#AND THEY BETTER LEAVE MY BOY ALABASTER ALONE | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

chasingpj · 4 years ago

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𝐔𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐑𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐳𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐬

"I might spread a rumor about you and Percy rendezvousing at midnight. The Aphrodite cabin will have a hoot with that one."

pairing: percy jackson x child of hecate!reader

words: 4,931

warnings: none

timeline: post sea of monsters

if you want to be tagged every time I update this story, click here

a/n: hi hi! this is part one of a self-insert series I'm working on. in this story, y/n is a child of hecate, and this storyline follows the books. the current timeline here is post sea of monsters and will continue through the Heroes of Olympus books. though it follows the original plot, y/n has her own storyline and quests. i tried to make y/n gender-neutral but as I continued to work on the timeline for this project, i had decided that this fic is for a fem reader. guys, this is really just me projecting my fantasy into fanfiction lol. i feel like this is a slow start?? and there is a lot of info dumped in this so bear with me. it'll get better and I'll be working to improve my writing as the series continues. I was on a writing hiatus for a really long time and I'm out of practice so this is my way to get back and hopefully, exceed the skills I had when I was a consistent writer. anyways, if you have any feedback, let me know! I'd love to hear what you think. as i get deeper into the series, i might ask for some suggestions on what to do with the fic. anyways, i'll stop rambling and i hope you like it!

Part One Part Two

You ignore the aching in your neck as your focus is fixed on the herbology book in front of you. You’ve been seated at your desk for Zeus knows how long reading and taking notes in your Book of Shadows, determined to finish reading it as fast as possible. Your half-brother, Alabaster, insisted that you need to memorize all the herbs and their properties before he can properly teach you how to use them in potions. Even though you understand its importance, you hated introductory work. You are itching to get to the real stuff, resulting in you glued to your chair, studying through the night as your cabin mates were fast asleep in their beds. But as determined as you are, Ambrose, your familiar, wasn’t much help. Ambrose whines as he rubs his head against your legs like a needy kitten, making it difficult to ignore him.

“What is it, Ambrose?” You whisper, sitting back in your chair in defeat. You take a second to massage the back of your sore neck before turning to face the translucent hound sitting attentively at your side. His tail sweeps the floor as it wags excitedly, and a short huff leaves his snout as if he was proud to have finally gotten your attention.

Your eyes meet his, racking your mind to figure out what Ambrose needs to tell you. At first, you thought he wanted to play, but you didn’t have time for that, so you decided to ignore him. Usually, after being ignored for a while, Ambrose will give up, finding something else to occupy him. But tonight, he was particularly persistent, and he’s only like this when he needs to tell you something.

Before you can ask what he wanted again, Ambrose gets up from his seated position, running over to the small table that stands beside your bed. You furrow your eyebrows, the first thing you notice when you walk over are your crystals neatly placed in front of your spell books as usual. Seeing them made you suddenly remember what you had planned to do.

You had told Ambrose to remind you to charge your crystals and collect water from the lake since there is a full moon tonight and of course, Ambrose being your loyal companion, did exactly that. Before looking down at the hound, who now is breathing heavily, his tail somehow wagging faster than before, you smile to yourself.

“I told you to remind me earlier, didn’t I?” Ambrose snorts and runs around your feet enthusiastically. You couldn’t help but giggle at his excitement as you reached down to pat his head. “Good boy. What would I do without you?” You continue to praise him, grabbing a black pouch and carefully placing the crystals in it. You put your index finger to your lips, signaling Ambrose to be a little quieter despite his excitement. If he accidentally wakes anyone up, then you definitely weren’t going to be able to fulfill your plans.

You bite your bottom lip as you tiptoe out of the aisle between the bunks. You look around the notoriously cramped Hermes Cabin to make sure your assumption that everyone was asleep by now was correct. It wasn’t hard to make out the faces of your cabin mates since seeing clearly in the dark was one of your many gifts, so you carefully walked along the bunks, being as quiet as you could. You are especially cautious as you approach the front where your cabin leaders, the Stoll brothers, slept. You study them for a second, knowing for sure Travis was asleep since he was snoring and loudly at that. Before you can check if Connor is asleep, you hear him shifting in his bed. You stand frozen in your spot, hesitantly looking over and you were expecting to be met with the usual mischievous grin. Instead, his back was towards you now. You have a feeling in your gut that he wasn't asleep, the timing of his moving was much too convenient. You really didn't want to wait any longer though so you decide that you might as well leave before he could stop you.

You turn on your heels, walking over to the window before you push it open. You cringe softly as the hinges creak, and you look back at the cabin to double-check if anyone has woken up from the sound. You sigh in relief when you see no one has moved, and you turn back to the window, carefully crawling out of it. This wasn’t unusual for you. You’ve done this so many times that using windows as a mode of exiting and entering a room was as natural to you as walking in and out of a door, and soon you were hopping down onto the grass. Your back is pressed against the cabin as you walk the side of it. You look up at the trees and the sky, eyes scoping around for any harpies hanging around. After deeming that you were alone, you begin making your way to the lake, Ambrose walking by your side attentively and cautiously to make sure you are safe.

The night was clear; the stars and especially the moon shone brightly in the sky. You sigh softly, taking in the stillness of the night, admiring the glistening lake reflecting the full moon placed above it. You’ve always enjoyed how quiet and cool the nights were, preferring it more than the daytime.

Unfortunately, you couldn’t avoid it as much as you wish to. Most of your siblings can agree with you that they’d prefer to sleep in most days so that they can study and practice their magic at night. However, that wasn’t the schedule of the Hermes Cabin. It was pretty impossible to sleep in since the mornings were always hectic. In fact, the cabin was just hectic, period. There was always something going on, whether it was an elaborate prank or the guys arguing over who gets to shower first after coming back from training which usually resulted in an intense game of rock, paper, scissors. You can’t say that you didn’t like it; at least you were entertained.

You also always had someone to talk to, and because there were often new campers coming in and out of there, you have easily familiarized yourself with a lot of the kids at camp. However, like your mother, you did enjoy and yearn for the occasional periods of solitude. As fun as living with the Hermes kids was, you and your siblings did find yourselves getting a little irritable at their shenanigans. It was at those times, you did wish that your mother, Hecate, had a designated cabin.

You and your siblings had always said if they ever got a cabin of their own, they would make sure everyone had separate rooms and would have designated spaces to socialize and practice their magic so that it was quiet for the most part. Alabaster, especially, was really passionate about this topic. He complained how it didn’t make sense that your mother wasn't recognized since you and your siblings were a powerful little bunch. You all needed a space to practice your magic and practice preferably at night since you were the most powerful at that time of day; you were also less prone to making mistakes in your spell casting at night. You agreed with him and would get upset about it sometimes, but the Hermes Cabin was a place you considered to be a second home. The communal feel of the space was something you enjoyed, it was one of the few places where you felt fully accepted which was rare to find being a demi-god with abilities like yours. In return to the Hermes Cabin welcoming you with open arms, you accept the inconveniently loud environment as an admirable quirk and went on with your days.

Then to compensate for the lack of silence and solitude, you would often stay up late, taking advantage of the quiet to focus on your studies. Even if you had to sacrifice the amount of sleep you got, you felt like it was worth it.

It doesn’t take you long to arrive at the dock, sitting down close to the end with your legs folded under you. You first collect lake water in a jar before carefully taking out the pouch's crystals. Assuming you had only a few left in the pouch after laying most of them on the dock, you tilt it with your hand under it, only for the crystals to come out all at once. You fumble, hands trying to bring them to your chest, but with your luck, one of your crystals falls right into the water with a plop.

“Dammit!” You peer over the edge and groan, Ambrose whining at your misfortune as he stands beside you. You look down at the water, noticing Ambrose’s and your dim reflection in it. There was no way you could get that crystal now because you didn't know how to swim, and you consider that maybe tomorrow you can convince your twin brother, Atticus, to look for it or Alabaster if Atticus refused, which you were expecting him to.

Your breath hitches at the back of your throat, jumping back as a head of dark hair abruptly pops up from right where you were staring. Ambrose barks loudly next to you, equally as startled, and your eyes widen. You stand up hastily at the realization that Ambrose's loud barks in the dead of night will catch the attention of the harpies, and right now, that was more important to you than the mysterious person that just sprouted up in the water like a zombie coming out of a grave.

“Shush! Ambrose, quiet!” Your frantic command was enough to make him stop with a whine, and you sigh shakily, turning towards the camp to check if there were any harpies.

“I think you dropped something.” Ambrose moves in front of you protectively, a low growl coming from his chest as he cautiously studies the person. You look back where the voice came from and to your surprise and your relief, you find that the mysterious person in the lake was no other than Percy Jackson. You never had a conversation with him before, but you definitely knew about him. It was kind of hard not to know who he is since he’s been the talk of the camp since he’s arrived. Your thoughts about him weren’t any different from most of the camp. You’ve seen him fight and use his powers during capture the flag, and you were just as impressed as everyone else. You did have to admit that you found him to be pretty cute too. His eyes were gorgeous, clear, and bright like a shallow, cyanic sea. You also found it adorable how his hair always looked a little disheveled.

Your (e/c) eyes met Percy’s green ones before looking at your rose quartz in his hand. You smile sheepishly, noticing the amused look on his face.

“Ah, yeah, that’s mine.” You walk over to him, but as you get closer, so does Ambrose, and his growls get louder. "Ambrose, heel. It's okay," you say softly, and he stops in his place, but his stance is still at alert, his eyes watching Percy cautiously. You pat Ambrose's head before walking past him and over to Percy. "Thanks," you smile, taking your rose quartz from his hand.

"No problem… I don't think your ghost dog likes me," Percy jokes, moving to look past your legs at Ambrose, who’s standing tall on your left side.

"Yeah, well, you kinda scared the crap out of us," you point out, amused. You take in Percy's goofy smile as he pulls himself up from the water, and you notice that he’s completely dry as he settles on the edge before turning his body to look at you.

“It’s y/n, right?” He asks, and you nod, figuring he’s probably heard about you in passing from Connor and Travis since he was friends with them too. “What are you doing out here so late?"

"I could ask you the same thing," you retort playfully, making him smile. You move to sit down where you were standing. You spread the crystals neatly on the wood, making a mental note to get them before you go to bed.

"I couldn't sleep, so I came out here to hang out, but then a hippocampus swam up. One of its friends got stuck in a fisher's net not too far from here, so I went to help," he explains, and you nod. "I told you my excuse, so what's yours?"

You hum, "It's a full moon out tonight, so I thought I should take my crystals out. I also needed moon water for a potion, so I collected some for that," you point over at the big mason jar full of lake water. "It’s not as cool as your excuse,” you say playfully.

A short laugh comes from Percy, and when you look up from your crystals, you notice he was looking at Ambrose again, who was still in his tense stance. Ambrose was especially protective of you and Atticus, and it wasn’t unusual for him to be cautious of the new people you come across. You assumed that Ambrose was particularly tense with Percy since he had successfully caught you both by surprise.

"Ambrose, relax.” You pat the top of his head to soothe him. "Lay down." Ambrose whines, licking your hand affectionately for a little, and you can tell he was still uneasy about the other. He was hesitant, but he follows your command anyway, laying down with his head on your lap.

"You can touch him?" Percy asks, his eyes wide and curious as he watches you pet Ambrose.

"Yeah, I can touch ghosts in general. My mother is Hecate, goddess of necromancy, along with magic, the night and the moon," you tell him. "This is Ambrose. My mother gifted him to me to be my familiar, kinda like a guardian." You look down at the hound, smiling softly as you scratch behind his ear softly.

Ambrose is a burly Molossian Hound who lived in the time of Alexander The Great. From what your father told you, his breed was well valued in Ancient Greek and Roman times and was often used in war. It is easy to understand why the breed was used in war. Ambrose is huge and muscular, about 6 feet tall when he stands on his hind legs, and he weighs around 200 pounds. At first, Ambrose can come off as a little intimidating. You remember how your siblings had avoided him when you first arrived at camp before they realized that he was the clearest definition of a gentle giant. Even though he was trained to fight when he was alive, he was still as gentle as a well-trained house dog unless he was given a reason not to be.

"When did you get him?" Percy asks, his eyes focusing on Ambrose’s translucent body that looked like it is made up of this gray swirling vapor. He couldn’t exactly wrap his head around how Ambrose’s head was comfortably propped up on your thigh.

"We met on the night I was on my way to Camp so about 2 years ago. Without him, my brother and I probably would have never made it to the borders.” You look up at Percy, meeting his eyes again; you watch as his face softens as he shifts to lean back on his hand.

"Really?" You hum and nod, ready to drop the conversation there, thinking you shouldn’t bore him with the details. You didn’t really like talking about it much, but the way he was looking at you made you feel like he was inviting you to continue talking.

"We got separated from our father at the gas station a couple of miles away from here. He went inside the convenience store to get us snacks, and while he was in there, a cyclops had found us, tried to grab us out of his car. We jumped out and ran into the woods nearby," you explain as you look out at the dark horizon.

You remember the sound of your father yelling after you and Atticus and how it broke your heart hearing, for the first time, such despair in his voice. You knew your dad didn’t want to bring you guys to camp, but he knew it was in Atticus’s and your best interest to come here and be with other people like you guys.

When you and Atticus started developing your powers, your father had simply told you guys that you were special and to refrain from using your telekinesis anywhere else but home. He didn’t say anything more until one night, you and Atticus had gotten in a screaming match about a reason you don’t even remember. However, in your screaming match, the both of you were so angry that a green aura had formed around you both, and books, magazines, even cutlery were being flown across the room because of the sheer energy you were admitting as a unit. It was then your father had decided to take you and Atticus to the camp to control and learn about your powers before you guys destroyed the house over a dumb argument like who’s turn is it to have the TV remote.

"We were more concerned about the monster hurting our dad, so we decided on a whim to run in the forest. My brother and I have telekinesis powers, and I aimed well enough to send a rock right at the cyclops eye. We lost him a little after that, but we didn't know where we were. We made too many twists and turns; we had no idea what direction we came from. And then, this buddy appeared out of nowhere from a distance. I saw him glowing from far away and couldn’t make out what he was, but I felt that I had to follow him. So we did, and he got us to camp with no detours for any other monsters. He's been with me ever since," you say, and a low whine comes from Ambrose’s mouth as he nuzzles the side of his face on your thigh contentedly.

Percy nods, and he huffs softly, "You guys got lucky. How old were you and your brother when you got to camp?"

"12, we're twins. We actually got here a couple of weeks after you did,” you mention. You watch Percy’s mouth curve into a half-smirk.

“Wow," he says, amused, and shakes his head. “So you have a twin and a dead dog, no fair," he jokes. You giggle, rolling your eyes playfully,

"Oh please, and you have crazy water powers. You’re completely dry after swimming! I think that's pretty envy-worthy."

"Hey-,” he shrugs, taking a second as if to form a protest. “I guess you're right,” he admits and laughs. You laugh with him, opening your mouth to say something else but unfortunately, you were interrupted by a screech echoing in the distance.

Both you and Percy stand up quickly, trying to figure out which direction it came from. “The harpies,” you both mutter in unison. You bend down to grab your things, and you look at Ambrose.

"Go distract them, bud," you tell him, and Ambrose jumps up to his feet, and you watch as he runs away, barking to get their attention. Just then, you see the wings of the Harpies coming up from the trees of the forest. You turn to Percy, grabbing his hand quick,

“Incantare: Transpectus!" You exclaim confidently, closing your eyes to envision you and Percy becoming transparent on the dock. You've never tried doing this spell before, but you've gotten better at visualizing and setting intentions, so you had some hope in yourself. You open your eyes, not feeling any different, and you hoped that you just didn't make a fool of yourself in front of Percy. But when you look down at your hand hesitantly and notice it was hard to make out since you were see-through like glass, you sigh in relief. You smile to yourself, more than satisfied that you were able to pull that off.

"Woah, are we invisible?" You look over at Percy, able to see him just fine since he was under the spell with you. Percy looks down at himself, eyes widened as he processes he can’t see his body anymore. You observe him for a second, finding it cute how he looked surprised and obviously entertained at the fact that he was completely see-through. You feel yourself growing a little flustered, trying not to focus too much on the fact that you were holding hands with him.

"Something like that. C'mon, it won’t last too long," you whisper, and your grip around his hand tightens as you guys begin running to his cabin. You hear the harpies screeching in frustration as they swoop down to try and grab Ambrose, only for their claws to go right through him. While the harpies were growing more annoyed, Ambrose, on the other hand, was having way too much fun, running in circles and barking at them as if he’s teasing.

"Man, I wish I had a ghost dog," you hear Percy mutter behind you as you arrive at the steps of his cabin.

"Yeah, Ambrose is pretty great," you admit, watching him play with the harpies before shifting your gaze over to Percy. "Thanks for getting the crystal for me." As much as you wanted to stay talking to him, you knew you couldn't stay too long. You were still eager to finish studying, and Ambrose can only hold off the harpies for so long.

"It was no problem. It was on my way up anyways," he shrugs, and you smile, trying to ignore the fluttering feeling in your stomach. You look down, the two of you still holding hands even though the spell wore off already. You awkwardly let go of his hand, shifting on your feet.

"Well, I'll see you around," you say sheepishly, fiddling with your fingers.

"Yeah, I'll see you.” His hand comes up in an awkward wave. You nod, returning the wave. Your eyes meet Percy’s green ones one more time before turning on your heels and walking down the steps of his cabin. You notice that Ambrose is now long gone into the forest, taking the harpies with him to give you time to rush to the other side where your cabin is.

As you hurry back to your cabin, you couldn’t help but smile to yourself as you replayed the interaction you just had with Percy, and you couldn't help but wonder when would be the next time you could talk to him.

You carefully hoist yourself up, climb back into the cabin through the window, sighing softly once you get in. You slowly close the window, your face scrunching at the creaking sound, but you successfully get it closed before turning around, only to be faced with Connor Stoll standing a few feet away with his arms crossed over his chest. You gasp loudly, almost dropping the mason jar in your hand, being startled for the second time tonight.

“Oh, look who’s back,” he says, his lips pulled in his usual mischievous smirk, his right eyebrow raised as if he's suspicious of you. You shift, giggling nervously under his graze,

"Hey, Con.” Shit. You knew he wasn’t asleep, and a part of you wasn’t surprised that he had caught you sneaking out again. You weren’t too worried since Connor wasn’t one to be strict or easily angered, neither was Travis, but you can understand if he did get a little upset with you since the cabin could also get in trouble, and he worried about you getting hurt.

"You leave so often, I'm starting to think you're seeing someone," he teases, and you furrow your eyebrows, not really sure what he was trying to get at.

"I'm not seeing anyone. You know what I do when I sneak out," you tell him, putting your hand out to show him the jar full of water. After being caught the first couple of times, you had explained to Connor why you occasionally needed to head out at night. He was understanding of your reasons, telling you to try and not sneak out as often. When he did catch you, he always kept your outings secret. It came with a price, though. You were sometimes stuck doing extra chores, especially anything that had to do with cleaning, since he hated doing anything that had to do with mopping or sweeping.

"So that wasn't you and Percy on the dock?" Your eyes widen, and you feel your face get hot again. You shake your head, stumbling over your words for a second.

"Uh… n- that was a coincidence!" You hear him snort, laughing quietly as if he didn't believe you. Even though he couldn't see your facial expression very well in this lighting, he can still tell how flustered you were at his sudden question.

"Yeah, sure," he says sarcastically, and he hums, "Anyways, what are you going to do for me so that I don't tell on you?" He asks, and your mouth drops open. Usually, he wasn't so forward, and he never threatened to tell on you. "I might spread a rumor about you and Percy rendezvousing at midnight. The Aphrodite cabin will have a hoot with that one."

You gasp, "Connor, are you blackmailing me right now?" You narrow your eyes at him, and he shrugs,

"I guess you can say I am." You shake your head, walking over to your desk to put down your moon water before turning toward him and crossing your arms in front of your chest.

"... what do you want?" You ask, expecting him to make you take up one of his chores. But from the way he was smiling at you, you can tell that there was something more he wanted, and you were beginning to worry.

"Help me turn the Ares Cabin into bunnies," he says, and you shake your head frantically,

"No way! Clarisse will kill me," you whisper. Connor smiles,

"No, she won't. She can't kill you if she's a bunny," he points out, and your face falls flat,

"They're not gonna stay bunnies forever," you say, and you fiddle with your fingers nervously at the idea of the outrage you'd get from the Ares Cabin after shifting back from being bunnies. "I don't know, Con. I don't even know if I can turn all of them into bunnies at once."

Connor waves his hand at you, dismissing your concern. "I don't care for the logistics now. We can work on that later, but you have to agree to at least help me," he says. "Or I'm telling everyone I saw you smooching Percy on the dock."

"What!? We didn't even kiss. We talked for like 5 minutes!" You whisper-yell, your reactions much too entertaining for him, and he was having a hard time holding in his laugh.

"Your decision, y/n."

You sigh, throwing your head back. You look at the ceiling for a second as you consider your two choices. And you decide that getting your head potentially put on a stick by Clarisse was better than the burning embarrassment of Percy thinking you're spreading rumors about kissing him. "Fine, whatever. I'll help you do the bunny thing," you mumble, your shoulders slouched.

Connor nods with a proud smile on his face for trapping you into helping him. "Good choice. I will be going back to sleep now. Good night… again," he announces, turning on his heels and walking over to his bed. You frown a little as you walk back to your desk to study. Plopping down onto your chair, you decide that you’ll worry about Connor’s little plan later so you can focus on your studying. After a while, Ambrose comes trotting in, joining you by the desk as usual. You smile at him, praising the other for distracting the harpies for you before he lays down, his head laying on your foot.

As you study, you find that you couldn’t help your mind drifting back to Percy once and a while. You deem that there was no way that you could have a crush on him since you guys have only spoken once. In the midst of your internal debate to decide what you felt for him, you suddenly remember the crystal that was retrieved for you. You remember how Percy presented it to you, holding it out for you with his fingertips. It was your rose quartz. What a coincidence. You smile, rolling your eyes as you tell yourself that you’re thinking too much into it. You look over, noticing the dim illuminating light of the beginning sunrise shining through the curtains. You sigh, deciding that you should probably get to sleep and take advantage of the maybe, four hours of sleep you’ll get tonight. You close your herbology book before making your way to your bed, and with a soft sigh, you retreat under the covers, and finally, you surrender to your drowsiness.

masterlist

#percy jackson x reader #percy x reader #percy jackon and the olympians #percy jackson #connor stoll #pjo x reader #percy jackson fanfiction #percy jackson fic #slow burn #friends to lovers #connor stoll x reader #percy jackson oneshot #pjo #my writing

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cherrywrites626 · 2 years ago

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Fighting Chapter 32 Sneak Peek

You’d think after a night spent running his hands all over his roommate’s lithe form and becoming privy to those sinful little moans that found his insides igniting in strange new ways before ending the encounter literally curled up together on the floor almost completely in the nude that Lance would have gotten a slightly better handle on where it was they stood going forward. And yet, there he was. Still just as in the dark as he’d always been when it came to Keith.

Not that he couldn’t gather through context clues alone there had been something appealing about the whole ordeal while smack dab in the midst of said mind-numbing pleasure. Nobody that wasn’t also a renowned porn star should have had the capacity to fake the way the Slytherin responded to his touch like a man finally being allowed his first sip of ice cold water after months of nearly dying from dehydration. Of that much, at least, he was near certain.

When it came to whether or not it had been a one-off situation or if he’d ever be permitted a repeat performance sometime in the next century, the answers to those and many other very serious questions were kept woefully out of his reach. And not only by his own hand.

The fact that he was still too confused by the whole whiplash effect of his roommate’s hot and cold approach to their recent delve into multiple makeout sessions to ask the guy outright and risk coming off as clingy or sappy or, Godric forbid, so into everything that had transpired he was willing to chase that feeling into a third, fourth, fifth, and quite possibly hundredth time was one-hundred-and-fifty-percent undeniably his own stupid fault. But the rest of the mess that followed said confusion was arguably outside of his control.

Keith had somehow managed to awaken the morning after that fateful night early enough to slink once more from beneath the tight cocoon of his arms despite what he thought was a clear invitation to remain a permanent fixture glued to his chest, this time without so much as a terse goodbye uttered in warning before hightailing it to the safety of his room for reasons unbeknownst to Lance.

He had, perplexingly, taken special care to drape a thin blanket over his naked form so as not to leave him both shivering and miserable in the process, but that small act of kindness did far too little to soothe the ache he felt when it then took hours more for the other to emerge from his bedroom with nothing remarkable to show for their time together save a small nod in greeting. As if the whole thing was just the craziest fever dream Lance ever had the misfortune of experiencing in his lifetime and that was that.

Were it not for the evidence to the contrary in the form of a telling mark still blooming a faint purple on the otherwise alabaster skin of the Slytherin’s neck, he may have even believed it were possible, watching the boy putter around their shared kitchen while silently preparing coffee with the kind of careful neutrality regularly exhibited in the days prior to their shameless tryst.

Almost as if it were any other Sunday in February and Lance’s entire world hadn’t already been kicked so far off its axis it was dangerously close to hurtling into the deepest reaches of space…

It wasn’t that he wished for things to suddenly become awkward between them. Far from it, the itch he never quite realized sat just beneath his poor excuse for self-control until it decided to rear its ugly head a little over a week ago begging for him to go back Keith into a corner and snog that ridiculous mouth senseless for deigning to be so fucking hot and warm and perfect while slotted against his own.

Even as he knew better, the consequences for once again attempting to open that confounding box of trouble be damned.

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As always, check out the last update here, and look for this one... hopefully in September but we shall see how good I am at splitting my time going forward.

#klance #keith x lance #klangst #voltron #harry potter au #my work #cherrypiewrites

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whataboutmyfries · 3 years ago

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Russian Roulette

Okay, okay. I am fully aware that it has been an absolute AGE since the last chapter but Life(tm) got in the way of this one and I'm so sorry it's getting to you so late.

Additionally, I hope you guys are aware that minimal editing has happened here.

@lumosinlove thank you so much for letting us mess around with your characters!!

Chapter 5

Logan slammed another cup of coffee to the table, running a hand through his already dishevelled hair. “Shit,” he breathed. “This is….this is probably enough for us to completely wreck their operation”

Finn leaned further back in his chair, blinking at the stacks of paper spilling onto the desk; about as much surprise as he’d show in front of Leo. “It is.”

Leo looked utterly unfazed as he sipped from his cup, closing his eyes at the feeling of the hot caffeine sliding down his throat. He rubbed at his eye, fixing the other one on Finn, then on Logan. “Will you do it then?”

Logan and Finn exchanged a glance. “I think you already know the answer to that.”

Leo studied the two of them before dipping his head in a nod of thanks. His voice was hoarse when he spoke again. “Thank you. For all of this.”

Finn waved him off, taking a long sip from his coffee. “Mm, I was wondering if you’d ever come around and show us that brilliant magic of yours.”

Logan laughed. “Forget magic. How would you feel about a game of cards?”

Leo’s eyes glittered “oh darlin’, I’m going to beat your asses.”

And damn if Leo didn’t deliver on his promises. An hour later, the three of them were sat around the table, staring intently at the cards spread over the wood. Finn tossed his knife, the blade making complicated swirls around his fingers as he caught it.

“You’re gonna have to do better than that to win nutty.” He chuckled; not even turning his head as he threw the knife at the dartboard.

Leo didn’t have to look up from his cards to know it’d hit the bullseye.

“Remind me again, which one of us is the magician here?” Leo drawled, eyes twinkling with mischief as he threw down his card.

Logan and Finn groaned, slapping down their cards in exasperation. Leo had won. Again.

“How does he do it?” Logan groused, pouting at the table, pulling one of Finn’s knives free of the wood.

Leo laughed, reaching behind Logan’s ear. And with a complicated twirl of his fingers, he unfurled a fan of cards

Piercing blue eyes looked over the top of the cards and Leo winked at the both of them.

“Magic.”

Three am found them sprawled around the room fast asleep. Mugs and cups and pots of coffee on every imaginable surface, papers spilling onto the floor. Leo blinked his eyes open to warm sunlight, shoving his face off the desk. Disoriented, he blinked his eyes frantically, trying to make sense of his surroundings. His eyes landed on a halo of red, and the memories of the previous night came back to him; only to immediately be ignored in favour of the beautiful boy in front of him. Finn’s head leaned back against the couch, exposing the column of his throat, the freckles there mapping constellations onto the creamy skin. Leo wondered if maybe Finn would ever let him trail shapes into those stars; if he tried hard enough, Leo was sure he could trace a wonky version of his namesake onto the alabaster skin. Unable to help himself, his eyes trailed upwards, crimson eyelashes fluttering against high cheekbones like trapped birds searching for a freedom he wasn’t sure he could offer.

He ripped his eyes away, his traitorous heart beating furiously against his ribs. It proved an even bigger mistake to look away because his eyes found smooth tan skin instead. Logan was almost devastating in his beauty when he slept, Chocolate-y hair shimmering in the early light. Sunshine dripping like honey from aristocratic cheekbones and hazel curls. Leo’s thoughts went into overdrive, his brain offering him vague snippets of poetry and literature in a futile attempt to describe the beauty of gods. The sunlight threw shadows across their faces, casting them in stark relief, and Leo’s heart all but crawled out of him to repent.

His heart was beating so loud it honestly surprised him that the two of them hadn’t awoken. This was a mistake. He never should’ve come here, let alone stay the night. Cursing his idiocy, he got up on cat-soft feet and gathered his things, chiding himself for letting down his guard so easy. He saw himself out, sparing one last look for the ethereal beings asleep on the couch. And as Leo let the door fall shut; he failed to realise that he’d been so caught up in cursing his mistakes; he hadn’t noticed hazel eyes trailing him on his way out.

Logan— on the other hand— woke to Finn’s feet sliding out of his lap. He knew he was home. He was safe. The syrupy darkness of sleep pulled him back under. Finn woke him again with a hand to his shoulder, the distinctive smell of coffee taking over his senses. Still drowsy, he grinned, a hum rumbling through him. Finn laughed, ruffling his hair.

“I don’t remember adopting a cat, but I can’t say I dislike it.”

Logan shoved at his knee with a socked foot, grumbling incoherently, though the smile on his face rather took away from it.

“Shhhhh it’s too early for your stupid face.”

“So no coffee for you then? More for me I guess”

“Touch my coffee and I’ll punch you”

“Oh shut up, you like my face too much to punch me.”

