#Because it looks like it's gone from ''Maybe two people will read this but we'll have fun with it at least!''

[worldly-fluster]

Like... WARNING THIS MIGHT TRIGGER SOMEONE.

The LADS boys when...they find your 'Diary'

--Xavier-- Part 2 of 4

I call my Diary, 'My Death Book' because I want people to be able to read it after I'm gone and be able to understand how I think, somewhat. I made these because I wondered what their reaction would be if they saw it with no context lol

All other details of this are on part 1 Sylus' so, go read it lol cause I also updated it to make it better.

Anyway- you done been warned it is ANGST.

Xavier-

•He felt he knew a lot about you, if not everything.

•Your favorite song, favorite food, favorite drink. He even knew your favorite color, even though it changed a lot.

•He wanted to know more, sure, but he didn't want to overstep any boundaries you set. Hell, it took him months just to be able to stand next to you without you taking multiple steps back.

•He asked once why you stepped back, you told him that you just don't like people that close.

•He was ecstatic when you started standing close enough to him to brush hands. His slow heart starting to beat a little faster at every small touch.

•He also noticed you laughed more, talked more. In the beginning you barely spoke two sentences before going quiet, you said it's because your voice hurt and you liked company more than conversation.

•Now you talk so much he noticed you had an adorable stutter and a slight accent. He loved to hear you speak.

•But then one day, while you both were having fun trying to get plushies in the claw machine, you were having so much fun neither of you noticed an older woman walk up and stand with her arms crossed and a disappointed glare.

•Not until you both heard an 'Ahem' from behind.

•The voice was familiar to you, making you flinch.

•"What are you doing? Haven't I told you not to waste your money on these games? And who's this? It better not be a boyfriend or we'll have to have another talk."

•Xavier stared at the lady for a bit before looking over at you, opening his mouth to ask you who this was, when he saw your face.

•Your face was now devoid of the spark he loved so much, your lips pulled into a thin line and eyes lifeless.

•He stood straight as his eyes widened a bit, especially when he heard your now small voice answer.

•"Yes Mom."

•Just before the lady could speak anymore, Xavier stood protectively in front of you, his hand reaching back and holding yours gently.

•He spoke in a stiff, confident voice, his lips in a tight smile as the lights around you flickered.

•"Okay Ma'am, I'm going to be taking her with me. If you follow us or say one more word to her, I will not promise your safety."

•He pulled you along as you both heard the lady spluttering out about manners. Your eyes widened as you stared at Xavier's back, not used to somebody speaking up for you.

•Xavier's blood was hot with anger towards that woman, your supposed Mother. How could she talk to her daughter like that? I mean, yeah, it's a waist of money playing the claw machine but you love it so he doesn't care. Spend his money.

•He took you straight to your apartment for some much needed downtime, he wants to cuddle and nap but he feels lucky to be holding your hand rn and he doesn't want to make you uncomfortable with him. He'll wait.

•You both sat on your couch, he didn't want to leave you alone at the time, he never does.

•You weren't talking much so he decided to put on a movie, of which you immediately fell asleep watching.

•He smiled a bit as he got up to grab a blanket and cover you with. As he was tucking the blanket around you he found a notebook hidden away between the pillows on the couch.

•Out of curiosity and wanting to move it so you can be comfortable, he opened it. Thinking maybe it was a diary of some sort.

•The first page made him breathe in sharply and his blood run cold.

•The page was Titled, 'My Death Book'.

•As he flipped through it, he found it had things ranging from what you want at your funeral to small tidbits from day to day life.

•Most pages made him want to scoop you into his arms and protect you, even from yourself. Other pages had left a bitter sweet taste in his mouth. As if to help whomever would read this through the grief of losing you.

•When he got to the last page you wrote in, he closed the book, put it back where he found it and sat on the ground next to your sleeping form.

•He lay his head next to yours as he watched you sleep, gently holding your hand, as a lump formed in his throat. He watched your lips part as you breathed deeply, seeing every small twitch you made. His eyes closed as he pulled your hand to his face, holding in there to feel your warmth.

•He wants to protect you from all the things written in that book, wants to make sure you never have to finish writing in it. He really wants to make sure you never run into any of those terrible people again...

•He doesn't ever think he'll be able to leave you alone, ever again. He doesn't want to have to read that book again...and not be able to hold you after.

[whysamwhy123]

Ain't done this in a while but it's sorely needed because I have had A Week. So, if anyone has any spare serotonin lying around and would like to share, through the form of asks, it would be greatly appreciated.

