Enough of this!” You outstretched your hand and threw a fireball at it. It swerved out of the way and sliced at your arm.

“OW!” You shouted. You didn’t have time for this, Loki needed your help. In your anger and frustration you flung out both hands and screamed. The magic within you stirred and a powerful force blew the hostile back one hundred feet. It didn’t get back up.

With that taken care of, you whipped around. In the twenty seconds you were preoccupied, Iron Man was unconscious on the ground, or dead, possibly. You didn’t know. The Nano Gauntlet was still on the ground, and Loki and Thanos were battling it out.

Loki found an opportunity to stab Thanos with his dagger. Enraged, Thanos punched Loki, who fell to the ground. He rolled out of the way right as a giant purple fist came down to collide with his face. Loki quickly stood up and awaited Thanos’ next move.

Then, Loki’s head whipped to you.

“Y/N, watch out!”

Something was approaching you from your periphery. In a flash, you put up your shield and the alien fell back. You conjured a sword to slash it in two. In the small window your shield had fallen, a member of the Black Order grabbed you, holding your hands behind your back.

“You are so pesky,” the creature spoke.

You were about to scream an expletive at it when you heard a pained groan from the god of mischief. You looked back down the hill to Loki. Thanos had twisted his arm behind him, throwing the god to the ground. Wriggling underneath the alien’s grasp, you tried to do something, anything to get free. Your captor just laughed.

Loki struggled to get up, but Thanos stomped Loki in the chest. Again, and again. Then, Thanos fell to his knees and began punching the god in the face, just like he’d done earlier with Thor. Except, Loki didn’t have anyone to save him. You were trapped and forced to watch as your love was beaten to a bloody pulp.

After some time, Loki stopped trying to get up.

No…

“No!” you screamed.

Thanos looked from Loki to you with a grin on his face.

“Say goodbye,” Thanos spoke. He raised his fists over Loki’s body.

Fear, anger, worry, protection, and love all washed over you as you watched Thanos bring his fists down in slow motion.

Something deep within you sparked.

“LOKI!” you shouted, and you no longer stood on the little hill you had inhabited. Instead, you teleported right between Thanos and Loki. You raised a hand to protect your face from Thanos’ blow and tapped into the magic that connected yourself with the god of mischief.

Thanos’ fists came down upon the barrier. His fists ricocheted off and The Mad Titan launched backward several feet.

“Get him out of here!” A voice said. It was Iron Man, who had managed to get back up. With his laser glove, he shot the Black Order member who was currently pursuing you down the hill. Iron Man ran toward Thanos, who crawled away and slipped the gauntlet onto his hand.

From your knees you watched Iron Man and Thanos duke it out, then turned your attention to Loki. He still had a golden glow about him, albeit faint, but he was out cold. His blood coated your hands, and there was a lot of swelling on his face. It appeared to be healing, but was it enough?

You opened a portal directly underneath and the two of you fell through it; you apologized to him when he inhaled a pained gasp. On the other side, you popped out far away from where Thanos could hurt Loki any more. The two of you appeared nearer to the destroyed Avengers compound. Loki’s breathing was shallow.

“Hang in there just a bit longer,” you whispered.

—-----

Thanos threw Iron Man off of him.

“I am inevitable,” Thanos spoke triumphantly. The gauntlet was on – and grinning, he snapped his fingers… But nothing happened. His grin disappeared and he went to snap again but with the same results. He looked over at Iron Man.

The hero raised his right hand and engaged the Infinity Stones into a gauntlet of his own creation, built right into his suit. Multi-colored lightning crackled and Iron Man groaned but maintained eye contact with the Mad Titan.

“And I am Iron Man.”

His fingers snapped.

[lilybet03]

Harry Potter and the Wondrous Wizard

For want of a nail the horse was lost, for want of a horse the battle was lost, for want of a battle the crown was lost. As Harry Potter stood, broom in hand, 'Potter Stinks' badges flashing at him from the crowd, dragon roaring in front of him, he wondered if this was the nail. Or rather if him going along with all of this madness was the beginning of the end. His end. Slowly he backed away from the black spiny monster, and back into the safety of the champion's tent. Time to use some of those brains Hermione claimed he had.

"Mr Potter, what do you think you're doing?" Mr Bagman came bustling into the tent, looking harried.

Harry spun round to face him, "Being a teenager, sir."

"What? No, now come on, there's no need for nerves now, just go on out. I see you've got your broom, fine flyer I've heard, come along," Bagman tried to herd him back out of the tent flap towards the Horntail, but this time Harry was having none of it.

"Sorry, sir, but as a… a minor, I can't compete without a guardian's permission." Harry continued backing away from Bagman, towards the other tent exit. "A magical guardian!" He dregged up a useless fact from one of Hermione and Ron's late night arguments about the wizarding world's 'backwards nature'. "I'm not apprenticed, my godfather's a criminal, and Professors don't count, so really, sir, I can't compete, you see, it's illegal."

And with that Harry ran. He didn't get more than a few yards before he saw the other judges bearing down on him. Which was when he finally made use of the broom he'd summoned. Swinging a leg over, he buzzed past the astonished adults, enjoying their stunned expressions as he took off for Gryffindor tower.

Squeezing his way through the window, whilst not falling to his death from seven stories, was not an experience Harry wanted to repeat, but at least it was better than  being burnt to a crisp by a dragon. Hurriedly, knowing that this would be the first place the search party would look, Harry opened his trunk, and threw his invisibility cloak over him, broom and all. Then he headed for the door.

It was not an easy task, avoiding the confused groups of students and determined adults, but Harry eventually made his way to Myrtle's bathroom. It was empty. Like always. Trying not to make a fuss, Harry found the right sink and hissed at the snake carved tap. A familiar grinding noise filled the room. 

"Who's there? Come to call me names I bet," Myrtle whined from one of the stalls, but Harry was gone. Sliding down the pipe and into the dubious safety of the Chamber of Secrets.

It had been very difficult to tell exactly how long the Basilisk was when fighting it with only a mythical sword, but Harry discovered in the course the next several hours of exploration that it was approximately 65 feet long, which was rather large. He also discovered that the Chamber of Secrets was accurately named. There was the Basilisk (secret number one), the network of bedrooms and studies (secret number two), and the large library and potions laboratory (secret number three). All of these paled in comparison, however, when he discovered secret number four: Merlin.

Sometimes Harry thought his life was like an adventure story. But if it was he wouldn't have ended up stuck expositing his way through 1500 years of British history, starting with some poorly remembered information about the Anglo-Saxons, and ending with the rather too personal recent affairs. In all Merlin, complete with long grey beard and pointy hat, took events rather well. There had been some swearing at the beginning, in what Harry assumed was Welsh, but after that he had settled down to listen with interest.

The room Merlin had been hibernating in was carved out of the natural rock that Hogwarts sat on, had a simple stone shelf for a bed and a metal brazier. Merlin himself seemed incredibly spry for a 1600 year old man, and jumped up around the Georgian era to pace across the small space. Finally, he turned to the amazed young wizard and asked, "Do you want to be my apprentice?"

Harry, having had a rather long day, with one too many dragons in it, blurted out, "Why? I'm no one!"

"You have a problem, yes?" Merlin waited until Harry nodded, "I can be a solution."

"Wasn't your last apprentice Arthur?" Harry queried, the image of a knight throwing Excalibur into the lake as Arthur died behind him stuck in his head.

"Yes. No. It's a little complicated," Merlin admitted.

"I'd rather not be a hero," Harry said, "If that's alright."

"Arthur was not a hero," Merlin said sternly, looking down at the young man folded on the floor of his cave, "Arthur was an idiot with a sword. Which was, admittedly, my mistake. The sword, not the idiot."

"I had a sword," muttered Harry, thinking of the giant dead snake miraculously not decomposing in the main chamber.

"You are a wizard, Harry," said Merlin.

Harry looked up in shock. Those words had saved his life from Dursley-shaped oblivion once, and now they were here again. Could they save him from possessed teachers, teenaged dark lords, evil rats, and goblets of fire?

"Would you like to learn magic?" Merlin asked, oblivious of Harry's turmoil. He swept his hand in a small circle, and presented a gold coin to the boy.

Later Hermione would ask, "But how did you know? How did you know he was Merlin?" Which was a really good question, with the very unsatisfying answer, "I just did." This moment was the same. How did Harry, the boy who had learnt how to hide, to protect everyone except himself, how all promises were made to be broken, how did he just know that Merlin would give him freely the truth of what it meant to be a wizard? To do magic. He just did.

"Yes. Please."

When Harry emerged from the pipe in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, Merlin clinging gleefully onto the broom behind him, he was expecting a mess. The sort of mess that began with Snape shouting and ended in Dumbledore's disappointed look, with a tearful Hermione sandwiched between. He did not find that. Instead, outside the bathroom, he found Ron.

"About time," he muttered, handing Harry a squashed sandwich, "Everyone's gone nuts."

"Er," Harry said usefully, taking a bite of the sandwich (not egg and cress, he might be forgiven!).

"We've all been sent to our dorms, the teachers are scouring every floor of the castle, there are Aurors on the grounds, and mum's here." He said the last with a truly glum look, "She had a go."

"Well, you might have believed me," Harry said, trying for calm and somehow achieving it. It helped, having the most renowned wizard ever to live examining his broom as if it were a new species of cat; the level of surrealism was oddly relaxing.

"Yeah," Ron muttered, his ears going red.

"How come you're here and not," Harry waved a hand in the vague direction of Gryffindor Tower.

Ron pulled a rather battered, old piece of parchment out of his pocket. "Figured you might be hungry," he shrugged.

"Excellent, a man who knows words feed the soul," declared Merlin, and strode off down the hall, "Let's sort this tumaultuous affair out, shall we. This way!"

"Who's he?" Ron asked.

"Merlin."

"Right. Wait, what?"

[livingmeatloaf]

BTS for "Bamboo Branch in the Northern Desert" 👀👀👀

From the Unusual Fic Specifc Asks for Authors ask game

BTS: I’ll write a DVD commentary about my personal favorite passage from [that fic]