Logan blinked one eye open. “Who said I was punching you in the face?”

Finn laughed, nudging Logan’s cup closer to him. “Touche.”

Logan took the mug, nursing the warmth of the ceramic between his palms. “You know, that may be the only french thing that sounds halfway decent in that accent of yours.”

Finn flipped him off over the rim of his mug, drinking deeply. “Drink your sugar crash and leave me alone.”

Logan raised an eyebrow “Is that what we’re calling it now?”

“It is the sole cause of diabetes in this world and I am willing to die on this hill.”

Logan huffed, shoving papers out from under him so he could shift his feet up onto the couch. The events of the previous night still weighed on him. Lizard had given them….everything. Every detail, every nook and cranny of the snake house was documented. He’d left no stone unturned.

And he’d lost everything, anyway.

“Harz, he’s given us everything we were looking for.”

Finn nodded, “He did, didn’t he?” He gave Logan a look. “What do you want to do about it?”

Logan shrugged a shoulder, staring absently out the window. “We said we’d help.”

“You know you don’t have to follow through, you don’t want to do it, we don’t do it.”

Logan met his gaze, Finn’s sharp edges smoothed into something softer by the early sun. “I want to. It just…..” He trailed off with a vague gesture.

Finn hummed. “I think I know what you mean. But, Lo, we don’t have to do anything that you don’t want to do, okay? The second you want to drop it and leave, we leave, yeah?”

Logan swallowed past the lump that formed in his throat. His chest full to the brim with a feeling he’d come to describe simply as ‘Finn’. It was ephemeral and fleeting but felt like warmth; it felt like coming home. It was the feeling of waking up to find a blanket thrown over you, the feeling of a mug of steaming cocoa pressed into your hands on a bad day, the feeling of sunshine after tumultuous storms. It was the feeling of Finn, joyful and constant and forever ready with a bright smile or dry wit.

Logan smiled at his friend, shoving at Finn’s knee with his foot. “Awww, look at that. You might care about me after all.”

Finn shot him a look, the only warning he gave Logan before tackling him to the couch. Logan let out a somewhat aborted choke-squeal as he fought to get Finn off of him, wrestling his tickling fingers away from him. Logan cackled when Finn yelped overbalancing and falling onto the carpet—followed shortly by Logan, who had been too busy laughing to notice that Finn had grabbed him in a desperate attempt to stop his fall. They both lay on the floor, gasping for breath between peals of laughter, shoving at each other playfully.

Finn let his head drop to a side, catching Logan’s gaze. “You know…..It’s not like we have much to do today….”

Logan grinned “Ice cream and movies all day?”

“You know it.”

To put it quite simply, Leo’s brain refused to leave him alone. His smile was more facade than anything else, his beloved cards feeling clumsy and distracting in his hands. His train of thought had derailed almost an hour ago, his body running completely on autopilot as we walked the streets of Gryffindor.

They’d said yes. They’d said yes, and now Leo was going to be working with them. For a considerable amount of time. He couldn’t afford to throw something like this away on some fickle feeling, much less fickle feelings for a mob boss of all people. There was too much at stake.

Leo revealed the card in his hand with a flourish, the gasps of the people around him little more than background noise as he slipped through the crowd, surreptitiously pocketing a couple of fifties he certainly didn’t have before. He strolled unnoticed through the city, checking his watch as he went. He was early. good. He slowed his pace, watching passers-by go about their lives as he marvelled at the busy streets. It never stopped amazing him; the fervour that filled the city. Every street and bend so rife with potential, the possibility of wonderful things just itching to happen.

Like anyone else, Leo was wont to miss his home, the sprawling fields and endless forest of the countryside, but there was nothing quite like Gryffindor, with its skyscrapers shoved next to beggarly hovels and the hum of activity and excitement haunting every corner.

As his thoughts wandered through the city, his feet carried him to a familiar street lined with cafes and charming little stores. He ducked into one of them— a quaint bookshop, the well-worn sign hanging at the door proclaiming its availability to its patrons. The tiny bell above the door announced his arrival, the chime sounding through the magical place.

Leo had always thought that walking into Moony’s was like stepping through a portal to another world. Most bookstores were organised, neat. Books lined from A-Z subject to subject. Not Moony’s. Moony’s was a labyrinth. An explosion of literature and colour and homely comfort in every direction. Books covered every imaginable surface in the store, the shelves full to bursting. Haphazard piles of literature graced the floor, leaning against potted plants and comfy little armchairs scattered across the place. The books were stacked layers deep, some piles reaching as far as the ceiling, teetering precariously alongside narrow walkways. Leo loved it. The smell of tea and well-loved paper wrapped around him like a blanket as he walked to the checkout. An indignant meow drew his attention to the plush armchair, the stacks of books leaning against its arms fashioning it into something of a floral throne.

“Cheshire! How are you, you stinky little muffin?” Leo cooed, scooping up the ball of fur that had taken up residence on the chair. The cat in question purred happily, head butting Leo’s hand demanding head scratches. The blond laughed, indulging the cat and dropping a kiss onto his fuzzy little nose as he walked to the front of the store. A head full of tawny curls shuffled around under the till, clearly looking for something underneath.

“Found that treasure you’re looking for, Loops?”

Remus jumped, standing up with a smile, nearly knocking his head on the counter in the process.

“Missed me enough to come in early today?”

Leo snorted. “You wish. No, I just finished up quicker today.”

Remus raised a brow. “Sure you did. What’s bothering you Nutty? Tell me things.”

Leo’s chest warmed with affection. He sighed deeply; the singular breath seeming to take some pressure off his bones.

“You remember what went down with Pascal a while ago?”

Remus nodded.

“And that I went to the Lions for help like he said?”

Another nod.

Leo took a deep breath. “Well, they said yes.”

#russian roulette #my writing #lumosinlove #lumosinlove ocs #oknutzy #mafia au

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spiltscribbles · 4 years ago

Note

Oooh! Prompts! Remus and Sirius moving in together please! 💛

Notes: Thank you SO SO much gorgeous<3 I’m like kinda embarrassed that this is kinda shit, especially because you’re writing is so fucking gorgeous, so I’m sorry.

A Reblog Is Worth A Thousand Stars | Send Me A Prompt

“YOU!”

With a start that almost makes him drop the vase in his hands, Sirius turns around to find his surly looking boyfriend glaring daggers straight at him, lips pursed and nose wrinkled ever so fetchingly. “Me?”

“You!”

“ Is this a Muggle game of semantics or something Moons, because for the life of me I’m not following.”

Remus’s glower only deepens, radiating a distinct sort of disapproval that could only ever be honed in by years of prefectness. “You thief!” He squawks, hands perched on his hips, and mouth twisted up mutinously.

“Is this the part where you say I stole your heart?” Sirius goads with a cocked brow, resuming their unpacking. “Because love, that line gets old after the millionth recital, but I do appreciate the spirit.”

“Wha? Na—no that is not what I was going to say you egotistical prick!” Remus scoffs— just a bit flustered with a dusting of pink touching the tops of his sharp cheekbones. “You ate the last spring role!” He accuses emphatically, almost tripping over the over a dozen boxes that are strewn across their newly furnished living room. Sirius can’t help but be endeared by Remus and his everythingness.

“Yes, yes I did Wise Guy,” He confirms distractedly. “I also dipped it into some spicy mustard and drank a bottle of water while I was at it… Your point being?”

“My point you utter berk is that it was mine! I called dibs!”

“I remember no such thing,” Sirius sniffs haughtily, moving to rearrange the photographs on their mantel. (And yeah, it’s still fucking insane to him that he’s become so domestic that he’s got a mantel over the fireplace that the man he loves more than any other had insisted was absolutely crucial to have if they were to move in together—probably for really romantical love making sessions in front of it’s flames with the bliss of no worries of anyone barging in on them, or griping if they were being to loud—Which by the way, James honestly had no right in complaining about considering his track record with his and Lily’s on again, off again mating ritual.

“Liar!" Sirius honestly wouldn’t be surprised if Remus started stomping his feet right about now, and pouting up a storm if the childishly cross expression on his pretty face is anything to go by. (And honestly how could one man be so adorable and sexy all at once.) “You were finishing up the shrimp tempura— because you are a posh idiot without any tastebuds— , and I said that I’ll be right back to get some of the boxes in the spare room, and to save it for me! And then I come here, and I find this! This breach of all we’ve built together!”

Sirius barely conceals his snort. “Is that right? The foundations of our whole, entire bloody relationship? And right after this afternoon, when I made you—“

Two spots of color blotch high on Remus’s cheeks and he cuts him off before Sirius can completely recount the frankly remarkable romp they had just finished with before deciding they needed some nourishment before getting back to unpacking. “Don’t you try to change the subject you stealing stealer who steals!”

“That insult leaves something to be desired Moonbeam.”

“You’re a prick.”

“And you wound me!” Sirius mock sobs, slamming his fist against his chest and swinging back his arm against his forehead. “A plague on you, and your family! And another on your family’s cow.”

Remus’s face morphs into his painfully unimpressed expression, (Hint, it’s very, very flat). “I’ll take your intentional dodge as an admission,” He scoffs, arms crossed tight against his chest.

“I admit nothing!” Sirius shouts in an overdone accent that would better fit the set of Downton Abbey. “Nothing Lupin!”

Remus rolls his eyes at Sirius’s hyperbolic attitude, and okay. Yes. Perhaps Sirius remembers a similar conversation akin to what Remus had described occurring only ten minutes prior. But to be quite honest, Sirius was hardly listening. Remus’s got on one of Sirius’s oversized t-shirts, a pair of boxer-briefs, and nothing else. So yeah, he should definitely not be expected to be paying anything any mind while his beyond gorgeous boyfriend is sitting there, impossibly long legs put out for display, and one perfectly alabaster shoulder bare where the shirt has slipped right off, effectively derailing Sirius's thoughts to how he’d teasingly kissed across his collar bone just earlier that night, nibbling on the hinge of his jaw while Remus had been writhing beneath him. so Really and truly, he should’ve never been expected to remember anything— let alone something as trivial as dibs— if his utterly perfect partner is right there for the taking, a determined dent between his brows, and intermittently rinsing his hand through his disheveled locks of hair like spun gold, excited over the prospect of fixing up this flat that is now their home.

Dear Merlin above does Sirius love this bloke with every fiber of his being.

“Well,” he relents, swaggering up closer to Remus so that they’re standing only inches apart. “Even if I did remember that such a discussion had taken place how you’ve described it—“

“It did, and you know it Black!” He harrumphs, using Sirius’s surname just to get a rise out of him.

“Well, there’s nothing we can do about it now love, is There?.”

Sirius’s sure that he’s won the argument and they could just move on, until he catches the glint in Remus’s impossibly luminous eyes—a glint that always means trouble, a glint that’s never failed to make each one of Sirius’s nerve endings go ablaze.

“Is that right?”

“I reckon it is Moonbeam,” he leers, is momentarily distracted by the downright angelic smile Remus casts his way right then, but suddenly, an onslaught of fingers are piercing into his ribs, wiggling and tickling him into submission.

“Say you’re sorry!” Remus demands, an effortless grin of his own swept across his lovely face, brighter than the morning sun. And yeah, maybe Sirius should just admit that it was his bad, apologize a thousand times over in the form of lingering kisses and caressing hands.… But the thing is, Sirius’s stubbornness has always been too rigid for his own good, and he’s always loved prodding at Remus till He just went off like the world’s most darling firecrackers.

“Never you absolute wanker!”

“I won’t relent till you profess an apology to my satisfaction,” Remus scoffs— a playful giggle lilting his overly formal words.

“And I won’t surrender!” He parries with a leer. Sirius tickles back harder, and Remus shimmies around so much that He ends up jabbing him in the eye, ramming straight into his chest, and effectively sprawling them—all long limbs and crooked angles—onto the wooden floorboards.

“Just say you’re sorry!” He insists, strangled laughter starting to gargle his words while Sirius just gazes down at him, mercilessly besotted.

“”S not my fault you didn’t take it with you Lupin, i’ve committed no grievance.”

“Oh come off it pretty boy.”

“Oy! I’m ruggedly handsome you arse!”

“Testy, testy.”

“You’re the pretty one.”

“Oh suck my cock.”

“Been there done that.”

Remus seems to be fighting down another laugh before he knees him lightly in the abdomen enough that Sirius tenses, giving Remus the chance to switch their positions once again, so that He’s back on top.

“My have the tables turned,” He taunts with one of his most dazzling smiles, dimples in full effect, and crinkles around his pretty sea glass eyes.

“I like how you think I’m at all opposed to this position,” Sirius says with a pixilated gleam, arching back enough so that their cotton clad dicks buck up against each other.

“Perv!” Remus scolds, smacking his chest playfully. “Now admit that I won!”

“Never!”

Somehow, amidst all the thrashing bodies and choked peals of laughter, Sirius flips him over— slight body beneath his own, with Remus’s wrists pinned over his head and his legs wrapped around Sirius’s waste.

“Now, now Monsieur Moony, I reckon that spring has rolled into winter for you,” Sirius most definitely does not laugh raucously at his own pun.

“That’s not even the direction that the seasons go in,” Remus frowns, nose wrinkled indelicately, a tell Sirius’s picked up on whenever He’s mad over an outcome.

“You still lost though,” Sirius barbs with no real bite, pecking a quick kiss to his lips in solace.

“You’re awful, and I’m breaking up with you,” Remus sniffs in turn—wiggling underneath him to try and get loose.

“Oh, you love me really.” Sirius preens like the cat who’s caught the canary— the world’s most beautiful and brilliant and ruffled canary that is.

“Lies and slander!” Remus waggles his tongue between his teeth, and Sirius dips down to bite it teasingly.

“Hmm, now isn’t this cute,” the pair scramble away from each other, utterly stunned once spotting Lily of all people, gaze twinkling and lips set into a firm smirk, eyeing them while leisurely lounging against the door frame.

“You two really can’t keep yr sodding hands off of each other, can you?”

Remus completely reddens, totally flustered, while Sirius only follies back a smug sort of grin at the force of nature that is Lily Evans, his practical sister-in-law, remus’s best friend, and all around genius.

“How long have you been watching Red dearest,” Sirius asks wryly, making it so now Lily’s the one who’s flushing..

“I hate you Black.” She says shortly, and Sirius’s beam doesn’t falter. “Re, as your spiritual older sister—“

“You’re barely a month older Lils,” Remus interjects, but Lily just goes on as if he hadn’t.

“I think it’s my job to remind you that he’s not the only bloke in London with a decent shoulder to waste ratio and nice hair. We can snag you someone with a bit of brains even.”

Sirius tosses her a V shaped salute, and Lily sticks her tongue out in retaliation, but for his part, Remus only tries to cut through the tension with one of his friendlier grins, though it just comes out as an awkward grimace. “I forgot that you’re dropping off the boxes tonight.”

“Evidently Ace,” she snorts, strutting further into the apartment and setting down the box of photos Remus had asked her to bring over from their old place. “Far too busy snogging with the boy who single handedly received the most detentions in Hogwarts history, while also, somehow— by the grace of God— threatened our stances as top of the class.”

“Oy Evans, can’t take all the credit for myself. Jem was my better half, till he moved on to the likes of you.”

Lily ignores him, save for the way her pretty face gets a bit scrunched out of irritation. “Ace, I ask you, what would McGonagall say if she saw her favorite prefect gallivanting around with such a delinquent.

Remus lets out one of his rare and beautiful laughs, something that feels buoyant and is really more breath than sound, but is still so vibrant and splendid and it never fails to thrust Sirius back to the Hogwarts Express, where he and Remus had first met as a couple of wide eyed eleven year olds, and all the contradicting emotions Remus had provoked upon first sight. Wonder, and confusion. Intrigue, and diffidence. Wanting, and fear. It’s an attribute of Remus's that Sirius will never not be amazed by.

“Ah, Minnie my love, how I do miss her so, now where were we Moonbeam?”

“I’m still standing here Black,” Lily reproves with a scoff.

“I think it was about here,” Sirius continues, dipping down to kiss at Remus’s protruding collar bones.

“Settle down mutt,” Remus rebukes with no real heat, a gentle hand carding through Sirius’s hair.

“God, you two are already an old married couple.”

“You really do know the best moments to interrupt sweetheart.” Sirius snipes with a playful roll to his eyes, his hand discretely resting over the small of Remus’s back.

“And you have no decency, corrupting Remus the way that you do.”

“Okay first, I take fucking offense, you know better than me that Moony here was the mastermind behind most of our delightful pranks.”

“You mean your childish inconveniences you plagued on the unsuspecting public?”

“And secondly, we didn’t even get to the fun, currupting part because of your oh so lovely interruption.” Sirius retorts moodily, though he soon suspects the joke was a wrong play to make when Lily’s smile suddenly goes predatory and sHe flips back a lock of her wind blown curls, ready to pounce.

“Well perhaps I just stopped by to make sure you weren’t further defiling my dear Remus. But I guess that giant love bite on your neck proves that I’m too late.”

Sirius can’t help the chuckle that pours out of his lips at her needled observation, smacking a hand to conceal the hickey sHe’s taunting him about, knowing exactly where it is, it’s been a topic of teasing all morning long from a smug Sirius to a properly indignant Remus.

“He-he just marks easily,” Remus pipes out, cheeks completely infused red and worrying on his bottom lip. Sirius suspects that Lily just knew that the one chink in his armor is prodding at Remus’s less than poised acts.

Lily rolls her eyes in a way that convinces Sirius that sHe doesn’t believe it for a second. “Whatever you say oh Saint Remus,” sHe smirks with no more argument. “but pray tell, are you guys about done swapping spit around me? Or is that going to forever be a regular occurrence in the Remus and Sirius show?”

“Now I’d reckon that’ll get a sold out crowd every night, don’t you?” Sirius asks, directing his question at the pair of of them while taking Remus’s hand, and pushing him even closer— just always preferring to have some sort of contact with him.

“Oh put a sock in it,” Remus harrumphs, finally starting to return to his normal coloring in the midst of Lily’s unrestrained cackles.

“Aw, don’t be shy love, it’s only the truth.”

Remus presses the pads of his fingers to Sirius’s lips and glares at him for good measure, “Some things are better left for private.”

“Hah,” Lily scoffs, weight slung to her left hip. “As if I don’t get a front row seat every time you two are within even in a ten foot radius of each other—OH hey, I know that look Ace! The one eyed squint, and the teeth. Well your “I’m about to kill my gorgeous best friend,” look has no place here, i’ll see my way out now. Just promise not to christen every room in this place, kay? We’d all like to visit without the residual specs haunting us! And I know how moody you get without your daily dose of my scintillating company.”

Sirius thinks that Remus’s trying to skewer a whole in the spot where Lily was just standing, if the terribly cross look on his face says anything. It’s precious, Sirius can’t help but snicker.

“Don’t laugh at me! I’m your boyfriend for Merlin’s sake! You’re s’pose to be on my side!”

“I wasn’t laughing at you Moons,” he kisses the fingers Remus has still got on his mouth, mock consolatory. “Just incredibly turned on.”

That dent between Remus’s brows is back again for a moment, but then his beauteous features smoothen out and He just pecks a quick kiss to Sirius’s lips before rifling through the box Lily brought over, muttering a light,”Whatever,” as He does so.

There’s a quick wrapping to the window, and Sirius glances over to find his owl— Odysseus— with a bundle of letters attached to his left leg. By rote, Sirius feeds him some of the pellets they keep there for convenience, and unwinds the bundle of parchments, beginning to shuffle through them.

There’s a copy of the Nightly prophet with the murder of another Muggle family splattered all over the front cover in a sickeningly gauche manner, a free trial subscription to the Quibbler with a reading for Scorpios in the month of October, a letter from Peter about his mum and sisters driving him up the rails, an invitation from Marlene for he and Remus to come out to dinner with them for Dorcas’s Birthday, and a ominous letter from James of all paper that simply says a gift for Moony.

Bewildered to why he hadn’t just sent it along with Lily, Sirius tares off the attached photograph only to find something truly, horrendously vile. a photograph of himself. One that was definitely taken fifth year— Sirius’s worst year where he absolutely could not stand being around his family for a moment longer, and James was getting more settled with his studies, an Remus was dating that prefect prick from Ravenclaw and was exceedingly elusive from Marauders nights out. This was so obviously taken on one of those aforementioned nights out that it’s comical. Sirius’s hair is as long as it’s ever been— touching the tops of his shoulders— and he’s chugging down a fruity, pink concoction— the type that Rosmerta was always cooking up for them— hand over fist, and he’s got on puppy ears and a fake nose. In layman’s terms he looks like a complete and total pillock. Drunk off his ass so much so that you can see the stars in his eyes even through the clunky glasses he had stolen from James— convinced that he was sporting them for purely esthetic reasons and not because the knob is actually as blind as a bloody bat— and his finger is pointed and mouth is open in the way it always is when he’s ranting about something or the other.

It’s perhaps the only photograph in history where Sirius isn’t looking his typical, jaw dropping gorgeous self.

There’s about a thousand different retorts he wants to scribble on a spare parchment and shoot right back to James— ranging from nasty to downright despicable— but then he catches the familiar peal of laughter coming from behind him. He’s not surprised when he sees Remus—beautiful, ingenuous, perfect Remus who’s physically incapable of taking a photograph less than effortlessly lovely, even while pissed— peering over his shoulder in utter amusement.

“Oh My God I need to ask James to send me one of the hundreds of copies he surely has.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” Sirius retorts darkly.

“I’ll use an enlarging charm and hang it up above the mantel, for prosperity. The one time Sirius looks the way he acts,” he moves his hand over an invisible marquee and looks so damn smug that Sirius could kiss him, and in fact, that’s exactly what he does.

“I hate him,” is all he says afterwards, once he’s pulled away.

“I can’t believe that’s you!” Remus continues with eyes full of mirth.

“I want to banish him, no. No I want to banish all of them. All of our friends, we can make knew ones Moons. I mean look at us! We’re a catch!” He tosses the letters onto the newly acquired sofa as if they have personally affronted him and all he stands for.

“ Oh brilliant idea love.”

“That sounds like your sarcastic voice Moons.”

“No, you’ve got my full support. this’s our castle Pads, we can banish whom ever we like,” Remus balances on his tiptoes, and smacks an exasperated kiss onto his cheek. Sirius can barely contain the glee that’s dancing in his eyes at the thought of this being their own personal castle— a fortress just for the pair of them to escape within— causing another swell of fondness to pound in his chest.

“Well maybe we can give’m another chance,” he relents, melting into how Remus’s locked his arms around his neck, and is smiling up at him with all the love in the world shining unadulteratedly in his lovely eyes. “I mean they did help us move all those boxes and all.”

Remus hums his agreement while he presses his forehead against his own, endlessly endeared.

“What a generous king,” He goads, words hugged with fondness.

“Ooo, I like that, call me that in bed and I might bless you with my royal sector.”

Remus thumps his nose, “Your more tolerable when you don’t speak and just stand there being pretty.”

“Aw, you think I’m pretty Moonykins?”

Remus shakes his head ruefully, the smile on his face one that Sirius knows well— one that means he’s reluctantly endeared. “Dork.”

“Plonker.”

There lips meet for another kiss and it feels like all the resplendence in the galaxy being distilled between just the two of them.

#Wolfstar #Remus Lupin #Sirius Black #marauders #spilt ink #sugarplums #kattlupin #so totally completely fluff #RIP #life's been total shit this week #so I guess this is a thing #I'm sorry sweets

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threeletterslife · 4 years ago

Text

Resonance

→ summary: your college art final prompt is so unbelievably broad that you might just flunk it because you have no idea what you’re gonna draw. luckily, there’s a cute guy who’s totally into you that might just help you out. even better: he’s a merman.

→ pairing/rating: taehyung x reader | PG-13

→ genre: 80% crack, 20% fluff | mermaid!au & bullet point fic

→ warnings: profanity

→ wordcount: 9.4k

cr.

well

this is just

great

you are a creative person

you ARE a creative person

ok maybe if you keep saying that in your head, it’ll come true

but fat chance

because you're still drawing a blank

your university professor JUST released the art final prompt

and it is the most broadest and vaguest prompt you've seen in your whole entire nineteen years of life

it sucks!!

like what the fuck?

how are you supposed to draw something that "calls to you"

what's that supposed to mean???

your best friend yoongi tries to help you interpret the wack prompt

but you really shouldn’t be trusting a guy who uses art sketchbooks as scratch paper to solve batshit crazy math problems for fun

it’s a no brainer that yoongi’s a no-nonsense chemical engineering major

in conclusion, he wouldn’t know aRT

not like you do anyways

he can barely draw a stickman. and he even has shitty handwriting (that’s so barely legible that he always gets called back after finals to translate his writing for the prof)

enough roasting your best friend though

especially when he’s actually trying to lend you a hand

“what calls to you…” yoongi trails off thoughtfully

he lets out a snort

“ha!” he says triumphantly. “y/n, i got it!”

“really?!”

“just draw a phone with your mother coming out of it!”

you frown. “i don’t get it”

yoongi sighs, shaking his head disdainfully

“because your mother literally calls you on the phone, y/n”

“i hate you”

yoongi is no help

“prof would flunk me if i turned a drawing like that in”

yoongi snorts. “or she’ll give you extra points for thinking literally. artists these days are so into thinking outside of the box. maybe you’ll be unique for being literal”

god no

being literal won’t fly with your professor

she’s the fucking queen of abstract art

if you hand her a painting of your mother coming out of a fucking phone, she might just burn the piece in front of your face

besides, you can’t draw something that doesn’t stir some sort of inspiration in you

no offense to your mother (but she’s also a no-nonsense physician)

yoongi’s just back at it again with his nonsensical advice

you’d expect better from the dude who does math for fun

“you know what?” you huff. “i can’t trust a guy who uses a freaking sketchbook to solve advanced calculus problems”

yoongi grins. “just tryna help, y/n”

“my god”

“wanna help me since i helped you?” yoongi teases

he holds up a stack of paper riddled with numbers with one too many digits and foreign symbols from the greek alphabet

you feel like you’re gonna puke

“aaaaand goodbye!” you say, standing up from your seat at the campus cafe. “i’m gonna go to the beach!”

“right now??”

“yeah why not?” you laugh, shrugging. “i need some inspiration!”

“but then i’m gonna look like a loner sitting here all by myself,” yoongi pouts

“then come with me, duh”

yoongi gives you a look of repulsion

“i hate the beach,” he grumbles

“fine,” you snort. “just call hoseok or something. i don’t know. but i’m leaving! bYe!!”

you can hear yoongi cursing at you under his breath and you laugh

he’s got such a mouth of a sailor that he honestly belongs on the beach—if not, the ocean

you pay his cursing no mind as you rush out the cafe and across the school campus

the literal reason you chose to attend this university was its close proximity to the beach

you’ve always been drawn to the waters

yoongi, on the other hand, only came here because of a scholarship

smart bastard

but he’s a good friend

it’s kinda sad you’re always hanging on the beach alone though

you don’t particularly fit in with the rowdy party crowds on the sand

and you don’t go there to flaunt your summer body in a bikini

you just go for

~inspiration~

by the time you reach the beach, it’s nearly empty

when it’s nearing finals, no one dares to step foot on the warm sand because once you go in, there’s no way in hell you’re going back

some students learn the hard way

and then end up flunking their finals

it’s you

you’re ‘some students’

(to be fair, that was freshman year and you’re a sophomore now, so you won’t make the same mistake again!!)

okay… maybe

you’re on the beach and it’s nearing finals so maybe you haven’t learned your lesson

but in your defense, you’re only here for

~inspiration~

the salty ocean breeze caressing your face

the smell of open waters

the brisk air

you would live on the beach if you could

there’s a small little rocky ledge at the far side of the beach that serves as your little private area you’ve been using since you got here

no one ever comes this far

so you just claimed the rocky ledge as yours

it’s where there are cute little crabs roaming about

where the bright orange starfish and sea anemones attach themselves to the rocks in the shallow tide pool and (maybe) watch you watch them

(you don’t exactly have extensive knowledge about ocean life lol)

omg there was even this one time when you saw a fish in the tide pool

granted, it was dEaD so you had to make yoongi carry it in a plastic bag and give it a proper burial ceremony

anywho

you love sea animals and plants!!

for a brief second as you crawl onto the rocky ledge you contemplate if you should draw a fucking fish for your art final

technically, it calls to you… right?

the late afternoon sun warms up your cheeks and you sigh, out, leaning back to admire the waves of the ocean lapping at the wet sand on the beach

if you just lie like this, basking in the sun… you’ll come up with an idea… right?

two hours later, you’re still stumped

“well, fuck,” you curse

the tide’s starting to come in and your feet are already underwater

it looks like you should just go back to your dorm at this point

you’ll find your ~inspiration~ tomorrow

you sigh

why can’t you think of a cool idea for fuck’s sake

what calls to me??

the only thing you can think of is a flobbering fish and your mom coming out of a phone (a tribute to yoongi)

you end up accidentally staying until the moon’s high in the sky

the waters have turned into a black oblivion and the tide’s so high, you have to shift up the rock to avoid making it look like you wet your pants

if you were a werewolf, you could draw the moon

because haha, get it? the moon calls to them!

but unfortunately, you are not a werewolf

“this sucks,” you huff

usually, you’re quick to come up with good ideas and it’s frustrating that for finals you can’t do the same

right when things actually matter

you look down from the sky to stare at your feet

maybe you’ll just stay here until you can come up with an idea

you aren’t gonna give up so soon

besides, the quiet sound of the undulating waves is so soothing

you stay a little longer, gazing at the twinkling stars and daydreaming of simpler times when your art teachers would tell you exactly what to draw without giving you vague-ass prompts to interpret

that’s when something catches your eye in the dark waters

illuminated by the starlight… you see… a…

HUMAN???

“hey!” you shriek

okay now you’re 1000% sure there’s someone in the ocean right now

they have a head of bright turquoise hair and pale but toned arms

yet the person has their back turned to you so you can’t quite see their face (though you assume they’re attractive just based on the back of their head)

“hey!” you shout again

come to think of it,,,

are they skinny dipping in the fucking ocean???

freshmen these days!! they’re nuts!