[lonelywretchjervistetch]

The State Birds Initiative: New Jersey (#3)

Welcome to the third official poll of the State Birds Initiative! Before the poll, though, one thing real quick. My suggestion is that you read the post below before voting in the poll below. That's especially important if you're lacking any context about the birds being presented as the new (or old) State Bird of the Garden State, New Jersey. This is to be fully informed as to why these are being presented, and to make your choices appropriately. Lastly, some of these birds, you will notice, may go against some of the rules listed in the introduction post. All is explained after the jump where the explanations are, I promise you that. But with that...OK! Here's the poll! If you'd like to see the last post, check out Pennsylvania (Poll | Results)

So, with that done...New Jersey.

OK, I'll be honest, I have very little history with New Jersey. Only been there a few times, I've driven through it a decent number of times, and I mostly know it by reputation. But, uh...for whatever reason, every trip I take that requires me to go through New Jersey, NJ is the worst driving portion of that trip. Basically every time. Maybe that's a New Jersey turnpike problem, maybe that's unhappy coincidence. Hell, maybe it's conservation bias from being a New Yorker (upstate, but I've gone to the city regularly throughout my life). Or maybe it really is cultural reputation for New Jersey trickling in to my subconscious (looking at you, Jersey Shore). But either way...I have complicated feelings about New Jersey.

But this post is NOT about my personal geographic experience. Mostly. It's about birds! So, let's get into New Jersey objectively. Third state admitted into the union, state capital is Trenton, largest city is Newark, and it's the most densely populated state in the country. Famous for being the origin of electricity in civic infrastructure, as well as the home of their favorite son, Thomas Alva Edison. Which...when you learn more about the guy, makes you wonder about New Jersey as a whole. MOVING ON! It was a major staging point in the American Revolutionary War, and ever since, it's been all about freedom. Even though you can't pump your own gas there. Although, to their credit, the Statue of Liberty is actually technically in New Jersey waters. Yeah. That's absolutely true. But, like...it's spiritually a New York landmark, so we'll let it slide.

Now, here's the thing about New Jersey, seriously and truly. It has a bad reputation because of media and New York City. This is for two more specific reasons, from what I can tell. One, the New Jersey Turnpike sucks, and it smells like raw sewage due to its proximity to industrial factories and processing plants. And unfortunate way to experience the state, and the main way I've experienced New Jersey personally. So, that's one, and it's not indicative of the state's quality. Number two is simply the fact that it's a hub for commuters, with lots of people going to either NYC or Philadelphia for work. Because of that, Jersey itself gets pieces of their cultures combined, which also makes it a very easy target with a unique accent. So, not Jersey's fault.

In reality, it's quite a nice state with more natural area than you'd expect for somewhere so densely populated. New Jerseyans, unsurprisingly love their state...and aren't big fans of tourists, from discourse I see online. It's a small state, which makes it crowded enough. Plus, there are tourist attractions there. There's the massive American Dream Meadowlands mall, there's MetLife Stadium, there's Six Flags Great Adventure, there's...Trenton. Actually, no, Trenton sucks, I stand by that assessment. But it's also a highly diverse state, with the highest proportion of Hinduism followers in the country, as well as the densest collection of LGBTQ+ social centers (AKA gayborhoods), amongst other things. NJ does deserve more credit.

Now with that said, let's talk about the natural world of New Jersey, because there is a surprising amount to talk about. 45% of the land is covered in mixed deciduous-coniferous forest, which you've probably noticed is typical of the NE USA. Oak is our primary tree here, which is also probably why Northern Red Oak (Quercus rubra) is the state tree. It also has some major ecological features that are well known for its natural advantages. Cape May is a seaside city and vacation resort, but also one of the most well-known and important sites for birders from the United States during migration seasons, making it immediately prominent for this post. Great Swamp NWR in the north is the first wilderness area ever designated by Congress, and also serves as a major refuge for birds during the breeding season for various reasons. And maybe most importantly, the New Jersey Pine Barrens are the largest remaining pine barrens in the NE USA, and act as a bastion of diversity. More on this later, I promise; there's a species entry dedicated to this unique environment.

And that's not all to talk about here. NJ's environment needs some focus for a number of reasons, not least of which being that the state has more toxic waste dump sites than any other state in the Union, which are the focus of the federal Superfund environmental remediation program. Yeah, there's some cleanup that needs to happen in the state, especially as it is so small. Of 150 federally listed sites, only 35 have been cleaned up since the 1970s. So, yeah. We should get on that, please. But with that said, NJ has relatively low carbon dioxide emissions compared to other states, they're seventh in solar power, and get most of their electricity from natural gas and nuclear power. So, it's a greenish state that could be a lot greener.