I chose the scene where the plan to marry is hatched and discussed (link to fic)

~~~~

  Zhuzhi-Lang follows Mobei-Jun to his room and collapses on the long couch, legs shifting to tail almost as soon as his ass hits the cushion. Mobei-Jun kneels before the brazier near his head and lights it, sending heat into connected pipes below the couch.

   "I needed this," Zhuzhi-Lang groans, stretching his arms over his head. Mobei-Jun hums in agreement, settling in a cool spot on the thick woven rug in front of the couch. One of Zhuzhi-Lang's coils shift to settle against his shoulder. "I, of course, support and appreciate my uncle, but I do not understand him."

   "Mn? This is about his human?"

   "He wants to marry her."

   "Ah." Mobei-Jun idly tosses black ice shards at the fire, watching them shatter in the flames. "I do not see how a human can be a good empress for the demon realm."

   "Su-guniang might be up for the challenge, but he's not thinking about that. She makes him happy and that's as far as my uncle has thought." Zhuzhi-Lang sighs. "I explained to him these same points multiple times, but he only says that 'love conquers all' and 'the heart wants what the heart wants' and 'love is fickle' and then quotes poetry until I stop asking questions."

   “At least he isn’t pestering you to get married,” Mobei-Jun grumpily responds, mood souring. He throws an ice shard too hard, making the brazier tip onto two feet. Zhuzhi-Lang reaches out to catch it before it can spill. Mobei-Jun winces, already summoning ice to soothe the burn, but Zhuzhi-Lang rights the hot metal without a change in his expression.

   “Your uncle?”

   Mobei-Jun blinks, then crosses his arms and slumps against the couch. “He says I should marry soon. To secure the line. He says he has candidates, but that means they're all in his control and he'll kill me through them.”

   A coil slips over his chest, pinning him down in Zhuzhi-Lang’s version of a friendly headlock. “I could eat him for you,” the snake demon offers.

   “Too much work. And you'll get indigestion.”

   Zhuzhi-Lang laughs, then quiets. He runs his fingers along the smooth lines of polished wood, the pine twisted into knots by age and icy wind decades before it became a couch, lost in thought. When he speaks, his tone is subdued. “... My uncle also speaks of me marrying. Or ‘finding love,’ whatever that means. I do not want to marry some stranger. I... do not want to act like a fool.”

   “A fool?”

   “My uncle is changed by Su-guniang. It is... disconcerting.”

   “Ah.”

   “If that is ‘finding love,’ I want no part in it,” Zhuzhi-Lang says acidically.

   Mobei-Jun grumbles in agreement. He idly traces the dark diamond pattern on Zhuzhi-Lang’s scales with his fingerpads. “I would much rather marry you than some simpering noble.”

   “Oh! That’s a thought.”

   “What—”

   Mobei-Jun coughs as the coil tightens, cutting off his air. Zhuzhi-Lang sits up, leaning over him. His golden eyes are bright with excitement. One hand supports him as he leans over Mobei-Jun, the other gestures elegantly.

   “If we got married, we could be together more often. And our uncles could not oppose, we are two of the strongest lines in the demon realm.” He nods, a plan crystalizing in his mind. “Yes, it is perfect. It is beneficial. No one can complain.”

   Mobei-Jun gives up on struggling out of the hold of his tail and sinks into a shadow portal. He steps out on the other side of the couch; Zhuzhi-Lang twists to look at him.

   The plan swirls in Mobei-Jun’s head. Could this backfire on them? Were there any drawbacks? Even with decades of looking for the slightest danger spot, he cannot find fault with the arrangement. The only potential issue— “I care for you, but I do not love you. I do not think I can—”

   “Good,” Zhuzhi-Lang cuts in firmly. He squeezes Mobei-Jun’s forearm. “If you acted toward me like my uncle acts towards Su-guniang, I would have to eat you.”

   Mobei-Jun laughs. When he calms, he cups Zhuzhi-Lang’s face, contemplative. Zhuzhi-Lang lets him, and watches him back. The snake demon is his oldest and closest friend; it would be no hardship to share the rest of his life with him. In fact, the thought brings him joy. He could be a good king with Zhuzhi-Lang at his side.

   “I cannot leave the north. Would you marry into my house?” Mobei-Jun asks. “You are your uncle's heir.”

   Zhuzhi-Lang hums. “I will speak to him. I am sure it will be fine.”

   With a nod, Mobei-Jun releases him and rejoins him on the floor. “Then I will speak to my father and uncle.”

~~~~

After writing most of the fic, I realized I should have kept Zhuzhi-Lang in his legged form more, since it's his canon preferred form. I just love blocking scenes with his tailed form, and letting him be cared for in his true/birth form! Tails are cool!

I knew I wanted this to be aro4aro from the start. The marriage of convenience trope fits an aro relationship perfectly. Their pragmatic, intense personalities mesh well. They are fiercely loyal to each other, no one can turn them against the other. That doesn't mean they don't get jealous of others taking up their husband's time though lol (I may explore this more in the sequel)

Mobei-Jun gives up on struggling out of the hold of his tail and sinks into a shadow portal. He steps out on the other side of the couch; Zhuzhi-Lang twists to look at him.

^this is not the first time Mobei-Jun got grappled by Zhuzhi-Lang's tail, nor the last. Zhuzhi-Lang is so strong! It's a fun challenge for Mobei-Jun when they fight and fuck, and cuddling is extra fun when there's 20 more feet of husband wrapping around you.

Also technically they're monsterfucker4monsterfucker because of their physical differences looool

I hope I haven't forgotten anything I wanted to say, I had to rewrite this answer 3 times because tumblr kept fucking up 😭

[corvid-dance]

I think id be a early-mid game optional boss, something sombre where you kinda feel both good bad for killing it, the arena is the start of this massive foyer gold leaf and silver inlay on the walls very ostentatious, with soft violin and piano playing with a light mechanical sound behind it as if these are from speakers, then what looks like some sort of mechanical butler/maid (its not really clear if its one or the other, its in between) it looks very clean and almost elegant apart from a few twitches, it would say something along the lines of “The Madam isn’t having guests currently, Please Leave.” and if the player turns around and leaves I wouldn't attack, just stand and probably say “Thank you”. if the player stays then the fight starts with me holding some rapier or other very pretty looking sword in a duelist’s stance,and the boss health bar would appear with the name “Keeper of The Clockwork Manor” my attacks would be very flowing and controlled moves, the entire fight there would be small lines that are very soft and robotic,eg.”the lady of clockwork would recommend you don't come back” or “we request you stop damaging the Madam’s home”, also the first phase would have a quirk where if you threw some sort of mud or blood thing (anything that would dirty the area) and backed off I would go to clean it then continue the fight. once I got to like half health the porcelain and metal covers would break, and the inside would be a mix of machine and meat, pistons made of bone, tendons made of steel wire, gears and clockwork all being meat while the bones and muscles are made of metal, at the second phase’s start my voice would turn more human, “PLEASE LEAVE JUST LEAVE!”, and the phrase would turn more guttural and emotional like if you died during the second phase there owuld be a parting line like “DONT COME BACK!, just don’t...” and those flowing moves would stop and be replaced by more stabs and wide slashes uncaring of things getting broken.

at like 5% health remaining I would just stop, like in the middle of a thrust i would just fall, struggle to get up, fall again, and just stay down. the boss health bar and the soundtrack stops, and that light violin and piano comes back, you can finish me off for the big soul item, or you can just take my sword and leave the room and continue into the manor, if you spared me later on there would be a few summon signs with “Keeper?” -> “Clockwork duellist” my theme would start out as a light string and wood wind song, soft and pleasing with a backing of mechanical clicks and such. untill the second phase where the mechanical bits get much louder, steam pipes and banging metal, like a post apocalypse orchestra with a background of chanting under it

Here's a few questions for you.

If you were a Dark Souls/Demon's Souls/Bloodborne styled boss battle, what would your arena look like, what would you be (a creature, just some dude, other, etc, etc), and what would your theme sound like?

[inhuman-obey-me]

Payback's a Murder

Word Count: 2k Description: Mammon may be the Avatar of Greed and may constantly try to con his brothers, but others who try to do the same will find themselves at the wrong end of his murder. Part of the A Demon's Nature series. Finally got back to this, so here we go with Mammon's turn! Note: Mulciber is a demon mentioned in John Milton's Paradise Lost. He served under Mammon and was an architect. Can also be found on AO3 here. content warning: blood, body horror, torture via the sharp ends of birds

The Avatar of Greed often found himself in trouble, whether it be because he stole personal belongings to sell or tried to cheat someone out of cash or … well, there were a lot of ways. Call him reckless, but when he saw an opportunity to make some cold, hard Grimm, he wasn’t about to pass it up!

But if someone tried to cheat him out of something? That wouldn’t do. Few dared to try it if they knew just who they were dealing with, but that didn’t stop some from trying anyway. They always regretted it afterwards.

The real issue, however, was if someone tried to cheat his brothers out of something. After all, he was the only one allowed to rip them off (that was his justification, anyway). The moment he finds out someone else tried to play confidence demon with any of them, it was a one-way ticket to the Great Mammon’s Beatdown Extravaganza.

He was walking by Leviathan’s room earlier when he heard a loud crash, some swearing, and a slight rumble under his feet. After some door breaking, tackling, and forcing his hotheaded brother to not summon Lotan, he found out what had made him so upset. Apparently, there was some demon running around with elaborate schemes swindling others -- well, nerds -- out of their money. He went on to explain something that Mammon did not at all understand -- as was usual when he got into his otaku rambling. If his brother had not been so upset, Mammon would have commended the guy for knowing how to target and hit a jackpot.

After some additional pestering, Mammon managed to get a rough description of this third-rate demon and realized he had a pretty good idea of just who it was. It was someone far closer to him than he’d like to admit.

So now here he was, leaning against the bar at one of the Devildom’s many clubs, drink in hand as he monitors the floor. If he was right, he would see the other cozening demon somewhere here tonight, so now it was just a waiting game. As Lucifer had told him repeatedly, You have to show that you’re Number Two. He planned to make that very clear tonight.

He felt the pulse of the bass vibrating through his body as the DJ amped up their music, more and more demons flowing into the space as the prime clubbing hours arrived. A few who noticed Mammon acknowledged his presence, some whispering about how he seemed to look way more serious than normal. The Avatar of Greed, not partying the night away already? Strange.

His patience was just about to run out when he caught a glimpse of just the demon he was seeking out. Hair as orange as a flame, he wasn’t too hard to spot amongst the crowd of more muted succubi surrounding him. Mammon downed the rest of his drink in one go, wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his jacket as he made his way to his target.

“Mulciber. Already getting started, huh?”

“M-Mammon?!” He seemed startled to see the other, but cleared his throat as he regained his cool composure. “It’s good to see you, man! Why don’t you join us all for a drink?” The succubi around him giggled, one daring to lean towards Mammon in an attempt to latch onto his arm, but he quickly placed a hand up to stop her.

“No touchin’, sweetheart.” He shot her a look that made her immediately back away, a pout on her lips. “And that’s a nice offer, Mulcey, but I was hopin’ I could talk to ya real quick in private.”

Mulciber could tell that no was not an option in this conversation, given the serious look in the Avatar’s eyes. “Oh, uh, sure. Sorry ladies, I’ll be back soon. Gotta take care of business!” He gave them a wink as they continued on to the table for their party. Clearing his throat again, he turned back to his superior. “So, what’s shaking, boss?”

Mammon just gave him a smile before nodding his head towards a side door, motioning to accompany him there. The lesser demon complied, following him outside to a side alley. The night air was brisk, causing a shudder to run through Mulciber’s spine. At least, he hoped it was the weather that was making him feel like this …

“I heard ya got up to another scheme.” Mammon fiddled with a lighter, flipping the top off and on with his thumb and a jerk of his hand as he spoke. Click, click, click, click. “Wanna tell me about it?”

“Oh, uh, yeah, totally!” Mulciber nervously replied, wondering why Mammon seemed so interested. Did he want a cut of the check? Fishing for ideas for his own next get-rich-quick scheme? Or --

Oh.

Oh no.

He suddenly remembered that one of the victims of his scheming had been the very Avatar of Envy. He hadn’t thought much of it at the time, delighting in the fact that he was even able to rip off a Greater Demon. Meant his plan had to be pretty genius, right? But now … now he was starting to realize that he may have just made a big mistake.

“Hm? Ya haven’t said a word, Mulcey-boy.” Mammon turned to face him, tucking the lighter into his pocket. He took a step towards the other, who immediately took a step back -- only to be met with a hard brick wall. “Or didja have a moment of realization?”

“L-Listen, Mammon, I’m sorry! I didn’t know at the time, I swear!” Mulciber brought both his hands up, as if that would stop the other from approaching him.

“Oh? ‘Cuz your face says differently, buddy.” He bared his fangs, the usual gradient in his eyes now glowing a furious gold. There’s a malicious grin on his face as he takes a step back, and then he begins to … whistle?

Mulciber does not like where this is going. He’s heard that tune before and it makes his hairs stand on end. “Look, man, please, I’ll do whatever I have to do to make it up to you!” There’s already desperation in his voice, which almost makes Mammon laugh.

“Glad to hear it. Then ya won’t have a problem with what’s about to happen next, yeah?”

It starts in the distance, a noise that made it feel as if your eardrums were being pierced by a thousand shards of glass. It grows louder and louder, closer and closer. An omen.

Mulciber shrinks against the wall, his grey eyes wide in fear. He knows running is pointless -- the other demon would quickly catch him, and leave him even worse for wear as repercussion. “P-please, Mammon, sir, don’t do this … “

“Didn’t you just say ya’d do whatever ya have to do?” Mammon shakes his head, his wings stretching out wide as if to entrap the lesser demon where he stood. “And you really think suddenly pullin’ out the formalities is gonna get ya any mercy here?”