“you’re gonna die of hypothermia!” you yell. “or a shark’s gonna bite your limbs off!”

slowly

very slowly

the kid turns around

and you nearly choke on your breath

because he is beautiful

not in a conventional tiktok boy way but in a mysterious manner

his alabaster skin glows in the starlight

his turquoise-colored hair is styled perfectly on his head, just swept gracefully across his forehead

his deep sea-green eyes sparkle as he cocks his head and stares at you

oh god

he’s definitely shirtless

“h-hey!” you call again, hoping you don’t sound desperate. “what are you doing??”

the boy doesn’t answer though

he just stares at you curiously, eyes glancing back and forth at your bare legs and your shocked face

normally, you’d be creeped out if a random guy decided to check out your legs, but for some reason, the boy doesn’t stare at you like he’s a predator

he just looks… curious

you gasp when he suddenly disappears underwater

“hey!!” you shriek

damn. maybe he just wanted to be alone

no biggie

you’ll just sit on the rock or something until he decides to talk?

or you can be like any other sane person and just go back to your dorm

a sudden splash of water jumps you out of your thoughts

you nearly fall back when the strange boy stares up at you from the ledge of the rock

he’s still submerged under the water up to his shoulders, but he leans against the rock and smiles at you

it’s as if he’s saying ‘hey, loud person, who won’t shut up. how are you today? nice to meet you’

at least you think that’s what he’s trying to convey to you

“hi?” you say, raising your eyebrows. “isn’t the water cold?”

the boy shrugs his shoulders then shakes his head

he seems friendly enough that you decide to continue talking to him

he has a strange alluring aura that makes you want to get to know him

before you know it, you’re scooting closer to the stranger

he doesn’t flinch when you’re close enough to touch his strangely dry head of beautiful hair

“woah,” you deadpan. “how’s your hair dry?”

the boy shrugs again, smiling mischievously

can he even talk??

or maybe he’s just being polite and he wants you to leave

maybe he’s naked?? and he actually is a skinny dipper

and he wants you to get the hell away from him so he can get into his clothes??

“do you want me to leave…?” you ask cautiously

the boy shakes his head

ookkayyy…

“oh… it’s just that you’re not talking to me so i just thought…” you trail off, uncertain

the boy laughs and it’s the only kind of sound you’ve heard from him since you first saw him in the waters a few minutes ago

and his laugh is just like the rest of him—beautiful

the boy touches his throat with one hand and shakes his head

you frown

what?

the boy repeats the motion again and again until it finally clicks in your head

oh!!!!

“wait, you can’t speak?” you say. “i’m sorry… i didn’t know!”

the boy smiles as if saying ‘it’s all right. you’re fine’

“i haven’t seen you around campus…” you start. “do you live around here?”

the boy shakes his head

“you just like late-night swims, huh?” you giggle. “i’d swim too but something about swimming in the ocean at night is super scary for me”

the boy laughs good-heartily. he points at you curiously, then gestures at the surroundings

“oh, why am i here?” you say

the boy nods his head

“i’m just trying to get inspiration,” you say. “i’m an artist”

the boy smiles widely. he raises his eyebrows and points at you

“yes, really!” you laugh. “wanna sit on the rock with me?” you say, patting the spot next to you. “you don’t have to be stuck in the ocean to talk to me”

the boy hesitates

he looks at you through his beautiful eyes and parts his pink lips

it’s as if he’s asking, ‘can i really sit next to you?’

“i don’t bite!” you laugh. “at least, the last time i checked”

the boy giggles

he reaches out and lightly touches your hand

you’re shocked when you realize his hands aren’t wet from the water

come to think of it, you are covered in more water droplets than the boy

well

something is a bit fishy around here

you slowly look up at the boy’s face

he shrugs but a mischievous, all-knowing smile plays on his lips

“what are you, a mermaid?” you snort

the boy looks offended, placing a hand against his chest and letting out a silent scoff

“sorry. i meant merman,” you roll your eyes. “better?”

you were only half-joking

but when the boy waves what looks like a fucking tail towards you, you nearly fall back

“WAIT!” you shriek

that better be a fucking costume

the boy laughs and he swims a bit away from the rock, only to do a backflip

that’s when you see that this boy is not really a boy

he’s a mythical mermaid???

with a sparkling turquoise tail and everything?? (on a side note, you have to appreciate the way it matches his hair)

okay

well

deep breath in

deep breath out

you were never one to say that mermaids existed

but you weren’t one to say that they didn’t exist either

okay

either you’re still dreaming or you just kinda befriended a mermaid—er, merman

“please tell me this is real!” you squeal, scooting closer to the waters so that your knees are submerged

when you were a kid and adults asked you what you wanted to be when you grew up, you said a mermaid

as you grew older, society drilled in your head that mermaids only existed in disneyland

so that was that

until now, of course

the boy pops up from the ocean again and he hoists himself up on the rock right next to you

he’s shirtless as mermen go, but that’s the least of your interests now

his tail comes up with him and he gestures towards it, allowing you to touch the shiny scales

“it’s beautiful!” you breathe, running your hands over the surprisingly silky tail. “i better not be dreaming right now”

the boy laughs. he points at your legs curiously in response as if to say, ‘i better not be dreaming too’

“you’ve never met a human??”

the boy shakes his head. he looks at you like you’re the most special person on the planet. and it makes sense too because you’re the only human he’s probably communicated with in his life

“wow… i guess there’s a first time for everything…”

the boy nods enthusiastically

“are you even allowed to approach people?”

the boy grins as if to say, ‘mAyBe’

“poseidon or some dude with a trident’s not gonna zap me with lightning for talking to you right??”

just a safety precaution!!

the boy laughs boisterously, head thrown back and eyes squinted

“well… i guess not,” you smile

you’ve never really been friends with someone… not human…

if yoongi heard you talking about this merman, he might call the psych ward on you

or you’re just batshit crazy and you’ve been imagining this in your head

the boy points at you politely, cocking his head

“my name?”

he nods vigorously

“i’m y/n!” you tell him

‘y/n…’ he mouths with his lips but you can’t hear it

“what’s your name?”

the boy presses his lips together, then as if a light bulb went off in his head, he grins

he mouths his name to you, lips pursing and parting with exaggerated movements

you squint

“daeyoung??” you guess

the boy snorts, shaking his head

he mouths his name again but this time with more emphasis in the beginning

“ohhhh! i got it!” you say excitedly. “taeyoung!”

the merman holds up a number one and nods but shakes his head when he holds up two fingers

“the second part’s wrong??”

he nods

“uhhhhhh, tae… young… young… something that rhymes with young…”

“oh!!” you shriek, “TAEHYUNG!!”

the merman claps his hands together gleefully

“am i good or what??”

taehyung pats you on the back as if to congratulate you for figuring out his name

“thanks,” you grin. “hey do you come here often? you know, on this rocky ledge”

‘yup,’ taehyung mouths. ‘i’ve seen you before,’ he mouths slowly so you can understand him

“woah. you watched me?”

taehyung bashfully looks away

“it’s okay! it’s okay!” you say. “i just hope i wasn’t doing anything embarrassing… like picking my nose or something. i’m always alone here”

taehyung grins, wiggling his eyebrows. it’s as if he’s saying that yes, he did see you picking your nose that one time

“well it’s a human thing,” you argue. “you wouldn’t understand!”

taehyung giggles. ‘sure, sure,’ he seems like he’s saying

you huff. “in my defense, i didn’t know anyone was watching!”

taehyung gives you a look as if telling you that was the lamest excuse ever

“whatever, tae,” you scoff. “i’m just flattered that you thought i looked interesting in the first place”

the merman grins wildly, making it quite obvious he likes the new nickname you had given him. he shrugs his shoulders and pokes your arm playfully. ‘friend!’ he mouths enthusiastically

“you wanna be my friend?”

taehyung rapidly nods his head

“hmmMm…” you pretend to think. “i’m a bit swamped with friends at the moment…” you fib. in reality, you only have like two best friends (yoongi and yoongi’s bestie, hoseok). but it doesn’t hurt to lie a little to tease tae

the merman’s lips pull down in a slight frown

but you snort and slap his bare shoulder

“kidding!” you giggle. “why would i say no to being your friend?”

taehyung rolls his eyes but he grins happily. he looks at you expectantly, almost as if he’s asking when he can see you next time

damn

you’re starting to get the hang of reading taehyung’s expressions

“when can you see me next time?” you ask

taehyung nods

“well… finals are coming up… i reckon you don’t have mermaid school or whatever?”

taehyung shakes his head, grinning. ‘no school!’

“lucky,” you sigh. “but fuck finals!” you pump your fist in the air. “i’ll see you tomorrow!”

‘same time?’ taehyung inquires

“sure!”

the two of you shake hands to seal the deal

you would’ve spent hours on end talking to taehyung but he’s the one who points to the direction of the beach and mouths ‘you should sleep’

“i don’t need sleep!” you declare but unfortunately, that follows with an embarrassing yawn

taehyung gives you the look

“okay… maybe i do need sleep…”

taehyung giggles. he pushes your shoulder slightly, nudging you away from him

“and i can visit you tomorrow…” you reason

taehyung nods

“so maybe i should get sleep”

‘that’s it!” the merman laughs

so you say your lasting goodbyes and watch as taehyung dives away from the rock

when he’s gone, shining tail and all, you’re left dazed and confused

maybe you’ve been hallucinating???

welp

if you were hallucinating, you’ll figure it out tomorrow when a cute merman doesn’t come to meet you at night

for now, you just need sleep to digest everything that had just happened

okay

you just woke up

and now you’re more unsure than ever that this… taehyung exists

what if you were so stressed out yesterday

that you were literally… seeings things

yoongi keeps asking you if you’re okay because you spaced out TEN times in ONE conversation

you keep trying to convince him that you’re fine

but yoongi knows you so well that he knows you’re definitely NOT fine

“i’m just tired!!” you tell your best friend

yoongi sCOFFS “so am i but you don’t see me spacing out like i saw a unicorn last night”

eRrrr…

how do you tell yoongi that technically you did see something like a unicorn last night???

well

you won’t

because yoongi is a no-nonsense-old-fashioned-traditional-by-the-textbook-chemical-engineering-loving-student

he would never believe you

“wEll i’m sensitive!” you protest, crossing yours arms. “plus i’m still stressed about my art final”

“i thought you went to the beach to get inspiration!” yoongi points out

“errrrr…” you scratch your head. “i got distracted”

yoongi sighs. “aRt mAjOrs”

“excuse me, how dAre you???”

but yoongi just laughs it off, patting you on the back before announcing that he had to go study for his finals

you should be studying for your other finals too

but you end up doodling all over your notes

doodles of tAeHyuNg

every ten minutes, you force yourself to sTOP doodling to actually read your notes

but it never works

by night time, you’ve gotten nowhere

oh well

now you can go meet taehyung!!

if he exists…

what if your brain was actually playing games on you??

regardless, you swallow all sense of doubt and march out to the ocean

the beach is completely empty and you make use of the privacy, skipping along the sand and towards the rocky ledge

and sure enough, there’s no one there

hMph

okay

maybe taehyung’s late

no, wait you’re early

so you’re gonna wait for the merman

and if he doesn’t come in… ten minutes, you’ll just leave and deem yourself absolutely bonkers

waiting is really boring

you keep thinking at least five minutes passed every time you look at your phone for the time

but, in reality, it’s always been less than forty seconds

you go back and forth between looking at the time to looking at the dark waters

FOR FIVE WHOLE MINUTES

you’re starting to get ANTSY

and doubt starts to settle in

if yoongi knew what you were doing right now, he’d laugh at you

oh god…

should you just… leave?

THAT’S when you see a familiar bob of turquoise hair in the waters

you let out a little shriek, scooting closer to the edge of the rock

“taehyung??” you call out

the figure leaps in the air like a gracious dolphin and dives back down into the opaque waters

two seconds later, the familiar merman leans against the rocky ledge and grins up at you

‘hey,’ he seems to say with his sparkling eyes. ‘missed me?’

“UM, YES!” you say. “i was starting to think i was going crazy”

taehyung chuckles deeply, the sound reverberating against the calm ocean waves

“i was worried you wouldn’t be here”

taehyung raises his eyebrows as if to say, ‘why wouldn’t i be here??’

“i don’t know! self doubt? maybe you have some underground castle you wanna hang around with your friends and family rather than come up to the surface to hang with me!”

taehyung shakes his head, laughing. he points to himself and mouths the word, ‘solo’

“really?” you raise your eyebrows. “no family or friends?”

taehyung nods. ‘SOLO!’ he declares silently, grinning

“are all merfolk like that??”

the merman shrugs. ‘never seen another’

“oh gosh, you must be lonely,” you say. “here.” you pat the place next to you. “sit on the rock with me”

taehyung obliges but he protests he’s not lonely by shaking his head

“what do you do by yourself all the time, then?”

taehyung grins mischievously

out of the corner of your eye, you see bubbles of water rising up from the surface of the waves. you gasp as they begin to float in the air

“bubbles!” you reach out to pop one, laughing when the remnants of the water splash against your cheek

the merman nudges you as if to say, ‘but wait! there’s more!’

the next thing you know, a huge floating water bubble splashes above your head, drenching you from head to toe

“vEry funny!” you scoff, trying to shake the water off yourself

taehyung gives you another one of his cheeky grins. ‘sorry,’ he mouths, but he does not look apologetic at all

‘but look! i can dry it!’

he waves his fingers at you and instantly, your sopping wet hair and clothes are dried. there’s even a ocean breeze smell that lingers on you now

“do you go around splashing people with water bubbles and drying them right after?” you accuse taehyung teasingly

he laughs boisterously, shrugging his shoulders. ‘mAybE’ is his answer

“you spend a lot of time on the surface, huh?”

taehyung shrugs. ‘maybe’

“not much of a fish dude?”

‘they’re creepy,’ taehyung answers

you howl with laughter. “and scary! like sharks, viperfish, hatchetfish… oh god,” you shiver. “i hate them. i can’t swim in the ocean. and i know most of the scary-looking ones don’t even live in the same ocean zone”

taehyung pokes at you. ‘scaredy-cat,’ he mouths

“am not!! how are you creeped out by fish when you’re half fish??”

taehyung scoffs. ‘my tail…’ he gestures majestically at his sparkling tail, ‘is not a fish tail’

“sure… fishboy”

taehyung raises his eyebrows and raises his hand as if to threaten to splash you with a water bubble again

“i was only joking”

taehyung laughs, poking at you then pointing to the waters. ‘wanna swim, though?’

“are you serious? i just told you i’m terrified!”

taehyung pouts, his pink lips pulling down into a sad frown

“that’s not gonna make me change my mind, tae”

‘just for a little bit!’ he protests

“i don’t even have my goggles, i can’t swim without them! and i’m not going in water that’s pitch black”

taehyung sighs. ‘fine!’

“i’m really good at swimming in the pool though,” you say. “i mean, they used to call me a mermaid. because i was really good at dolphin kicking. but then i watched a few underwater documentaries… and nope. never again. i am not going in the same waters that goblin sharks live in”

to your surprise, taehyung teasingly pokes your cheek. ‘cute,’ he mouths. ‘scaredy-cat,’ he adds

“show anyone a goblin shark and they wouldn’t be able to get in the water for a year!” you huff in response

‘never seen one,’ tae sings—if you could hear him, you imagine his voice would sound as soft as lavender with just a drizzle of rich honey

“doesn’t mean they don’t exist!” you argue. “maybe one day i’ll swim with you. but definitely not today”

technically, you just met the man—er, merman

you’re not so sure if you can trust him to console you of your great fear of the ocean

maybe once you get to know him a little better

you see

you’re very quick to make friends

you probably have a lot of acquaintances

they all know your name and you know theirs

but you probably could not name three facts about any of them. and they probably couldn’t think of three facts about you either

so yes, you tend to have shallow relationships with many

but if you find people you like, you cling to them

like yoongi and hoseok

you just hope taehyung won’t be one of your acquaintances

he better be one of your best friends

how cool is it to say your best friend is a merman????

very cool

‘cool’ is just not a word to describe you as yoongi often likes to point out

but you’ll show him

you visit taehyung every day

for seven days

it’s been a full week

finals is closer than ever

you have like… five days to get your art final done

and you still haven’t gotten an idea

yikes

okay well you have an excuse

actually, you have excuses. plural.

because 1) you’ve forced yourself to fOrget about finals and 2) taehyung is wAy more interesting than any final you will ever take in your life

besides, all the time you spend on the beach is absolutely worth it

you and taehyung sometimes even meet before night falls, just before the sun’s setting so the two of you can prank the seagulls

(tae hates those little monsters-with-wings so he enjoys it a whole lot to dump water bubbles on their heads)

you help him prank the stupid birds by giving him moral support! that includes cheering him on when he successfully attacks an unsuspecting seagull and feeding him some cookies from your school cafeteria to keep him well-nourished

taehyung loves human food

he says he has to live off of clams and seaweed

which, isn’t all that bad (you love salted seaweed chips and clams), but imagine having a diet solely composed of seafood

yuck

so you bake kale chips for tae one day (nearly burning down the communal kitchen) and he enjoys it so much, for five days, you bring all sorts of good human food for him

by the end of the week, taehyung’s put on some pounds

you think he looks even more adorable with a bit of meat on his bones

taehyung just complains that his abs are starting to disappear

so one day, you bring a yoga mat and the two of you do some ab exercises off of youtube

of course, that led taehyung down the youtube rabbit hole

and once down that rabbit hole, it is very hard to resurface

after tae got ahold of gordon ramsay’s youtube channel, it’s all he watches when you come to the beach

in the end, you have to ban him from youtube because he almost took your phone underwater when you tried to get him to stop drooling over gordon ramsay and his incredible cooking skills

but taehyung prefers talking to you over watching youtube

at least you think

you hope

there is never a day you meet taehyung and it isn’t eventful

there’s always something to do with the fun-loving merman!

which makes it very, very easy to lose sight of iMporTAnt things… like, uh finals

so, today, five days before your art final is due, yoongi sits you down on your desk chair and sighs. “have you figured out your art final yet?”

it is a question that catches you off guard

“er… no”

“iSn’t it due in FIVE days???” yoongi shakes his head disapprovingly at you. “c’mon, y/n, don’t some artists take over a week to finish a painting??”

“well i can take uh, three days without sleeping if it really comes to that”

yoongi sighs. “you’ve been going to the beach every day. still no inspiration?”

“err… i got… distracted”

“do you want me to come with you today or something? so i can whip you back into shape and make sure you get properly inspired?” yoongi offers

“no!” you shout

yoongi raises his eyebrows

“i mean, um, no thank you, yoongs,” you stand up and pat yoongi’s head

he scowls at you

“i’ve got it all figured out!” you tell him very convincingly

but it is a lie

“rEally?” yoongi raises his eyebrows at you

“yes. don’t you worry, my friend.” you pat his head again

yoongi rolls his eyes. “okay, well, worse comes to worst, you can always use my terrific idea”

“never in a million years”

“oh well. wanna skip the beach today? i’m inviting hoseok over to watch a movie. you can come too, if you want”

“no can do,” you say, shaking your head. “i’m going swimming!” you hang your swim goggles in front of yoongi’s face

“in the dark?? in the ocean?? i thought you were afraid of gobbler sharks!”

“goblin sharks. not gobbler. and no. not anymore. i trust the waters now”

er, or, you trust taehyung

he’s been trying to convince you every day to swim with him

and every day you declined or made up some stupid excuse

but today is the day you will accept

you even prepared by wearing a bathing suit under your clothes

and you’re gonna bring your swim goggles

you’re so ready!!

you trust that taehyung won’t let the fish get to you

he promised and swore on his own beautiful tail

so he can’t possibly be lying

“oOokAyyyy…” yoongi says, giving you a strange look. “if you drown, can i have your comforter?”

“oh, shut up. i’m not gonna drown”

“sure”

you huff. “whatever, yoongs. have fun watching that movie with hoseok. i’m gonna get going”

“i will. just don’t drown or something”

“i won’t”

five minutes later, you’re terrified you’re going to drown

as you walk across the beach, you worry that you’re only walking to your death

what if you actually drown???

and taehyung can’t save you because the water’s so dark, he can’t even see you???

what if a jellyfish comes out of nOwHerE and stings you so hard you’re gonna be paralyzed forever????????

EVEN WORSE

WHAT IF THERE’S A GOBLIN SHARK OUT OF ITS HABITAT

WHAT IF IT BITES YOUR LEGS OFF????

ohmygod

you think you might die

taehyung’s waiting for you on the rocky ledge as he always does

but today, he has a shit-eating grin on his face

he looks at your goggles and nods. ‘today’s the day!!’

you grumble. “this is not helping my stress”

taehyung cocks his head

“i’m stressed because of college, tae. lucky you. you wouldn’t understand”

the handsome merman snorts. ‘i wouldn’t’

he pokes at you as if to say, ‘tell me what’s wrong’

you sigh, plopping yourself down on the rock and looking down at your feet

“i have a really important painting i have to finish in five days…” you groan. “and my professor gave me an art prompt, you know, something i need to interpret and draw. but i can’t, for the life of me, figure out what i wanna paint”

‘hMmm,’ taehyung hums. ‘what’s the prompt?’ he mouths

“what calls to me”

‘what calls to you?’

“ugh. yeah. horribly vague, isn’t it? my friend suggested i draw my mother coming out of a phone”

taehyung cocks his head, curiously

“yeah, it’s stupid. so i’m stuck. and the final’s due in five days. but i was totally forgetting about it until yoongi decided to bring it up. and now i’m stressed”

the merman giggles

“this isn’t funny!!” you protest

but the merman giggles again

when you give him a disdainful look, taehyung dives into the ocean and pops his head out, waving at you to come in

you sigh, staring at your goggles. reluctantly, you put them on

once you strip down to your swimsuit, you stare hesitantly at the opaque ocean. you crouch down just before the water, contemplating and contemplating

suddenly, something grabs your arm and you’re tugged into the ocean

you sCreAm bloody murder and voila, now salt and fish feces water is up your noise

how wonderful

but two strong hands hold your waist and you’re able to resurface

the water’s cold, but not freezing cold at least. and taehyung’s actually really warm against your skin

“you fucking dragged me in!!!” you shriek after coughing the water out of your lungs

you hit tae’s bare chest in agitation

the little shit just shrugs and grins at you

you huff, wrapping your legs tightly around taehyung’s hips. “if you let me go, my friends are going to find you and roast you. literally”

taehyung chuckles. ‘i won’t let you go,’ he seems to tell you with a meaningful look on his face

“you better not!” you tell him

he laughs at you, softly touching your forehead with the back of his hand. instantly, you feel much, much warmer. even cozier in the supposedly freezing waters

even the water weighing down the hair on your head feels lighter. when you reach out to touch it, you realize it’s completely dry

“woah,” you breathe. “that’s so cool…”

you forget that you’re even supposed to be mad at the merman

taehyung grins at you, petting your hair. ‘i know, right?’ he seems to say with his twinkling eyes

he motions at you to take your goggles off

“what?? are you crazy? i can’t survive without these! i am not opening my eyes in salt water, tae”

the merman shakes his head, laughing. ‘it won’t sting your eyes’

“why? did you put a magical charm on me or something?”

taehyung shrugs. ‘mAyBe’

you sigh, skeptical

‘i’m trying to help,’ tae mouths. ‘it’s for your art final’

you raise your eyebrows doubtfully

‘i’m serious’

“why, is there something cool underwater?”

taehyung nods. ‘you need your eyes open’

you wrap your legs tighter around the merman. “so… you’re gonna show me… something underwater… that will help me with my art final??”

the merman nods enthusiastically

he ruffles your hair and pinches your cheek. ‘trust me’

ohhHHhhh if you didn’t trust him, you wouldn’t be clinging onto him for life right now

“promise you won’t let me go??”

‘promise’

you hold out your pinky for taehyung

he cocks his head. ‘what is that for?’

“pinky promise??”

‘hmm?’

oh man

that might just be a human thing

silly you

“oH uh, nEver mInd th—”

you try to retract your pinky but taehyung stops you

he slowly pulls up his own hand, his pinky jutting out awkwardly

‘like this?’ he questions, poking at your pinky with his

you have to stifle a laUgh

“um, not quite,” you say. “you have to wrap your pinky around mine. yeahh, like that. and then it’s a pinky promise! it’s practically illegal to break a pinky promise”

taehyung nods. ‘i won’t break it’

“okay good! uh…” you look warily at the dark waters. “what is it that you wanted to show me?”

taehyung grins. suddenly, you’re submerged underwater again and you let out a scream

but you can’t hear yourself

not because you’re choking on the water, no

it seems like… you can breathe????? UNDER THE WATER????

you hug taehyung tighter and try to scream at him to stop plunging you in the ocean without a warning

but no sound comes out of your lips

‘taehyung!” you shriek soundlessly

“open your eyes, y/n…” a deep, resonate voice tells you

you nearly gasp in shock

was that… was that taehyung’s voice? his speaking voice????????

“it’s okay… you’re protected under a charm,” his mellifluous tone soothes you. “you’re able to breathe underwater, y/n. but you won’t be able to speak.” he laughs, which sounds very familiar to your ears. “how the tables have turned!”

‘taehyung!!!’

“how good it feels to finally speak to you!!” taehyung laughs. “you don’t have to hold me in a vice grip anymore,” he snorts. “i won’t let you go. we pinky promised, remember?”

you groan in your head. ‘i-i can’t. i can’t do it, tae’

“aww, y/n…” you hear taehyung softly pet your hair. “take your time”

‘i can’t open my eyes. i-i’m sorry’

you can see the blackness through your eyelids. and there is no way in hell you’re going to open them

fine, you trust taehyung. and sure, the water may not sting your eyes

and on top of all that, you can fucking breathe underwater thanks to tae, but no

you’re still scared

you’re scared of what you’re gonna see

or what you won’t see because the ocean is probably pitch black

you just try to focus on taehyung’s beautiful, deep voice. it seems to reverberate through the ocean waves even after the sound hits your ears

“it’s okay,” he says. “don’t be sorry.” he holds you tighter against his bare chest. “you don’t have to see what i wanna show you anyway”

you make a confused grunt sound in the back of your throat

“you can hear it”

‘what???’

but of course taehyung can’t hear you. nor can he see you with your chin resting on his shoulder

“what calls to you, huh?” taehyung says in his syrupy voice. “i have a good idea”

then, to your utmost shock, he begins to sing

“where the sea breeze whispers

past your listening ears

and gently caresses your lips

there lies a great ocean

the waves undulate under the dark sky

under these waters

is a lonely merman

he longs, waits for a friend

a lover,

anyone who will save him

from his solitude

where the sea breeze whispers

where the great ocean lies

where the waves undulate under the dark sky

where the lonely merman waits

under these dark waters”

your insides melt

taehyung’s honey voice entrances you and you squeeze you eyes shut even tighter

a rush of inspiration washes over you

you shiver

oh god

you didn’t have to open your eyes after all

you don’t have to see it to feel the immense amount of emotion, love, sincerity interwoven to taehyung’s song

it’s the most beautiful music you’ve heard in your life

and it pains you that taehyung’s stopped singing

you’re speechless, pulling away from taehyung so he can read your lips. ‘that… that was so beautiful…’

“thanks,” taehyung chuckles deeply. “i sing that song a lot when i’m bored”

‘your voice…’

“i know. too bad i can only sing underwater, right? if i could do this on the surface, i’d serenade you all day every day”

‘i’ll come underwater with you,’ you mouth before you can stop yourself

then you pause

well

you suppose being underwater isn’t so bad

it’s just dark since your eyes are closed

but you’re warm in taehyung’s arms

and you can even breathe too

if you can hear taehyung’s voice and hear him sing, then surely, that is a tiny sacrifice you can make

“you’re gonna come underwater with me?? again??” taehyung seems in disbelief. “you already seem uncomfortable now!”

‘no i’m not!’

and to prove it, you force your eyes open

immediately, you’re so taken aback, your grip on taehyung loosens

the merman catches you before you slip away

‘o-oh…’ you breathe

the ocean is not as dark as you had imagined it

in fact, there is a halo-like light that surrounds taehyung

it illuminates his face, his hair, his whole body

he is like a walking—er, swimming—star

the light shines further out into the dark seas, making the water sparkle

‘oh…’ you breathe again

“nothing to be scared about right?” taehyung snorts. “scaredy-cat”

he bops you on the nose

you’re so in awe, you don’t even mind

“are you inspired now?”

oh!! right!! your art final!!

you were almost distracted again (even after taehyung just dangled the answer in front of your face!!)

RIGHT!

TAEHYUNG JUST HELPED YOU SOLVE YOUR ART FINAL FIASCO PROBLEM

YOU’RE SO INSPIRED YOU COULD PAINT FOURTEEN HUNDRED PAINTINGS RIGHT NOW

your fingers feel tingly

and your head whirls with ideas

taehyung’s voice, his song, his whole being…

it calls to you

omg

he just saved your ass

in one single song!!!

‘god, i’m so happy i could kiss you!’

and you’re not even joking

“kiss me??” taehyung seems taken aback, but he grins. “kiss?”

the way he seems curious about it, you’re not quite sure he even knows what that is

‘do you… do uh, merfolk kiss?’ you ask cautiously

taehyung smiles. “let’s find out”

his eyes sparkle as both of you begin to lean into each other

you take it slowly, admiring his alabaster skin, pink cheeks and rosy lips

he stares into your eyes and gently tucks your hair behind your ear

right before you move in to kiss his lips, he leans in to rest his forehead against yours

taehyung’s eyes flutter close and he sighs as you stay still in his arms, confused

but you decide to go with the flow, keeping your foreheads together as you close your eyes too

it’s an intimate moment

you, resting your forehead against his while under the same ocean you were once so scared of

you, feeling emotionally attached to a merman

you, dreaming of kissing taehyung. properly. you know, on the lips and whatnot

when taehyung finally pulls away, he grins

“wasn’t that a nice kiss?” he whispers, touching your cheeks and giggling just at the thought of it

yikes

how do you break it to him

that forehead touching is not really… the kissing you were thinking of

‘well…’ you giggle. ‘in the human world… um…’

“in the human world…?”

‘we kiss with our lips’

“oh!” taehyung exclaims. he scratches his head. “lips????”

‘like this!’

with that, you tug him into a kiss. a proper one this time

he melts in your arms, sighing as he leans forward and instinctively closes his eyes

you let yourself relax too

and god what the fuck

his lips feel so soft

is there a special ocean chapstick he uses???

does he use some special sand as a lip scrub??????

and even though he probably hasn’t kissed the human way before,,,

man he knows what he’s doing

it makes you think for a hot second

damn

you’re making out with a merman

… under the sea

?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

this is what your life has become

and honestly, you can’t complain

taehyung’s the first to pull away, panting slowly. “i didn’t think my breath could ever be taken away,” he grins cheesily

‘you’re welcome,’ you grin back, slightly breathless yourself

“so… now that i’ve given you amazing inspiration… don’t you need to write it down somewhere?”