There's a lot to talk about for such a small state, it would seem. Let's not linger about, and let's get on with the show here! I'm honestly kind of excited. Birds after the jump!!!

American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)

Let's kick things off by talking about the incumbent, the American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis). Now, why was the American Goldfinch chosen as the State Bird of New Jersey in 1935? Easy answer: favoritism. The bird was nominated as the only candidate by the New Jersey Audubon Society because...it was their mascot at the time. Yeah. That's it. In reality, the New Jersey State Bird is the New Jersey Audubon Society. And even then, it's officially lost its relevancy, because that's not their mascot anymore. More on that later.

What's actually worse about the goldfinch here is...for some reason, not a lot of New Jerseyans have actually seen them. Part of the reason for this entire series, by the way is this Reddit post, which stoked the fires that had long been simmering deep within my soul. OK, not that deep, but still. Anyway, the header of that post is that the OP had barely ever seen an American Goldfinch, despite being a native. I thought that was insane (and said as much in my comments), because this is a ridiculously common bird, especially for birdwatchers. But, uh...I've looked into since then. And only 0.4% of its global breeding population resides in the state. What's crazy is, this is a common sentiment amongst New Jerseyans. They just...haven't seen this bird. And obviously, that/s not every new Jerseyan, and a lot have reported seeing it. But to be honest...is this bird really worth being called the State Bird of New Jersey?

OK, can we make the American Goldfinch make sense in retrospect? Let's see, they're a highly social finch species throughout the year, living in dense colonies in the spring and summer especially. The males are late breeders with ornate flying displays meant to attract females, and may group territories with other males to defend against predators. And they're an open secondary growth forest specialist that live in the state year-round, including during the breeding season. Which means...well, actually, it means that they're perfectly suited to live in New Jersey, funnily enough.

Hear me out here. There are two things that goldfinches love most: forest clearings and weeds. New Jersey may be 45% covered in forest, but it does have deforestation as a minor problem around its settlements. However, that's not a problem for the goldfinch, who thrives in secondary growth forests that occur as a result of succession. Given an attempt in recent decades to recover New Jersey's forests, this means the goldfinch is a potential symbol of these efforts. Plus, its love of the seeds that come from flowers that are pest plants, like dandelion, thistle, ragweed, and cosmos, make it a potentially attractive bird for gardeners of the state to attract, especially as those plants thrive in open fields during stages of succession!

...YES I'M STRETCHING MORE THAN AN AUSTRALIAN BREAKDANCER WITH A DOCTORATE TRYING TO MAKE A POINT, BUT WHAT ELSE AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH THIS MASCOT OF AN ORGANIZATION NAMED AFTER A SLAVE-OWNER???

So...moving on.

Clapper Rail (Rallus crepitans)

While the majority of natural New Jersey is covered in forest, it still has a fairly important habitat in the form of the saltmarsh. Just to get the definition in place early, a saltmarsh is essentially what it sounds like: a vegetation-dominated coastal biome with salt and brackish water, salt-tolerant grasses and plants, and the animals that depend on such. They're coastline preservers, trapping and binding sediment as it makes its way to and from the ocean, and acting as a major supply for the food web along the coasts. They're incredibly important habitats, and this will not be (and have not been) the last time you've seen them during the State Birds Initiative.

Now, obviously, these habitats are chockful of birds. New Jersey has a few major salt flats along its coast, all of which shelter some major breeding populations of birds. One of these species is the Clapper Rail (Rallus crepitans), which is our eBird-sponsored pick of this poll. Clapper Rails have 13% of their global population in New Jersey saltmarshes, meaning they're quite dependent on this unique habitat, and most of their population breeds in the state. Some people may never have seen or heard of a rail, but in case you're one of those people, just know that they're a smaller semi-aquatic relative of cranes. If you've seen a coot, moorhen, or gallinule, then you've seen a rail! And the Clapper Rail is a crustacean-eating, saltmarsh-loving, new Jersey-dependent example. And that said...it is kinda boring looking to the average person.

Don't take me wrong! For me, this bird is fantastic, and would actually be a lifer for me, personally. But the average non-birder? Look, in instances like this, I usually tap into the part of my brain my fiancee lives in rent-free, and all I can hear is her shouting "LONG DUCK LONG DUCK" over and over. I love these guys, but I'm not sure they'd resonate with the public. Plus, as far as saltmarshes go, these are good representatives, but I'm not sure they're the best. Are these a good New Jersey representative? Possibly, since they represent a major ecosystem in the state, and that is important. But I'll leave that question to you all. Moving on!