The flapping of numerous wings now filled the air, a large murder of crows circling in the dark sky above. Their bone-chilling caws and cries rain down upon them as the birds eagerly await their master’s command.

Mammon lunged forward and grasped the other’s jaw, his claws digging into flesh as he brought his face threateningly close. “Pretty ballsy of you to think messin’ with any of us was the right move.” He growled, a rumble in his throat. “Looks like someone needs remindin’ of his place.”

“I-I wasn��t thinkin’ at the time! C’mon, you know how that is, don’t you? I was just thinking of making some big bucks, I didn’t mean to go and step out of line--” Mulciber frantically rambled, trying to ignore the searing pain he was feeling from Mammon’s grip.

“I’m sure that was the case, Mulcey, sure!” If it wasn’t for his mocking smile, the Avatar would have nearly sounded genuine. “But that doesn’t mean you can escape the consequences, ya’know?” He let out a tsk, watching as blood dripped from where he had pierced the other’s skin.

He let go of Mulciber, taking a few steps back as he shook his hand as if to clean it of the ichor. There was no denying the glee he was feeling from this -- it had been a while since he decided to flex his abilities and powers on another. Looking up to the sky, he whistled out another tune, causing the crows to descend.

“He’s all yours.” He commands them in a language only they could understand, and in a flash the black-feathered birds rush in to attack. Their squawks mix with Mulciber’s shrieks as they begin to peck at him with their beaks and scratch him with their claws. Mammon fishes out the lighter from his pocket once more, grabbing a cigarette from the box he had on him with his other hand. Leaning against the opposing alley wall, he lights up and takes a slow drag, watching as the flurry of feathers pulverize his inferior.

The crows tear at Mulciber’s flesh, their sharp beaks riddling his body with small cavities and painting him with his own blood. He continues to cry and scream, though it’s obvious he’s losing energy by the second as they grow weaker in intensity, his body slumping towards the ground. Perhaps he had learned his lesson? Surely, he’s just waiting for it all to stop now, right?

Mammon takes a glance around, humming in delight as he catches sight of a discarded iron pipe. He drops the remains of his cigarette to the ground, stomping it out before retrieving his now makeshift weapon. It feels cool and light in his hand, and he gives it a small toss in the air before catching it again with a satisfied smile.

“Alright, alright. You all can leave him alone now.” Mammon commands his murder once more, followed by another whistle to let them know they could go back to doing whatever they were doing before now. One of them flew over to Mammon, perching on the metal rod in his hand, looking up at him with a puffed up chest in pride as blood stained its beak.

“Yes, who’s my good lil’ birdie?” Mammon cooed, scratching the crow under its chin. “Go get yerself cleaned up, okay?” It cawed in delight before flying off to join the rest, who were fading back into the dark night sky. The Avatar of Greed shook his head fondly before turning his attention back to the matter at hand.

Mulciber lay crumpled on the ground, though was making efforts to sit upright as he gasped for breath. His body hurt all over, as if every inch of him had been pierced with needles. He feebly looked up to meet Mammon’s gaze, a whimper leaving him as he noticed the rod in his hand.

“What? I couldn’t let my birds have all the fun, now could I?” Mammon grasped the rod firmly in both hands before swinging it down with a deafening crack as it hit the other, who let out another sharp cry of pain.

“Hm, perhaps just another for good measure.” Whack. Another wail.

“Okay, okay. One more.” Whack. Another splatter of blood.

Content at the shuddering and sniveling mass that was left, Mammon kneeled down to get close to Mulciber’s ear, his next words full of menace. “Ya really should have stuck to the building business. Keep that in mind in the future, ‘kay?”

Mammon stood up and let the iron rod clatter to the ground, its hollowness ringing into the night. He made his way back inside to order another drink, ignoring the whispers and stares from the others in the club. It was doubtful that Mulciber would make an appearance here after what had happened for a while.

He knocked on the bar counter, getting the attention of the bartender. “Give me a glass of your finest whiskey. Put it on Mulciber’s tab.”

[thewritetofreespeech]

hello!! i've made a request before but this idea came in my brain and i heard your requests were open. So ive seen a lot of fics of the brothers saving mc, but what about mc kinda of saving the brothers, i mean like badass sword fighting style. Just like a stereotypical disney prince saves a princess mc kinda saves the brothers from getting killed by a lesser demon with a sword and just being badass (and sword) and the bros find it hot (weak humans? never heard of them)

*spongebob narrator voice* 400 years lat’er..... So sorry this took so long! I genuinely don’t know why I couldn’t get it done. When I actually tried, I got it done in like 2 days. My only excuse is that I’m a horrible trash munny >.<

Obey me Boys + Power Princess MC

Lucifer

It offends him that this creature, this being not fit to lick the soles of his boots, would raise their hand to him. The attack was not even what upset him, but just the gall. The utter stupidity of this decision to throw one’s life away. The fact that they had attacked with you around only made him wish to end that pathetic life that much sooner.

“Step back [Y/N]. I’ll deal with this quic—” Lucifer cut himself off when you rushed forward. A bright shining sword in your hand as you lunged. Slashing through the demon, who wailed and instantly turned to dust & ash. “What on Earth was that?”

“Oh. It’s my sword.” You reply nonchalantly. Turning around to show it to him. “It’s a holy arc sword, or something. I can summon it from my bracelet whenever I need it. Cool to know it actually works in a pinch.”

“And where did you get such a magical artifact?” Lucifer asked. Perplexed beyond reason, but trying not to show it.

“Lord Diavolo gave it to me when I first got here.” The demon arched a brow. Lord Diavolo? “It would be really irresponsible of him to just let a human wander around hell without some kind of weapon.”

He paused for a moment. Trying to piece all of what you had just said together. Then he just chuckled. “Yes, I suppose it would be.” And here he thought that he had been the only one protecting you. When all along you could do it yourself.

His hand reached out to pat your head fondly. His breast swelling with pride. “I’ll have to thank him for giving you such a thoughtful, practical gift. We’ll also have to add sword play to your lesson plans. I’d be more than happy to be your tutor.

Mammon

‘Shit!’ Mammon mentally cursed as he was hit again.

This wasn’t the first time he’d been rough up outside a club. Given his lifestyle, and his gambling track record, he’d been pummeled by a few bouncers in his life. With his immense power, he could easily take them; if he tried. But then he would be banned from the club, and ever other, and that was something he couldn’t handle over the humiliation of being beat up by these clowns. He needed this. It was all he had.

So, he took his beatings from lesser demons when they came around. He’d only wished they’d picked a different night to get their ‘payment’ back since you were supposed to be here soon.

“Come on guys. Don’t ya think you’ve had enough?”

“We’ll tell you when we’ve had enough!” One demon sneered at him, before kicking a man while he was down. Classy. “You owe us. And we’re gonna get back every cent you owe out of your hide!”

The demon reared his foot back to kick him again, and Mammon mentally sighed. Preparing himself for the kick and really being over this since it began. But….no kick came.

The demon let out a loud grunt over the sound of a metal ‘wack’ before the two, even lesser goons beside him suffer the same fate and they all slump to the ground. “Mammon! Are you ok?!”

The silver haired demon looked up at you in shock. The light from the street lamp causing a halo to form around you, highlighting your worried face as you brandished a rusty pipe like some great sword. “Yeah…I’m fine….”

“You don’t look fine! You’re all beat up!” He just sat there as you dropped the pipe and dropped down to him. Fretting over him as you looked him over. He couldn’t hear what you were saying over the beating sound of his heart in his ears.

No one had ever tried to help him before.

Mammon lifted his arms and wrapped them around you. “Mammon? What—“Let’s get out of here.” He interrupted as he hugged you. Standing up, and helping you to your feet, after a moment to walk out of the alley. “I don’t want to be here anymore. I wanna go somewhere with you.”

“But….I thought you wanted to go out tonight. Play cards. You said you were feeling lucky?”

He couldn’t tell if that was a jab or not, but replied, “well clearly I was wrong.” Though despite his bumps and bruises, he did still feel pretty lucky right not. “I just want to get out of here. I don’t need this anymore.” You both decide to head home to help Mammon nurse his wounds. He never went back to that club, or really any club, after that night.

Levi

“Levi….I don’t think this is such a good idea.”

“Nonsense!” Levi quipped in response to your perfectly reasonable, concerned feelings. “It’s just a little further. Besides, I want to see Henry 1! I’ve missed him a ton recently, and want to make sure he remembers me.” It had broken his heart to discover his poor, lost serpent had been down here, all alone, this whole time. So he made an effort to see him every now and then.

“Yeah but…isn’t this still like super-secret for Lord Diavolo’s family and stuff? What if there’s like booby traps and stuff?”

“Come on! There weren’t any booby traps or anything before. Why would he when he has Henry to keep it…..” Levi trailed off as both of you were ingulfed by a long, dark shadow. A low hissing sound growing louder as a gold, stripped serpent towered over you with a menacing glare. “That’s not Henry.”

The snake hissed loudly with bared fangs and an open mouth, and you both scream and run to get away from it.

The serpent of course chased you. Easily able to keep up, and only loosing you when the two of you duck into a narrow corridor. Levi turned around to say something to you, but you were gone. His immediate thought was that the stranger snake had gotten you, and it was all his fault, and he would never see you again!

When he came to the end of the corridor, walking out like a man on death row instead of running, he looked up to see the snake in front of him. Clearly angered by having to chase him. Levi didn’t care. He wanted to die if anything happened to you. He’d rather die than live one moment without you.

Prepared to accept his fate, the demon didn’t move when the snake unhinged his jaw to eat him in one gulp. Only for a sharp spike to thrust out from his mouth a moment later. A strange, hissing gasp escaping it before it slumped down in a lifeless heap on the floor. “[Y/N]!”

“Jesus! Not to put too fine a pin on it, but this place is literally a maze. One minute I’m next to you, and the next I’m in some armory on the other side of the hall 50 feet away. Are you alright Levi?”

The demon scrambled up the snake corpse to stand next to you and wrapped his arms tight around your being. “[Y/N]! I was so scared! I thought this Henry imposter got you, and you were dead, and I couldn’t think of anything!”

“I’m really ok Levi.” You assure him, as he wept into your shoulder. “Do you still want to see the real Henry? I think I spotted where he actually is when I was running back with the spear?” Levi nodded into your shoulder. Still not prepared to let you go.

Satan

Satan always tried to be a reasonable man.

He hated being referred to as ‘The Demon of Wrath’. It wasn’t his wrath that had caused him to be born. And he wasn’t any angrier than his brothers, so why did he have to be labeled the ‘bad seed’? So he always tried to be level headed. Calm. Patient. But there were somethings he just could not abide. Like the boorish behavior of someone talking loudly in the library.

“Excuse me,” the blonde said, attempting to remain calm, as he came over to the rude demon two tables over, “could you please keep it down? This is a library.”

“Yeah. I know what it is.” He quipped back rather snippily. “What are you? The librarian?”

“No. Just a fellow book lover.” Satan replied. Grinding his teeth now. “And one who can follow the rules and basic social decorum of keeping my conversations to myself in a place like this.”

“Are you calling me stupid?!”

“No. I’m calling you uncouth. A word meaning undignified, and without manners.”

“Why you!”

The demon rose to his feet, towering over Satan now that he was standing. Not that it mattered. Height was not an immediate representation of strength. Look at Belphie. His younger, shorter brother could level a whole city with a flick of his wrist. Satan could easily dispatch of his imbecile without even breaking a sweat.

He never got the chance though, as just after he stood the demon let out a grunt and slumped to the floor; with you standing behind him on his depleted chair with a book in your hand like you had just pulled it from The Stone. “Bet you’re glad I think Kindles are dumb now.”