‘oh!’ you gasp. ‘right!’

you need to get started on painting as soon as possible!!! you can’t ever forget the feeling of taehyung… singing for you. but something about painting it when the memory’s fresh promises the best results

what calls to you…

you smile

a goddamn merman!!

literally

you’re so gonna ace this art final

you paint nonstop for four days

although you want to, you can’t even visit the beach

because you absolutely HATE it when your workflow is stopped

so you have to keep on painting until you finish

you force yoongi to go out on the beach and lay some cookies on your special rocky ledge. he frowns at your strange directions

“i dOn’T thInK yOu sHouLd fEeD tHe sEaGuLlS, y/N. iT’s gOnNa iNtErRuPt tHe eCoLoGicAl bAlaNce,” yoongi says very knowledgeably

oh god

you tell him to shut up

he pats your head and walks out toward the beach with the cookies

at least he doesn’t ask questions

you just hope taehyung takes the cookies as an apology

you don’t want him to think after you kissed him, you ditched him!! you’re just busy with your art final!!!

so you also make yoongi sneak in a note and a slice of cake the next time

except yoongi comes back in ten minutes and aSks: “WHO’S TAEHYUNG???”

you gulp

but you pretend you can’t hear yoongi as you continue painting on your canvas

the perfect, bright turquoise color was very hard to recreate with paints, but you somehow managed. you just need to add some finishing touches and your beautiful painting of your merman friend will be finished

you know yoongi secretly admires your art skills, but he laUghs when he sees you painting a merman

“is that a siren???”

“no—”

“a mermaid, then?”

“a merman,” you say. “and he’s singing the most beautiful song in the history of songs”

yoongi laughs. “sure, sure. looks nice, though.” he steps closer to the canvas. “really like what you did with his facial structure or whatever. and his hair color. pretty tail too. i did not know you had the capacity to imagine that hard”

you huff. well, technically… you didn’t imagine that. but you’re not going to admit it with yoongi

“i’m more talented than you think,” you snort, stretching back and picking at the paint dried to your fingers. “if i close my eyes, i can almost hear him sing to me”

“um, i think you fell in love with your own painting,” yoongi snorts

“oh, leave me alone”

yoongi raises up two hands in defense. “okay, well, the final’s due tomorrow, right? are you done?”

“well…” technically, yes. but… “i’m gonna go to the beach”

“wait a minute, with your painting??? dude, what if a seagull snatches it away? what if the paint chips? leave your painting! that’s your final”

“i’ll be careful!”

“your idea of careful is reckless”

you sigh. “well, i’ll be extra careful!”

yoongi can’t argue with you after that. 1) because he knows you’re stubborn and won’t give up and 2) because when you say you’re gonna be extra with anything, you go all out

you take nearly twenty minutes getting to the beach because you walk very slowly with your painting in both hands. you hold the painting above your head so sand won’t fly onto it

and you check out for those nasty seagulls because sometimes they decide to shit on people’s heads

if they decide it’s a good day to shit on your final, it’s over

nevertheless, you need to show your masterpiece to taehyung

when you get to the rocky ledge, you call for the merman

in just a few seconds, taehyung pops up his head from under the water

“were you waiting for me?” you laugh. “did you get the cookies and cake i sent?”

taehyung nods, grinning as he begins to swim toward you. he points curiously at the canvas in your hands

“it’s my art final,” you explain to him. you turn it around so taehyung can see it

he gasps

‘that’s me???’

“yup”

‘you didn’t draw my abs!!’

“well, can’t draw what you don’t have,” you giggle, teasing the pouting merman. he huffs

‘i like it, though’

“reallY??” you gush. “that’s all i wanted to hear!!”

you set the painting down carefully to the side and scoot closer to the rocky ledge

taehyung rests his hand on your forehead before cupping your cheek. he grins before cocking his eyebrows and pulling your head underwater

‘taehyung!!!’ you shriek

“i just wanted to tell you how beautifully you drew me,” taehyung laughs, booping your nose. “i mean, i’m much, much better looking in real life, but the colors. you’re very talented, y/n”

you smile. ‘well, i did try really har—”

taehyung interrupts you by kissing you. he misses your lips the first time and gets the corner of your mouth, but the second time, his lips meet yours perfectly

the heavenly moment would’ve lasted wayyy longer if it weren’t for the:

“Y/N, WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU STICKING YOUR HEAD IN THE WATER???”

you let out a silent shriek and taehyung’s eyes widen. both of you break apart from the kiss and taehyung suddenly dives deep down into the ocean

and right when the merman is out of your range, you can’t breathe nor see clearly in the ocean anymore

when you get your head out of the waters, you’re a choking, coughing mess

you wipe away the droplets of water streaming down your face before you look up to see yoongi

“are you bobbing for fish in the ocean?” yoongi snorts. “for fuck’s sake, y/n, you can’t just leave your art final around like this!”

your best friend picks up your precious painting of taehyung and sighs. “what were you doing?”

“i, uh…” you touch your lips. “i was… uh… i dropped my ring in the water”

yoongi narrows his eyes. “you don’t even wear jewelry”

“okay fine. i was just trying to meet the merman of my dreams underwater”

at that, yoongi raises his eyebrows. “cool,” he says

“cool??” is that all he had to say?

“well, yeah. mermaids are cool”

“merman”

“whatever”

yoongi’s so chill with it that you’re unchill

“are you sure??” you say.

“am i sure that it’s whatever?” yoongi snorts. “yes? c’mon, let’s go watch a ocean life documentary with hoseok or something. finals is gonna be over soon, so we should celebrate starting now”

okay well

cool

this is chill then

yoongi is chill

you suspect he doesn’t believe you, even though you told him the truth

you could probably tell him that you kissed taehyung, a merman, but he would probably laugh it off

your best friend is quite strange. no-nonsense. sensible. rational.

but you love those things about him

yoongi helps you carry your art final back to the dorms. but just before you step off the rocky ledge, you turn around

taehyung’s waving at you very discreetly, so you smile and wave back

yoongi never notices a single thing

welp

it’s over now

finals is over

which means,,, IT’S BEACH TIME

unfortunately, everyone in the whole fucking school think’s it’s beach time too

even late at night, there are still a few idiots on the beach drinking the last of the beer they stashed away

it’s hard to meet taehyung just because the lack of privacy

you wait and wait and wait on the rocky ledge, but you know, with so many people, taehyung probably wouldn’t want to come out of hiding

it’s one thing for a merman to trust one girl

it’s another for a merman to trust fifty rowdy college students

but you have a feeling taehyung is always close by

you visit the rocky ledge every day, singing some of your own little songs (though you’re not a very good singer, you try)

you even talk to taehyung like he’s there, listening to you

but it starts to get lonely

there are so many people on the beach, but the one being you want isn’t here

you sigh, wiggling your toes that have become pruned due to the salty water. “i never thought i’d be saying this,” you say. “but i miss finals week”

taehyung would have laughed if he was with you now

god, you miss him

“or maybe you’re in the water right now, waiting for me to jump in…”

you sigh again. “or maybe you’ve migrated or something. do you even have to migrate? i have no idea…” you trail off, looking at the blue waters lapping at the sides of the rock

cautiously, you dip one foot in

the water’s cool, but not completely freezing

you dip the other foot in

okay

you can do this

you’ll just…

jump in

and if taehyung’s not underwater, you’ll just… leave for the day

you’re supposed to hang out at a computer cafe with yoongi and hoseok anyway

okay deep breath in

deep breath out

goblin sharks don’t even live near the shallow part of the ocean… right?????

so you’re safe, right????

unless there’s a lemon shark or something

oh fucking god

you shouldn’t have watched that ocean documentary with your friends

but the need to see taehyung surpasses everything

you close your eyes

pinch your nose with your fingers

and you JUMP

and immediately you gasp because fuck the water’s cold

lowkey, your heart nearly stops because of the sudden rush of cool water surrounding your whole body

and right when you think you should swim back to the surface, a pair of strong arms hold you, and a soft hand taps at your forehead

“hello, you”

‘TAEHYUNG!’ you open your eyes and see your favorite merman staring at you

“the beach is crowded these days, isn’t it?” he grins

‘i know! pesky people!’

taehyung laughs. “i made another song while you were gone. nice singing, by the way. i heard you a couple days ago”

you flush. ‘i can’t sing! but um, can i hear your new song?’

taehyung nods, clearing his throat

he holds your hands to his chest and begins to sing

“where the sea breeze whispers

past your waiting ears

and gently kisses your lips

there lies a beautiful ocean

the waves ripple beneath the awakened sky

under these waters

is a happy merman

he’s found his friend,

his lover,

his treasure that has saved him

from his solitude

where the sea breeze whispers

where the beautiful ocean rests

where the waters ripple beneath the awakened sky

where the happy merman lives

under these sparkling waters”

‘you changed the lyrics!!’

taehyung nods. “i think it’s much more fitting, don’t you think?”

the two of your resurface from the waters, gripping each other tightly

your hair is completely dry and it blows in the light breeze

the sunlight warms your face and turns taehyung’s cheeks even rosier

oh god

your heart skips a beat

but you try to calm down before you wrap your arms around taehyung’s neck and pull him close

the moment your forehead touches his, you close your eyes and it feels like there’s nothing else in the ocean, on the beach, except you and taehyung

the two of you may never speak out loud in the same place as you’re kept silent in the ocean and taehyung’s kept silent on land

but...

sometimes, you don’t even need words

gazes, actions, little touches here and there

they speak in louder volume than words

you don’t even have to say you love taehyung. he doesn’t have to say it either

it’s as if both of your hearts, your actions proved it

masterlist

#ficswithluv #btswritersnet #btswriterscollective #bangtanfairygarden #bangtanidx #tae #taehyung #kim taehyung #taehyung imagine #taehyung fanfic #taehyung fanfiction #bts #bts fanfiction #resonance #the way this was supposed to be posted in october #➖👄➖just gonna pretend it was supposed to be posted in nov all along #anyways #something new! a bullet fic 😳

98 notes · View notes

dragonrajafanfiction · 3 years ago

Text

Genji Heavy Industries (Part 5) Hell

In this part of the plot of the game and Novel several things are happening at once. The scene I felt was most relevant to our MC is the scene I picked.

This scene is not in the game. Please enjoy.

Chu Zihang coughed low in his throat next to Caesar and that man’s killer’s aura subsided. You could finally breathe again. You weren’t upset with Chisei Gen and you had nothing against him. You barely knew him at all. Caesar Gattuso just had a bad habit of getting emotionally invested in every single person he came across and that’s why you were here, disguised as Hydra Executive Bureau members, helping Hydra move -- while at the same time, being surrounded by armed guards who would shoot you full of holes and ask questions of your corpse.

Chisei Gen was here with Masamune Tachibana and were talking in Japanese while observing the moving process. You keep your eyes low, maintaining that careful methodical pace that would make sure that you all got on the elevator with the fiftieth box so you could leave to escort that shipment and escape..

Caesar successfully got on the elevator and the operator yelled “HAI”. As the elevator descended, you caught the sharp flash of Caesar’s blue eyes, as though, with that look, he could slash the man’s throat.

Next was Chu Zihang. It would take ten more minutes of work for him to get on the elevator and Mingfei was getting a bit distracted. He was interested in what Chisei and Tachibana were talking about, being the only one who spoke Japanese. While reconnaissance could be handy, the survival of the team was more important. If you survived, you could come back. So you approach him where he is dawdling and lightly nudge him with your elbow..

Chu Zihang successfully boards the elevator. He gives you a two fingered salute as he descends down the shaft and disappears.

You’re next.

Working steadily, you pass by Lu Mingfei. “I want to say I’m sorry.” You murmur in a low voice. “I shouldn’t have yelled at you… and tried to hit you. That was wrong.”

Mingfei looks at you with a confused expression. “No… I messed up. I almost ruined everything.”

“I’ll explain later…”

“HEY YOU!”

Both of your heads look in the direction of the voice. A man in a dark windbreaker was gazing directly at you! Your heart stills. He’s saying something in Japanese but you can’t understand.

“He’s telling you to put the box down and follow him. He has another assignment for you.” Mingfei is looking at you with a face full of tragedy. “Little Sister…” He whispers. “Please don’t die.”

You smile at him and take his hand and give it a squeeze. “It’s okay.” You whisper and turn away to follow the man in the black windbreaker. You give a sharp bow in front of him. He presses a button on the elevator that you came in on, and it opens. He hands you a small brown paper bag and gestures that you should get in the elevator alone.

Your mind is racing. Caesar and Zihang were already gone and there was no way to get in touch with them. They would just wait for you expecting you to come down the elevator. Lu Mingfei would have to tell them what happened. Knowing Caesar, he wouldn’t leave the place without you and would probably search the building and continue to risk his life and everyone else’s lives! You had to find another way to get to them.

You turn around to face out of the elevator and don’t let your emotions show. Lu Mingfei is trying to work, but he’s pale, terrified and alone. You smile calmly at him as the door of the elevator closes.

From the moment the elevator door closed, the screen showing the floor you were on suddenly went out. The lights and the music in the elevator shut off. All the floor buttons were disabled, and the word "HELL" lit up in red above the door.

Your heart rate jumps and you try to press the door open button but it’s too late! You’re already descending, and fast!

You try every button but nothing works! Finally, you look up through the ceiling. Just as you’re thinking about escaping through the top, the elevator slows, and the lights come back on.

The lights reflect off the bronze doors like a mirror. Behind your reflection is the fuzzy reflection of a human shaped shadow. You reach for your pistol extremely fast, but a strong grip takes hold of both your wrists.

With a mighty twist, the person in the reflection turns you around, shoves you against the elevator doors and presses his lips to yours in a passionate kiss!

Your muscles jump and you try to escape, but his scent fills your nose. You recognize his hair. You go from resisting him, to embracing him and pulling him closer.

How did he get here? Where did he come from? You want to ask, but he doesn’t allow you to speak. He kisses you as your knees buckle and your back slides down to the elevator floor. When he finally lets you go, he smiles, watching you tremble filled with a strange tingling you don't understand. There is a satisfied glint in his golden eyes. “Good. I wanted to make sure I got to you before those other idiots did.”

You catch your breath for a moment. He was dressed smartly in a suit and patent leather shoes over his bare feet. A black serrated army knife was on his belt. He rested one hand over his bent knee, crouching in front of you. As always, that clever smile that hid an inside joke was on his delicate features. He really did look quite a bit like Lu Mingfei. But you decide Z is much more handsome. But you were alone when you got into the elevator. How did he get here?

“How do I know you're really here and this isn't a dream?” You ask.

His eyebrows raise. “Is this the type of dream you would have of me? You’ve grown up…”

You huff with amusement. “I’m serious. Lu Mingfei has proof of his guardian angel. I want one, too.”

His eyes travel the length of you and his smile fades. “I’m no guardian angel. But if it's proof you want...” He leans forward on his hands and nuzzles your neck tenderly. But then at that moment he bites down hard and you cry out in pain.

When you touch where he bit you, your hands come back with a small streak of blood on them. Z licks his lips slightly. Your heart beats faster and you feel a bit dizzy. You’re drawn to him far more than any of the ‘idiots’ on your dating game show. “Z… I think I love you…”

He wrinkles his nose. “That’s because you don’t know any better. I’m always curious. How does a human know what exactly ‘love’ is? You could throw yourself body and soul at them and they reject you. Or you can bite them and they call it love. It’s silly.”

The elevator continues to descend and you don’t know how to answer him. “I just want to be with you.”

“Then just say that.”

“Where are we going?”

He smiles again, showing his teeth. “Hell.”

You roll your eyes. “I know, stupid. I mean in this elevator.”

He chuckles, a little birdlike.”Ke-ke-ke…” and again you delight in making him laugh. He sighs and settles next to you. You’d dropped your brown paper bag and he handed it to you again. “Here. It’s food. Eat it. You’re going to need it.”

Inside, is an apple and a small sandwich labeled “egg sando”. It was good and suddenly you feel your hunger roaring like a beast. As you devour the food, he reaches up and gently runs his fingers over your hair, much like you did to the little black kitten in Chizuru.

At the bottom of Genji Heavy Industries, deeper than the Iron Dome Shrine, in absolute darkness, a deep red "ならく" is lit up, which is an elevator light.

The word "ならく" is an exotic word derived from the Buddhist scriptures. Naraka is the deepest part of hell, the infinite fall of the void. The evil spirits in Naraka can never return to the human world, but experience an eternal fall into a bottomless pit.

The elevator door opened. You and Z, two black shadows, walked into the darkness where no one could see. Except for the faint sound of the ventilation fan turning, there is only dead silence here.

The wall ahead suddenly lit up. The giant wall seven or eight meters high emitted an eerie blue light. A closer look will reveal that it is actually a huge water storage tank. The wall is a glass made of hundreds of pieces of glass of about one square meter, between the glass is a narrow metal frame. Above the water storage tank, a several meters in diameter turbine and filter is installed. The volume of this storage tank is comparable to the giant fish tank in an oceanarium built to house manta rays and whale sharks. The general water supply pipeline simply can not provide enough water, so it takes water from the sewer. Sewage filtered into this storage tank, and then pumped away with the turbine when the water was changed, re-entering the Iron Dome Temple system.

The two of you lie on the ground under the glass wall, the blue light illuminating your faces. Z’s posture is reclining upright on his elbow, like those Greek boys carved in alabaster in the Parthenon, from a certain side he looks rather feminine, but from your angle he looks handsome like a young god. You’re lying on your back, looking up at him, staring into those golden eyes.

“Someone once said that the aquarium is one of the top places to go on a date.” He said, stroking your hair.

“Is that what this is? Odd timing…” You murmur.

“Well, you are a very busy woman and many men are looking at you now. Caesar Gattuso jumped in the rain from the top floor of the dorm into a moving convertible to stake his claim. Am I supposed to wait until the mission is over for me to make my move?”

He was right. For as much as the Takamagahara Star-Heart contest glorified looks, money, and pure carnal instincts, what pulled you to Z was the sense that he would stand over you and snarl like a lion. Once he had you, no one would be able to take you away.

“It’s just a show, Z. Are you being jealous?”

“I’m communicating… that’s what this is.” He pressed one finger to your forehead in an odd gesture. “Anyway, the date's over, we have work to do.”

You sit up.

“Use your Soul Skills. We are at the deepest roots of the Heavy Industry Building down here. I need you to cause an earthquake for me. Go for Magnitude 7 or 8.’

You’re silent for a moment. LIke any high level skill, it required considerable amount of practice and skill to wield without causing enormous amounts of unnecessary damage and death. Chu Zihang’s Royal Flame could be wielded like him, in various ways, like pottery in his hands, but he could only control it so much. Without injuring himself and others.

S-Level Skills like yours not only could cause excessive levels of death and destruction, but also came with sequelae, side-effects to the user. In order to create a Magnitude 7 or 8 you would not escape these side effects. But you would do your best to minimize them.

You place your hands on the ground and focus, slowly working your spiritual energe through the floor, through the meter thick slab and down into the bedrock formed by millions of years of heat and pressure. As it goes, so does your mind. The ground becomes like a skin, and you can feel the rubble of the subway, and the rush of the fierce waters in the Iron Dome in a steady vibration. A golden color lights up your dark eyes like a the headlight of a motorcycle in a tunnel that eventually fills the space until its entirely glowing yellow.

Z peeled off a piece of gum and stuffed it into his mouth, facing this empty water storage bin. He was not anxious at all. The sound of rushing water came from the depths of the water storage bin. Some kind of large aquatic animal swam at high speed, leaving a series of swirls with its long tail. The boy fished out a laser pointer from his sleeve, and after opening it, a red laser dot appeared on the glass wall, which cat owners often use to amuse kittens. The boy slowly moved the laser pointer. The light drifted, and gradually attracted the attention of the aquatic animal. It swam closer and closer. There was not one, but a group of large fish. The big fish put their heads against the glass wall, staring at the red dot.

Their faces were so pale, they looked like floating corpses that had been floating in the sea for dozens of days.

The group of fish with human faces peered through the glass at the human world, some expressionless, others with mouths turned upward, seemingly smiling.

They are not all the same. Most have long tails and scaly armor, some look like sphinxes with animal paws or have uncanny organs attached to them. Some have huge sharp claws and knife-like bony fins, and, when they breathe, the cracks at the base of their necks open up to reveal deep red, gill-like structures.

The boy turned his wrist slightly. The sphinxes twisted their bodies delicately, chasing the dots of light and swimming fast, like a group of obedient pets. The entire tank stirred and a dark golden skeleton came up from the bottom of the tank. The shape of the skeleton was between human, fish and flying birds. It was obviously the same kind of sphinxes. It seemed that these sphinxes do not mind eating their own kind when they are very hungry, and the dark golden skeleton is covered with teeth marks, as if cut out with a logging axe.

Z turned off the laser pointer and approached the glass wall. The sphinxes that had lost their chase scattered.

The size of the tank is almost equivalent to a small underground lake in the rock formation. The filtered groundwater is still clear, but once the sphinx swims far away, it is no longer visible. Only a smaller one was left, swimming in the waters near the glass wall, still seemingly trying to find the mysterious spot of light. The boy pressed his palm against the glass wall, which was half a meter thick from the reflection of the glass, and was made of huge glass tiles.

Your Soul Skill has reached depth. Earthquakes were typically created when two broken slabs of continental plates floated on currents of magma, collided, and pressed together until the pressure was too great and then they slipped. There were many such faults in Japan. The skill was to find the one that would create the right amount of slip in the right location, and at the right depth.

Forcing an earthquake was like forcing open a stuck door. You leaned into it, gradually increasing the pressure against it to force it to move. If the door was inclined to move anyway, it wouldn’t take much force and the slip wouldn’t be too great and the earthquake would be small. But to create a great earthquake was to reach the limits of your control. Only a well stuck plate could create something like that. You had to force great pressures on the plate and, when it finally moved, it was like a door swinging open uncontrollably. It would be easy to turn a 7.0 earthquake into an 8.5 earthquake by accident.

You could jostle Genji Heavy Industries… or you could destroy all of Tokyo, depending on results you could not predict. In order to best guess how to apply pressure you had to increase the spiritual roots in the ground to make sure you had maximum sensitivity. And therein lie the danger to you. It was like burying your mind into the ground, your brain. If you poured enough of your thoughts into the earth, then you couldn’t be aware of your surroundings. You might lose track of how much brainpower you have dedicated to the task and little by little, the ground would suck your mind dry of thoughts and Caesar would find you in the depths of Genji Heavy Industries, completely braindead.

The sphinx pressed its face against the glass wall to observe the boy's palm, and then its appearance became clearer and clearer. It is actually a female with long dark hair, a deathly pale but beautiful face, with faint traces of minimally invasive plastic surgery between the eyes and eyebrows.

"You were beautiful," Z said softly, "when you were still alive."

Pretty only in that face, the sphinx was deformed from the neck down, the lower half of its body fused into a python-like tail, the remnants of its feet vaguely visible.

In the mythology of the world, this image of the sphinx repeatedly appears, from the ancestor of mankind, Fuxi Nuwa, to the Three Emperors, and Five emperors of the Taihao. Emperor, "Zhuangzi" was seen by the Duke of Qi Huan in purple clothes wearing a vermilion crown shaped like a half man and half snake. In the "Shanhaijing" there are multiple mentions of a "human face with a snake body and red, straight eyes.” The god of Zhong Shan, ZhiYin, the so-called "Naga" in Sanskrit, the so-called "Medusa" in Greek mythology, and even the group of snakes whose names have been lost in the Mayan pantheon ......

They are between gods and demons, symbolizing seduction and ultimate mystery. Mythologists still find it difficult to explain why such monsters appear so consistently in various myths. If they could take a look at this "beautiful" monster, they would understand that their ancestors had indeed witnessed similar things crawling, swimming or lunging in front of them. They were so hideous that they could never be a species that God would make, but only a joke played by the Devil on man. This impression was like a lightning bolt that exploded in the minds of the first people, and they passed it on from generation to generation as a myth.

Z lit up the laser pointer, the point of light appeared in the heart of the forehead of the sphinx, like a bright vermilion mole. The sphinx's ghastly white face was suddenly lit up. If you didn't look at the ghastly lower half of the body, it could be described as charming. It stretched out its deformed claws to grab the red light in the glass wall, although its claws are hard, but only in the super-hard glass scratching out a toothsome sound. However, it couldn’t grasp the red dot! Suddenly, became furious, and issued an inaudible roar at the young man. Its huge mouth opened to reveal sharp teeth as dense as thorns. This is when you can clearly see it's horrible mouth structure. On each side of its delicate cherry lips is a barely discernible slit extending to the ear. When it opened its mouth as if the entire cranium opened!

"You're getting ugly like this." Z said.

The sphinx's hiss lasted only a few seconds. The giant claws coming from behind dragged it back to the middle of the tank.

Z extinguished his laser pointer and watched the killing in silence as a dozen sphinxes surrounded and killed the smaller of their kind. They bite down on their prey’s body parts, swinging their long tails wildly, using tremendous twisting force to tear the prey apart. The prey and predator together formed a strange fleshy flower, a demon flower with snake-like petals, each one twisting and swaying as red blood smoke rose to the water's surface.

"How ugly, this world." Z said faintly, his face devoid of sorrow or joy.

You finally make your choice and your eyes glow in the dark. You open your mouth and let out a loud moan, as though you were giving birth and push! You push harder and harder and your cries grow louder and louder!

A soft popping sound ran through the entire glass wall from top to bottom, the metal frame supporting them twisting and distorting rapidly. The feeding sphinxes also noticed the change in the glass wall and swam over, leaving their bloody food behind, as if the prisoners had heard the iron prison door slam and would have looked in the direction of the door in unison. Glass wall is shaking. First, a huge glass tile fell where water pressure topped out against the metal frame, then more glass tiles fell off. Each is a square meter square and half a meter thick. Pushed by the force of several tons of pressure, water sprayed out through the gaps more than ten meters away.

Z produced a white silk handkerchief from his coat pocket and dabbed the sweat forming on your forehead with gentle touches, like a husband comforting his birthing wife. “You should protect yourself.” He says softly.

You grit your teeth and nod. A thick wave of soil and rock smashes through the meter thick slab and rolls over you both to form a barrier.

A few seconds later this transparent wall completely collapsed and tens of thousands of tons of water broke through the dam, carrying an unknown number of sphinxes with it.

#Dragon Raja

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halothenthehorns · 3 years ago

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All in the Family

Chapter 16: The Forbidden Forest

The breath of fresh air was like finally stepping out of an exam. Your brain turned back on, you could remember an answer you couldn't ten minutes ago, and they finally weren't surrounded by walls! There were no buildings, no castle, for once the lack of human civilization felt right...then Remus really looked around and saw where they were, and had to fight back the urge to scream.

The dark trees towered over them all, some pressed so close together it was as if they were hugging, others spaced almost evenly, as if someone at some time had actually intended to plant them. There were all different species as well, weather of magical properties or simply the transitions of very many years introducing new to this Forbidden Forest. The Marauders knew them all, not particularly by name, but of what could be inside them. They each could have taken a quick look around and pointed which direction Hogwarts was, how to navigate to a manticore den if one were suicidal enough, contact the centaurs or even go chasing after some spiders. They also knew what else would soon be in this forest, that only appeared once a month.

Remus had been feeling sick since this all took off, and not for the same reasons as the others. After he'd told his friends about his secret, they soon didn't even have to ask when the full moon even was, they could keep track of it themselves. Not by looking to the stars, but the werewolf himself. His body, so physically tied to the endless cycle, seemed conditioned itself to run in phases. When a new moon, Moony was at the peak of health, as bright eyed and laughing along with anyone. The heavier the orb became, the heavier his eyes grew, the paler his skin got, as if the curse itself were to match.

Ignorant as they'd been of the true meaning of time in all of this, they'd all kept a careful eye on him through every time jump, and none really liked what they saw. That last potions class, the last clear marker of anything they had, meant only four days tell a full moon again. Remus had been so quiet and withdrawn it could have been that night. Through several bunts across this universe though, they'd gotten so lost and muddled it was impossible to keep track of anything, let alone something so far above they couldn't even see.

Now all four looked up, but the thicket of branches was as revealing as a ceiling, and their friends luminescent pallor could still mean anything.

Then Lily did scream.

At first she'd simply thought it was a pile of snow. That was wrong though, there was a slight chilly breeze creeping through, but it had the taste of spring tease, not nearly cold enough for a whole mound of undisturbed pile so breathtakingly unpigmented.

The tangled legs, silky mane, and spiral horn had formed next. She'd started forward in concern, her mind offering up a foal sleeping. The deep silver of blood dripping still warm from its neck was the last click.

To the others credit, no one ran. They all had wands out at once and tried to draw closer to each other even in this circle of mistrust, but as one by one they all saw the same, a deadly silence fell as surely as this mythical creature.

Potter spoke first, inching towards her and hissing, "Evans, get away!"

It was true she had seemed to land nearest the mare, she could have reached out and touched the alabaster hindquarters.

"And go where," Regulus uneasily demanded.

Pettigrew shot a glance at him, and immediately turned on the spot and tried to shoot some purple jet of light into the darkness. It, like every spell before, simply vanished with no visible trace of ever being there, but the moment he stepped in the same direction, there again was an invisible barrier blocking them from stepping out of this clearing.

"Okay, well, at least whatever did it isn't in here with us," Frank offered, straightening from a defensive position near Alice and doing a quick 360 to confirm there was nothing lurking nearby. Shadows were aplenty, but certainly whatever had done this would have attacked at their arrival...right?

"Lily, come on, please get away from it," Potter insisted, the genuine fear still there finally sinking through her shock. Carefully, still on hands and knees like she'd landed, she backed away as far as she could, unintentionally putting herself right beside Potter as she stood, the book in her hand though none had seen it before.

"It was right by her heart," she muttered, running her hand uneasily over the cover and looking up at him. Then just as quickly, she turned and walked away, over to Alice and Frank, flipping through pages for her place and reading the chapter title without surprise, she'd figured that out all on her own.

James watched her go before turning eyes back on the unicorn. They didn't see many running through the Forest, though they weren't shy creatures, as they had no natural predators. One had even come across Moony, but though he'd stared it down, he'd instead continued right back to putting his nose to the ground after some griffins nest still five miles out.