Cape May Warbler (Setophaga tigrina)

OK, onto the category of birds that are named after the state, and New Jersey has one of those! The Cape May Warbler (Setophaga tigrina) is so-named because the first specimen described by Alexander Wilson was collected in Cape May, New Jersey by George Ord. That said, it's certainly a unique warbler, easily recognizable, and dependent upon conifer forests dominated by spruce, which the Pine Barrens are...not. Still, an iconic bird in New Jersey! Except...wait, hold on...ah. It doesn't breed in the state. In fact, after it was described from a Cape May specimen, it wasn't seen in the area again for...a century. So...yeah, it's named after a major location in the state, known for birds at that, and yet it's barely found there?Love this bird, but...maybe think about renaming it one of these days.

Pine Warbler (Setophaga pinus)

Now, the Pine Warbler (Setophaga pinus), on the other hand, that's a better warbler representative of New Jersey. Well, sort of. To be fair, the Pine Warbler only has 1% of its global breeding population in New Jersey, so the state isn't a bastion or reservoir for the species. However, there is a major reservoir of the species in the New Jersey Pine Barrens, which I'd mentioned earlier. And hey, Pine Barrens, Pine Warbler...slam dunk for representation of the habitat right there. And yeah, that's absolutely relevant to the species as a whole. They live, eat, and breed in pine-dominated forests, exactly like (and including) the Pine Barrens. It's actually listed as a "Significant Congregation" species by the New Jersey Audubon Society.

And as for making a good State Bird of New Jersey? It's a notable bird, even keeping the goldfinch's yellow with white wing bars. It's not terribly difficult to find, especially during the breeding season in areas like the Pine Barrens. And hey, they're even well-known to live with other species, making them an important biodiversity indicator for conservation purposes. Plus, if people go out to look for the Pine Warbler in the wild, they'll likely encounter other species like the Blackburnian Warbler (Setophaga fusca) or the Tennessee Warbler (Leiothlypis peregrina), amongst others. Fostering interest in birdwatching by chance! It works in a conservation sense...but I don't know that it's particularly emblematic of New Jersey, to be fair.

Northern Harrier (Circus hudsonicus)

Now, here's an interesting choice! If the current State Bird, the American Goldfinch, was chosen because it was the mascot for the New Jersey Audubon Society at the time, then by that logic, their current mascot should actually be the State Bird of New Jersey. And so, in that case, may I present to you the current mascot of the NJ Audubon Scoiety, and the next candidate for State Bird...the...is that a Northern Harrier (Circus hudsonicus)? Yeah, looks like it, and some sources I have confirm that's the case. But, uh...why?

Let me be really clear about something first off: I adore the Northern Harrier. Also caleld the marsh hawk, they're a beautiful raptor native to brackish and salt mashes, as well as grasslands and fields, hunting small mammals, insects, and the occasional bird. They're one of the few accipiters that are silent fliers, ambushing prey from above like owls. They even have the disc-like face. They're one of the new North American raptors with sexual dimorphism (the smoky gray male is pictured above, as compared to the brown females), and their iconic coloration has given them the nickname of the Gray Ghost. WHICH IS BADASS. They're also one of the only polygynous raptors, meaning a male can mate with several females in a given season, nesting on the ground and hatching chicks. Because of their unique relationships, some indigenous peoples see them as a symbol of healthy marriage. Finally, these are considered good for agriculture, as they eat rodents and not chicken. I love harriers, they're super neat birds, and it's always a pleasure to see them in the wild. Also, they DROWN THEIR PREY!!! What the hell! That's terrifying!

OK, harriers are cool, but do they have a relevance to New Jersey outside of being the logo of New jersey Audubon? Well...they do breed there...barely. But they've been observed doing so, so that counts. They represent key habitats in the state of New Jersey, so that's great. Their certainly charismatic enough (GRAY GHOST), and they've got nationwide conservation concern as an endangered species. So, it has those qualities going for it as the State Bird candidate. We'll see what the poll says. In the meantime, let's move on!

Laughing Gull (Leucophaeus atricilla)

Y'know, my original plan was to put the Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) in this list as well...and then, I stumbled upon a fun fact. The black-headed cousin of the Ring-billed Gull, and Laughing Gull, is a regular traveler to New Jersey, and in fact has a colony right off of the Jersey Shore, making them a fairly well-known and recognizable resident of an iconic area of the state. But pretty importantly, the species has a pretty massive breeding population in New Jersey. 5% of the breeding population of the species are in southern NJ, which isn’t the bulwark of their breeding population in the USA (that'd be Louisiana, according the eBird Status and Trends), but it's still a significant portion.