Satan had to right himself on what he was seeing, and then frowned at you. “I never said that, and get down.” He insisted. Offering you his hand to get down. You hop down with ease and set your weapon book on the table. “Honestly, I could have handled him without resorting to violence or cheap theatrics.”

“Cheap?? This book was very expensive.” You insist, and Satan had to scoff.

“Be that as it may, please do not use books for more than their intended purpose. I appreciate the assist, but I can’t have you hurting yourself or fine literature in the future.”

“You’re such a buzz kill sometimes Satan…..”

Asmo

Asmo always loved going to the club. The dancing. The energy. The pulsing music. The people.

Well…usually the people. Some people, usually bro-dude demons, just couldn’t take a hint that ‘no’ meant ‘no’.

“Come on Asmo! Why are you being so stingy?!”

“I’m not being ‘stingy’,” Asmo replied with a frown marring his beautiful face. “I’m just not interested.”

“You were interested last time.” His pursuer replied. Like that somehow gave automatic permission that things would happen again.

“That was a long time ago.” The dusk haired blonde replied. Sipping his cocktail and looking thoughtful across the spacious VIP lounge over to you.

Yes, things had certainly changed. Once where it would take a whole room of people and attention to make him content, these days all he wanted was you. Just you sparing a moment to look at him made his heart feel incredibly full. He had come here to have a fun night out with you, but it seemed no matter where he went his beauty was always causing problems.

The lesser demon frowned, then looked towards the direction Asmo was looking to land on you. “Shoot, just bring them along with us.”

“Excuse me?” Asmo asked. Beautiful expression turning Ignatius as he sat down his drink.

“Bring them along. I’ve never had sex with a human. But there must be something to it if you’re willing to do them. Not that I suppose that takes much….”

At that, Asmo leapt from his chair and grabbing the brute by the collar. He wasn’t normally one for violence. He wasn’t like his dull brothers. But he couldn’t let a slight like that against you slide. “Take it back!”

The two demon’s scuffle. Clearing out the VIP lounge as everyone ran. Scared that they might transform at any moment and literally tear each other apart. Asmo somehow ended up on his back, a position that usually didn’t bother him, as the other reared back to punch him in the face.

Or, at least he would have if he didn’t start convulsing and fall on the ground a moment later.

“Asmo! Are you ok?!”

The Lust Demon looked at you for a moment. Then delicately covered his mouth with both hands. Returning to normal. “[Y/N]! You saved me!!”

“Yeah. This little thing packs a punch.” You replied. Holding out your little pink taser from She-Sword from your clutch. “I couldn’t let this jerk hurt your beautiful face.”

“No one is more beautiful than you my fierce warrior queen!” He praised. Basking in the moment for only a second before you both scamper off before security came.

You both might be beautiful, but you didn’t want to end up on the evening news.

Beel

“I want to take up kendo.” Beel announced to you one day. Out of the blue. “I’ve been looking for ways to add variety to my workout. I came across this video on kendo and thought it would be fun.”

Of course, Beel knew you had practiced kendo in the past at school. So he might have also been looking for fitness activities for you to do together. In any case, he really liked seeing you in your little workout outfit. It was super cute.

He also liked you showing him the basics of kendo; stance, footing, basic strike movement. When he felt he had gotten the hang of it, Beel jovially asked for a sparring match with you.

“I don’t know….”

“Come on [Y/N], sparring with someone is the best way to learn fighting.” He reasoned. “Besides, I’m not gonna hurt you.”

“I’m not worried about that….” He heard you mutter under your breath, but thought that he must have imagined it as you squared off.

Standing across from you in the arena, something changed. The hair on the back of Beel’s neck stood up. Not in the excited way that it normally did when he saw you. But something more….primal. His grip tightened a little more as he realized he might have to get a little serious with you.

It was all for nothing though as the match was over just as soon as it started.

The shinai went flying out of his hands, landing across the room just as Beel landed on his butt. His backside throbbing as his bell was rung clear as day. He rubbed his head as he looked up at you. “I may have forgotten to mention that I was three-time national kendo champ all through school.”

The demon looked up at you with a shiny, sparkly gaze only until now reserved for delicious food. “Teach me sensei!”

Belphie

He hated being out. He wanted to go home.

Being outside in the sun, with all these…..people was hell to him. Belphie would rather be home, in actual hell, with his blanket and pillow and quiet, rather than ‘top side’ with you for the whole afternoon. Not that it was you or anything. You were the only bright star on this miserable day. He’d be damned if he’d let one of his brothers spend the day with you when he could.

“Belphie, do you want an ice cream? Maybe that will help with the heat?”

He wanted to say that the only thing that would help him was getting the hell out of here. But, he bit his tongue. The demon knew how important this was to you to come ‘home’ now & then and he didn’t want to ruin it for you. So he just nodded and asked, “strawberry please.”

He sat in the shade as he watched you go over to the ice cream truck alone. Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe he was just a hopeless shut in. Like Levi, only worse. He just wanted humans so much that being around them was making him crankier than normal today.

“Geez, get a look at that side show over there.”

Belphie looked up from his daze at the human who was a few yards away from him. Snickering and staring with his friends in a voice that a regular human wouldn’t be able to hear. “If you have something to say, then say it, you chicken shit fuck.” Again, he was very cranky.

The human was obviously taken aback at being heard and then called out like that. “What did you say to me?!” He yelled, once he got his bearings on the situation, and took a ‘threatening’ step forward to see if he would repeat it.

“I said ‘If you have something to say, then say it, you chicken shit fuck’.” Of course he repeated it. “Don’t mutter something under your breath like a coward. Say it like a man, or keep your gross mouth shut.” This was why he hated humans. No spine.

Well, metaphorical spine. If he kept this up, Belphie was gonna prove that he had a spine when he ripped it out and made him wear it as a neck tie.

“You little fuck--!” Belphie, of course, didn’t move when he stomped closer. Not that he needed to, because he was stopped in his tracks rather abruptly when you stepped between then. Holding a knife from your pocket.

“I suggest you get out of here, before the only ‘side show’ around here is your knife swallowing act pal.” The man seemed to frozen for a moment as he tried to process if you were serious. Then his flight instincts kicked in and he took off running with his friends across the park. “Gosh, I think I’ve been spending to much time with you guys. I never would have done anything like this before.” You said after a sigh, then turned back to Belphie.

“My hero.” He cheered softly, in his typical tired voice but still with a soft smile. Seeming extremely proud of the bad influence he was on you.

[girl-of-many-fandoms]

Forbidden 3

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Reader

Summary: You’re Tony’s sister and you just so happen to be very attracted to the one man that gets on your brother’s nerves, Steve Rogers. Unknowingly to you, the older man also has his eyes on you despite your circumstances.

Warnings: Gun violence, mentions of blood

REPOST because Tumblr has been acting up!!!

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8

MASTERLIST

———

"Guys Y/N's still here" rolling your eyes you took a swig of your beer as the team grumbled

"Great another week of you being bitchy, just what we needed" Tony chucked a peanut in your direction and you couldn't help but laugh at their behaviour

"Oh come on, I told y'all that I didn't need to have sex, I was just having a bad day" unbuckling the straps of your nude heels you kicked them off, stretching your legs out on Thor's lap

"More like a bad week if you ask me" Steve piped up eyes flicking down to Thor's lap ever so often

"You're one to talk old man"

"Yeah Steve when was the last time you got any? My body still hurts from training a couple days ago, you didn't hold back man" Sam plopped down on the sofa next to the blonde man who downed the remaining of his drink

"You guys back off alright, I'm pretty sure Capsicle here has had his fair share of romance"

"Tony I don't think a kiss from 1945 is considered a fair share of romance" the group bursted out laughing at the man's depressing love life

"You guys are ruthless" giggling you crossed your legs and Thor placed his hand on your knee as if this was a common thing between you two

Thor started telling stories about life on Asgard and how many times Loki had tried to kill him. During this particular story you felt a heated gaze focused on you from across the room. Looking up you and Steve locked eyes, you noticed the fire hidden behind his eyes as the God of Thunder continued to rub his hand on your legs

Is he jealous? He can't be right?

There is no way that Steve could have the same feelings towards you

"Y/N why don't you be the one to show Rogers a good time?" Clint joked and Tony smaked him upside the head

"I would rather gouge my eyes out before I ever let that happen"

"Why though, I mean look at him" you don't know if it was the alcohol talking but you sure as hell couldn't back out of the conversation now as the room fell silent, all eyes on you and Tony

"Y/N the man is ancient"

"Your point?" flabbergasted Tony stared at you, completely lost for words while Steve held his hand over his lips to disguise his smile

Natasha smirked at you, ready to say something when gunshots rang out, glass shattering around you from the stray bullets. Thor immediately shifted you both off the couch and onto the floor, shielding your body with his as your attackers continued to fire their weapons

Reaching below the coffee table you grabbed the loaded gun that you always kept there in case something like this were to ever happen. The bullets stopped as heavily armed men invaded the room through the broken windows

Thor summoned his hammer as you and Natasha started firing at the men. Steve engaged in hand to hand combat, easily disarming his target before knocking them out. In the corner of your eyes you briefly noticed the familiar metal frisbee a few feet away from you

"Cover me!"

You moved as fast as you could towards the corridor, trying your best to stay low. You grabbed onto the cold metal and called out to Steve as you lauched the shield in his direction, he ducked as it knocked out the man

More gunshots rang out, this time they came from behind you, you quickly dived behind the bar taking cover. The gun cocked and you took the chance and popped up, firing your weapon. He fell to the ground as another shot went off, hitting you in your side

Groaning you stood your ground and shot him point blank before sliding down to the floor, pressing firmly onto your wound. Every fibre of your being burned from the excrusiating pain

Bruce came to your aid, trying his best not to turn into Hulk. He replaced your hands with his as he applied firm pressure to stop you from bleeding out on the floor

The fighting came to an end as Steve knocked the last guy unconcious

"Guys Y/N's been hit"

"I'm fine" brushed Bruce's hand away, hauling yourself up to your feet, you barely made two steps when your legs gave out beneath you, Steve catching you before you could hit the deck

He gently picked you up in his arms as Banner rushed you to the infirmary to get the bullet out and patch you up

Not even five minutes later you were laying on the bed while Banner started locating the bullet that's still inside of you, the rest of the team sat around in the room still trying to wrap their heads around what took place

Steve stood next to you the entire time, his hand brushing against yours debating if he should hold onto yours while Bruce was stitching you up. You subtly slipped your hands into his and he half heartedly smiled down at you

"Okay, you'll survive just try not to pop any stiches during the next three weeks and you'll be alright" Bruce finished applying the patch over your stitches and you moved to sit up but Steve shot you a stern look, silently telling you to not do that

"What the hell was that?" Natasha asked, picking fragments of glass from the soles of her feet. Your brother furrowed his brows, the wheels in his brain working over time, reaching into his pocket he pulled out his phone

"You guys aren't going to believe this"

Tony flipped his phone showing us the video message he received from the douchebag you guys had captured on your last mission

"My friends, I hope you all hadn't thought that you all had seen the last of me. My apologise for the mess, I had to make sure you all were going to give me your undivided attention"

Going against Steve's demands you sat up as the video played out

"You all took something that belongs to me and I want it back or else the Avengers would be a thing of the past" the video ended and we all shared the same look of confusion

“What the hell is he talking about?” Rhodey broke the deafening silence, Steve crossed his arms over his chest, deep in thought

Kage was known for selling high teach weapons on the black market off the coast of Africa. He had been on our radar since we were on the hunt for Ulysses Klaue when Ultron was a threat. The first time we crossed paths with him he managed to escape while we were being mind controlled by Wanda and since the we hadn't seen him until he finally slipped up a few weeks ago

"I remember going through his case files, nothing stood out from what we already knew"

"We missed something" groaning you swung your legs over the edge of the bed ready to get to work despite being slightly buzzed from all the alcohol

"We've got our work cut out for us, I suggest we start digging. Romanoff, Barton, go over the interview from his arrest see if he gave any clues. Stark and Banner, start looking at satillites, cameras anything that we could use to track his movements. The rest of us would be going over the files that we have on Kage" Steve assigned us our tasks and everyone dispersed leaving you and Steve behind

"Let’s get to work” standing up you were about to walk to the door when he held onto your wrist

“Not you” spinng around you collided into his firm chest and he steadied you, breath fanning against your face with each breath he took

"Cap I'm fine" looking up at him you shot him a small smile, placing your hand on his forearm giving it a reassuring squeeze, enjoying having Steve so close to you

You're eyes flickered between his eyes and lips, mind flooding with thoughts of kissing him. Steve did the same feeling himself start to lean in but he caught himself in time. Clearing his throat, he backed up putting distance between you both, snapping out of his trance

"Okay…but you should change into something more comfortable" your heart dropped as he straightened up, you tried not to show your disappointment as you headed out the door with him trailing behind

A smile played on your lips as you replayed that moment

Steve does have feelings for you

-----

Tag list:

@madisondelstan @thenumber1simp @mac99martin @n3ssm0nique @sltwins @artisancowbells

[acourtofsnakes]

E’tad - Rogue, Chapter 9| The Mandalorian x Force Sensitive! Reader (f)

Summary: You are going about your time in Nevarro, completely unaware of the struggle and frantic journey the Mandalorian is making. Will he get there in time?