Regulus spoke what all of them still couldn't get past, "what could have done this?"

Even those who hadn't taken Care of Magical Creatures knew a thing or two about this beast, for Professor Slughorn stressed when using their hairs or horn shavings in potions classes how valuable they were, and the only part they'd use in class. Even Professor Flitwick had once treated them to a lecture when one student asked about the wand core. Everybody said the same thing. They were a purely good and innocent life, and to slay one for any reason was a curse. To continue the act, to drink the blood as something had clearly done...it was unheard of.

For the first time, none of them had really stopped to consider the fact that though all people had vanished during their time of this, what about other things? If the unicorns body could still be here, than very likely what had done this could be as well.

With that lovely thought in mind, Lily read with more unease than she ever thought a book could do, about Harry getting something silly like a detention. The Marauders at least were momentarily distracted from everything by wondering just what Harry had done with their cloak, surely the boy wouldn't leave it up on the tower forever!

They did feel for Harry of course, and even more for Neville when he got dragged into all this for doing the right thing. McGonagall's punishment was admittedly ridiculous, but now that the others were distracted but the Marauders could just shrug off something so silly like losing house points, they kept on track with their friend who may be facing a very real problem soon.

Throughout all of these time jumps, any one of them could have been during a full moon, and none of them could do a thing about it. Knock out the other four so they didn't realize what, or who, was happening and transform? Protecting all of them while in some enclosed space!

This was so far the only solution James had thought up, and Remus hadn't a chance to tear it down then in their common room, but he did now where hopefully the wind snatched away their words better than the Quidditch team acting a prat to Harry.

"This just isn't safe! I nearly killed someone last time, I won't let it ever get that close again!"

"That was my fault," Sirius hatefully pointed out, tense and looking nearly as sick as Remus at the reminder, but he had to make this clear. "You're right Moony, it won't ever go that far again because we'll make sure it won't, none of this is on you!"

"What do you want us to do anyways?" Peter demanded with a little huff, he couldn't be on look out forever, he'd already seen Frank grow suspicious of them at least once. "You keep griping about this, but I don't hear you coming up with any ideas." Then, at a much more conversational tone of voice, "Glory, Harry would be the one to come across Quirrell at a time like that."

The others had to quickly play catch up to what they'd been listening to in the background, but clearly no one else noticed, so their inane chatter to each other about all Harry's varying luck was given no more thought than the whispered conversation.

"Wait, what's Harry doing out on the grounds for his detention?" James did turn and look at Evans fully again, glancing to Peter and really feeling like he'd missed something, but the other shrugged with no more clue than Filch was giving.

Then Remus slumped to the ground, looking utterly exhausted and likely to faint any moment as it seemed his own worst fear was going to play out in Harry's time at the exact moment it was here.

They were all admittedly thunderstruck at such a punishment, but the fact that it was taking place with Hagrid made them think that somehow the gamekeeper had pulled this off himself. Likely feeling bad for getting the kids into this, in his warped mind he probably thought he was giving them a treat.

Alice just snickered at the young Malfoy, and how Filch was no help at all. "Honestly, any decent teacher would have just told what you should do when facing a werewolf, not him though."

"Wouldn't be Filch if he didn't traumatize one kid a year," Frank agreed.

Remus tried to keep breathing evenly that they were just blowing this off, that surely the teachers wouldn't have them out there during a full moon...but there was no longer a werewolf on those grounds even trapped safely away, so what if they didn't care about such things anymore? Filch nor Hagrid were denying a full moon tonight!

News of the unicorn brought them up short at least, all eyes turning back to the very same.

"Please," Potter begged, "someone tell me that we're just getting an unpleasant first hand look at this thing! Let the record be broken that we aren't where Harry likely will wind up!" His voice was near screaming at the end, and Sirius shifted uneasily from rubbing Moony's shoulder to patting James, now both looked likely to vomit.

"See, he's going in with Hagrid," Peter tried his best to keep looking on the bright side of this. "Nothing in this forest is going to mess with him!"

"Nothing in the forest now," Remus said hoarsely, the others were just pleased he was still bothering to make conversation. "Twenty years from now? Clearly something got in."

"Do we need to separate you two next?" Sirius snapped.

"Yes please," Remus bitterly grumbled, glancing again at the heavens like he hoped they'd swallow him up.

"Moony, listen," Sirius crouched down beside him, James and Peter striking up a loud conversation about what they hoped ate Malfoy as a distraction. "Nothing's going to happen, alright! Time's been a bit screwy around here lately, I know, but that has to mean it's also working on our side! No full moon," he finished, practically breathing in his ear by the end, "and Merlin help it if there is one, we won't let you hurt anyone, not even yourself, just like always."

Remus turned to face him, and in the practically non-existent lighting all he could really do was trace his face. Their noses were inches apart, and that electricity seemed to snap between the two again. Remus couldn't help it, he believed him. He could still vividly recall that look of shock, the horror only just setting in as Sirius told him what had happened, and then he'd gone all defensive and tried to play it off like another joke. This time his expression remained open and sincere, which was all Remus had wanted to see the past month. It took every ounce of willpower he possessed right then not to kiss him, his hand twitched involuntarily anyways and brushed against Sirius fingers.

Padfoot just smiled and let them stay overlapped like that, it was dark enough nobody would notice.

James paused in describing the details of bowtruckle eye removal as he glanced between the two, certainly sensing something, but he was just so happy they were even speaking to each other again he didn't press them for whatever that was.

Of course Malfoy ruined the whole thing, all of them jumping in shock at the red sparks and wanting to pull that blond head off for doing that to Neville at a time like this. Maybe it was just because they saw the danger right in front of them, but it felt even more suicidal than facing down that troll for Harry to be going off alone now!

Sirius would even take Norbert back! This was something that could actually kill the kid, again!

Indeed that seemed exactly what was about to happen! Whatever monstrosity that was drinking unicorn blood and then turning its attention on that little boy was as good as dead if the centaur hadn't arrived.

Lily couldn't help but sink to the leafy ground herself as, whatever that thing could be was run off. For the first time, she'd really felt invested in that danger, had wanted to shield and protect Harry from this! All of the other situations he'd either gotten himself into or she hadn't believed a danger was there, she'd either just seen Potter in her mind being an idiot or trusted Sev wouldn't let anything happen. Now though, that little boy was just doing a detention for the school, one he'd gotten while helping a friend, and this was by far the most heart stopping thing to become of that!

The night just couldn't end there. They got more information from Firenze than anything else so far, none of it at all pleasant, and all putting a much larger scope on this problem.

Regulus hadn't even been sure how he'd felt about the demise of the Dark Lord because of this Boy Who Lived. He'd spent his whole life up until now wanting nothing more than to join the prospering future of the Death Eaters, but in fact the world seemed to have gone on without the Dark Lord. Now though, from the word of a centaur, there was absolute proof this was no glory for money as they'd all believed before. Now it made sense why Dumbledore wanted that Stone right under his nose.

The Dark Lord was trying to come back, and he seemed determined to kill Harry to do it.

Lily nearly pissed herself all through the conversation of Harry catching up his two friends on all of this. She'd barely given herself a moment to even admit how invested in this story she'd slowly been before it was all slammed down on her with pure adrenaline. A world without You-Know-Who was so far just a fairy-tale in this future, now just as quickly it was all about to be stripped away? She had no clue how Harry was being so calm about this!

The end note still managed to hold its own surprise, though at least it was a decent one. Getting his cloak back could only be a good thing, right?

#Harry Potter #fanfiction #Wolfstar #Remus Lupin #Sirius Black #James Potter #Peter Pettigrew #Regulus Black #Frank Longbottom #Alice Smith #Marauders

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slipping-through-my-fingertips · 4 years ago

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Klainetober day 26

Prompt 26: Trick or Treat

Summary: McKinley is hosting a Halloween dance. Kurt needs a date.

Notes: This is another story I was already writing and I added some details to fit with the prompt for today. Really proud of this one, I hope you all enjoy it.

AO3

The first annual McKinley High Halloween Dance was next week and Kurt Hummel still didn’t have a date. It wasn’t as if he was waiting around for someone to ask him because he was fairly sure he was the only out person in the entire school, except maybe Brittany. No one seemed to have issues with her dating anyone from footballers to glee clubbers or even fellow Cheerio Santana. However, she didn’t label her relationship with Santana. Kurt suspected Santana wasn’t quite ready to give up on hooking up with boys. Whether she actually enjoyed the company of boys was up for debate. If you asked, Kurt was positive Santana was experiencing the similar fear he once had when he was deciding to confirm what all the bullies already said about him: he was gay.

If Quinn Fabray, chairwoman of the dance, got her way, Kurt would have to endure two more Halloween dances, dateless, until he graduated and got the hell out of Lima. All because she needed an excuse to wear couple costumes with her new boyfriend, Sam Evans. Which was the real reason, Kurt Hummel needed a date. The rules of the dance were simple: couple costumes only.

Before you ask why Kurt couldn’t just skip out on the dance altogether, Mr. Schue had signed the glee club up to perform. He had to go and in order to attend, he needed a date. Everyone else was paired up: Finn and Rachel, Puck and Lauren, Mike and Tina, and Artie had asked Mercedes just this morning to go with him as a friend of course. Artie was still upset that Brittany and Santana were dating. Kurt assumed he didn’t want to cause any trouble so Mercedes was Artie’s safest bet for a date. Though, Kurt wished he had asked his bestie before Artie did because that would’ve solved his issue.

Kurt felt more alone than ever. All around him were couples. As he sat in the Lima Bean, he tried to tear his eyes away from couples holding hands on top of the tables, whispering to each other while waiting in line, ordering for one another, and their adorable, little kisses on cheeks. He went back to flipping through his math notebook and continuing his test corrections, which was his way of avoiding his need to find a song for the dance to perform.

He put his headphones in and let the music of his favorite playlist take him away from Ohio. Music was his greatest escape. Except today all he could see were images of the glee club in their costumes.

Quinn and Sam were going as a Na’vi. It was going to take a lot of work to get all of that blue paint off their bodies.

Ever since their musical movie night of Grease, Rachel’s been obsessing over Olivia Newton John’s outfit and was surely going to force Finn into a T-Bird leather jacket.

Though Kurt wasn’t quite sure about Puck and Lauren’s costume, Lauren did tell him it was rather sexual, which didn’t surprise Kurt at all.

He and Lauren had struck up a decent friendship since she joined glee. It was partly because Puck already considered Kurt “his boy” and partly due to their similar wit and sense of humor. Moreso the latter.

Among those couples in his daydream, Kurt saw himself standing by the punch bowl simply observing the over-crowded dance floor and wishing he had a sweetheart to sway with him while cheesy popular Halloween music played.

He skipped the next song on his shuffle and set about getting back to his test corrections for geometry. Somebody helped themself to the seat in front of Kurt causing him to look up. There in his blazer and slightly gelled hair sat Blaine Anderson, cute as could be.

Blaine was a Warbler. The enemy, if you asked Rachel. But to Kurt, Blaine was a friend and confidant. Someone who understood him better than anyone else ever had. Kurt had met him on a failed spying mission to Dalton Academy during Girl vs. Boys week. Blaine serenaded him with Katy Perry and Kurt’s been a goner ever since.

“Hey you,” he said.

Kurt removed his headphones.

“Hi, what are you doing here?” Kurt asked. “Don’t you have rehearsal until 4?”

“It’s after 4, Kurt.” Blaine smiled.

Kurt looked at his phone and sure enough it was almost 5 o’clock. “Oh.”

“What are you working on?”

“Math,” Kurt said with a long sigh.

Blaine hummed like he understood Kurt’s frustrations with the subject.

“I could use a break honestly.”

“Great,” Blaine said,. “How’s glee? Did you have your sectionals yet?”

“Not yet, Mr. Schue won’t even tell us our competitors. Who are you competing against?” Kurt took a sip of his nonfat mocha. “Not Vocal Adrenaline, I hope.”

Blaine smiled like he had a secret. In the short time that they knew one another, Kurt was already aware that Blaine wasn’t capable of holding in secrets, especially good ones (unless they were top-secret and very serious matters, like the extent of Karofsky’s bullying). This secret had him ready to burst at the seams.

“What’s going on? Are you doing a medley of Pink songs?”

Blaine laughed. “I wish but no.”

“So, what’s this all about?” Kurt gestured to Blaine’s bouncing in his seat.

“The Warblers are up against the New Directions this year.”

“We’re competing?”

“Yes!” Blaine explained. “I know it’s kinda strange to be excited but this means I’ll get to see you and hear you sing. It’s going to be great no matter who wins.”

“Well, obviously it’s going to be us.”

Blaine rolled his eyes. “In your dreams.”

There was a slight break in conversation as Kurt gathered up his worksheets and placed them in a green folder. He wasn’t doing any more today. Not when Blaine was sitting across from him.

“How’s school going?”

Kurt had confessed so much to Blaine. Things he didn’t dare tell the New Directions or even his dad.

“Good,” Kurt said, with a small smile. “Karofsky’s suspension has turned into expulsion thanks to Coach Sue.” He lowered his voice and looked around to make sure no one was listening. “In addition to his threats on my life, he was caught in the act of kicking another student so…”

Blaine lowered his voice as well. “So, that means you’re safer right?”

“I hope so. I worried if it’ll mean the other bullies will take his place or if they’ll leave me alone altogether. Time will tell.”

Blaine tilted his head slightly to the left and scrunched his nose. “I guess that also means there’s no hope you’ll come to Dalton?”

“I’d miss McKinley too much.” Kurt shrugged. “But transferring isn’t completely off the table just yet.”

Blaine reached over and took Kurt’s hand. “I’m happy for you, y’know.”

“Thanks,” Kurt said. “In somewhat happier news, Quinn has declared a Halloween Dance.”

“That sounds fun but you said somewhat...what’s wrong with a spooky dance?”

“She has also declared it a couple costume dance.” Kurt sighed. “Everyone needs a date and yours truly has no one to ask.”

“Mercedes?”

“She’s going with Artie.”

“Huh, you guys having it on Halloween?”

“Yeah, it’s a Friday so it actually works out well.” Kurt raised his eyebrows wondering where Blaine was headed with this train of thought.

“In the evening, I assume.”

“Yeah, it’s at 7.”

“The Warblers usually do some trick or treating in the neighborhood, they like that some houses make them do tricks before giving them candy,” Blaine said with a smile, “but I can skip out this year. We should probably start brainstorming costume ideas.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’ll come with you, Unless, you’re too embarrassed to be seen with me,” Blaine teased.

“Definitely not,” Kurt assured him, “I’d be honored to have you come with me.”

It looked like Kurt had a date to the dance.

“And you’ll help me with my song selection.”

“Wouldn’t want it any other way,” Blaine said, “but only after you agree to be the peanut butter to my jelly?”

“I refuse to go as a sandwich,” Kurt huffed.

“The Mario to my Luigi!”

“Taken by Artie and Mercedes. Next.”

“Buzz Lightyear to my Woody?” Blaine suggested.

“As much as I love Disney–”

Blaine cut him off, “–and Pixar.”

“And Pixar,” Kurt confirmed. “No.”

“Why not? You’d look cute in a spacesuit.”

Kurt tried not to blush.

“How about Broadway legends for couple costumes?”

***

On Friday, Kurt found himself exactly where he thought he’d be: standing alone by the punch bowl. Coach Sue had made her special punch, usually reserved for proms, and was guarding it. Kurt felt safer knowing she was watching out for bullies and people, namely Puckerman, who would be trying to spike it.

One thing Kurt hadn’t accounted for in his daydreams was how good Blaine looked in red. His entire outfit clung to his body: freshly ironed red button-down, appropriately sinfully tight slacks, and a skinny blood red tie. Blaine was sitting with Tina and Mike in their zombie cheerleader and footballer costumes. Even from here, Kurt noticed black curls framing his face and the rest were held back by light gel and devil horns.

“Your alabaster complexion wasn’t enough, Porcelain,” Sue said, “you just had to dress like a heaven-sent cherub.”

“I think there was a compliment in there somewhere.” Kurt smiled.

“Your boyfriend is too preppy to be a devil,” she commented, “but you’re the only couple couple here that doesn’t make me gag.”

Before Kurt could tell her Blaine and him weren’t dating, she was already yelling at a student for coming too close to the punch bowl.

Kurt decided it was best to join Blaine at their table. He carried two plastic cups of orange punch and placed one in front of his date. Blaine smiled his thanks and continued his conversation with Mike about the best local dance studios. The Warblers wanted to brush up on some of their step dancing abilities.

When the song changed, Mike escotted Tina to the dance floor leaving Blaine and Kurt alone.

“Are you having fun?” Kurt asked.

“I am. The New Directions are great.” He took a sip of punch. “Rachel’s better in short doses, Tina’s a sweetheart, and Mike and Sam could easily be my new best friends.”

Kurt chuckled and ducked his head. Blaine moved his hand onto Kurt’s knee so he met the other boy’s eyes.

“Your friends are great, I understand why you wouldn’t want to leave them.”

“They are,” Kurt agreed. “Not that the Warblers aren’t amazing too.”

“Oh they’re a lot to get used to as well,” Blaine assured. “We tend to be...traditional.”

“The New Directions don’t follow any rules. We just are.”

“You belong here.”

Kurt shook his head. “Maybe in the eyes of the glee club. No one else wants to claim me.”

“I would,” Blaine told him.

“You would?”

Blaine nodded. “Wanna dance?”

Kurt hesitated but Blaine was standing there with his earnest grin and hand out just waiting for Kurt to grab it. How could he say no?

The boys went out onto the dance floor, joining a majority of the New Directions in their circle. Couples were paired up but everyone was still dancing together. It reminded Kurt of how they’d dance during glee breaks. Just general fun, no choreography or audience. They were teenagers enjoying each other’s company.

#klainetober #klainetober halloween fic extravaganza #halloween dance with new directions #klaine fanfic #my fics

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suffering-and-happy-about-it · 4 years ago

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Silver for Monsters... (Geralt x fem!Witcher, Part 1.)

Description: The Butcher of Blaviken has a long and famous past, thanks to his friend Jaskier. Yet, neither of those dies easily and it still lurks behind Geralt like a shadow after all those years. History, neither unfriendly relationships, doesn't die easily.

Part summary: A lonely witchress in the woods can mean only one thing - a monster is lurking through the woods and a contract has been pinned up on a local village's board.

Warnings: A bit of gore, magic, Witchress, a werewolf being a bich, Sigimund Dijkstra appeareaing in a mention (if you do not know who Dijkstra is, look him up, he honestly is one of my fav Witcher game characters).

A/N: This one is purely based on my wish to see at least one female witcher, but knowing that the trial of grass doesn't allow that. Because boy? They would tear Geralt’s ass in half.

Word count: 4.4 K

Tagging: (tell me and I will add you :)) @osgon-azure @davnwillcome

Master list: H E R E

Many of you know me. You’ve seen my face, heard my name, or my tales - maybe you even threw your rotten vegetables at me for what I know. It doesn’t matter to me. Such details aren't important in my stories. But no matter how you might hate me - the poet, the bard, the most beautiful man you'd ever seen -, you love my tales.

Indeed, my name is Julian Alfred Pankratz. But when you'd meet me, I would introduce myself as Jaskier or Dandelion. And my most famous tales are going hand in hand with my friend, the legend, Geralt of Rivia. He is the man coming from Kaedwen, the coldest Northern Kingdom, born and raised at Kaer Morhen, the notorious School of the Wolf. And I have already written tales, ballads, and books about him.

You heard many stories and legends about this man - about the romance of his with the mightiest sorceress Yennefer of Vengenberg, the story of how he was bound to the Cintran princess Cirilla by destiny, about how he had outwitted the Wild Hunt itself. Yet I have one more for you. Sit down, have a pint of ale or a cup of wine, and hear my telling of how... Not one, but two witchers traveled day and night to reach the Redenian mountains and how they discovered a horrifying monster there. But have in mind that one of them was a woman.

Our story begins on one stormy night in the Mire West amidst the rampage of the Nightmare...

The place around you was completely dark and lifeless, only sounds of wind howling and grass dancing in it along with heavy rain could be heard. The moon just started slowly rising in the sky, but it was too cloudy up there. That could be a slight problem in your perfect plan. How were you supposed to lure a werewolf out of its lair if there won't be a full moon? These bitches came out of the lair only under those specific circumstances - moon shining on the ground, nonstop.

The lamb meat filled with cursed oil was neatly prepared in the middle of a road and your silver sword was ready as well, laying on your thighs as you were meditating to pass the time somehow - you let the potions in your vascular system starting to work, making an extremely dangerous weapon out of your very own body. You used Cat potion, so your eyes could perfectly see in the night and a Blizzard potion, shorting the time of reactions and sharpening reflexes to the monster's attacks.

A low chuckle came out of your lips. Meditations were never your strength - Vesemir was always bitching you down for whispering to the others while they sat on their knees, and tried to completely leave their body with their minds. You learned how to pretend to meditate, just to shut Vesemir up, but you accomplished the state only a few times. More than meditating, you were in a light sleep while you still could bring your body to sit at least a bit straight.

You had the suspicion that Vesemir knew that the whole time, but he never said anything since you at least shut up and didn't disturb the other kids who were brought to the School of the Wolf in Kaedwen to become witchers and witchresses.

The memories you had bonding to that place weren't all happy, but not all of them were bad. There was a lot of pain you had to endure, yes, but you had some fun in the process. And you still had a witcher family you could always count on - your best pal Lambert and a grumpy brother Eskel, there was Leo, your baby boy, and Vesemir, who was something like your father. There was Coën too, but unfortunately, he was far gone. And then, there was... Well... There was also him.

The greatest fucker... You meant to say the greatest of your kind - the legendary White Wolf, a man called Geralt of Rivia. It wasn't that you exactly hated him, no, you could count on him and his help when you met him on the road just as he could count on you, but you two never really got along in the first place. You never gave him a chance to start a friendship. And to say the least, he was outshining all of you, always getting the best contracts and money. And you weren't even talking about the fame he got in the process.

On the bright side, Geralt was a source of your motivation to become better and better - you both passed the trail of grasses, finishing it in better shape than all of the other kids that were trained on Kaer Morhen. You were already special - while three males out of ten survived, only one female out of fifty survived the trial. But that just wasn't enough of you, was it? You had better reflexes, reactions, senses, and you could cast the signs better than the other two girls who passed the trial. Even though that, it was too risky to send you on additional trials and Vesemir told you a million times.

For an unknown reason, there was a high rivalry between you and Geralt since the day you met for the first time. And when you heard that he's going to endure some more experiments, you demanded them as well, no matter the costs. You didn't care if it costs you your life, you wanted to be the best.

Vesemir and Lambert tried to change your mind for months, but you weren't planning on letting Geralt win the game. You went through another five mutations under the supervision of druids residing in Kaer Morhen, the fourth almost killing you in the process.

For the first time during a trial, you screamed in pain the whole time as you felt the serums and potions crawling through your skin and veins. When you got up, your skin tone almost matched alabaster, melanin almost completely disappearing out of your body, your hair was completely white and your eyes were no longer only golden - they were glowing. When Geralt walked out of the second chamber, he looked the same. But he has done something you would never expect - he asked you about your well-being and if you want to stop the trials. But you just chuckled and left him in the hall.

Lambert was enough of a friend to you. He was quite a normal witcher with a good sense of humor. You could drink and laugh evenings away with your witcher brother and never be bothered with thoughts about the incoming morning. He saved your life many times before and you knew, that the last time wasn't exactly the last. To repay him, you saved his ass from the revenge of former lust subjects, pretending to be his girlfriend and being extremely mad at him.

With Eskel, you had a more reserved relationship, since he was more of a reserved person - he didn't exactly make friendships, he was just a person you could count on any time you needed to. But you got along at the end of the day.

A sharp howling threw you out of your thoughts about your witcher brothers. Both your eyelids flew open, showing the golden, glowing eyes with a cat-like iris shape underneath. The werewolf was set to go on a hunt - and so were you. You opened up the last bottle with your teeth, drinking the potion in one swing, making your blood hazardous for the monster.

After that, you slowly walked to the path where your trap was laid, finding the creature sniffing it. It was rather cautious with it, wanting to eat it, but not quite trusting it. Werewolves were huge beasts with fur, every one of them growing to the height of two meters and more after the transformation.

They might be looking skinny, but their strength was almost overshadowing yours for good. Hunting a werewolf all alone? What were you thinking? That was exactly what was happening since Geralt wielded the tiara of the best witcher in the world. Shitty contracts for a laughable amount of coin. But work was work - humans, monsters, animals, it didn't exactly mean anything to you. You came, did the job and left, always repeating and never breaking the circle. Although to stay true to the codex of Kaer Morhen, you never killed an innocent being - monster, neither a human. If they proved their innocence, you let them go, taking the money anyway.

But this werewolf, boy, wasn't he something different? This bitch was off the chains, suffocating, hunting, and eating alive at least thirteen girls just this year alone. And you couldn't wait to get your dirty little hands on its throat and chop his fucking head off. You hated motherfuckers. And he sure was one.

"This is a nice, cute attempt to poison me, witcher!" - The werewolf rose his head and looked around, showing you its ugly face, which was half-wolf and half-human. Its claws were strong, which could cause trouble as well - he could scratch you without hurting himself, not tasting your blood. God damn it. - "But I ain't no idiot! I know ya poisoned it! Come out! Face the mighty Nightmare of Mire West!"

So it was an intelligent one. That was a bonus point - you knew that murdering him will cause you way more enjoyment than killing a normal beast would. It was probably only a human when there wasn't a full moon, living in their small, stinky cage, all alone in the wilderness. But if the man changed into such a beast which was able to stalk and murder young gals in such gruesome ways, you knew that your sword was the right thing to put end to his ruling over Mire West.

"I like me an intelligent foe." - You growled in a cruel voice, adding a burst of short, dark laughter at the end. You confused the werewolf a bit - he wasn't able to track where you were at the moment. There was no visible movement in the bushes, your voice seemed to come out of a few different directions at one time and your footsteps didn't break a single branch on the ground, making you almost impossible to track based on sounds in the slowly ending heavy rain. - "Feels better when I slice their throats. They beg like little girls to let them live - but you know something about that, don't you? You enjoy murdering girls and letting them beg, don't you?"

The beast was moving its muzzle quickly as he tried to sniff you. The wet air made it almost impossible. The time was ticking too fast - soon, you knew that the air will clean up and starts to transmit your scent. This needed to be done quickly.

"Are ya a woman, witcher? Ye a witchress? I like women, did ya hear that?" - Werewolf tested the waters, seeing a bush next to his right move. He didn't know that it was an animal coming through here, thinking it was you hiding in the bushes. In the next moment, the monster roared with a raw, animalish growl as it attacked the bush. - “I like to snap their necks and taste their meat, I like their voices begging me to stop, the scent of their hair and the skin. Come here, to my claws, don't try to play with me.”

The werewolf then turned around, his completely darkened eyes were scanning the surroundings in search of you. He kneeled a bit, grunting like a pig as spit was dripping out of his mouth full of sharp teeth.

“You atone to all of those murders? You don't even try to clean your name, try to tell me that you are innocent? I might let you go.” - You knew that this fucker isn't innocent but you needed more time to look around the meadow, now seeing every small detail in it thanks to the Cat potion. You planned various attacks, different scenarios, trying to imagine him overpowering you. What would you do then?

“I know that ya been sniffing around Velen for a while now, crawling through sewers like a rat, looking at every shit I made. I know ya heard stories about the Nightmare of Mire West. Ya a witchress, ya know how to recognize a werewolf in comparison to a different monster.” - The werewolf laughed and crawled on all fours, bearing more similarity to a wolf than a human at the moment. His laughter was similar to a hyena.

Then you jumped out of your hideout and cut him with your sword smeared with a cursed oil. The werewolf wasn't expecting you, so you hit your spot, but not in the range you planned on. The beast roared, sounding like a swine, catching its leg as it watched the blood dripping from the cut.

“Look at ya!” - It laughed, its teeth showing again. Your eyes were jumping on various spots on its body - from its lower paws dugs into the muddy ground as he was charging for a jump. - “Ya look like a cat, ya hair white, ya smug arrogant. Come to me.”

You jumped at the same time the werewolf did, but you turned around and swung your sword towards it, hitting it into its ribs. Sword fights were always like a dancing lesson - male witchers preferred different fighting styles, sometimes heavier and more aggressive than you could ever archive. You could move quicker than them, yet your hits were lighter. You danced on the toes of your feet, the top of your sword carefully drawing eight again and again. Your hits were maybe lighter than male witchers’, but you were able to hit the spot more often with clean cuts.

“Ya can move, I need to say. A second cut on my body.” - The beast growled, suddenly spinning the other way, its claws hitting your stomach. The hit made you fall, he hit exactly the liver and stomach, which could hurt like hell. Yet it was not a hit that would stop a witchress.

You made a rollover your shoulders, stopping on your feet. While you stood up, the werewolf almost scratched your face. That was a no-no. Witchers and witchresses maybe were known for long, dark pink cuts and huge scars over their faces, but you knew that a pretty face always means a half of the deal sealed. Thanking all the Gods and angels out there, Blizzard made you able to get out of its way.

Again, you swung your sword to meet its stomach, but again, it jumped at you in a matter of seconds, aiming for your neck. Its claws tore apart your chainmail armor, cutting your skin. But you didn't move a single inch away, no, you held its arm with a firm grip, looking the beast in the eyes.

First, it didn't know why are you looking at it the way you did, pressing the arm on your stomach, letting the blood drip directly on it. Soon, it felt how the skin is burning as the acid was slowly decomposing it. It was looking you in your cat eyes and saw your lips slowly turning to a violent smile.

Next second, it pushed you away, whining like a little puppy, licking the acid off. But it didn't know that it will only make the matters worse.

“What now? Don't you want to taste my blood and meat? Don't you want to sniff me and hear me beg for my life? Are you backing off?” - You rolled the sword in your palm and prepared into the fighting position again. - “The fun has just started, you pussy.”

With a quick move, you made the gesture of Igni sign, sending fire its way, then throwing a Moon Dust bomb at it. The bomb blew up, springling small pieces of silver everywhere its range was. The werewolf was now screaming like a child - it was burned by the Igni sign, silver was burning its skin alive, he was cut - so the silver got into its vascular system and that was perfect torture in your opinion. It tried to run away into the safety of its cave, but it was just to try to lure you in - in the small space of a cavern could be its brutal strength fatal for you.