That said, the Laughing Gull is a recognizable member of the New Jersey shore community, and I mean the term "community" in multiple contexts. Ecologically, they're omnivorous scavengers that are well-adapted to living in a densely populated state, as well as in saltmarshes and other coastal environments throughout New Jersey. Sociologically, they hang around human settlements so much that they see opportunities in human hands...literally. The Laughing Gulls of the Jersey Shore are pretty notorious for stealing food out of the hands of beachgoers and boardwalk visitors. There are even boardwalk restaurants with signs saying they won't offer refunds if your food is stolen by a gull. They're SO notorious, in fact, that falconers have been hired to use their falcons to drive away these birds. And honestly...that's a shame. After all, the Laughing Gulls are such prominent citizens that humans have had to adjust to them.

But that said...I'm gonna quote Brian Donahue, the reporter at the end of the video/new report I linked to above...because it's hilarious, and it makes an interesting statement that I think people from New Jersey should think about. Read the quote, but trust that I have a somewhat well-thought out idea supporting it.

Derided as "flying rats" by many, I think it's time to reconsider the Laughing Gull, because if things haters say about Laughing Gulls (they're loud, feisty, there's too many of them... (Interviewee Kathy McCarey): They're rude...they're very demanding...and they come for what they want...I don't like 'em.) ...are the same things haters often say about New Jerseyans. Laughing Gulls are us. They deserve more respect.

Look, as extremely funny as that point is...there's a point about that statement. That is something that people say about New Jerseyans! They live in a state full of garbage, they're obnoxious and loud, all of that kinds thing. And New Jerseyans love their state as much as anybody else; SO MUCH, in fact, that many people online say they actually love that stereotype, because it means that people STAY OUT OF THEIR STATE. Funny or not, true or not...there's a point there. Laughing Gulls, as with all gulls, have a bad reputation, which is mostly undeserved. They're opportunists trying to feed themselves and their young, who see a smorgasbord of food right in front of them, in their neighborhood! In their place, what would YOU do? Honestly, these guys are a solid contender for that reason alone.

Plus, honestly...it's kinda funny.

Saltmarsh Sparrow (Ammospiza caudacuta)

Finally, let's look at the conservation focus for this post: the Saltmarsh Sparrow (Ammospiza caudacuta). So, this is a pretty big one, especially when looking at New Jersey. A full 32% of the species' global population breeds in this state, which is, frankly, a MASSIVE proportion of any species. What's more, they're considered an endangered species, which immediately makes this an impressive contender for the State Bird of New Jersey. And as one of the most endangered species in the Eastern USA, not to mention a species of immense scientific interest for ecological and genomic reasons, this bird should get some attention by the public and federal government.

However...and this is a point to be made here...it's not exactly the most iconic bird for non-birders. As a birder who would kill to get this on his lifelist (I AM WORKING ON IT, LITERALLY TOMORROW AS I AM TYPING THIS), this is a prominent bird within certain communities. And to others? Ugh, this is gonna hurt me to say, you have no idea, but...it's a sparrow. It may be a little harder for people to become attached to a sparrow, and even more difficult for people to recognize the Saltmarsh Sparrow specifically.

Don't believe that this matters? Do me a favor, bird people. Show your non-bird friends Bird A, Bird B, and Bird C. Ask them how many different species you showed them. I'm willing to bet the especially observant will say 2. The less observant are gonna say 1. And throw in these top two pictures, while you're at it. I'm willing to bet you'll still get a 2 or 3. Because, unfortunately, to many people, sparrows all look pretty similar. And going forward, that's something we'll have to keep in mind: a unique appearance. What makes a bird iconic is also in its uniqueness and identifiability. And sure, maybe I'm not giving the average person enough credit, but we're also talking about children. I've said it before and I'll say it many times over: kids are important targets to consider when choosing natural State Symbols. And I really don't know how many adults could tell the difference between some sparrows, even professionals. And, uh...the Saltmarsh Sparrow is a very important example of this, because it wasn't even a species until the '90s.

Oh, and kudos to those of you who caught on immediately to my little trick up there. Probably a good amount of you noticed it, but if you didn't...there are five species of sparrows shown in this post. The two birds pictured in the post? Different species. Yeah, hearing that now makes that more obvious, but you may not have noticed it immediately. The first bird pictured is indeed the Saltmarsh Sparrow. The second bird, however, is the Nelson's Sparrow (Ammospiza nelsoni), which was once considered the same species as the Saltmarsh Sparrow. Dirty question, I know, but it's also found in New Jersey. Not a breeder there, but it's enough to cause a bit of confusion. See what I mean?