Warnings: A bit of violence/swearing, mentions of death/blood, alcohol/drinking

AN: I’m really sorry that this chapter isn’t as gripping as the others.  I’ve been super overwhelmed lately and been struggling to get my ideas down into actual words. I’ve been working on this for way longer than the word count reflects and just wanted to get it out. You can still count on a cliffhanger ending though, of course ♥︎

Also, I’m sorry if there’s parts that aren’t canon. I definitely made up a couple of the planets and potentially bits of Nevarro. 

Not yet beta read.

Word Count: 4832

As always, credit to whoever owns the gif. I usually find them on Google or Pinterest, so message me if it’s yours ♥︎

Rogue Taglist:  @snipskixandbeskar   @weirdowithnobeardo @the-bottom-of-the-abyss  @jackgrzs @sarahjkl82-blog @boomtownboy @goldielocks2004

Rogue Masterlist | Introduction| 1: Solus| 2: Arir | 3: Tor | 4: Gaa'tayl | 5: Kyr’am | 6: Cabur | 7: Ret'urcye Mhi | 8: Haran| 9: E’tad

Mando’a translation: E'tad - seven

You’d been in Nevarro for a few days now. 

Things were going... okay? 

No. Things were going well. Really well. You felt safer here, knowing that Cara and Greef were monitoring who was coming and going and making sure they posed no threat to you. 

There were a few tense moments, times when government officials came wandering past, but you always stayed hidden out of the way. 

No one looked twice at you here – and if they did, it wasn’t for long. 

When you first walked through the town, you found Cara and Greef waiting for you just inside the gates. 

They were kind, welcoming too. Greef took your bag and welcomed you to the planet, whilst Cara smiled at you and shook your hand. You sensed that she was strong, determined and loyal to her cause and friends. She had a kindness in her eyes though, and it put you at ease.

These were Mando’s friends. He trusted them to take care of you, so that meant you’d be able to trust them too. 

They had shown you around, giving you a tour of the places that you might need, like markets and small stores, but also the places to avoid. 

When you’d had your tour, they showed you to a quaint building a short walk away from the centre of town. 

There were only 4 floors to the building, and about 2 rooms on each floor. Stopping on the third floor, they had showed you where you’d be staying. 

Cara had apologised for it being more on the minimal side, but you’d shaken your head quickly. This was more than you’d had in… years. 

There was a little kitchenette area to prepare food, a lounge space with a slightly ragged looking armchair and table. To the right of the space was a curtained off sleeping area, containing a thin, but comfy looking cot and then just off of that a washing area. There was a decent-sized metal tub, big enough for you to be able to sit in and just extend your legs comfortably. 

It might not have been grand, or spacious but it was a home. A place to come back to at the end of the day and be safe. 

The two had left you to get settled, and you couldn’t help that sharp pang in your chest. 

The Razor Crest had become a… sort of home to you over the last few weeks. It’s softly lit corridors and spaces, things crammed in everywhere but all mostly organised… the little compartment that had been your – well, the Mandalorian’s, - bed. The cockpit, where you spent most of your days either bantering with Mando or sitting in comfortable silence. 

The kitchen area… his hands on your skin..

The weight of him behind you..

You missed him. And if you were honest, it still stung. That all of that had occurred between you and he was just getting rid of you. 

No, maybe that wasn’t the right phrase. And nothing had really happened between you. Just an outpouring of tension. Besides, he was so warm, maybe he had been running a fever. 

Mando had said that it was the only way to keep you safe. 

And you knew that you were also attracting attention onto him and Grogu. 

It still didn’t stop it from hurting any less. 

~~~~~~~~~

-----7 Days Left-----

The Mandalorian made it back to his ship in record time. He didn’t waste precious minutes explaining to Peli. Just stating he had to go, thank you for the repairs and the last few days. 

Seven days. He just seven days to get back, grab you, and flee. 

Easy. He could do that easily. 

Right?

He gave her a handful of credits, promising to come back soon. 

He probably came across as rude, but he just couldn’t afford to wait. 

You would have been on Nevarro for a little over a week now. He’d been with Peli for a good few days, and the travelling here had cost him about a day and a bit. 

You were probably settled. 

Maybe even.. happy?

His instincts were always right, and they were telling him that this guy, Haran, the shadow of Hell, had meant every single word. That if he found you before Mando did, you would never return. 

Even if that happened, the Mandalorian would tear apart the galaxy to find you. There wouldn’t be a corner of space that Haran could hide that Mando wouldn’t get to. He would kill anyone who stood in his way, anyone who stopped him from reaching you. 

The force of his determination nearly took his breath away as he switched on the ship, the engines roaring to life

Moments later, he was leaving Tatooine. 

“I’m coming for you.”

~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~

After that initial first week of settling in, you found that things improved a great deal. 

You knew your way around almost 100%, and frequently took walks around the town. 

Cara had reassured you that you wouldn’t have to hide here, but on busier days it would be best to keep your hood up. 

Just in case. 

Despite the threat of someone slipping through their watchful eyes, you relaxed. 

You worked with Cara sometimes during the days, going along with her for her Marshal duties and keeping things in order.

Other days, you spent time with Greef. You found him to be sort of… like an uncle in attitude. He was reassuring, and you enjoyed spending time with the both of them. 

You’d even begun to help out in the local school. Karga had suggested it one day, mentioning in passing how the teaching droids might benefit with a pair of extra eyes and hands. 

After making a few helpful comments, you had somehow established yourself as a teacher of survival. Not in the sense of, ‘this is how to disarm a bounty hunter who is coming at you whilst you’re sleeping., but more in the vein of, “Here’s how to find fresh water and a place to sleep.” 

The kids loved it, especially when you staged imaginary scenarios for them and had them running about the place or creeping through ‘the undergrowth’.

It felt good. To be using these skills you’d been forced to learn for something positive, something that the kids enjoyed. 

~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~

-----5 Days Left-----

Of course he had to stop for fuel. 

He had forgotten to ask Peli to fill it up before he left. Mainly because they couldn’t get out there when the sandstorm had hit, and then because he had left so quickly. 

He wanted to punch himself. 

Maybe he would. It might make him feel better. 

The Mandalorian stopped at the next closest planet, barely having turned the engines off before he was climbing out of the cockpit and making his way through the ship, Grogu secured in his little bag. 

He was halfway down the ramp when he looked over his shoulder, to check that you and Duru were behind him. 

Only to stop short, because you were no longer with him. Remember?

He sighed, ignoring the wrench of his heart and he walked through the landing bay. 

A quick search revealed a man in a fuel operatives’ uniform. 

Relief flooded Mando’s senses, and he hurried over, “Excuse me, would you be able to fill my ship? I’m sorry but I’m really in a hurry.”

The man looked up, wiping his hands on his uniform and he came over to Mando. “The Crest that just landed? Sure, I can fill her up right away, sir.” 

Moments later, he had hooked up the necessary pipes and the ship was being pumped full of fuel. 

It didn’t stop him from pacing though, checking the time on the large display inside the landing bay. 

He was full of frantic energy, and he should probably stop pacing because he was going to make Grogu sick. 

The operative looked up, tilting his head a little, “Forgive me, sir, but you look awful jittery. Is something wrong?”

The Mandalorian spun on the spot, looking at the man suspiciously.

Was he working for Haran? Was this a distraction? 

Maybe he shouldn’t have come here. 

Grogu gurgled at his side, and he didn’t need to bother translating. He was being stupid; the kid was right. 

Mando sighed, curling his hands into fists and then uncurling them to try and release some tension. “Have you ever heard of the Shadow of Death?” 

The man cursed, dropping the tool he was holding. He looked around quickly, his colourful face going pale with fear, “Sir! I beg you, please do not speak that name. Even mentioning it can summon him here.”

The Mandalorian couldn’t hide the surprise form his voice, “You believe in him then?”

The worker nodded slowly, motioning Mando over. When he was close enough, the man said quietly, “I’ve seen his… work.”

A chill skittered over Mando’s bones, “You’ve seen… someone he’s killed?”

A green sheen had come over the operatives face, “Yes, sir. I’ve seen it firsthand and I still wake up screaming even today.”

The Mandalorian tilted his head, “Many people believe he’s a myth, thought up by the darkest of people to cover their tracks.”

“That creature is not a myth, sir. He came for my sister and her family. She ran, but he was waiting at the safe house for her.” The man’s eyes became hazy with memory. “I don’t know how he knew. She had told no one where she was going. Not even me. They had never uttered the location aloud, not even to each other. They wrote it down. Just in case he was in the walls, listening.” The man swallowed roughly once, twice.

“When we got there, there was nothing left to bury. Just clothes, a few strands of hair and blood coating the walls. It was like something from a nightmare. There were only a few… chunks left of them. They could never identify who was who.” He heaved a little, then turned grave eyes onto the Mandalorian.

“If you know someone he wants, you’d be best of killing them yourselves. It would be a lot kinder.”

~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~

-----2 Days Left-----

The Mandalorian was getting frantic. 

And with his frantic haste, came messiness. 

He didn’t know it was taking him so damn long to get to Nevarro. He should have been there three days ago. Hell, he should never have left you there. 

There had been a nebula on the way out of the planet. It hadn’t come up on his radar until the last moment and he had to swerve to get around it, which cost him a detour he couldn’t afford. He couldn’t risk jumping into hyperspeed until he was clear either. 

Though it had taken too long, he eventually cleared it. 

He was close, so close. He’d been about to make the jump when two X-wing’s had come out of nowhere and started to chase him down. He’d tried to get them away, tried to shake them off but they’d forced him down into some icy planet. 

He’d nearly crashed the ship, nearly lost Grogu because the little womp rat decided to climb out of his seat as Mando tried to land and then the engines had cut out because they got too cold. 

And now he was cold. Fucking freezing in fact. 

Tracking through the snow and the ice, looking for the two pilots to get rid of them so he could be back on his way to finding you. 

With each movement of the sun, he became more and more painfully aware of how slow he was. 

He was never this slow. Never this sloppy. He needed to calm down and clear his head, but the words of the fuel operative kept ringing in his head. 

“That creature is not a myth, sir. He came for my sister and her family. She ran, but he was waiting at the safe house for her. 

When we got there, there was nothing left to bury. Just clothes, a few strands of hair and blood coating the walls. 

If you know someone he wants, you’d be best of killing them yourselves. It would be a lot kinder.”

He gritted his teeth as a shudder shook his body, and not from the cold. 

You wouldn’t end up like that. 

He’d find you. You would be fine. 

Noise broke through his thoughts, the sounds of the pilots and he slipped behind a snowpile and sunk down to wait. 