It was time to use the Aard sign. You were quick, almost violent with it, pushing the werewolf next to the cave entrance. It bumped its head onto a sharp rock, blood was dripping out of that bruise pretty quickly. That was a moment he might start to believe that you were there to truly kill him like a swine. Indeed, you were there for that.

When it laid on its back, it started howling at the moon - that was a tactic used by a werewolf when the things got out of their control. They tried to call for help from wolves living in the woods. But you only laughed as you walked to him, preparing for one last final blow, still holding the place on your stomach where it hit you.

"Ye going to die, Witchress, why is ya laughing?" - The beast growled out with visible and hearable problems, which made your smile bigger.

"Because I killed every pack in the radius of ten kilometers, you dumb shit. I sold the furs and meat for a fair coin, even got something to brew potions from. A valuable deal." - You laughed and swung your sword one last time - piercing its chest with it. After that, as you heard it choking on its blood and scream awfully, you sat next to it into the mud.

It was maybe just a short fight, but it made you cast two signs and to move at an incredibly fast pace. And the hit into your stomach was almost precise, hurting like a living fuck. The fight took its cost in the form of incredible tiredness. Also, the potions were still circling through your body, drawing energy out of it. You thanked Gods that you had the idea to track down and eliminate all the packs in the area. The contract could've turned out much differently than it did in the end.

You waited a while, the rain started to fall from the sky again, before cutting the beast's head off. You used an old dwarven axe for that since it was durable and almost unbreakable.

Not an hour after that, your camp was packed up and you were ready to leave the woods, riding horseback to the city again. The werewolf's head was pinned on your saddle to be seen by any bandit. You weren't in a mood for jokes, you didn't want to mess around with some lousy bandit just to be dirty from their blood.

You changed into a fresh shirt and made a hairstyle so tight that not even the smallest baby hair had the chance to fly in front of your face.

It was a while after three o'clock in the early morning when you knocked on the contractor's door - his name was Stjepan, male about thirty years old with a wife and two small daughters. That was the main reason why he wanted the werewolf dead. He was also a local innkeeper, so you at least had a hope that you will sleep in an actual bed instead of the woodland full of bugs and branches poking your ass and back.

"Who the hell is knocking my damn door at night?!" - You heard his angry yell just seconds before he opened up the door. You stood there, soaked from the rain, only in trousers and shirt, holding the head in the level of his eyes. He yelled and threw up just centimeters from your shoes, but you kept the straight face.

"Monster's dead. I want my money." - You growled, throwing the head in. You could hear the small girls and woman yelling, but you didn't care at all. Stjepan disappeared for a small moment, appearing after a while with a small sack of gold.

"Now leave and never come back, ya filthy creature. I can see the devil in ya eyes. I will pray for ya soul." - Stjepan hissed at you, trying to close the door, but your arm stopped it. Stjepan tried to shut it one more time, but your arm didn't even move out of the wood.

Geralt would've most likely just shook his head and leave the man - but you were a lot of things, pussy not being on your list.

Witchers, since they were males, had enhanced strength of the strongest human men. Since you were a woman, you were as strong as a really strong man - those who had almost two meters, one hundred kilograms, and muscles all over their body. When Stjepan realized that he isn't able to close the door, he opened it once again, your hand finally leaving it.

"This is less than we agreed on. I want my money." - You hissed back at the man, stepping into his house. Oh, you would give anything just to see him spraying holy water on the spot where you were standing.

"I don't have more, now fuck off!" - Stjepan yelled and tried to push you out of his door, but he was pushed back as soon as his palm touched your shoulder. Some wall pushed him back so hard, that he stumbled and fell right on his ass.

"Stjepan, Stjepan, Stjepan... Do you remember when your sweet little girls asked me why I have two swords?" - Your eyes slowly looked through the opened door, last drops of Cat potions still making your night vision sharp. These two girls were sitting on the bed and hugged their dolls extremely tight, both of them shaking, hoping you can't see them.

But you could. And Stjepan's wife was standing next to the stove, holding a pan as if it could do any harm to you. With your stare still on the children, you slowly walked through their lovely, little house.

"Ya told them that the long, elegant, silver one with the runes is for monsters." - Stjepan stuttered out and covered the door with his laying body so you would have a harder time getting to the room.

"And that the other one is for even worse monsters." - You told him and kneeled in front of him, tugging the sword from the leather strap on your back. The steel was making cold notice as you tugged it even slower. - "Monsters called humans. The worst of them all."

"Ye a witchress!" - Stjepan's wife yelled at you, raising the pan to her hip, ready to hit you. - "Ya meant to help and protect folk! Not to kill 'em!"

You would never hurt these children. They were just children, for fuck's sake - their life hasn't even started and anyone, let alone a monster hunter like, had the right to hurt them and end their life. No witcher nor witchress had the right to take an innocent person's life.

But you weren't playing clean games, oh boy, you weren't. When you had to be dirty, you planned to be dirty as hell. You needed to keep your face straight if you wanted to scare that dick off.

"You better give me my money or I swear that I will kidnap your children and make them witchresses. After all, that's what witchers do when people refuse to pay their debts." - You hissed, walking over Stjepan directly to the bed, almost dragging the two girls out.

Just seconds before you touched them, Stjepan threw another sack to your feet, crawling in front of his small girls. - "Now go! Leave the fucking town and never come back! Fuck off!"

You straightened up and looked at the two small girls which slowly disappeared in the darkness as Cat finally stopped working. Only after that, you finally left their room. - "Pleasure doing businesses with you, Stjepan." - You added with a sour, ironic tone and walked off into the night.

Well, your plan with sleeping at his inn didn't exactly work out. At least you had the money he promised, even if you had to scare a few little kids. You walked to your horse, gently smoothing its forehead. Well, the only thing you could do was to ride to another city so you could find another job.

Well, that was the plan, until a man came across you. He was dressed up in a long cloak, covered in the darkness, almost sneaking up on you. You chuckled from shoving the money into on me of the bags on the saddle, not looking at the person. They must've known that you know about them the whole time.

"I won't give you a single coin, don't even bother asking me." - Your mumbling could be heard in the cold, silent night.

"Oh, I don't need your money, witchress. I want to speak to ya." - The person said, putting an envelope into the saddle looking you in the eyes. First, you checked the person to see if they mean any harm - it was a short man, pretty underweight, his arms looked very weak. He couldn't attack you if his mind was bright - he would die after one of your blows. - "Not me, pretty lady, but a friend of mine. Told me to say hi once I find ye."

With that, the caped person turned on their heels and disappeared into the darkness again. You watched him quietly for a second before you couldn't see him - then you looked at the envelope and grinned when you recognized the seal. That old, ugly bastard, Sigi Reuven.

Or, as the others knew, Sigismund Dijkstra. One of the most dangerous spies on the whole Continent. And that old son of a bitch wanted to talk to you.

#the witcher #no geralt here #for now #gimme a few parts #but here #have a werewolf #sigismund dijkstra #the witcher netflix #geralt of rivia #geralt z rivie #geralt z rivii #a witchress #the continent #the world of the witcher #andrzej sapkowski

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iheardarumorxxx · 4 years ago

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Alright, time for biology class, let’s go.

Except not quite yet because I have a continuity question: This might be a book to movie error, but this says that Emmett, Rose, and Jasper were pretending to be seniors, but in New Moon (definitely in the movie, but I thought also in the book), Jasper is there at school with Alice and Edward and Bella. So did Forks High flunk Jasper???

Anyway, Biology class.

would manage to pull out anything in his lecture that would surprise someone holding two graduate degrees in medicine.

Edward has two graduate degrees in Medicine. This makes all of the Twilight books look hilarious in retrospect, but makes the fourth one especially funny in a rage inducing kind of way.

The humans weren't smart enough to know that they feared me, but their survival instincts were enough to keep them away.

1) You said this shit already back in the cafeteria, and I didn’t buy it then, so stop repeating yourself, and 2) I will say again since we’re repeating ourselves: They stay away from you because you’re a stuck up, smarmy little asshole.

Still, from the place where Bella Swan stood, nothing.

If only, sweet Weirdo, you had taken this as a sign of what it truly is: Your sweet precious flower Bella is empty space. A placeholder where hundreds of thousands of guys, gals, and non-binary pals can slip in and make it their fantasy. Can’t do that if she has unique and interesting thoughts. (And no, dear readers, I do not consider Twilight Bella’s ‘unique and interesting thoughts’ because SM never mastered that first person POV and it never felt like we were actually in Bella’s head.)

There was no room full of witnesses - they were already collateral damage in my head.

Okay everyone (myself included) clowns on the fact that as soon as Weirdo gets a sniff of the blood, he’s plotting out the murder of his entire class, but if we could all just take a second here.

Edward Cullen, the Vampire with Morals and A Heart Of Gold (according to the fanbase) gets a sniff of Bella’s blood and is immediately plotting out the murder of his entire class. No hesitation, no thought. This does not strike me as a man with a high regard for human life, as the books tried to tell me over and over that he was. If the line is still in there, this will get even worse later, but for now, I’m letting it rest on that.

I would also like to make a point about Vampires and their Instincts, but I don’t think this is the time for it. Not yet. So hold on to that thought for later.

the face I'd beaten back with decades of effort and uncompromising discipline

Remember that time Weirdo got pissed at Carlisle and fucked off to go people for a few years in a fit of warped vigilante justice?

Okay, the section is far too long to quote, but let’s talk about Weirdo’s little murder plot, shall we? At this point in the story, especially in this one as I am in Weirdo’s head, I’m supposed to think that he’s driven mad by bloodlust and in some kind of incontrollable madness.

But he’s sitting in his seat literally planning out exactly what the best route is to kill every single student in this classroom so that he doesn’t leave any wittnesses to his crime. He’s being detailed to the point that he can tell exactly how much time he has to do this.

That isn’t driven mad by bloodlust, guys. That’s fucking cold and calculated. This man is planning to the second how to kill 20 people all at once without getting caught. It’s planned down to the detail. As hilarious as it may be to clown on Weirdo about this passage, please think about it. Think about the cold, calculating way he’s describing murdering innocent teenagers and his biology teacher just so he can drink Bella in peace. Please think about the implications of what kind of person Edward Cullen is, that he can so coldly plan something like that.

In my head, Carlisle's kind eyes did not judge me.

I have a lot of feelings about Carlisle, and none of them are very nice, but I’ll save that rant and see just how he is in this book, since we’re gonna see more of him.

There is more of Weirdo’s woe is me bullshit here. I feel like it’s supposed to be dramatic and really get us into his Feelies about the Tasty Good Hooman Blood he’s wiffing, but it reads so much like a dramatic pre-teen diary entry that all I hear when I read it is ‘Waaaaaah! Why me? I hate everything, this isn’t FAIR!’

But I didn't have to breathe.

This is a very relevant and important point about the mythology of vampires in this canon. They don’t have to breathe. They literally never have to breathe and choose to do so anyway, and while I could understand that new vampires might continue to breathe because it’s a comfort of their previous life and a force of habit carried over, Weirdo has had plenty of time to lose the habit. And it is absolutely possible to not notice someone not breathing if you aren’t constantly staring at them waiting for the signs, so saying that it’s a tactic to blend in (especially when the Cullens do nothing in their power to blend in to begin with) doesn’t fly either. Weirdo goes on to make a point about how he relies on scent more than his other senses, for the hunt and for warning signs and all that, but he is in school, and if we go by the text, he doesn’t want to hurt the humans around him, so even if he does use his sense of smell, he has no reason to use it in a school full of vulnerable teenagers.

Weirdo calls Bella a Woman-Child and Thanks I fucking Hate It.

And once again, Edward is going into a lengthy fantasy about how to get Bella alone to murder her. I said it already but I’ll say it again. This isn’t fucking bloodlust, this is a cold blooded killer plotting his next kill. This fucker is Calculating. He’s plotting. If he was truly as bad off as he’s claiming, he wouldn’t have the brain power to be this cold and rational about it.

I played a CD of music that usually calmed me, but it did little for me now.

This is funny to me for a number of reasons. The first is my assumption that the CD he’s playing is that one with the DeBussy song on it. Symbolism and all that. But the second is that this is v much something that happened all throughout the Twilight saga with SM. She refuses outright to call things by name. She won’t say the names of bands, or search engines, and the only ‘product placement’ we get is the cars. I can’t tell if she did this to try and make her stories feel more timeless or because she was genuinely afraid of being sued or something for using specifics.

He's almost young enough to be my son. Too young to think of that way..

We get is SM, you want us to think your Pires are the most beautiful, amazing, alabaster angel creatures on the planet. But no sane, rational middle-aged school secretary is going to think of a student this way. It’s gross and creepy and makes me think extremely badly of Mrs. Cope if she’s having lustilicious thoughts about what she thinks is a teenage boy.

like they've found some way to cheat in every subject.

I would like to point out that, at the very least Weirdo has found a way to cheat in every subject. Even taking into consieration the amount of times he’s been through high school and college, the guy can literally just pluck the answers right out of the teacher’s head.

And we end Chapter One with a wimper. There are a lot of plot holes in relation to Alice’s visions, but they aren’t bad here, so I’ll leave them alone. The narrative of ‘Vampires do everything so much better than icky humans because they’re just the best and wonderful and great and amazing’ has already started happening, and now that we’re in the head on one of the Pires, I can only assume it’s gonna get so much worse. Here, it only really came up in the form of ‘pitiful, insignificant humans could never do that that I could.’ and the super fast driving bullshit that makes no sense because a car is not a Pire so it can’t just magically adhere to the warped Pire physics.

Anyway, that’s chapter one done. On to the next.

#sierra recaps stuff #ms liveblog #midnight sun #midnight sun spoilers #ms chapter 1 #long post

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sad-sweet-cowboah · 5 years ago

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It Started With A Skeleton

The final commission! @writingandsins asked for Arthur beginning to fall for an archaeologist!reader. I wrote it in a way to seem like a random encounter like in the game. Thank you for being patient with me and enjoy!

The bright sun beamed down in between the thick green leaves, brightening up spots of the forest floor. Smoothing out the rolled paper upon the rock in front of you. The familiar shape of New Hanover was the only thing you recognized as you tried to make heads or tail of this map. It seemed hastily drawn, ink spots scattered here and there. Were they marking specific locations, or was it just the carelessness of the maker?

You sighed in frustration, standing up straight to closer observe your surroundings. You’d just come from Annesburg, your pockets three dollars lighter for having to purchase the map from some smooth talker outside of the gunsmith. He’d mentioned an ancient burial site nearby, and offered to share the location. Excitement overtaking you, you’d quickly agreed and paid the man. After handing you the map and pointing you west, you mounted your horse and began to head out into the forest. An hour had passed, and with vague instructions and no knowledge of the pathways, you’d stopped to try and regain your bearings.

Though now, it seemed as if he was just making a fool of you.

You groaned, swearing out loud and stomping over to your horse, who stopped grazing to look at you with interest. “Sorry boy, gotta head back.”

“You alright, miss?” a voice called from behind you.

A jolt of surprise shot through you, quickly erasing the assumption of you being alone out here. You hadn’t heard anyone coming by. Turning around, a man on horseback appeared in your view. He was standing just a few yards away, stopped in the middle of the path. The sun caught the barrel of a rifle along his back, glinting brightly. Underneath the worn black hat, his face showed slight concern.

“I’m fine,” you answered, albeit somewhat warily. “Just a little lost is all.”

“Where are ya tryin’ to go?” he asked, his drawl strong unlike the folks from around here.

“I…” you hesitated, wondering if it was a good idea to share this information, lest he decided to find it before you and plunder to his heart’s content. However, this forest proved larger and more complex than you expected, and you weren’t even sure how to find your way back to civilization. “Yes, actually! There’s supposedly an ancient burial around ‘round here somewhere. Some silver-tongued fool gave me this map for three dollars and told me to head out here. But I’m beginning to think he led me on a wild goose chase.”

The man approached closer, twitching his fingers toward you. You passed him the map, and he studied it for mere seconds before scoffing, passing it back to you. “Yeah, he fooled ya alright. Looks like he drew it in five minutes. Ain’t even worth a cent.”

“Perfect.” you sighed heavily.

“I might know the place you’re talkin’ ‘bout,” the man continued. “It’s a little ways north of here.”

Excitement immediately replaced the disappointment. “You know where it is?” you gasped. “Can you take me?”

He gave a small shrug. “Sure, ain’t got nothin’ else to do.”

Smiling widely, you turned back toward your horse and mounted quickly. He began to walk forward, and you slipped in behind him. He urged his horse into a slow lope and you did the same, moving at a good pace down the path.

“You don’t know how much I appreciate this, Mister,” you spoke out to him. “I would have been wandering this forest forever if you hadn’t come along.”

“I’m sure you woulda found it sooner or later,” he responded. “Why’re you lookin’ for it in the first place?”

“I’m an archaeologist, I study artifacts and sites from ancient civilizations,” you explained. “That burial site from what I hear is remnants of Viking inhabitants.”

“Vikings, huh?” he slowed to be in pace with you, your horses cantering side to side. “Out here?”

You nodded with enthusiasm. “May sound strange, but there’s tons of evidence that they came here hundreds years ago! I’ve found helmets and tools here and there, but this is the first lead I’ve gotten about a tomb.”

The man gave a soft hum. “Ya know, y’oughta be careful out here in these woods,” he said, gazing out into the distance. “Some of the folk out here ain’t too friendly. Snatch ya up if you ain’t careful.”

You gave him a strange look. “I hope you don’t mean yourself.”

He gave a humorless laugh in response. “Nah, I ain’t the type. The ones I’m talkin’ about, they’re called Murfrees. They ain’t right in the head, act more like feral animals than people. Not the smartest, but they’re sneaky.”

Your eyes widened. “And you’d know from experience?”

“’Course, had to fight ‘em off out here on more than one occasion. And I’d hate to see ‘em come up on some poor unsuspectin’ fools out here.”

A shiver coursed through your body, horrified to even think of such a thing to happen to you. Over the years you’d come across some questionable people, though always managed to get through the day unharmed. “Well, then I’m glad to have run into you, Mister…”

“Arthur Morgan.” He answered your unasked question.

---

The two of you chatted nonchalantly for the next ten minutes, although it had been mostly you speaking more about the Vikings, and other ancient artifacts you’d found. Arthur was mostly silent, only commenting every once in a while on your explorations.

Eventually he slowed his horse down to a walk. You had followed suit, your eyes in search for the prize.

“Here,” he motioned directly ahead, pointing to an in-ground structure that had a few open trenches branching out. “I believe that’s what you’re lookin’ for.”

Hastily you hopped off your horse, hurrying forward to get a better view. You halted at the foot of much worn stone steps, leading down into the center of the site. Even from here, you could spot the unmistakable alabaster color of old bones. You slowly stepped down into the trench, taking care of where you put your feet. Some of it was overgrown, roots had snaked their way through the cracks.

As you grew closer, it was apparent that there were more than one set of bones here. In the center of everything was a stone slab with a full skeleton lay across it, in remarkably good condition despite being exposed to hundreds of years’ worth of weather, elements, and possible animal tampering. Meanwhile others were placed around the base of the slab, femurs, detached torsos, skulls stacked neatly. You had to wonder why.

Objectively, it appeared to be a burial site for multiple people. However, there could be more to the story depending on what else lurked here. You dug into your satchel, producing a worn journal to record your findings. You could call yourself a decent artist, if rough sketches could be considered as such. Regardless, without a camera, it was the easiest way to keep track of your discoveries.

“Wonder who they were.” Arthur’s voice startled you, in your excitement you’d nearly forgotten about his presence.

You turned around to face him, he was standing just a few feet away. “From what I see here, it might have been a mass grave.” You answered.

He didn’t answer, although stepped forward to observe. He walked around the slab, studying the remains. He paused and bent down as if to retrieve something.

“Wait, don’t disturb anything!” you warned him.

He stood up straight, holding what looked like a hatchet in his hand. “Thought you’d like to look at this.” He held it out.

You blinked in surprise. How long had this sat here and went unnoticed by this area’s inhabitants? You reached out for it and grasped it carefully. It was surprisingly heavy and sturdy. “Amazing this is still in good condition,” you remarked. “And that nobody took it yet.”

“Guess it’s here for you to find.” Arthur noted with a small smile.

You smiled back at him. “Maybe so.” You put it down to sketch it out.

You took a few more minutes to explore this little find, discovering that it had five branching trenches shaped somewhat like a star. Some of them were closed off with a ceiling, natural and carved out from the earth. You made sure to sketch every angle, noting every piece of information that you could.

Meanwhile, Arthur stood just a few feet away. You were surprised he hadn’t left yet, perhaps he was keeping watch in case one of the Murfree people he mentioned might be lurking around somewhere. Either way, you were too drawn in to really notice the surroundings.

You even caught him staring at your journal as you drew, probably intrigued by it.

Some more time had passed and you finished your last sketch. You stood above the structure, marveling its ancient beauty. Satisfied with your recordings, you placed your journal back into your satchel. You were thankful you were able to find this place, even after being swindled and losing money for it.

Arthur’s footsteps alerted you, and you turned to smile at him as he sidled up next to you. “Y’ get everything?” he asked.

“Oh yes,” you expressed with delight. “This is the most comprehensive find I’ve had in a while! The others in New York won’t believe this!”

“New York?” he repeated with bewilderment. “And you came out here?”

“My work takes me many places, Arthur,” you said proudly. “Though my colleagues would rather have me serving them beer and biscuits. I work three times as hard as them, you know. No respect for the women in this field.”

He made a soft noise, shaking his head as if to agree with you. “Can’t say many men are smart, then.”

Your smile widened at his comment. “Arthur, thank you again for taking me here, and watching over me. You don’t know how much this means to me.”

“Ain’t nothin’,” he said nonchalantly, turning his gaze downward. It only occurred to you then he was fidgeting with something in his hands. As you opened your mouth to ask, he held it up. “By the way, I found this down there. Thought you should have it.”

It was a comb, off white in color and carved with an intricate design. It too was obviously of Viking origin, given the designs of the animals that wrapped around the handle, looping to form holes for holding. It was beautiful.

It left you breathless. “Arthur-” you began. “That’s …”

“I know, I shouldn’t have taken it,” he said with a slightly sheepish tone. “Jus’ seemed to be a shame to leave it down there, for no one to admire.”

You reached out and gingerly took it, holding it flat in your hand. It was an unorthodox gesture, especially from someone you’d just met earlier that day. “Well…thank you.”

A full smile appeared on his lips then, the first you’d seen today. “You’re welcome.”

---

It’d been three days since coming upon the burial site.

Since then, you’d left Annesburg to travel further west, arriving in a little town called Valentine. You settled into a hotel room, copying over your original notes onto paper, as well as refining your sketches to appear clean. You’d soon sent them into the mail, hoping your colleagues would take you more seriously.

You were also on a limited amount of time, having just a few more days before traveling back home.

You adventure didn’t stop there, however. Originally coming here to collect more leads on possible sites, which ended up to be drier than a summer well, you focused on other means. Mulling around this town has proved to be fruitful, as you’d took the time to acquire an odd job here and there to replenish the money you’d spent in the past few days.

The comb you had carefully bundled up into a rag and placed in a small pocket of your satchel, although you admittedly taken it out more than once to appreciate its beauty. You’d sketched it out with everything else, along with the man who gave it to you.

That one, you kept to yourself.

He’d crossed your mind more than once. He’d been the first to not give you an odd look when expressing your interests, or make an offhand comment on how you would make a better housewife. A man like that was certainly a rarity, and you hoped you’d cross paths once more before returning home.

Tonight, you decided to have some relaxation and wandered into the more popular saloon in town. It was expectedly busy; the smell of tobacco and alcohol nearly burned your nostrils as you found a place to sit off to the side.

Despite the rowdiness of the crowd, you were thankful to have gone unnoticed. You sat quietly, sipping a beer whilst observing the drunken tomfoolery that took place around you. People watching entertained you sometimes.

Out of the corner of your eye, the doors swung open to reveal another patron stepping in. Paying little attention to it, your vision wandering to a young harlot pulling a stumbling man up the stairs.

“Miss Y/N?”

You turned your head in surprise, knowing you did not give your name to anyone in here. This however wasn’t some stranger, instead you were looking into the blue eyes of Arthur Morgan.

“Arthur!” you greeted with slight confusion. It were as if the heavens above had heard your prior thoughts. “Didn’t expect to see you here.”

“Likewise,” he replied, pulling back an empty chair to sit at your table. “Ain’t you supposed to be out, lookin’ for more, eh, Viking burial grounds?”

You smiled at him. “Archaeology doesn’t take every facet of my life, you know. I like to take breaks too.”

He chuckled at your response. “Weren’t implyin’ that it was,” he shifted in his chair. “Actually, I’m glad I ran into ya.”

Cheeks burning, you took a swig of beer to hide your surprise. “You are? Why is that?”

“Just wonderin’ ‘bout what else you’ve found. I’d like to see, ‘less it’s private.” He responded.

You raised your eyebrows in surprise. This had to be the first time that anyone was interested in your work, even your fellow colleagues. “You really want to see?” You asked, a tight feeling of disbelief looming in your stomach.

He nodded. “Ya seem so passionate ‘bout it, got me curious is all.”

You couldn’t help but to beam at him, your chest swelling with excitement. Thankfully, you had your journal with you. Digging it out of your satchel, you lay it across the table and flipped open to the first page, containing sketches of various Indian arrow heads you’d found in your home state. “This was just a little after the beginning of my career…” you began, dragging your fingers lightly across the sketch lines, recalling vividly your amazement when you’d unearthed them.

Time wore on and you’d gone through the pages, you’d noticed a slight glimmer in Arthur’s eyes as he studied your drawings. Every once in a while, you could have sworn he was staring at you, yet every time your eyes turned to meet his, he’d swiftly turn his gaze back down to the journal.

You’d eventually reached the most recent section, closing the journal back up as you know he’d already seen that. Placing it back into your bag, you gave Arthur a sweet smile. “What did you think?”

Arthur leaned back, a slight look of awe on his face when he looked at you. “You got quite the collection, Miss Y/N. I’ve been ‘round and ain’t seen half the stuff you have.”

A small giggle escaped your lips. “You just have to know where to look.”

“Guess so,” he groaned as he stretched out. “You stayin’ here?”

You nodded. “Just for the next few days. I’m hoping to find one more site before I get back to New York.”

“Well, I dunno ‘bout other places, ‘sides the one we just went to.” Arthur responded.

“That’s okay, Arthur,” you reached over to pat his arm. “Your help the other day was more than enough. Can’t expect you to escort me to another, if there is one around.”

“Eh, I wouldn’t mind.” he shrugged, a small smile tugging at his lips.

You tucked your head down in hopes to hide the blush that flared on your cheeks. “Well, aren’t you generous, Mr. Morgan?” you said with a lighthearted tone. “Would you mind escorting me to the hotel, then?” you asked, peering back up to him.

Another shrug rolled his shoulders. “Sure.” He replied, his smile turning soft.

Gathering your belongings, you’d marched out of the saloon with Arthur behind you, leaving the drunken chatter behind to a quiet night. It was certainly late; the moon high in the sky and nearly no one outside. The lights from the adjacent buildings have long been extinguished. The distant chirping of crickets and a faint train whistle set a lovely ambience.

Even though the hotel was just down the way, Arthur kept by your side, walking to avoid treading through mud and horse manure. He was certainly a gentleman, uniquely apart from anyone else you’d met out here. It’d only taken a moment of walking before reaching the front steps of the hotel, the orange light flickering as a greeting.

Stepping onto the wooden steps, you turned to face Arthur once again. “Thank you, Arthur.”

He tilted his head in a small nod. “You’re welcome, Miss Y/N.”

As your gazes met, a pang of emotion hit you as you realized you barely even knew this man. He’d been so kind to you and interested in your work, yet he’d never shared a single mention of his personal life. He didn’t have to, given the circumstances in which you two met. However, you would be boarding a train back to New York in a few days’ time, and you highly doubt he’d come up that far.

Regardless, you still wanted to keep in contact.

Reaching for your journal once again, you tore out a page and hastily scribbled an address onto the paper. You held it out to him, noting his look of confusion. “Write to me, please,” you murmured to him. “If you find another site.” You quickly added.

Arthur took the paper slowly, holding it out to read it for a moment before folding it neatly and tucking it into his own satchel. “I’ll be sure to do so.” He responded, giving you the same smile as before.

#Arthur Morgan #Arthur Morgan x reader #$10 writing commission

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0idril0 · 5 years ago

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Absence

Sorry for the long absence everyone! Been dealing with a lot at home and it’s translated to writers block. Huge thanks to @whumpywhumper for writing all of “Selene’s” part with very little help.

Anyway, this is part 17, check out my page for the link to the rest of the series!

Tagging @comfy-whumpee @whumpitywhumpwhump @genesissane @doityourselfbombs @gonna-feel-that-tomorrow @imagination1reality0 @voidwhump @captivity-whump

Evan pulled the makeshift bandage from Nico’s throat, tsking when he saw the IV was gone. Fuck. He’d barely gotten the first one in. Nico’s skin cracked as he pulled the remnants of tape away completely, his muscles tensing when Evan gently palpated his sore encrusted neck to find his pulse. It fluttered under his fingers, weak but steady. What a mess.

Clint was growling softly, glaring at the fingers he had on Nico’s neck. He pulled his fingers away, and Nico relaxed, Clint’s growling stuttering to a stop. Huh.

“We’ll need to see what this healer can do, but I can wait till they take a look.” Evan heaved a sigh as he threw away the soaked bandage, watching Clint’s exhausted face. The wolf had been up for almost eighteen hours now. He and Brian had barely been able to peel him away from his injured mate to shower the first time, they’d never get him away now.

Stealing one more assessing glance at Nico, Evan entered the kitchen to clean the remnants of blood off of his hands. Despite Nico’s fall the boy still looked better than he had when they’d brought him into his office, soft breaths wheezing instead of gurgling, cheeks flushed instead of a deathly grey. But Evan’s hands still itched as he scrubbed them in the sink, desperately wanting to peal the bandages away and make sure his patient hadn’t done more damage to himself.

Nico was just so delicate right now.

“Is he okay?” Brian’s voice was barely a whisper coming from the hallway, and Evan stole a look at Clint and Nico before joining him.

Brian looked wrecked, cheeks splotchy, eyes red rimmed and wet. Sighing, Evan pulled the siren into a tight hug, rubbing at his spine until he felt some of the tension ease.