Oh, as for the rest, Bird A is LeConte's Sparrow (Ammospiza leconteii), Bird B is a Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis), and Bird C is a Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum).

Please understand, bird-peeps: I hate making this argument. Genuinely. The New World sparrows are a wonderful group, and a really fun one to play around with and hunt down as a birder. And don't worry, sparrows will be getting a mention in my personal list. But as for the State Bird? I'll let you all decide.

And with that, that's the end of this post! I miss any big ones? Make any leaps a bit too big? Feel free to let me know! In the meantime, stay tuned for State #4 - Georgia! Wait...wait, the fourth state to be admitted into the Union was Georgia? Huh. Go figure.

See you next time, and happy birding!

Introduction to the State Birds Initiative

1. Delaware - Poll | Results 2. Pennsylvania - Poll | Results 3. New Jersey - Poll | Results 4. Georgia - Poll | Results 5. Connecticut - Poll | Results 6. Massachusetts - Poll | Results (upcoming)

[comically-callous]

Ok you may get annoyed with me because I will continue to ask for fics about reg BECAUSE YOU WRITE HIM SO WELL LIKE AHHHHH anyway if you want me to stop please tell me :)

Anyway back to the point so I was wondering if you could do a fic where reader and reg are dating and there in the common room maybe reading together or in the dorms just cuddling or anything you can think of and like Barty and Evan come into the room and they just see reg being all soft and stuff and maybe tease him about it, it’s up to you how you want to finish it :)

Regulus black, white boy of the millennium.

Regulus black x gn!Reader

A/n: HE ☹️☹️☹️ My requests are open 😼

It had been a long day.

Regulus had gone to quidditch practice in the morning, and then had taken 3 tests during the school day. It all left him feeling burnt out and tired.

He entered the common room, fighting the urge to throw his bag to the side and flop down on to the nearest sofa. And then he saw you.

That was all it took to have him relax. He walked over to the small couch that you were sitting on in the corner of the common room.

Once he was in front of you, he wordlessly put down his bag and sat next to you, resting his head on your shoulder with a sigh.

"Hey, Regs." You said with a chuckle. "Rough day?"

"Mhm."

"Anything serious?" You asked.

"Not really."

"Well, I'm still sorry you had a rough day." You said as you wrapped your arms around him, pulling him closer. You felt him relax against you and sigh contently.

"S'okay." He mumbled as he closed his eyes. He could definitely fall asleep like this.

About an hour passed, in which you and regulus continued to cuddle.

You were playing with his hair while talking about a movie you'd watched recently, and Regulus' eyes were closed as he silently listened to your voice.

His blissful moment was interrupted by two far more annoying voices.

"Someone's looking comfortable."

Regulus opened his eyes, even though he already knew who was in front of him.

Barty and Evan stood in front of him, obviously holding back laughter.

Regulus groaned and buried his face into your neck. "Piss off." He mumbled.

"Yeah, it's a bit hard to take you seriously when you're all snuggled up, mate." Evan chuckled.

Regulus felt his face burn with embarrassment. Of course, he wasn't embarrassed to be with you. He just wasn't used to other people seeing this side of him.

"Do you idiots need something?" You asked with a playful roll of your eyes.

"Yes, actually." Barty said. "Your boyfriend promised to help us two idiots study for our transfiguration test tomorrow."

Regulus sighed in frustration. He'd promised to do that yesterday. Before he knew this day would be exhausting. "I-"

"You promised." Evan said before Regulus could ditch the two.

Regulus groaned. "Okay, fine." He begrudgingly gave in. "You two go to the library, I'll catch up."

"Will you?" Barty asked with narrowed eyes.

"Yes! Just give me a minute, Gods."

Barty and Evan snickered, giving quick goodbyes before walking away. Regulus could hear them loudly laughing as they exited the common room.

"They're assholes." He mumbled to you.

You chuckled. "Yeah. But, it's affectionate." You said, rubbing his back softly.

"I should ditch them."

"Very tempting. But, no."

Regulus sighed. He knew you were right, but he wasn't happy about it. He sat up and stretched his arms above his head before turning to you. "Give me a kiss before I go?"

You smiled and gave him a quick kiss on the lips.

He smiled softly and got up, grabbing his bag. "We'll hang out after dinner?" He suggested.

"Definitely." You replied.

Regulus finally made it to the library and sat at the table where Barty and Regulus were waiting for him.

"Took you long enough, lover boy." Barty chuckled.