~~~~~~~~~

Okay. So maybe the last few days weren’t going as well as they could have been. 

You were embarrassed to admit it, but at least two of them were spent drunk, and the third was spent in a state of hungover blurriness. 

Pinpointing the exact trigger was hard. 

It might have been the horrific nightmares that begun 4 days ago, or it might have been the conversation you had with Cara that day. 

You’d been sitting in the cantina, just talking after a day of work and she had begun to ask about your past. Nothing invasive, nothing forcing you to answer but something in you had wanted to spill some of the burden. 

She’d asked you where you learned your survival skills, and you thought about lying but… something stopped you. So, you’d told her. At least, as much as you could without revealing the real reason. 

You told her about the murder of your parents. How the market had been attacked that day, and you could do nothing to stop them dying. 

You told her how you’d run, spending two days hiding in a waste dump, crying and vomiting with fear and the horror of what you’d seen. How you’d dragged yourself out, and started your journey of planet hopping and hitching rides. 

Cara had asked what you did to get people coming after you, and you simply told her they thought you’d been responsible for the market attack, and the murders of the friends you’d made because people always seemed to die around you. 

You told her how it had forced you to not be able to trust anyone, to only be able to rely on yourself and how you had to learn to survive. 

It hadn’t been easy. You had made yourself sick countless times, including one really bad week where you ate some questionable vegetables and spent four days in a hallucinating stupor, convinced you were dying. 

She’d laughed at that and returned the favour by telling you about her shock trooper days. The fact they were dumped in on their own to hunt the warlords, being exposed to horrors that only you and few others could understand. 

The pair of you had spent the evening sharing stories, dancing around the subject of a certain beskar-clad hunter and his child. You couldn’t go there, couldn’t talk about it. 

She probably gathered all the information she needed from your lack of response though, by the look in her eye and the smirk when she mentioned him. 

That night might have been the cause of the horrific nightmare where you were convinced you’d just watched the Mandalorian and Grogu be torn to shreds by your own power. You’d woken up screaming, tasting their blood like that night and barely made it to the small bathroom area before vomiting. 

That was the last night you’d remembered before getting drunk. 

You supposed you were ashamed of yourself. 

You were giving in to feelings you’d spent years repressing.

You were wallowing. 

You’re hurting. You’re allowed to let go of the pain sometimes, to feel it. You can’t keep going like the ice queen all the time.  