“I don’t know, B’. He could have hurt himself worse falling off the lounger, his hip’s in rough shape... but it’s nothing we can’t deal with when Kristy gets here.” The younger man’s shoulders shook for a second before he squeezed and stepped back, wiping at his eyes. Evan caught his shoulder, stopping him from walking away. “Brian, we absolutely cannot leave him alone right now.”

More tears wet Brian’s eyes as he looked away, scrubbing at his cheeks. “I didn’t even think about it Evan, I was trying to make sure Clint had everything he needed, and Nico hadn’t moved in hours and —“

“Hey kid, I’m not doubting your heart was in the right place, just pointing out what needs to happen now. We can’t leave him alone, not until he’s more stable.”

Brian nodded tightly, and Evan pulled him back into a hug. Brian was a good kid, Evan doubted he had a malicious bone in his body, but the siren was young and impulsive.

He’d told him when he and Clint had gone to get cleaned up not to leave Nico alone and, in his desire to help, he’d done exactly that. They needed to know they could trust him, and Evan wouldn’t have been able to rest if he hadn’t said something.

Brian stiffened in his arms, pulling away abruptly.

“What’s wro—“ A fissure of heat lanced up his spine, and Evan jerked. The wards. In tandem, he and Brian jolted towards the front door, shoulders knocking as they rushed towards it.

Brian reached it first, nearly breaking the handle as he jerked it open, leaving Evan to catch the door before it smashed against the wall.

The rattle of Kristy’s car covered Brian’s thundering footsteps on the stairs, the tank of a car spewing rocks as it came to a stop in gravel driveway. Thank god.

Evan felt some of the tension he’d been carrying in his shoulders ease. Brian and Clint were doing their best, but he needed someone with experience. He hoped this healer could be that.

He didn’t know what he’d expected from the healer, Kristy had been frustratingly vague due to blind paranoia. But the young woman who stepped out of the vehicle wasn’t it.

The first thing he saw were dreadlocks, multicolored hair wraps encasing pitch black hair. Tattoos graced the column of her neck, working with her loosely fit dress to cover her alabaster skin. His gaze was quickly arrested when she turned to him, ice blue eyes freezing him in place as they roved over him.

Well hello ,Handsome. Her voice was loud in his head, echoing into his bones. A coquettish smirk lifted the corner of her mouth as she stalked up to him.

Fuck. Evan swallowed hard, his eyes burning as they glowed red. He slammed them shut, shaking his head hard before opening his eyes again. The woman was still smiling at him from the bottom step but there was more of a playful edge to it. He was in trouble.

The woman was beautiful, and now that she was closer, he could see a spiderweb of silver scars on the right side of her face. Instead of distracting, it added to the pull he felt towards her, his magic could feel the wildness of her spirit, and it wanted to get closer.

Instead, he stood his ground, swallowing thickly. This definitely wasn’t the time for that. After she looked at Nico. He could wait.

“You must be Kristy’s contact—?”

“Selene.” She said it with a smirk and a dramatic tilt of her head. “You must be Dar.”

Evan snorted at the reference to the tv show Beast Master. Well at least she’s figured out what he was, he didn’t have a real clue about her. Kristy had said healer, but that could be any number of things.

And didn��t believe for a second that Selene was her real name, it tasted off, like tofu disguised as chicken. But they couldn’t afford to push, if Kristy trusted her they should be able to. The girl was like Fort Knox with trust issues.

“Well, now I know why Kristy’s been so vague about her little pack since she moved here. She’s been hiding you from me.” The smile was back as she took another step up the stairs. “You should catch me up on what’s going on, then we can remedy that.”

Evan gulped, taking a step back as she completed her ascension to the porch. Shit.

“As fun as this is to watch, I really need to pee.” Kristy pushed past Selene, breaking the spell that Evan had fallen under. The other woman followed her, brushing past Evan as she entered the house.

She smelled like palo santo wood.

Evan shook himself, grabbing at the door to stop it from closing. “Hang on, I need to—“

A snarl rumbled through the house as they entered, rooting the group to the floor. Fuck.

Evan threw himself forward, skidding in front of Selene as Kristy fell backwards. He collided with the blur in midair, eyes glowing red as he and the snarling man smacked into the hall wall.

What air he’d had gushed out of his lungs but he forced his hands up to grapple with the growling mass. He slid his wry limbs around Clint’s waist and neck and hung on, throwing his magic at the wolf. “Fuck! Clint! She’s here to help, CALM DOWN!”

His weight didn’t seem to affect the werewolf, his magic making him pause for a second before he threw his mass forward again, dragging Evan with him.

Selene screamed as Clint jerked forward against Evan’s mass and magic, his claws sinking into the wall beside her head as she fell away.

A high note joined the cacophony, followed by another crash and bounding feet. As Clint went to pry his claws from the wall the unearthly sound cut through the air again. The wolf snarled, teeth bared as he turned towards the source.

Brian had followed them into the house, dropping the bags as he sped towards mayhem. The siren’s skin turned pearlescent, color fleeing from his iris and pupils. Unearthly vibrations spilled from the siren as he started to hum, head cocked as he focused on the werewolf.

“My heart is pierced by Cupid...”

Clint’s hands dropped to his side, face fixed on the siren.

“I distain all glittering gold...”

Brian’s teeth were bared as he sang, sharp points vibrating against his thick lips, the base of his throat moving as the humming reverberated through his chest.

“There is nothin’ can console me...”

Clint whined, claw tipped hands grabbing his hair as he squeezed his eyes shut. Evan could feel the muscles in Clint’s back relaxing, harsh pants airing through his nose. He pushed more magic into the werewolf, and yelped when the man’s knees collapsed, hitting the floor with him.

“Explain, NOW!” Selene’s voice was thunderous, the slender woman scrambling to her feet.

“Fuck...” Evan groaned, releasing his strangle hold slowly, practically sitting on Clint’s back. He shook his head at the woman’s glare, gulping air back into his lungs. Brian held his hands up as his skin slowly started to return to normal, teeth and eyes still pearlescent as the unearthly music started to fade.

“That would be Clint, our resident idiot, who seems to have been running on instinct instead of intelligence for the past day and growling at anything that moves!” Kristy red face peered around the corner, anger making her voice shake.

“Well Clint, I just drove 10 hours based on the word of a friend, with absolutely no information, so maybe pull your brain out of your ass and put it back in your head.” Selene’s snarl rivaled Clint’s, and Evan felt his pulse quicken again watching her glare at the wolf.

God, he was in trouble.

“I’m sorry...”Clint was panting, holding his head in his hands. “There was just someone new in the house and I-I just—“

Evan felt the shudder of a sob rock the wolf’s thick frame before he heard him sniffle.

“I couldn’t— c-can’t—“ Clint twisted, pleading green eyes turned to Evan. There were flecks of dried blood blending in with his freckles, dark bruises under his eyes from lack of sleep.

Evan grimaced, hugging Clint’s head to his stomach and easing some of the threads of magic away. “It’s okay bud, we’re going to get it figured out...”

Clint took a trembling breath, barely holding his weight as he leaned into him. “I’m sorry...”

Selene’s eyes softened, but she didn’t move towards the kneeling wolf, giving him plenty of space. “I think it’s definitely time someone tells me what I’m doing here.”

Evan nodded taking a deep breath as he scrubbed a hand through Clint’s hair, letting the wolf take a moment to gather himself.

“An uh...ex pack member... took a friend... who had happened to be Clint’s unbonded mate.... and...” Evan couldn’t meet Selene’s intense gaze, swallowing roughly as he stared at the archway to the living area. After a moment he gestured at the entry way. “It’s easier to show you.”

<***>

Sorina watched the werewolf warily for a moment, ready for the explosive anger to return. The werewolf’s aura had crumpled though, hiding behind the beast master’s. Like an injured wolf with a pack leader.

Keeping a close eye, Sorina turned her shrewd gaze to what she supposed was a living room. A large sectional couch and chair were sitting in her way, and she couldn’t see the person she was suppose to be treating. Keeping a wary eye on the werewolf, Clint, she offered a hand to Evan to pull him up. “Why don’t you show me the way?”

The beast master ran his hand through Clint’s hair again before accepting her hand and pulling himself up. He looked exhausted (everyone looked exhausted), but his hand was strong in hers, his grip sure and steady as he stood. She stifled a wicked smile at the way he looked at her under his lashes as he dusted off his pants, unconsciously licking his lips. His aura was blushing a pretty pink, but she was a professional. They’d have plenty of time later, hopefully.

The pack house wasn’t large, but it wasn’t small either. Big enough to hold several people overnight, and Sorina counted multiple bedrooms when they crossed a hallway. Kristy followed her, stepping into the house after she pointed her finger meanfully at Brian and Clint, murmuring, “Behave you two.” She did smile to herself at Kristy’s admonishment, noting the way she still held herself so tightly even after all of these years, scared to get close but not being able to help it.

On the long, long, drive here, Kristy hadn’t been able to hide her affection for her new found family. Not that she had a chance against Sorina’s ability to see straight through her bullshit, not after being her foster sister for so long, but it was cute none-the-less. She was so happy for her.

Sorina’s cheerful little bubble was quickly popped as soon as her eye caught on her patient, a black horror rolling through her as she stopped, wide eyed. “Oh goddess,” she whispered.

It was a young man, at least she assumed, his emaciation hiding everything but a strong jaw and broad shoulders. His slender frame was covered by a light black sheet, soiled bandages criss-crossing his exposed skin. Blood stained the fabric of the lounger they’d laid him on, and there were more small pools smeared on the floor.

His aura was a dusky, feverish red, a tiny thing that shimmered just on the outer boundary of his skin, barely there, translucent and weak.

Kristy brushed past her, hissing at Evan, “What the fuck happened, Evan? There’s blood all over the floor!”

Her eyes snapped over to the beast master as he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck like it pained him. “I didn’t get a chance to clean it up before you got here, it just happened. Nico’s fever is up, and Brian unintentionally left him alone while we were trying to force Clint into a shower.” Pinching the bridge of his nose, Evan grimaced. “He tore his IV line out and tried to hide.”

She startled at the name, Nico, feeling her heart clench up for a second as her knees weakened. “His name is Nico?”

Her murmured question was lost as Clint walked unsteadily into the room, Brian trailing in his wake with his hands raised like he was going to catch him if he fell. A low rumbling growl filling the crowded space as he stalked to his unconscious mate’s side. She wrinkled her eyebrows in confusion as she saw Clint’s aura reach toward the other and start filling it, golden tendrils wrapping around the red. She caught Evan’s shirt with pinched fingers, “I thought you said they were unbonded?”

Evan sighed and grabbed the back of the recliner, fingers turning white. “They were, we forced the bond.”

“You what?” she gasped, hand flying to her mouth in shock. She let go of Evan’s shirt like she’d grabbed a pit viper and took a step away.

He had the decency to hang his head, aura flooding with a despondent blue as he clenched his teeth around his answer. “It was the only way. . . believe it or not, he looks good compared to what he was a few hours ago. He wouldn’t have survived without it, for multiple reasons. We did what we had to do.”

His deep voice was gravely but firm, lips pressed in a tight line as he looked her in the eye. Former fluttering nerves gone. Resolute.

She glared at him, swallowing back her instinctive first words. It just wasn’t done. You did not force a bond like that. It was at the level that made up Nico and Clint’s entire being, unbreakable, and life-long. If he survived this, there might be hell to pay for both of them.

The wolf settled on the lounger beside the injured man, and she felt a flutter of anger at the possessive way he arched over over him, hands pressing into the cushion on either side of sharp hips. Forced, you forced him, you don’t get to be possessive.

The man- Nico- she’d never be able to look at him without thinking of her brother now- shifted as Clint’s weight rocked the cushion, and he gasped weakly, aura rippling with waves of black pain. The wolf’s thick fingers brushed against an ulcerated cheek before falling away, pushing at the cushion enough to move him.

She took a closer look as Nico shifted towards consciousness, Clint’s gold aura feeding and strengthening the weak shell. His eye lids fluttered, a pain-filled furrow creasing his brow.

Clint immediately grabbed a washcloth from a stack hidden beside the lounger, dunking it in a bowl of clear water before wringing it out and gently placing it on his eyes. “Shhh, it’s okay Darlin’...”

The wolf was exceedingly gentle as he soothed his distressed mate, brushing his hand gently over his flushed forehead, catching his hands and pressing him back to the lounger with quiet, exhausted affection. “Hush, Baby,” he murmured, “I’m here, it’s okay.”

Sorina frowned, but nodded, noting as she did so that the sheet was slipping down Nico’s torso, revealing more and more bandages. “Okay, I guess that will take a back seat for now. But I want the full story once this is done.” She let the threat hang in the air like a barely contained thunderstorm, moving around the sectional to her patient. “Kristy, can you go get my bag? I think your siren dropped it.”

The jab was halfhearted, said with the ghost of a smile as she stepped up to Nico. Looking at the werewolf, holding out her empty palms, she stopped a few feet away. “Hey snarly? Can I come closer?”

Clint’s eyes flashed a shining yellow when he looked at her, but apparently he was in a better frame of mind now because he nodded, going to Nico’s other side. “Yeah, yeah, you’re just here to help, right?”

She felt a little tug at her heartstrings, and let her eyes soften. Extending her aura, she brushed against his with a feather light touch. A shiver worked through the tense wolf, and he rubbed one of his eyes with the base of a thick fist, obvious worry lines still marring his face. “What do you need, Clint?” she asked, her knowledge of bonds running through her mind. “If you’re not settled, then Nico’s going to be even more scared than he already is, what do you need?”

The werewolf looked at her with a hitch in his breath, fatigue dragging his big shoulders downward. “I just don’t want it to hurt, he’s hurting so much already.”

As if to force the point Nico whimpered, neck arching against the lounger, aura practically yanking at every thread that connected him to the wolf. Clint’s eyes flared yellow, a low rumble shaking the chair. Instead of scaring Nico, she watched his aura settle, a sea blue swallowing some of the red. It was amazing to watch.

Gently, she reached over Nico and put her hand on Clint’s shoulder, kneading the tight muscle there. “I promise, it won’t hurt, no more than touching him hurts. You can try it, if you want? Before I help Nico?”

His brows scrunched together, and he nodded, chin firming as he struggled not to let his lips wobble. “Yeah, yeah, please.”

She watched as his hand transformed, and he, without flinching, drug four deep wounds down the top of his forearm, holding it out to where she could touch him. “Oh! Shit, Clint,” she said, accompanying his friend’s own startled exclamations as she grabbed onto her gram and gripped his arm. Concentrating, she pushed her magic into him, weaving and knitting the skin and muscles back together.

The big wolf shivered as the slight chill that accompanied her magic ran down his spine, but her magic never hurt anyone unless she wanted it to, and she could see his lingering fear and doubts fade. They didn’t disappear, and Sorina was fairly certain that they would never fully go away when it came to his mate, but anything was better than the fear and suspicion that had been leaching from him.

“There, okay? Satisfied?”

Nodding, he gave her a watery smile, “Thank you.”

She couldn’t help but smile back. Regardless of their first meeting, she had the feeling that she and Clint would get along just fine. Her smile dropped as she looked down at Nico, taking in the damage that needed to be healed. A fountain of worry rushed through her chest as she gathered some magic in her palms, perching next to him on the dip of the lounger. “Hey, sweetheart,” she whispered, looking at how his chest rose and fell gracelessly. Sorina took a deep, steadying breath, opening her palms and letting the air go slowly as she started to brush the magic over his head.

Immediately, she was on the defensive as frantic panic blossomed under her palms, the heat from his fever enough that she didn’t even have to touch him to tell that it was dangerously high. Nico whimpered, and Sorina saw how his aura reach toward Clint, pulling at him. The werewolf growled, teeth showing automatically, and Sorina hushed them both. “Shhh, nothing to be scared of, I’m not going to hurt you, I promise.”

Like she’d done earlier with Evan, she lowered her defenses and let her consciousness connect with Nico’s. She heard his fear as it ran through his mind in a fevered torrent of words, but she didn’t try and listen, didn’t want to invade his already limited privacy. Instead, she let her voice be heard the only place he’d probably really understand it. “Hush, Cola,” she soothed, feeling a prick at the back of her eyes and a rush of warm affection when she said her little brother’s nickname, “hush, little bear, it’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you.”

Nico calmed slightly, still anxious, still fearful, his body shifting with painful black swirls that made her wince, but the torrent slowed to a stream, and he didn’t put up any struggle as her hands moved from his head. She focused on finding the most serious of Nico’s injuries, brows furrowed in concentration as she moved her hands down over his body. Evan, Kristy, and Brian shifted nervously behind her, their weight making the boards under the carpet creak and groan.

A wave of dismay curled in her gut, threatening to cause an overwhelming burst of nausea as she catalogued what injuries were contained in the shell of this poor man. He was so broken. Sorina shuddered, as she got to his ribs and felt the cracks, the crinkled phlegm in his lungs, the tormented and bruised muscles that struggled to work. She had to bite her lip to keep from keening as she got to his hips. “No wonder he’s in so much pain,” she thought. Looking over at Evan, feeling drawn to give him all the information she could, she said, “He got hit by a car.”

Evan’s face creased with worry, and he took a step forward, hands twitching before he crossed his arms over his chest. She caught his eye moving over to the bags stuffed with medical equipment and nodded to herself. That makes sense. “Any internal bleeding that won’t take care of itself?”

“No,” she looked back to Nico, troubled, chewing on the inside of her cheek. “There’s this. . . aftertaste of magic here. Did someone already try to heal him?”

She jumped when Clint snarled, eyes widening as his face cramped on his change, teeth morphing into long, dagger-like points. Evan shuttered forward, hands out, eyes flashing red, “Clint!”

Her hands still hovering over Nico, magic cupped in her palms and consciousness open to the energies in the air, she shivered as she felt Evan’s magic work on the unruly wolf. She clamped down on that feeling harshly, now wasn’t the time.

Clint swallowed heavily when Evan’s magic hit him, reverting back to his human form even as his eyes remained an eerie yellow. “Sorry, sorry, I can’t. . . I can’t even think about him without wanting to tear his heart out.”

Eyes still wide, she looked at Evan for explanation. He grimaced, taking a step backward. “It’s a long story, Selene, but yes. It was the guy that hurt him. Is it going to affect anything?”

She grayed out as she imagined someone capable of healing another person doing this to the same person. Shaking her head, Sorina recovered quickly, examining the remnants of magic. She grunted a negative, pressing her lips together. “I can work through it.” The rest of her examination went smoothly, and she motioned to Kristy to bring over her bag. “Okay, I think I can do something about his hip and some of these open wounds, but after that he’s going to have to rest. He’s too weak to handle any more than that.”

Clint nodded beside her, taking Nico’s hand as she rummaged through her bag. “I—“he swallowed, cutting himself off as he tsked behind his teeth, “we’ve got you, Darlin’ “ He closed his eyes and curled over Nico, pressing his face into the couch cushion next to his mate’s neck, taking deep breaths. Quiet murmurs were muffled into the couch, but she felt Nico relax more and more, turning his own face toward the werewolf.

Sorina took out a small, ceramic bowl, drawing the side table laden with towels closer so that she could set out her materials. Palo santo wood came next, followed by a shungite crystal wand and matches.

None of the others in the room moved. It was like they were holding themselves close with the anticipation, holding their breath as they watched. Brian sat in the recliner just behind Evan, his hands in his hair as he watched her. Kristy was leaning against the wall, the sleeve of her sweater pulled over one of her hands as she gnawed on the nail of the other. Her body was angled away from Nico, but Sorina could feel the amount of attention that Kristy locked on to her hands as she lit the matches and started the wood to burning.

Evan hovered next to her shoulder, practically vibrating, his hands clamped firmly on his biceps. She shot him a look, raising her eyebrow, “you’re harshing my vibe here, Dar.”

The side of his lip quirked, but it was a forced gesture. “Sorry, I’ll give you some space.”

She sighed, turning back to him as she closed her eyes and put him out of her mind. Fingering her grahm, she nestled it between her breasts, against her skin and over her heart. Breathing deeply, she concentrated on Nico, taking the bowl and palo santo wood in hand as she found her center, opening her heart. Opening her eyes, she pulled her power from her center, feeling the warmth start burgeoning in her chest. Sorina tasted the ash in the air, subtle notes of lemon, mint, and pine lighting her up as magic started singing through her blood.

Focusing on Nico, she tapped the wood on the bowl in triplicate, letting the wood continue to burn as she trapped it between her thumb and the bowl. Smoke drifted over them all as she dipped her finger into the cooling ash, feeling the lingering warmth spread through her hand. Sorina felt her eyes lose focus as she let her fingers start to trail over Nico’s forehead, drawing symbols lightly, her hand barely touching his skin.

Absently, she noted that Clint started to growl, Nico shifting as magic started to touch his skin, but she was too far gone to stop. Her fingers dipped back into the the ash over and over as she traced Nico’s skin. The bandages, stained with blood and other bodily fluids, were stained again with the gray as she steadily worked. Sorina didn’t notice Evan as he leaned over her, holding his hands out to Clint again as his eyes burned red.

Taking another deep breath of the palo santo smoke, she placed the bowl to the side as she grabbed the shungite wand in one hand, cupping magic in the other. Pushing her magic through the crystal, Sorina hummed a deep, unearthly note as she placed her hand over Nico’s hip. The poor, broken body under her hands arched as she thrust the magic into him, but he didn’t scream. There were no black swirls of pain as she worked, just a cold crack under her hand as the bone shifted back into place, tentatively knitting back together. Feeling her power wane as Nico’s aura started failing, she spread her palm over his chest, reaching through him to find the open wounds on his back.

She sighed shakily as Nico settled back to the lounger, trailing magic as she swayed. Evan caught her as she fell backward, eyes rolling back in her head, the shungite wand falling to the floor. His arms were warm, and he smelled of soap.

His soft murmur, “I’ve gotcha,” was the last thing she heard.

#nico series #nico #whump #poor nico #my ocs #clint #magical healing

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everykindofnerd13 · 4 years ago

Text

“Okay so next, there’s,” Bianca was cut off by the newcomer.

“Wait!” He exclaimed grabbing her arm before they could leave the Hades cabin.

“What?” She asked.

“There are two floors right?” Bianca nodded.

“Uh, so can you show me the upstairs?” He asked her.

“No.” She answered simply and turned around.

“Ah! Why not?” He asked and she glared at him.

“You showed me the upstairs and all the other ones!” He complained. She sighed and shook her head.

“Artemis give me strength...” she muttered, pinching the bridge of her nose, “Nico’s room is upstairs.” She explained, hoping the curious kid would drop it.

“So this kid gets a room all to himself!?” He asked, as if it affected him.

“Yes he does, he lives alone in the cabin practically year round, the only other children of Hades being myself and Hazel. I am a Lady of the Hunt and therefore spend most of my time with them. Hazel is a daughter of Pluto technically and stays either in New Rome or at Camp Jupiter most the time. Plus Nico designed the cabin himself, and if there aren’t going to be people there year-round with him, why should he have to share a space with no one?” The kid’s eyes widened and he nodded quickly. Bianca nodded back and they started off toward the arena.

“Well, she handled that better than expected...” Percy muttered from his place in Nico’s lap where they were looking through the tinted windows down to where Bianca was talking to the kid. In reality, Percy and Nico weren’t yet out to the camp. Well, Nico was out as gay, and it was rather obvious that Percy was at least queer to everyone so there wasn’t anything really bad that could happen, but no one knew the two were dating but Nico’s sisters, their significant others, and the duo’s closest friends. That list consisted of Bianca, Hazel, Tyson, Thalia, Frank, Leo, Ella, Lou Ellen, Will, Cecil, Ethan, Alabaster, Jason, Reyna, Annabeth, Piper, Grover, Rachel, and lastly, and surprisingly Clarisse. But over the more recent years, Percy had grown incredibly close to the daughter of Ares, and both were very protective of eachother nowadays. Though their frankly aggressive and borderline toxic bickering never faltered.

“Yeah, she knows the feeling of having a terrible secret though...” Nico explained and Percy glared playfully.

“A terrible secret? Gods, Di Angelo, if I’d known you hated me I wouldn’t have entered a relationship with you.” He joked and Nico pouted and pushed Percy back onto his bed so that he could lay on top of the older demigod.

“Shut up Gattino, we both know I cherish our relationship immensely.” Percy smiled and began carding his fingers through Nico’s hair to soothe him. He knew it was true. Nico had been crushing on Percy for almost 5 years by the time they figured stuff out and got together. Nico treated Percy practically as if he were a god himself, which to be fair, he was. But so was Nico.

“Of course little vampire. I’m completely aware, it’s a wonder you haven’t instructed Annabeth to construct a temple for my worship.” He joked and Nico hummed on his chest.

“Maybe that would be a good idea, si?” Nico asked and Percy made a confused noise in the back of his throat.

“A temple, on my family’s property in Italia. Just for you. And just for me.” Nico said, causing Percy to laugh.

“Neeks, I love you, but you are a broke child and Annabeth does absolutely nothing for free.” Percy pointed out and Nico raised an eyebrow.

“Principe Marino, you are dating a fellow god, of not only Heroic deaths, but also,” Nico kissed Percy’s jaw, “Fortuna di Famiglia.” Nico pointed out and Percy had to laugh at himself. Right, of course, being a son of Hades, Nico was now the god of Heroic deaths and family fortune. Meaning, because of god magic, the money left to him by his grandmama would never run out.

“Well, Neeks, if you’re so rich and prosperous, maybe we should also construct a temple for my worshipment of you.” Percy suggested as he pulled Nico up to kiss his nose.

“Mmm, no, you’re the only one worthy of worship. You’re all tall and muscular and... hot!” Nico explained then sat up, straddling his boyfriend’s waist and lookin down at him.

“Oh?” Percy asked and Nico nodded pointedly.

“First off, you’re skin. It’s gorgeous, golden, sun kissed, beautiful. It’s clear and you’re pretty. Then your hair, which I love, is all fluffy and black and soft and messy, and you always look like you’ve just rolled out of bed.” Nico explained and Percy was blushing now. Nico ignored him and continued, “And you’re eyes, god! Percy your eyes!” Nico let out a downright dirty groan, “Perseus Jackson, you have the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen. They’re literally the color of sea foam, and they just remind me of the beach near my home in Venice.” Nico explained. Percy’s eyes softened and his heart swelled at the happy but mournful smile that spread across Nico’s features.

“Plus, not to mention, you’re built like a Greek god.” Nico joked and reached under Percy’s shirt to grope his boyfriend’s abs. Percy flushed and shoved Nico away to fall back on the bed.

“Well, Ghost King, you’re not much different, you’ve filled out since I first met you,” Nico laughed.

“I hit puberty Blu Bello,” he pointed out, which caused Percy to laugh.

“Well, you’re a hottie now Nico. You completely skipped the awkward phase and went from cute little kid to hot teenager in 6 months. You’ve got beautiful cheekbones that are quite honestly my weakness and you’re skin is so soft, and pretty and pale, and your hair is long enough for me to play with the ends when we kiss and you’re lips are super soft because they’ve never been used by anyone but me which is a great feeling. And you’re short. Which makes me feel good about myself considering we’re surrounded by Giants at this stupid camp.” Nico laughed and shoved Percy again.

“ Rude!” He shouted then pulled Percy down to his level and kissed him, the kiss slowly becoming more heated as time passed. After a while the boys were heavily making out, only to be rudely interrupted by Will Solace.

“Ew!” He shouted and shielded his eyes while Nico reluctantly and resentfully pulled away from his boyfriend to glare over at his bestfriend.

“Can I help you Solace? I’m kinda busy,” he complained. Will huffed and glared back at him while Percy flushed dark red.

“I’m here to swipe your water-bound boyfriend because there are some younger Hephaestus kids who want to go swimming but Beckendorf, Leo, and Jake are all busy and we know that none of the others are gonna leave the forges.” Nico groaned annoyed and fell forward onto Percy’s chest, wrapping his arms and legs around his boyfriend possessively. Percy laughed at his boyfriends antics and sat up, only for Nico to whine helplessly then flip Solace off.

“F**k you Solace, watch the fire brats yourself this is my boyfriend time.” Nico whined, still koala attaching himself to Percy who was sitting up with Nico in his lap, not even attempting to push the gremlin off.

“Whatever Di Angelo, I don’t like getting wet and you know it,” Will countered, earning himself a glare from Nico.

“Fine, if you manage, watch what I do next time I know you and Jake are enjoying your rare time alone together. I’ll march right up and start talking about how incredible Percy is, and you will only be able to focus on Percy while trying to make out with your boyfriend? How’s that gonna feel asshole?” Will sighed in defeat and sent Nico his patented mom look, expecting it to work like normal, but Nico stood his ground defiantly, which Will supposed was fair. Percy really enjoyed watching the kids so he had classes basically all day, this was his two hours without classes, aka when he spent time with Nico. Will shook his head defeated and left Nico’s cabin.

“Neeks,” Percy started to argue only for Nico to turn his glare on him.

“No, absolutely not, this is the only time of day that I get to have you all to myself because all of your friends are also busy and I’m not and you aren’t, I don’t wanna go down to beach and sit a respectable amount of room apart so that you can make sure no over eager kids who can’t wait until one of your life guard hours drown.” Percy sighed in defeat and pulled Nico back down on top of him to continue to kiss him heatedly, instantly brightening the ghost king’s mood. Nico hummed into the kiss and held onto his boyfriend like he was Nico’s lifeline.

After a few minutes, the boys were forced to break, again, when there was a knock at the door. Nico groaned in annoyance but Percy nudged him away to go answer the door. Nico huffed as he pulled away and looked in the mirror to fix his hair and clothes back. The knock came again but louder and Nico groaned again, but quietly and went to answer the door. Outside there was standing a decidedly uninvited demigod that Nico didn’t recognize.

“Can I help you?” He asked annoyed and the kid looked slightly intimidated. Typically Nico was reasonably nice to the kids at camp, but when they came knocking at his cabin door while he was obviously trying to be alone it was rather annoying.

“Uh, I was looking for Percy...” the kid muttered and Nico looked at him suspiciously.

“What do you want from him?” He asked quite rudely.

“Um, we wanted to go swimming and we kinda need him in order to do so.” Nico only glared at the probably 12 year old kid and huffed.

“Percy’s on his break right now, we’re in the middle of a board game, wait for another hour and we’ll be done and he’ll be back on his life guard duty.” Nico stated and the kid only swallowed and nodded. Nico returned to a grinning Percy who was waiting for Nico to return. The smaller demigod crawled into his boyfriends lap and began kissing his neck.