"Shut up. You should be glad I didn't bail on you two." Regulus said as he pulled a few textbooks from his bag. "Now can we stop wasting time and get this over with?"

Barty rolled his eyes. "Fine."

...

"So, are we invited to the wedding?"

"Shut up!"

[valeriefauxnom]

Unintentional Comedy - Dragalia and Feh Artwork Edition

So, remember Alfonse, from FEH?

Y'know, this dude?

For an okay crutch for those without Gala Euden or Albert or other handy light swords they didn't want to invest in, he was rather popular, only partly owed to any pre-established fondness FEH players had since they already knew him. People liked the more expanded personality we got than FEH's bare-bones story, additionally before they started trying to spice Alfonse up in more recent books.

In his story, however, one of the events that happening is Euden falling off a cliff, shortly followed by Alfonse.

Miraculously, cliff-falling isn't quite as dangerous in Dragalia Lost as in real life (also demonstrated by Leonidas in Stranded Scions, etc...), and the two survive. Alfonse has some sort of injury to his foot, however, conveniently hampering his ability to move but not much else.

Euden, being Euden and unwilling to throw anyone to the wolves, comes up with this idea:

Nothing atypical here, right?

...Well, as it was revealed in a book published two years later than his debut in Dragalia, Fire Emblem Heroes Character Illustrations, Volume 1...

Alfonse is 180cm tall, AKA 5'11.

...Is it any surprise coming from 195cm/6'5 and 180cm/5'11 parents? Someone check the Askran royal food for steroids that Sharena has apparently not been consuming, presumably because she's instead dining with heroes in the barracks.

I digress.

Now, as I've gone over before here, here's where it gets hilarious in retrospect.

In short, Ranzal, the resident big buff burly dude of Dragalia...is stated to be 6'1/185 in the joke comics.

...And while literally nobody else got an even vaguely-official number to their height, Dragalia instead opting for a 'comparison heights' to keep track of who's shorter and who's taller in a pair... Euden often seems to wind up in the 150-155cm/5'0-5'1 range or even shorter when in illustrations with Ranzal:

At most, I've seen him crack about 5'9/175cm in the comics, which aren't exactly a stable source of art, as demonstrated by these two panels, in which both seem to be on flat ground and standing pretty straight:

I need to stop before I mindlessly repeat the other post, but my point remains:

Euden, by most depictions, is tiny. A literal short prince/king.

And yet, no matter what way you slice it, he's trying to carry a dude that seems to be quite a bit taller, let's say. How much, we'll never know, but the fact remains he'd likely need to pull out a dragon phone to search 'how to carry people much taller than you?' just in case and hurriedly read a wikihow 10-step article explaining some strats, were it not for the fact that dragons would have destroyed smartphones in Dragalia a long time ago (good move, dragons....?).

I will admit that there are a few arts that frame them as the 'same height' but I would more point to the fact Euden, when drawn with crossover characters for promotional art, is usually portrayed on an 'equal footing', so as not to have one take up more space/attention. Also, the Feh team might not have even decided on a height for Alfy boy before!

Even then, he's still portrayed as shorter than 5'9/175cm Joker in some art:

So yeah. Crossover art is not exactly consistent, and all I can do is look to the general trend in the 'canon game' of him being absolutely dwarfed by Ranzal.

Now, it's one thing for Euden to be lugging about Alfonse for a while.

The idea he might have done so with such a potential height disparity is pure comedy.

No wonder he's so tired after a while, lugging about another human who is both taller, heavier, and also wearing armor!

Not only that, he later tries and partly succeeds in fighting heavily armored soldiers (who are admittedly aiming to capture him and kill Alfonse) with Alfonse 'draped across his back like a sack of potatoes'. Talk about determination, adrenaline, and/or the simple principle of 'small but mighty'!

Maybe that's why Alfonse was saying "I don't think that's wise" at the start there before he quickly found other rationale besides 'you sure you can give a piggyback without my feet dragging along the ground the whole way?'

My case rests, Your Honor: they unintentionally made part four of Alfonse's personal story a lot funnier to envision by publishing an art book 2 years after he first existed in Dragalia Lost!

[buddiebeginz]

Want to talk about some things since I keep seeing the topic in fandom in light of the wedding ep coming up.

First I keep seeing people say that most Buddie shippers want Buck and Eddie to cheat at the wedding and we don’t care who gets hurt we just want to see them together. This isn’t true most Buddie shippers don’t want their relationship to start this way.