How you hated that inner voice of reason. 

~~~~~~~~~

-----1 Day left-----

His gloves were soaked with melted snow, sticking to his skin and freezing again instantly, no matter how many times he tried to warm them. It made his movements slow and fumbly as he desperately worked to fix the engine of his ship. 

He’d tried to take off as soon as he’d gotten rid of the pilots, but as soon as he’d started the engines, they died with no more than a puff of smoke. 

They were frozen. 

Snow and ice had gotten into the rotors and they wouldn’t start long enough for him to heat them up. 

He was stuck here. 

Grogu was freezing. 

Mando had left him inside the cockpit with the doors shut, bundled in all the blankets he could find in the ship. The heaters weren’t working, and the backup generator barely provided enough heat to stop the windows from icing over. 

He made a frustrated noise as he dropped his tools, stooping down to scoop them out of the snow. 

He had to get this working. He had to fix this and get to you. 

~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~

The next day, you rose, dressed and returned to work. 

You apologised for your previous behaviour and threw yourself into your daily tasks with a determination that might have been bordering on insanity. 

You were eager to wipe away the shame of the past few days, so you spent the day doing every single job you could find and more. Even going out into the town on your lunch break to help around the markets and local small stores. 

It kept the thoughts at bay, the guilt and the shame, and also the relentless longing that plagued you. 

~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~

-----12 hours left-----

The sun had set long ago. 

He was working by the small light on his helmet now. 

It was barely enough to see in front of his face, but he couldn’t stop. Even though he couldn’t feel his feet, or his hands. Or any of his body, actually.

He couldn’t let you die. 

~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~

It was the end of the day. 

You had just finished your work, helping Cara with maintaining things around town, dealing with the odd shady traveller that passed through looking for trouble. 

She knew your skills, that you were ruthless, quick and knew your way around a blade well enough to scare someone off. 

It was why you had started training with her a few days ago, before the drunken haze. 

You’d showed up to her office after a night of screaming dreams, shattered, wound up and tense. 

She’d taken one look at you, then taken you out the back to a big empty plot and begun to train with you. And it had worked. Sparring with someone and having to focus had helped you channel that anxious energy. 

It was a regular occurrence now, which was why you were engaged in another session with her. 

Greef had come to watch this afternoon, and sat on one of the huge, jagged hunks of rock that littered the volcanic planet. 

It didn’t put you off, you were too focused as you ducked under Cara’s punch, twirling around her body and delivering a sharp kick to her kidneys that had her coughing. You couldn’t help the chuckle, lightly springing back a few steps as she spun to face you, “Oh come on, you practically invited me to kick you.”

Cara rolled her eyes, advancing toward you, “And you were foolish enough to take it.” She flew into another attack on you, which you matched punch for punch, like you knew the moves she was going to take without her saying. 

You wondered if it had something to do with your power, some instinct from it. You still felt its presence more often than not lately, since that night it had helped you save the Mandalorian. You’d tried to push it back, but it was calling to you more and more recently. 

Shaking the thoughts free of your head, you focused back on fighting, pouring everything into it and letting go of all that nervous energy. 

You practically floated across the ashy ground, moving around her like you were breathing. 

It wasn’t quite the choreographed, effortless fighting you and Mando had engaged in, but it was still something. 

Dimly, you heard Greef laugh, clapping. “I never quite knew what Mando meant when he told us you fought like you were dancing, but I completely understand now.”

You froze, just managing to lift a hand and block Cara’s swing to your face, “What? He said that?” You looked over your shoulder, eyebrows raised in shock.

Karga nodded quickly, “Oh, yes! When he was telling us about the first time you met, and when you saved his life. He said he’d met more fighters in his life than he could remember, but you stood out most of all. ‘She fights like she’s dancing. Like she’s moving to a song of death only she can hear. It was mesmerising’ That’s what he told us.”

Mesmerising.

He’d really said that about you? Complimented you like that to his friends when you weren’t around?

It made your heart constrict and a sort of warm feeling spread through your veins. 

Unfortunately, it also made you distracted. 

Which gave Cara the opportunity to slam her knee into your back and knock you to the ground. “Stop getting doe-eyed over the Mandalorian and focus.” She was laughing, standing over you. 

Your cheeks flushed slightly but you snarled, flipping on your back and pulling out her ankles. “I don’t get doe-eyed.”

~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~

-----2 hours left---

The Mandalorian had never been this cold. 

He was still outside, and a snowstorm had begun now. 

His poor visibility was even worse, and it seemed to take him twice as long to do anything. 

It was like the commands he sent from his brain to his hands were slogging through the thick snow. 

His armour had long since frozen over, and every time he moved, ice cracked and fell from the crevice’s. 

He didn’t know how long he could do this for. 

He didn’t know if Grogu was still alive. 

He didn’t know if you were still alive. 

Haran may have gone back on his words and come after you anyway. You might have been dead for days already. 

No. 

No, he couldn’t let himself think that. 

He had to keep going. He had to… 

He had to rest…

He was cold. So very cold that he almost felt warm. 

A mournful cry of wind shot through him, sucking the little energy from his body in a sub-zero blast and his knees gave out, dumping him in the snow. 

Get up. 

He couldn’t. 

~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~

“Good fighting today. You were a lot more focused. Well, mostly.” Cara leaned against the doorway to your building, crossing her arms and grinning again. 

You rolled your eyes, “Thanks so much. The bruise I have on my back will forever remind me of your compliments.” 

She laughed, raising an eyebrow, “And the pain in my kidney’s will remind of yours.” She tilted her head, watching you, “Why did it throw you so much?”

You pretended not to know what she was talking about, “Me kicking you in the kidneys?”

Cara gave you a deadpan look, knowing what you were doing, “No. What Greef said about Mando. You looked shocked.”

You swallowed, looking down and pretending to examine your boots and you pulled out an easy shrug, “I just didn’t expect a compliment like that from him. The first time we fought, we were both trying to kill each other, and the second time he saw me, he was half-unconscious. I didn’t think he remembered.”

Whether she saw through your lie or not, she thankfully didn’t press it. “Well… He can shock you sometimes, trust me.” She stood up straight, pushing away from the wall “I’ll see you later for dinner?”

Relief flooded through you and you nodded, able to meet her gaze now, “Sure, dinner sounds great. I’ll come by after a drink.”

~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~

-----0 Hours Left-----

He was too late.

~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~

You were still thinking about what Greef said as you made your way into the cantina, Duru asleep back in your room.  

It had become a popular haunt for you whilst being here. You wondered if you might be starting to have a problem. 

But the chatter of the different people and creatures provided an ambiance that kept the wandering thoughts at bay. 

When you were alone and still, you had a habit of straying to the Mandalorian and Grogu. 

His last words kept echoing in your head, that you might see each other soon. 

When, Lori? Soon isn’t close enough.

You sighed to yourself as you slid onto a seat at the bar. You seriously needed to have an intervention with yourself. You didn’t pine like this. You didn’t get soft and sentimental. 

You couldn’t afford to, not the way you lived. 

But we aren’t on the run anymore. At least not like we used to be…

You ignored that voice in your head, the one that threatened to speak sense. Luckily, the droid that was serving as the bartender came over, placing your usual drink in front of you. 

You nodded in thanks, pulling it toward you. Maybe it wasn’t such a good thing that the droid knew your drink without asking. 

Then again… it was a droid. It was probably built into its hardware. It didn’t mean that you were an alcoholic. Although, your drunken stupor went against that argument. 

You brushed your hand over the bar in front of you, getting rid of the layer of volcanic ash that settled over everything. Every night you found it in your hair, under your clothes and even in your boots. It didn’t bother you much though. Over the years, you’d become used to it, being covered in dirt or grime. 

Except when you were on the Crest. 

You shook your head slightly at yourself. You weren’t going to go there. 

You could do what you wanted to on the Crest. You didn’t have to be covered in dirt or ash or mud. You were clean. Rested. Warm. 

Do not go there. 

You had company. Friends, even. 

You blew out a breath, taking a big gulp of your drink. It didn’t matter now anyway. You were here. You didn’t know how long you were to stay for, but this was your new… home. 

But it doesn’t feel like home. It’s not cosy. It doesn’t smell the same. You can’t hear the sounds of the engine, or Grogu or Mando. 

Maker, you had to find a way to shut that voice up. Maybe you’d knocked something lose back when you fought the guy with a tail. Things hadn’t been right in your head since then. 

Since you saved the Mandalorian’s life?

“Shut up!!” You didn’t realise you’d hissed the words out loud until a nearby trader gave you a funny look. 

Brilliant, now you looked drunk or possibly crazy. 

You dropped your head into your hands, rubbing your eyes. You needed to get over yourself.

And the Mandalorian. 

When you lifted your glass back to your lips, you noticed that your drink was already done. 

Whoops. Definitely looking more drunk than crazy now.

You looked up, raising your hand for another drink regardless and when the droid placed it in front of you, you slid over the required credits. 

Only for it to push them back, “Your drinks have already been paid for, miss.” 

You blinked in confusion at its monotone voice, “By who? I asked Cara and Greef not to touch my tab.” You had wanted to pay for it yourself. They refused to take any money in payment for you room, so you had managed to negotiate any expenses you racked up elsewhere – such as here. 

The droid looked at you with its expressionless robotic face, “They were not paid for by Marshal Dune or Greef Karga. Please, take the credits.”

You reached out, slowly dragging them back and putting them back inside the inside pocket of your cloak, “Who paid for it then?” You couldn’t help the insistent tone to your voice, even if it would be lost on the droid. 

Before it could answer, your question was answered. 

“I did.” 

The voice that came from behind you was silken, rising over the din background noise of the cantina. It caressed over your bones, those two simple words dripping like honey. Something tugged inside of you, pulled at that buried kernel of power. 

You turned on your stool, looking for the owner of such a magnetic voice. 

There, behind you, sat a figure. 

Decked in an expensive looking cloak lined with golden thread, lounging back in his seat like he didn’t have a care in the world. You could see the edge of a hilt peeping above broad shoulders, something drawing you to look at it but you couldn’t see it properly. 

You blinked again, raising an eyebrow, “Sorry?”

The figure leant forward, “I paid for your drinks.” He lifted a pair of gloved hands and pushed back his hood. 

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[binniesthighs]

two tails | reader x minho |

One 

Pairing: self insert, female reader x lee minho 

Genre: strangers to lovers, neighbors to lovers, fluff 

Tags: neighbors au, comfort fic, catowner!minho, catowner!reader, author!reader, bestfriend!seungmin, agedup!skz, slow burn, plot-driven, gradual romance, meet cute scenarios, lil bit of angst, strained parental relationship, explicit language 

Word count: 3.9k 

Chapters 

P | ONE | TWO

homebody noun 

: one whose life centers around the home. 

₍⸍⸌̣ʷ̣̫⸍̣⸌₎

Grocery stores are a cursed place. Horrible. You might have guessed that if there were to be a special layer of hell to be reserved for you (which you sure as hell wished there wasn’t) it would likely be a grocery store. 

Firstly, they are one of the messiest places that you could ever experience. Have you seen the ways that those beige-y grey floors get caked with dirt and smudges from who knows what? Have you seen the dirt and grime that hides under those produce shelves? Secondly, why is it that everyone always feels the need to get so close to eachother crammed in those isles? Why is it that you have to do that awkward shuffle when your cart and someone else’s cart gets in each other’s way and you have to do the “no you go first” and “no, you go first.” 

You prayed that you had been good enough in this life to escape some kind of grocery-store induced hellscape. 

Partly it was Bomi’s fault. Temperamental nuisance. Three days into her newest bag of cat food and she suddenly decided to go on a hunger strike. The internet  had told you that perhaps she just didn’t like the flavor. Little did the internet know that you had nearly already tried every other flavor there was, even the expensive ones. 

You stared down to your crinkled up list filled with the ramblings of an attempted grocery list and other absentminded doodles. 

DONT FORGET STUPID NEW CAT FOOD 

Under the reminder, you had drawn an angry little cat face with Bomi’s characteristic calico facial splotches. 

“Damn cat. You’re lucky that I still love you.” You uttered under your breath. 

The wheels of your cart screeched as you turned the corner into the pet isle. Of course, you were the lucky one that had to pick the cart that had only three functioning wheels and whined like your mother over the phone. You cringed to yourself, bearing through the sound and the two glances from a mother and her child throwing an obscenely large bag of dog food into their totally normal cart. 

You didn’t need to, but you mouthed a tiny “sorry” to them as you passed them. 

The tall metal racks appeared to touch those flickering fluorescent lights above them as you perused them, glancing over all of the brands which you had undoubtedly purchased one time or the other. 

Tuna, salmon, tuna and salmon, tuna and veggies, salmon and veggies... 

What would it be that Bomi would tolerate this time? Was it grains that she didn’t like? Wet food? 

Merely looking at the prices for the canned cat food sprung such a headache that you wished you hadn’t looked at them at all. But, if it was what your princess would eat... 

On the highest shelf, your gaze caught a brand that you hadn’t seen before, so you summoned your strength to stand on your tip-toes, stretching up your arm as far as you possibly could, teetering just a little... 

“Al...most--” 

“Here, I can get that, let me just--” 

“--Oh no, it’s fine, I can reach it, thank you--” 

“--It’s alright, I’ve almost got it...” 

His elegant fingers got tangled up with yours. Had your determination been any weaker, he would have snatched it up all himself, but...

He chuckled a little. “Are you sure?” 

You turned your head to affirm, “Positiv--Minho?” 

“Y/n?” 

You had finally had the little can in your grasp, only to feel it slip out of your fingers in your shock. 

The terrible sound of the aluminum can hitting Minho’s head and glasses bonked between your fumbling arms, working just too slow. 

“Ssss-OW!” 

Minho’s hand went immediately to rub at the top of his head with eyes tightly shut. 

“Oh my god!!! Are you okay?” 

Instinctually you swooped in to see if any harm had been done. 

“Ah-I’m fine, don’t--I’m fine.” 

Your neighbor patted down his head, trying to craft a smile for you under his painfully crossed brows. 

“Are you sure? I-I’m so sorry. God, I’m so stupid and clumsy, don’t you think that you have a concussion or something?” 

He laughed out a sharp chuckle, then winced at what the action did to his head. “I don’t think so.” 

“Are you sure about that?” If he could have heard, he would have noticed your heart anxiously beating at a hundred times per second. 

“It’s okay, really, I’ve had worse things thrown at my head.” 

“What the hell could be worse???” 

“You don’t want to know.” He maintained his hopeful grin. 

Even after being assaulted by cat food, he was still just as beautiful as you remembered. 

“Oh! Your glasses!! Where did those go??” 

Frantically, you spun around, shoving your cart aside with another startling screee. Quickly you found them nearest the bird seed. 

“Here. Here you go, I hope that they’re not broken.” 

“Mm-doesn’t look like it.” Minho inspected them. 

“Oh thank God.” 

He huffed out one more little scoff-sounding laugh. “At least you’ve got the cat food that you wanted now. 

“Yeah, but at what cost?” 

“I said don’t worry about me.” 

Minho fluffed his hair back into place, likely hiding another rub to his throbbing head. 

What even does one say to someone who you nearly wrecked with cat food? 

“You uhh--what are you doing here?” 

“The same as you, getting cat food.” Minho snatched a bag of food from a lower shelf. “With three mouths to feed you tend to run out pretty fast.” 

“Oh! I-uh...can imagine.” 

“Weird shopping here like I live here now...never thought that would happen. I’m still getting used to everything around here; never knew that I would end up back living with my mom...and at my age.” 

“Don’t-don’t feel bad! It’s a nice area around here! At least I think, and it’s a... nice grocery store...” 

You did not think that it was a nice grocery store, but it seemed like the right thing to say. 

Minho smiled back at you warmly, just as he had done back on your doorstep, tabby cat in his arms. You had wanted to see it again. 

“-Guess that means I’ll be seeing you around here more often too then.” He took the cat food can--his ex-assailant-- to drop into your cart. 

“I guess so...and sorry, again.”

“Really don’t worry about it!” Minho rolled up his hands into little sweater paws on the handle of his cart. “I’ll see you later then.” 

“See...you...” 