“Y’know, you should really be nicer to the younger campers,” Percy reasoned and Nico grunted in annoyance.

“They should really respect that you have to take breaks.” He countered and held onto Percy’s waist possessively as he kissed down to Percy’s collar bone.

“Hate to break it to you Ghost King, but I’m kinda a big deal around here.” Nico huffed in annoyance and leaned back to glare at his boyfriend.

“I am three seconds away from shadow traveling us to my room in the underworld,” Nico declared, causing Percy to snort and lean in to steal a chaste kiss. Which Nico quickly returned, and once again, the making out began.

And, once again, it was interrupted. It had gone on a little longer and to be fair it was more lazy, sleepy kisses, not full on handsy making out, but still, Nico was comfortable and enjoying Percy time.

“Nico Di Angelo I swear I’m gonna set you on fire if you treat my campers like that ever again!” Leo marched up Nico’s stairs loudly and angrily. He was met by a sight he probably could have lived without. Nico Di Angelo curled up on Percy’s chest, peppering kisses over his face.

“Leo Valdez if you enter my cabin and interrupt my Percy time like that ever again I will raise the cesarean army on you, what do you want?” Nico was becoming genuinely angry and at this point, raising the cesarean army didn’t sound like too bad an idea.

“I heard you grilled one of my campers,” Leo said, crossing his arms.

“You’re all fire-proof, it doesn’t matter if I grill any of you, but you’re right, he came here, only minutes after Will requesting to steal my Percy during my Percy time, and during Percy’s well deserved break so give your campers something to do other than swim for another 30 minutes while I enjoy cuddling with my boyfriend,” Nico was glaring daggers into Leo’s eyes who huffed in annoyance but left the cabin hastily.

“You’re so cute when you’re angry,” Percy purred as he pet Nico’s hair.

“You’re so cute when you’re not overworked,” Nico countered turning back to Percy.

“Mm, that’s fair,” he agreed and placed a soft kiss on Nico’s lips.

“I know it is Gattino,” Nico stated fondly and leaned into Percy’s chest to get comfortable. He continue pressing kisses all over Percy’s neck, only for a knock to sound at the door, which Percy nearly laughed at. Nico growled and tightened his hold on Percy, then proceeded to shadow travel them to his room in the underworld. Percy laughed as they hit the silky sheets.

“Nico, we can’t just stay here,” Percy reasoned and Nico shook his head.

“We can, and we will until further notice, you’re resting, I’m kissing, and we’re both trying to enjoy ourselves but people keep interrupting, so this is me, preventing that.” He then summoned Ms. O’ Leary and stationed her at his door to chase any of his family members who may try to invade his room away.

“I love you...” Percy muttered softly and kissed Nico, which Nico smiled at.

“I love you too.” With that he collapsed onto Percy’s chest and continued pressing kisses to Percy’s neck, while letting himself and Percy slowly fall into a slumber.

This time they were awoken by Melinoe, one of Nico’s half sisters.

“Nicolai!” She shouted, causing him to jump out of his sleep.

“It is 11 pm you stupid boys, you two have missed dinner and the bonfire and the Harpies are out.” Nico sighed in defeat and looked down at his sleepy boyfriend, he realised he didn’t really feel guilty, Percy needed sleep, and if taking him to the underworld had brought it, so be it.

“Fine fine, we’ll go, sorry Meli!” Nico exclaimed and grabbed Percy. He quickly shadow travelled them to Nico’s cabin and they both burst out laughing before Percy gasped.

“Did she say 11!?” He asked terrified.

“Oh shit, I’m sorry Perce...” Nico mumbled, feeling awful for accidentally pulling Percy from all his responsibilities.

“Well, Neeks, it’s not your fault we fell asleep or that we kept getting interrupted, I don’t blame you, I just wish we would have remembered.” Percy muttered as he pulled Nico up to cuddle him.

“Mm, still sorry, I’ll leave you alone tomorrow,” Nico explained and curled up to Percy.

“You most certainly will not, we’re eating lunch together and you’ll be waiting in your cabin as always tomorrow when I have my break, and we’re gonna cuddle and kiss and enjoy our time, and I’m not gonna drop you to go watch kids swim at the lake. Then I’m gonna go back to my job and then we’re gonna sit down and eat dinner together then watch Disney movies together and then you’ll shadow travel me back to my cabin we’ll go to sleep and repeat the cycle,” Percy was very demanding with his list of the routine the two boys had been retaining for the past few months.

“Okay, sounds good to me,” Nico agreed, snuggling into his boyfriend’s chest.

“Everyone’s gonna be stressed out tomorrow since we weren’t here before lights out,” Percy pointed out and Nico hummed in agreement.

“You wanna go tell Chiron or Annabeth?” Nico asked and Percy hummed.

“We should probably tell Annie, Chiron’s probably with the herd.” He suggested and wrapped his arms around Nico’s shoulders so they could shadow travel. After a few seconds the demigods were in the Athena cabin next to Annabeth’s bunk.

“Annie?” Percy asked as he knelt down next to her. She stirred slightly, and her brows furrowed before her eyes slowly fluttered open. She immediately sat up and wrapped her arms around Percy’s neck in a desperate hug.

“You’re not allowed to just disappear!” She whisper-shouted as she shoved him away and pointed at Nico.

“And you aren’t either! Will was so stressed!” She was still whisper-shouting and Nico’s ears heated up in embarrassment.

“I- we didn’t mean to, I got angry because we kept on getting interrupted so the fourth time someone came knocking on my cabin door, I just got fed up and brought us to the Underworld, then we fell asleep and Melinoe woke us up at 11 and I’m sorry!” Nico was apologizing a lot. He cared about Annabeth and Grover’s opinions the most, those were Percy’s oldest and best friends, and he didn’t want them to hate him.

“It’s fine Nico, really, I understand wanting alone time, you just had all of us a bit spooked, and when Hazel found out from Leo that you were missing too she got really stressed out so Leo’s at Camp Jupiter with her and Frank and you should go let her know.

“Yeah, okay, Perce you coming with me? I feel like we’ll need to calm Leo’s nerves too.”Percy nodded hastily and took Nico’s hand, quickly leaving a peck on Annabeth’s forehead before Nico shadow travelled them to Camp Jupiter.

They landed in the living room of Jason And Reyna, and Hazel and Frank’s shared home. Percy placed a chaste kiss on Nico’s lips then started pulling him back towards Hazel and Frank’s room.

They let themselves in to find Hazel and Frank snuggling with Leo nestled between them. Nico approached the bed and lightly awoke Hazel.

“Haze?” He asked softly as she began to stir. She slowly rolled over, her eyes half lidded, before they brightened at the sight of Nico.

“Nico!” She jumped up to embrace him, also stirring Leo and Frank. Leo immediately also jumped up to hug Percy tightly. Frank just rose slowly to look at his lovers adoringly. Nico enjoyed pretending to be protective of Hazel, but her boyfriends were both so good there was really no reason to try and be protective. He trusted them.

“Don’t go disappearing like that!” Hazel exclaimed and swatted Nico’s chest.

“I’m sorry! We fell asleep at the palace!” Hazel narrowed her eyes.

“What were you doing in the underworld in the first place?” She asked annoyed. Nico huffed and rolled his eyes.

“Well, if we hadn’t been rudely interrupted by Will, then some random Hephaestus kid, then Leo, then someone else, I wouldn’t have been annoyed enough to even leave camp, but if I’m trying to enjoy my time with Percy, I want to do it without interruption so whatever!” Percy laughed because Nico was already very defensive of the subject.

“So that’s why Beckendorf couldn’t get to you guys!” Leo exclaimed and Nico rolled his eyes.

“Yes Leo, THATS why Beckendorf couldn’t get to me, because I was trying to enjoy my cherished time with Percy the same way you guys try to enjoy your time with eachother,” Leo looked down guiltily. Hazel was able to summon a Hell Hound whenever she wanted, so she could come see Leo whenever she wanted, on top of that, they were all out to the camp as Poly and in a relationship. But Percy and Nico were only out to their closest friends so it wasn’t like Nico could just go up to Percy and kiss him between their shifts or duties, they had to plan time to be together.

“Sorry...” Leo muttered and Nico huffed.

“Don’t apologize, guilt doesn’t look good on you, and I don’t really particularly mind because that was the least stressful I’ve woken up before, so hush,” Nico was being very persistent about no one feeling bad and then he was reminded that Will was one of his bestfriends, a total mother hen, and was probably worried sick. Nico groaned and fell back onto the couch in the trio’s room.

“Neeks?” Percy asked as he watched his boyfriend collapse.

“Will’s probably at Camp Halfblood having a fucking panic attack because I disappeared!” He sighed, then looked lovingly at Percy, then glanced at the others and slowly stood.

“What’s up Nico?” Hazel asked as he came and sat down again.

“You guys are all so good! Gods! Why can’t you just hate me for being annoying! For avoiding you! For grilling you! Why can’t you just resent me! If everyone hated me, peopling would be some much less stressful!” Percy laughed and scooped Nico up off the bed and placed a chaste kiss on his lips.

“Neeks, that’s what friends are all about, being worried when you aren’t where you’re supposed to be, because we love you,” Percy nuzzled Nico’s hair and the shorter demigod only huffed.

“You two are disgustingly cute,” Leo pointed out from where he was laying against Frank with the larger man’s arms around his waist. Nico rolled his eyes and glared at the son of Hephaestus.

“Oh yeah, any chance I get,” Percy confirmed easily, which made Hazel laugh then look at her brother.

“You can go,” she said, then grabbed Nico’s hand, “check in with Will, make sure the poor boy isn’t having a panic attack, then I cannot let you do anything further, you must go to sleep, no matter how good you’ve gotten at shadow traveling, doing so at great distances is not good for your health, and you will immediately shadow travel back to your own cabin, with Percy, and sleep.” Hazel was very serious about Nico’s health, maybe not as much as Will, but still serious.

“Okay, I’ve got it, love you Haze,” He hugged his sister, let Percy hug Leo, then waved them all goodbye and they were off. After a bit, they landed in Will’s cabin and once they were both stable, Nico gave up and just leaned into Percy, Hazel was right, shadow traveling between realms and across countries was really draining. Percy rubbed his back comfortingly and turned to Will’s bed, only to find it empty. He sighed and looked at Nico, who staring seriously at the bed. He sighed as well, and hugged Percy around the middle to travel the couple of meters to the Hephaestus Cabin, where no doubt Will would be.

Which of course, they were right, Will was sleeping with Jake in the Hephaestus kid’s bed, curled up to his boyfriend happily. Nico laughed at his friend but still leaned into Percy, feeling absolutely drained to the max.

“Will?” Nico whispered softly, slowly stirring Will from his sleep.

“Nico!” Will whisper shouted as he pulled the son of Hades away from his boyfriend and into a hug.

“Why do you look so tired? Have you two been fighting monsters?” Will sat up fully and pushed Nico down next to him.

“No Will!” Nico shoved Will’s worrying hands away and leaned toward Percy.

“Nico’s been shadow traveling a lot...” Percy explained and Will’s eyes narrowed.

“Really Coco?” He asked and Nico glared angrily at the stupid nickname.

“Will, really, I’m fine, I’m just tired,” he sighed loudly and made grabby hands at Percy. As much as being small sucked, having a tall boyfriend meant that he could be easily lifted up.

“Nico got a bit annoyed after four interruptions and shadow travelled us to his room in the underworld,” Percy was rubbing Nico’s back lovingly, “then we came back and I panicked and he brought us to Annie, only for her to recommend we went to see Hazel, and we did and Nico realised you’d be worried sick so we came back then you weren’t in your cabin and now we’re here.” Percy kissed the top of Nico’s head and the son of Hades sighed dreamily, leaning into his boyfriends touch like it was a life line. Will let his gaze soften at his bestfriends happiness. Nico deserves what he wanted, and Percy had been what he wanted for years.

“Well, I, as the head doctor, prescribe a good nights rest, and a full day of Percy cuddles. I’ll make up an excuse for you two, and I’ll let the others know, just stay in tomorrow, cuddle up, watch some movies, love you Neeks,” Will kisses Nico’s forehead and pushed him all the way into Percy who laughed.

“How about we get Mrs. O’Leary?” He asked and Nico nodded wildly quickly summoning the Hell Hound then giving Will a kiss on the cheek good bye and rushing out of there as fast as he could. Mrs. O’Leary brought them to Nico’s cabin Percy easily carried Nico to the half-Hades’ bed. They collapsed into it and Percy curled around Nico while Mrs. O’Leary climbed up and curled around the both of them.

——————————————————————————

Nico awoke feeling completely recharged at around noon the next day, Percy was gone, but Mrs. O’Leary was still curled around Nico, and he sighed in bliss.

“Percy?” He called, and was answered by his cabin door opening. He sat up against Mrs. O’Leary subconciously leaning into her and also covering her.

“Coco?” He heard Will call and Nico let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. In walked Will with a tray of what looked like blue cookies and a glass of pomegranate juice. Of course, his favorite juice and something personally made by Percy.

“Hey Will-I-Am,” Nico greeted, then yawned, “where’s my Sea Prince?” He asked after a few seconds and Will laughed while he set down the tray on Nico’s bedside table.

“He’s at his mom’s house, says he’s got a surprise for you there, but he should be back soon, don’t worry,” Will explained as he handed Nico the plate of cookies and the glass. Then he picked up the rag and dunked it in what looked like cold water then set it to the side. Nico looked at him wearily as he ate his cookies. Will tended to be a little overbearing luv caring at times, like acting as if exhaustion was a fever.

“Will!” Nico whined as Will pulled a thermometer out of his pocket.

“Nicolai!” Will swatted at Nico’s hands and stuffed the thermometer in his mouth.

“You will sit here and accept my mother henning because you hopped twice between realms and twice across the country and you will now accept my making sure you’re okay because exhaustion can result in fevers and sickness.” Nico sighed and laid back, letting Will dab his forehead with the wet cloth then when the thermometer beeped he pulled it out of Nico’s mouth and set it to the side.

“You’re temperature is normal,” he stated then under his breath, “for a child of Hades,” then back to normal volume, “and you may continue as I planned with a day of cuddles and relaxation. I said that you two got into a mess with Melinoe and Makaria, so you had to go to the underworld and now you’re both allowed to rest for the day,” Nico smiled at his friend as Will leaned in to press a kiss to Nico’s forehead.

“Thanks Will,” Nico said regrettably.

“Aw, any time Neeks, I love you, you’re my best friend, it’s what you deserve,” then Will stood and left while Nico fell back into his Hell Hound and turned to bury his face in her fur. He let her warmth consume him and brighten his mood even further as he slowly finished his cookies and pomegranate juice.

“Nico?” Percy called and Mrs. O’Leary lifted her head in excitement, jostling Nico.

“I’m here Percy!” Nico called back and as Percy emerged from the stairs Nico saw a broad smile on his lips.

“Okay, sorry I wasn’t here when you woke up, I have you something,” Percy held up a bag that Nico recognized from that time Annabeth and Katie had forced them to take one of the Arts and Crafts classes and they made bags with eachother. They actually enjoyed seeing and had made a few more bags together since, but this one was the first they’d made together. It was a view of the ocean against an extremely starry sky.

Nico was pulled from his thought by the smell of distinctive Italian food. His mother’s. Tears sprang to his eyes as he looked lovingly at Percy.

“Nico!?” Percy called concerned as he rushed to the bed faster, dropping the bag on the night stand and landed on the bed pulling Nico into a tight hug.

“You are the most amazing incredible awful human being I’ve ever met,” He muttered while laugh-crying into Percy’s chest. That caused Percy to let out a relieved huff of a laugh.

“Why?” He asked.

“Because you perfect boyfriend went all the way to your mom’s apartment so you could make my mom’s lasagna recipe with her.” Percy’s eyes widened and he nodded quickly.

“Of course Neeks, you were so tired last night I thought you deserved a treat, and you talk about your mom and grandma’s cooking so often I thought...” Nico knocked the air out of Percy as he tackled him into the bed and hugged him tightly while pressing a kiss to his lips. He felt Percy smile into the kiss as he wrapped his arms around Nico’s waist

“You, Perseus Jackson, are the best thing that has ever walked into my life.” He muttered against Percy’s lips causing a bright blush to rush to Percy’s cheeks.

“You, Nico Di Angelo, deserve the best,” he answered. And Nico smiled as he sat up, straddling Percy’s waist. He grabbed the bag of food and pulled it into his lap as Percy sat up as well, keeping Nico on his lap. Nico pulled out four tupperwares and a bottle of sparkling white grape juice. He smiled at the bottle then looked at Percy with an amusing smirk.

“We better be careful, if Mr. D find outs we have a bottle of “non-alcoholic wine” he’ll throw a hissy fit.” He joked and Percy smiled, pulling out two wine glasses.

“Well, it’s a good thing people have decided to leave us alone then.” He agreed and settled to pour them both a glass of juice.

#nico di angelo #percy jackson #percico #PJO #nicercy

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moonlight-breeze-44 · 5 years ago

Text

Blood and Bruises

Read on AO3

When a mission goes sideways, Alec finds himself in the last place he should be: the training room. Luckily, Jace and Izzy are there to pull him back from his dark place.

Trigger warning: Self harm, mentions of blood (as portrayed in the show)

“Okay, I’m here,” Jace said as he joined Isabelle outside the training room. “What’s so important you couldn’t tell me over the phone?”

“It’s Alec,” Isabelle said, and pointed just in front of them, to the training room, which was ablaze with lights despite the late hour. Jace stepped up closer to the door and peered inside. He immediately saw what Isabelle meant.

His parabatai was wailing on a punching bag like it’d killed his family, and he showed no signs of stopping anytime soon.

“He’s been like that for hours,” Isabelle stated, bringing Jace’s attention back to her. “I knocked and called to him and tried to get him to come out, but he wouldn’t even look at me, Jace. I don’t know what to do here.”

Jace sighed, running a hand over his face. “You know this isn’t the first time he’s done this, right, Izzy?”

She blanched, her expression going snow-white. “Yeah, I know. The day before he almost married Lydia, he trained in here for an hour or so, even though he had that Forsaken wound.” She frowned. “He wouldn’t let me heal it.”

Jace nodded in recognition at her story. “That’s right. And then when that demon killed Jocelyn, he shot arrows off the roof all night long. He would have kept going, too, if I hadn’t found him. His hand was dripping blood that night, and he wouldn’t talk to me.” The golden-haired boy laughed bitterly. “He jumped off a fucking roof to avoid me.” Jace bit his lip, a dark cloud passing over his alabaster eyes. “You know, when he jumped like that, for a minute there, I thought…” He trailed off.

“You thought what?”

“I thought he had actually, y’know, jumped.”

Isabelle recoiled in horror. “He would never.”

Jace nodded towards the training room, a dark look in his eyes. “Don’t be so sure.”

“We’ve got to get him out of there,” Isabelle stated plainly after a few seconds had passed. “He’s hurting, Jace. We can’t just leave him.”

“Alright,” Jace sighed. “It’s your funeral.”

The dark-haired girl turned on him with anger in her eyes. “You act like you don’t even care!”

Jace recoiled as if she had slapped him across the face. “Of course I care!”

“Then start acting like it!” Isabelle retorted. “You’re his parabatai! Go talk some sense into him!”

Jace sighed and said, “I’m not trying to come off like I don’t care about what he’s doing to himself, Izzy. You know I care. He’s my best friend, my brother. I just don’t know if we should, that’s all. What if he takes it badly and ends up doing worse?”

For a minute, she looked frightened, but then Isabelle’s hard resolve was back in a flash. “I guess that’s a risk we’ll just have to take.”

“Okay. I trust you, Izzy.”

She snorted as he went to twist the doorknob. “Rookie mistake.” She was rewarded by a small, lopsided grin from Jace as they both ducked into the training room.

Jace was disturbed to see that through all of the times he had been privy to Alec’s self-destructive tendencies, nothing quite rivaled what met his eyes then.

His parabatai was dressed in black training pants and a loose-fitting t-shirt, and his thick black hair was matted with sweat and clung to his forehead. The punching bag he was still working over, despite their presence in the room, was red leather, which was probably intentional. Despite this, Jace could still make out the darker shade of blood coating the bag. He chanced a quick look at Alec’s knuckles in between punches and wasn’t surprised to see that they were horribly shredded. Blood seeped out of the raw slivers of skin, dripping into the palm of his hand. Although the blood almost covered his hands entirely, it wasn’t enough to stop Jace from noticing the nasty bruises that snaked all the way up to his wrist.

“Alec, stop,” he implored his best friend. “Please.”

Isabelle did a double take. If there was one thing she thought she was sure of, it was that Jace Wayland did not say ‘please’.

“No, Jace,” Alec grit out through clenched teeth. “Leave me alone.”

Out of options, Jace reached out and caught the punching bag in its tracks. He knew Alec wouldn’t dare swing at it now, for fear of knocking his parabatai off his feet.

“Jace, move,” Alec said. The hard edge was gone from his voice, and now it was turned over to something along the lines of desperation.

“No, Alec,” Jace replied, his jaw set in a straight line. “I won’t let you keep hurting yourself like this.”

“I deserve it,” Alec mumbled.

“What did you say?” Isabelle stepped forward for the first time since she and Jace had entered the training room.

“Nothing,” Alec said. “I didn’t say anything.”

“I think we all heard what you said, brother,” Jace said gently. “And it’s not true.”

“Yes, it is!” Alec shouted. “I let those shadowhunters take on a Greater demon by themselves, Jace, and I never should have! It was a stupid decision and I’m the only one to blame for it. I’m the Head of the Institute, it’s my job to make sure they’re safe!” His voice broke and wavered as he said, much quieter than before, “They died because of me.”

Jace reached out a hand to his parabatai, but Alec was already turning away and reaching for his bow and quiver, which rested behind him in a heap. He strapped the arrows to his back, picked up his bow, and was out the door before either of his siblings had a chance to react.

Jace shook his head at Isabelle, releasing his tight grip on the punching bag. “See what I mean?”

Isabelle ignored him. “Any idea where he’s going next?”

“The roof, probably,” Jace scoffed, “but I don’t know what more you think we’re going to be able to do for him up there than we did down here.”

“Jace,” Isabelle hissed. “The roof.”

Jace’s head snapped up to meet her dark, coal-like eyes. “Izzy, he wouldn’t.” Despite his words, the older boy couldn’t help the cold shiver that ran down his spine.

“You said so yourself,” she reminded him. “Don’t be so sure.”

Jace sucked in a breath slowly. “Iz, he’s my parabatai. I think I’d feel it if he was going to do...that.”

“Well, for fuck’s sake, Jace, we can’t just leave him up there!” Isabelle rounded on him angrily. “He’s fucking hurting himself and you act like everything is alright!”

“Dammit, Izzy!” Jace wheeled around and threw a single punch to the red bag hanging next to him. When he pulled his hand back and noticed Alec’s blood on his fist, he had to fight the urge to be sick.

Jace sank to the floor and buried his face in his hands. “It’s not alright,” he admitted hoarsely to the girl standing over him. “I know it’s not alright. I’ve known for a while, actually.” He peered up over his hands at Isabelle. “He started this shit when we were kids, you know. Whenever Maryse would yell at him, tell him to do better and uphold the Lightwood name and all that shit, he’d come in here at like midnight and train like hell.” He chuckled humorlessly. “How do you think he got so good at archery?”

Isabelle took a seat next to him on the floor, the momentary anger at her adoptive brother all but gone. “What do we do, Jace?”

The older boy sighed sadly. “I’ve been asking myself that question for years, Iz.”

~ ~ ~

Alec’s hand screamed out in protest at the repeated movement of notching his arrow and then releasing it into the night sky, but he ignored it. He reached for another from his quiver and tried to let the pain in his hand guide his mind away from what had happened that afternoon.

Three young shadowhunters, vivacious and eager to please, had requested permission to go on a mission involving a Greater demon; against his better judgment, Alec had agreed. They were the top of their class, and they deserved a chance to prove themselves.

He laughed bitterly to himself as he notched another arrow and let go of the bow string so it soared into the tower five hundred feet away, straight and true.

Look how well that turned out.

Alec hadn’t found out until late that evening; he was about to finish up the last of his paperwork and retire for the night when his aide had come knocking frantically on his door. Apparently, a single Greater demon wasn’t the case at all - there were three, and the inexperienced, young shadowhunters had all perished.

Alec flexed his hands, relishing in the pain of the movement. He should have known. Greater demons rarely travelled alone. He should have realised there would be more. He never should have sent the three shadowhunters out to deal with them alone. It was stupid. He was stupid.

He reached a hand back to grab another arrow from his quiver and tried not to grimace at the pain of his injuries.

I deserve it.

~ ~ ~

Jace was the first to stand, offering a hand to help Isabelle up. She took it, rising to her feet and brushing imaginary dirt from her pants. “Where do we go from here?” she muttered, more to herself than to Jace.

“I don’t know,” the older boy admitted. “Before, when he did it, I tried to help at first. The pain through our bond would wake me up in the middle of the night sometimes, if it was really bad. I could feel him hurting, Izzy. The turmoil - god, sometimes I’m not even sure how he’s made it this far.” He shook his head ruefully. “I’d come in here, and I’d beg him to put his bow down, or stop with the punching bag already. But he always ignored me. One time, I tried to manhandle it away from him and drag him back to his room, but that went even worse.”

“What happened?” Isabelle asked curiously.

“That was the first time he ever punched me.”

Despite the situation, Isabelle felt a small smile turn up the corners of her lips. “Yeah, that sounds like him.”

“I guess let’s just go and see if we can somehow make him listen to us, then,” she said to Jace. “I know it seems kind of hopeless, and with Alec, maybe it is, since he’s so damn stubborn. But we have to at least try. We can’t just leave him up there.”

Jace nodded in agreement. “Come on.” With that, he led Isabelle out of the training room and up the stairs that led to the roof.

When they reached Alec, neither of them were surprised to see him shooting arrows into the distance. They were surprised, however, to see that there was a small pool of blood at his feet. Isabelle blanched, throwing a sidelong glance at Jace.

Shit, this is serious.

“Alec,” Jace started, walking towards his parabatai slowly, like he was a skittish animal that could be spooked. In a way, Jace supposed, he was. “What happened to those three shadowhunters wasn’t your fault. You have to know that.”

Meanwhile, Isabelle placed herself directly in front of Alec’s target, blocking him from shooting any more arrows.

Alec held his bow rigidly, arrow notched and ready to fire. “Move, Izzy.”

She shook her head. “No can do, brother. You’re scaring me.”

Guilt coloured Alec’s bright blue eyes, but he still didn’t put his bow down. “I’m fine,” he tried, but Jace cut him off with a harsh, sharp laugh that didn’t even sound like a laugh at all.

“Brother, you are so far from fine,” he said, coming up close to Alec now. Alec didn’t move away, but he refused to acknowledge the other’s presence, instead focusing his gaze on his target still, staring at Isabelle as though he could see through her to the high-rise building she blocked.

“Just let us help,” Jace begged his best friend. “Please, Alec. You don’t have to go through this alone.”

The older boy stiffened and drew his bow up higher. “Stop it, Jace. Leave me alone.”

“I’m not leaving until you put the bow down, Alec.”

The blue-eyed Lightwood dropped his weapon of choice with a clatter. “There. I put the bow down. You happy now?”

“No,” Jace murmured, stepping closer to his parabatai. “I’m not happy, because you’re not happy.” He reached up to cup the side of Alec’s face in his palm. Alec stiffened under his touch but didn’t pull away.

Isabelle abandoned her place in front of the target and walked over to join her brother and Jace in the middle of the roof.

“Oh, Alec,” she murmured when she was close enough to really see the damage he’d done to his hands.

His brow twitched with guilt and his frown deepened. He quickly tucked his hands in his pockets, out of her sight.

“Why do you always do this?” Jace muttered softly. It was a question he wouldn’t dare ask his brother any other time, but they’d made more progress tonight than they ever had before.

“I deserve it,” Alec mumbled again.

“No, you don’t,” Isabelle spoke up. “You don’t have to take responsibility for every shadowhunter that walks through these doors, Alec. I wish you’d stop being so hard on yourself, big brother.”

Alec shrugged, refusing to meet her eyes. “Can’t help it, Iz. That’s just the way I was made, I guess.”

She sighed. “Well, will you please stop? Just for tonight? For us?”

“Please,” Jace added, stroking his parabatai’s cheek gently. The other boy unconsciously leaned into the touch.

Alec sighed but didn’t answer. They let him sit in silence for a few minutes before, suddenly, the black-haired shadowhunter lunged forward and wrapped Jace in the tightest hug he could ever remember receiving.

Though no tears actually fell, they burned at the back of Alec’s eyelids, and his shaky breaths told Jace he wanted to break down, but wouldn’t do so in front of his little sister. He squeezed his parabatai back hard.

“It’s okay, Alec. I’ve got you.”

The other took a deep, shaky breath and released his golden-haired counterpart, rocking back on his heels and surreptitiously swiping at his eyes.

Isabelle crouched next to him and gestured to his bow and quiver. “Can I?”

Alec sighed and nodded once, giving her permission to pick up his weapons and take them back down to the training room. She slung them over her shoulder, kissed him on the cheek, and turned to make her way down the stairs and out of sight.

Jace squeezed his older brother’s shoulder and stood up, offering him a hand. Alec took it gratefully, allowing himself to be helped to his feet. Jace winced when he felt Alec’s shredded hands come into contact with his own. He pulled his stele from his pocket.

“Can I heal them, Alec? Please?”

Alec ripped his hands from Jace’s. “No.”

“Okay, okay.” Jace held up his hands in acquiescence. “No stele.”

Alec relaxed a little bit.

“Come on, let’s just go to bed,” Jace urged, and Alec allowed himself to be guided downstairs by his parabatai. When they passed Alec’s room, however, he turned back to Jace in confusion.

“You’re sleeping with me tonight,” Jace stated, his tone leaving no room for argument.

Alec rolled his eyes but didn’t have it in him to protest. Instead, he followed his brother obediently into his bedroom and got under the covers where, a second later, Jace joined him.

“I love you, Alec,” Jace said, reaching a hand out to rest on his brother’s parabatai rune.

“I love you, too, Jace.” Alec copied his movement and slowly but surely, the two boys drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, when they woke up to Isabelle sleeping soundly between them, Alec found himself feeling a rush of gratitude for his younger sister and his parabatai, who he knew would always be there for him when he needed them, no matter what.

Blood and bruises aside, Alec couldn’t ask for a better family.

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