Your words trailed behind him, seeing as he had already started wheeling away. As soon as he was out of an earshot, you cursed yourself out terribly--another habit you had developed since living alone; you really were your only company. 

“God, Oh god. Now he thinks that I’m a recluse and a wreck, oh god--” 

“--Hey! Watch where you’re going!!” 

An old man with a newsboy cap griped before you nearly collided with him and his cart full of diet sodas. 

“Sorry!! I’m so sorry!” You bowed profusely in apology while removing yourself from the isle as fast as you could.

Grocery stores really were your own kind of personal hell. 

₍⸍⸌̣ʷ̣̫⸍̣⸌₎

The cold metal of the bus stop sign dissolved into your sweating forehead while you watched the springtime sunset fade out before you. It really was pretty, and it was just enough to distract you from how weighed down your backpack and numerous reusable bags felt. Had your hands been free, you would have taken a picture. 

What time is it even? 

Your watch was restricted by the number of straps around your wrists. Sometimes stepping outside of your home and onto the sidewalk was draining enough to make you feel like scurrying back inside. Big trips like this however, had you falling asleep in those uncomfy plastic chairs in (also) disgustingly messy buses. 

To your right, you heard the usual hum of the number 10 bus wheel up. 

“Wait! Wait!! Hold the bus!!” 

Hurried footsteps came patting behind you, followed with shallow running breaths. 

Hair bopping and cardigan flopping a little like wings behind him, Minho sprinted to the doors. 

“Take a seat ma’am.” The bust driver snapped you out of your embarrassment over seeing him one more time than you would have liked. 

“Ah-sorry, I will.” 

You shuffled your way near back of the bus and attempted to hide your face behind your bags decorated with none other than flowers and cartoon cats. 

“Please don’t see me, please don’t see me.” You chanted under your breath while your neighbor looked for a seat. 

“Y/n? Heh, I just keeping running into you don’t I?” 

“Minho!!!!” You piped, just a little too animatedly. “Huh! Didn’t figure I would see you here...too...” 

Minho slid into the booth across from you. “I mean, it makes sense, we’re going to the same place basically.” 

“Don’t you...have a car or something?” 

“I do, but I figured that the grocery store was close enough, although, I didn’t really factor in how all of this would weigh a ton.” 

“Hm, I never really do as well.” 

A pair of older lades glared over at the two of you, clearly displeased that you were disrupting their peaceful bus ride. Minho cowered under their piercing and aged brown eyes, then stealthily slid into the seat next to you. 

His washed out jeans brushed up against your leggings, and you felt your hairs stand on end. If there was someone out there who decided if you went to a hellscape grocery store, they must have also been able to mask the smell of your sweat. You hoped that they were listening to your pleading requests. 

“It’s a really a nice evening isn’t it?” 

Minho peered out your window at the little shops and bustling streets beside you. The sidewalks were decorated with little skinny trees here and there which had just started to bloom with the buds of leaves and flowers. There was a peaceful air about the scene that reminded everyone that the cold would soon be gone for good, and the sky swirled into pinks and purples. 

“Oh! Yes, yes it is.” 

You tried your best to ignore the fact he was leaning into you slightly. 

“So. What else do you do besides be a cat parent and a part-time chucker of canned goods?”

You wanted to crawl in a hole once you saw his adorable grin once more. “I-I have a job, a couple actually.” 

“A couple? And what are they?” 

“I teach online college courses in creative writing and English.” your glasses fell a little down your nose bridge, so you adjusted them accordingly, “I also edit for a small publishing company--but that’s more of a side thing.” 

“That’s...a lot of writing and things like that.” 

“Well, it’s what I went to school for, and, I don’t mind...although my mother--” 

“--Have you written anything yourself? Anything that I could read?” 

You felt your cheeks set ablaze with heat. “You?! Oh no no no no.” 

“What?” A mischievous grin overtook Minho’s adorable one. “Do you write provocative content?” 

“No! I do not!” Your tone turned more defensive than you had intended. 

“Well, what do you write? Even if you did write that kind of stuff, I wouldn’t mind. Provocative contents are trendy these days.” 

“I didn’t even say that I write in the first place!” 

“I just assumed seeing as you seem to do other things in this field...so, what do you write?” 

“It’s embarrassing, and I don’t owe you the knowledge!!” 

Minho reached over your fuming body to pull at the bus cord, letting out the little stop requested tune. 

“What is it that you do then?” 

“Something boring and business-y that you wouldn’t care to know about. It’s definitely not as interesting as what you do I’m sure.” 

Your neighbor gathered up his bags while the bus slowed to the stop. 

“You coming?” 

₍⸍⸌̣ʷ̣̫⸍̣⸌₎

[19:07] 

me: seung, i’m such a fool. you will not believe 

seungmo: should I even guess? what? Bomi yack during your online lecture again? 

me: no, worse. 

seungmo: i’m listening. 

i guess i don’t really have a choice though don’t I? 

you’re just gonna tell me anyway aren’t you? 

The cat in question purred in your lap, permitting you your usual one hour of cat-attention a day like she would during the evenings. After your day of embarrassment, you had hunkered down on your favorite place on the couch, swaddled in blankets with the TV playing some nature show that you had been trying to pay attention to. Somehow, the thought that Minho living just doors away made it all seem even worse; you were bound to see him again. 

You bit your lip and started tapping away at your phone screen, regaling the entire tale to your best friend--who frankly had enough of your awkward “you-isms.” However, no matter how socially insecure you were, Seungmin appeared to stick by you. In fact, it was one of your “you-isms” that had brought the two of you together. 

Four years ago at that pet shelter where you had got Bomi, Seungmin was there too looking for a dog. It was Bomi’s skittish self that leapt out of her cage and into Seungmin’s arms when his dog started barking. Bomi had nearly destroyed Seungmin’s sweater by the way that she had clawed into him. Of course, you took her crime upon yourself and insisted on buying him a new sweater. After an exchange of phone numbers, he hadn’t gotten bored of you yet. Bomi had always liked him more than you--the traitor. 

[19:18] 

me: ...and then he showed up on the bus, just as I had thought that I had escaped, and then started berating me about what I do for a living. 

seungmo: are you sure he wasn’t just asking questions, NOT berating? 

me: it felt like it. 

seungmo: and why are you telling me all of this? 

me: bc I wanted you to give me some comfort?? or reassurance?? isn’t that what friends do? 

seungmo: what do you want me to say? I’m sorry, that was really embarrassing? get over it? stuff like that happens to you all the time y/n, I don’t know why you are making such a big teal of it. 

*deal of it. 

me: wow, you’re being of such help. 

seungmo: you’re overthinking it. as always. 

me: but i’ll have to SEE HIM again. 

Seungmin’s little three writing dots disappeared, and you waited in silent anxiety for what he would say next. 

[19:24] 

seungmo: you’ve got a crush on him don’t you 

₍⸍⸌̣ʷ̣̫⸍̣⸌₎

The evening sky had darkened, and you felt the air temperature begin to drop. It wasn’t unbearable however, and you had prepared yourself well with your giant sheep-like blanket wrapped around your shoulders. The cold wire chair that you sat in was undoubtedly pressing shapes into your bare legs crossed up on it, but you never seemed to mind it. 

Bomi yowled behind the sliding glass door to your backyard, so you allowed her to exit, making her a much happier cat. The two of you enjoyed these nights together deeply--they almost felt like a brief escape from life. Bomi would sneak around the edges of the fence, sniffing and looking rather suspicious when her green eyes would glow in the light of the house. Your glasses likely looked the same reflecting the light from your computer screen. 

You took one more sip of tea, then opened up your internet. A couple clicks, and you found the notification screen on your page. 

hearts: 267 

shares: 19 

comments: 21

Your eyes scanned over the little paragraphs that some of your readers had written for you. It made your heart swell with immense joy seeing the way that they had analyzed and picked apart every little part of your prose and how they would write IN ALL CAPITIAL LETTERS about how excited they were for your next chapter. 

~

I can’t wait for the next chapter! I’m DYING to know what was in that chest!! I really hope that Bomi can trust Davers. He just seems a little shady to me >////< 

YOU’RE INSANE FOR THIS. The fact that Bomi could fight off the dragon while Blaze was confessing his feelings for her??? I could never lollll 

 P L E A S E protect little Herbie. He’s such a cutie. I wish that hedgehog companions were real, I would take one with me everywhereeeee 

N/n, your writing is so so pretty!! I felt like I was right there in the scene with them! The way that you described the enchanted fountain had me drooling ahhh you’re such an inspiration to me as a writer!!! 

Blaze fanclub?? i’m trying to see somethin’ 

~

“If Blaze were real, I’d be the president of that fanclub.” You laughed out to yourself. 

Suddenly, you found you thoughts shifting from your dreamy Blaze to someone much less fictional. 

Crushes on boys who were real was much better than one’s who weren’t. It was nice admitting it to yourself at last. 

“Ahhhh” You sighed out, doing a little happy dance in your seat, then opened up the chat box to return to the replies. 

After responding to as many as you could, you opened up a new chapter. 

Chapter 22 

Blaze wiped off his sword, stained with the steel blue blood of the dragon, still steaming with heat underfoot. His disheveled deep black trellises were coated in his own sweat but it didn’t make him look any less dashing--per usual. 

“Princess Bomi, you still haven’t answered my question.” 

Bomi sheathed her own sword, then inspected her wooden shield for any more damage. For a moment, she thought that the claw marks made it look even more beautiful and intimidating. 

“Blaze. You know that I can’t talk about romance at a time like this, have you forgotten that the kingdom as stake?”  

₍⸍⸌̣ʷ̣̫⸍̣⸌₎

Bomi perched at her usual spot in the window, eyes fluttering closed before she would take her nap that would last for nearly the whole afternoon. You would have been lazing with her, but that would have to wait another hour or so: with your newest paycheck, you had decided to deliver some new flowers to yourself for your garden. 

The little array was spread out before you: yellow and purple pansies, pink tulips, fuchsia and baby pink peonies, and dainty while lilies of the valley were arranged where you had planned to adorn your front lawn. The aroma of the flowers lingering in the air was enough to make you feel as if you had transported yourself to the very magical gardens that you would be writing about that evening. 

A pair of songbirds chittered past, carrying their whistles behind them. For a brief moment, the sun shone directly onto your arms spotted with dirt and filled your whole body with warmth. Nothing was more peaceful than this. You took to work, crackling them out of their plastic pots, and digging at the earth in holes to hold them down. After a while, you felt the dew from the grass start to soak into your work-jeans, but it was a welcome little cool feeling. Next, you popped up to hose them down with your little attachment that made the water cascade like a rain-shower. You admired for a moment how the water would create little rainbows from the spray. 

“Ahem, uh-hi there!” 

You choked out a gasp before swinging around, aiming the hose like your sword to the startling voice. 

“STAY BACK!!’ 

You pointed the stream directly at them, only in your horror to see your neighbor, trademark cardigan and all, soaking wet from your weapon. 

“GOD! That’s cold.” 

The fabric hung onto him, adhering to every part of his body which was much more toned than you had expected.

Minho looked absolutely bewildered as the water dripped off his frame with sad little pat pat pats on the concrete sidewalk. 

“Oh God. Oh God. Minho, I’m so so sorry. I-I can’t believe that I keep doing this to you--” 

You nearly felt like crying, but for fear of embarrassing yourself further, you decided to turn around quickly in search of your rags. They were garden rags, but dry nonetheless. 

“Here, here, I-I think that these should help.” 

You dabbed at his body, although it was clear that this wasn’t helping in the slightest. 

“Stop, stop,” He pushed your hands away. “I just live next door, I’ll live being a little drenched.” 

“You realize that's an oxymoron right?” Your nervous hands continued dabbing. 

“A what??” Minho kindly laughed at your frantic hands. 

“It’s a...writing thing. Sorry...” 

“I really need to be careful around you don’t I?” 

Your mouth crinkled into a flustered line. “M’sorry.” 

“Can you quit apologizing?? Here, I came over to give you these, my mom made some extra side dishes so she wanted me to bring them over to you.” 

“Oh.” He handed you the little bundle of Tupperware containers. “Thanks.” 

“She also, or--I mean--I wanted to invite you over so that you could meet my cats...and! my mom. My mom too.” 

“You want me to come over?” 

“I did mention that I wanted to a little while ago didn’t I?” 

“Oh! You did...” 

“Does next Saturday work? Around 5?” 

“I-I can do five.” You brushed your muddied hand across your sweating brow. 

Minho scoffed, “You’ve...got something...on your...” 

“Oh! Oops.” You tried your best to wipe off the dirt, but you didn’t know you had only made it worse. 

Minho squeezed out his soaked sleeve to carefully raise it to your forehead. “Here, like this.” 

This close to you, his brown eyes deeply shone with the color of coffee, chocolate, the bark of forest trees after a spring rain, and a million other things that your writer brain could compare them to. 

“There. It’s all gone.” 

For a moment, you wondered if you really had fantasized him, or if he really was real. For you, you wouldn’t have been surprised if he was some kind of figment of your imagination: they usually were. 

₍⸍⸌̣ʷ̣̫⸍̣⸌₎

[1 missed call, Mom, 09:12] 

“Y/n are you there? Why is it that you never pick up your phone? I’ve told you so many times that you should pick up when I call. What if it’s an emergency? What if someone’s died?? Nevermind, I wanted to call and tell you my friend’s daughter is getting engaged and I’ve been invited to the bridal party. I think that you should come with. It’ll be good to get you out of that house. 

Why is it that you haven’t gotten yourself married yet? You know that you aren’t getting any younger?? Either way, call me back. You’ll need to bring a gift too. Its impolite to show up without a gift. 

Ah, I almost forgot. Your brother got a promotion at work; I’m not sure if he’s told you. We’ll be having dinner to celebrate this weekend. Can I count on you to be there? 

Also, how is the job search going? Your father has some more connections for you to speak to. You need to take advantage of every one of them. You’re so close to getting something that really matters. I can feel it. Ah, I just feel like you’re wasting away there sitting at that computer with those silly classes. It’s like, barely any contribution at all. You could be making so much more money. 

Anyway, call me back once you hear this. 

love you sweetie, talk soon. 

i know that its tuesday and i said I would publish on mondays shhh just pretend I published this yesterday ooP 

[fureliselost]

Danny’s weapons PJO AU

I’ve spent the last week watching weapon usage tutorials on youtube to try to figure out which weapon to give Danny and I settled for staff/spear. Bear with me here whilst I try to explain:

So, in the show, Danny’s most prominent fighting style is at a considerable distance and shooting ectoblasts -- he usually avoids getting too close to his opponents (not only because his opponents powers are long-range but, if we’re considering the physical aspect, most of his opponents are bigger than him).

In the AU, the powers he can use in battle are mostly avoidant, instead of long-range (the shadow-travel-poof-out, summoning ghosts to protect him, etc). And in the PJO they need their weapon to get in contact with the monsters to kill them (because those bitches only die if u got special metal).

I thought about giving Danny a crossbow or bow/arrows, but 1)Tucker will already use a bow; 2)a bow is a weapon that usually requires you to be further away from your opponent and, tho Danny is more of a long-range fighter, he does engage more directly with his opponents; 3)even if Danny did fight with a bow, it wouldn’t be practical, considering that Danny, like Percy, won’t be staying in CHB year-round and taking crossbow/bow/arrows to school isn’t an option, he’d have to learn to fight with another, more practical weapon anyway. 

Then there’s the classic: swords. But that quickly got scraped too. Swords are short-range, close-contact, unless Danny can work it on his favor, there’s a size disadvantage, and, unless Danny is also getting a sword like anaklusmos, it’s impractical for everyday use.

And then I was thinking about a weapon that was closer range than bow/crossbow and farther range than sword. Lemme tell you how it came to me: once upon a time, it’s 2014/5 and people in my area made events for PJO (nice times, those were). One of the activities we did in it was fighting with weapons but a safer version (basically, pvc pipe wrapped in foam), and, well... Guys, I’m 5′’0/1,53. And what I did back then was grab the biggest pvc pipe and take on guys almost twice my size. Which is why I remembered that you can use the size of your weapon (as long as it’s well balanced) to compensate for your size (height size, at least, it doesn’t do miracles). And, well, Danny is a short stack of pancakes too, so of course I had to project onto him.

Anyway, talking crudely, a spear can be a staff with a pointy end. And a staff is the most practical weapon there is because 1)it’s very easy to get a makeshift version of it if you’re weaponless; 2)a staff can literally break bones just by using the right momentum (meaning: u don’t need to be very strong); 3)there are retractable staffs that you can buy online for a relatively cheap price (meaning: they’re also relatively easy to make and get) (and, well, Tucker or his parents could make it for him).

Also, I’m remembering a HP crossover AU in which Danny doesn’t use a wand, he just picks up sticks from the ground and uses them as wands and that cracks me up, so that’s what I’m settling for.