I also feel like some of you may not understand that going on a date (or two) with someone does not mean you are exclusive with that person. A conversation needs to be had for this to happen. Now maybe when you personally date you only see one person at a time and you expect the person you’re seeing to do the same but that doesn’t mean that’s how everyone operates.

Buck likes Tommy and has kissed Tommy once (that we’ve seen). Held Tommy’s hand (once that we’ve seen). Gone on one date that ended in the middle rather badly and one coffee date where Buck rather impetuously invited him to be his date to his sister’s wedding. But everything with Buck and Tommy is still incredibly new. As far as I see it and unless something changes in 7x06 Buck is not exclusive to Tommy. There hasn’t been talk of Tommy being Buck’s boyfriend and frankly I think it's too early for that.

Eddie on the other hand is in what seems to be an exclusive relationship with Marisol. They haven’t been together for long but he did ask her to move in (even if he did ask her to move out again).

If in fact Buck and Eddie were to kiss or anything more it would be Eddie who would be cheating not Buck.

But as I said most Buddie shippers didn't wait six years for our ship to start out with a drunken kiss they have to feel guilty over. What we really want is a moment, a look, some kind of hint from the show that will let us know they're planning on moving forward with Buddie as the season progresses and into season 8.

I do think the wedding would be one of the best places for us to get one of our first oh moments from the guys. Maybe a look between them while the vows are read and or a look either between them or from one watching the other while they're dancing with someone else. I don't think they'll even be time for something like a kiss even if we wanted that because I think this ep is going to be mostly focused on Chim and Maddie as well it should be it's their wedding day. But considering they put the guys into what is essentially a couples costume and we saw that they're going to be all huddled up singing karaoke it's possible we'll get something.

[jods-duplicitous-sluts]

Alecto the Ninth News

Part One

Alright friends. We are all chomping at the bit for any Alecto news at all. So here is what I've compiled from interviews, podcasts and AMAs. Sources are linked and screenshots have alt. text.

I've also included a little commentary or speculation on some points but ultimately that's not the focus of this collection.

Under the cut because I feel like it's going to get long.

So many screenshots, it turns out I'll have to split it into 3 posts.

If you enjoy this post please reblog so more people can see it!

Jump to part ■ Two of the post

Jump to part ■ Three of the post

I'm making this post on mobile, so forgive any wonkiness. Also tumblr ate this post once already *screams into the void*

• The book starts with Harrow in Hell. A reference to the Harrowing of Hell. Based on the presence of a porn mag I'd guess it's her own little river bubble inside Alecto but still just speculation.

Source: Tamsyn reads to us! Video with written description

• There is a wedding of some sort. Possibly other excuses to dress up the characters in formal ware. Some people have expressed concern that this was referencing the N- and C- wedding in Nona, but nope. We have confirmation that it is in book 4.

Source: Twitter

The next series of screenshots are all from the same tor.com interview: TM on Lyctorhood and Genderfuckery.

• This first one again confirms allusions to the harrowing of hell/ the decent of Christ. For those out of the loop the tldr:

The harrowing of hell is an Old English and��Middle English term referring to the period of time between the Crucifixion of Jesus and his resurrection. In triumphant descent, Christ brought salvation to the souls held captive there since the beginning of the world.

A lot of speculation has gone on around about Harrow and her role in freeing the souls trapped in the river/reviving the river from whatever is poisoning it. [ *cough*JOD*cough*].

Also another reference towards formal outfits for the cast. So at least the wedding if not multiple formal functions.

• The question of Harrow and Gideon's souls will continue into Alecto. Looking forward to info on how enmeshed they've become and/or if they can be separated.

• I mean this quote is infamous by now. Which of our faves is it in reference to? All of them?

•I feel like we haven't seen enough about the differences between rebirth [a la Paul and Nona] vs Resurrection [Gideon/Harrow?! Someone else?] So while not a direct promise of anything in Alecto, I feel like the implication is there.

•The next two screenshots are about the Alecto cover, which is complete[the first from the above interview:]

•and the second is from an AMA from Aug. 5 2020

• The cover is definitely done since she was talking about it in 2020 and reaffirmed right before Nona’s release. I feel like they are waiting until they have a better idea of a publishing date before release. Maybe we'll get news in Q4 after the Nona paperback release and excitement dies down?

• From the same 2020 AMA. As this is pre-Nona, it could be possible that the heist mentioned deals with Gideon's body [either the Houses heisting it from BOE which happened off screen or the heist of Gideon's body from the barracks]. But I included it just in case that isn't what is being referenced.

• Same 2020 AMA: Again this could be covered in Nona as being what the John chapters were about, but also maybe not.

Source: TazMuir tumblr post from April 2020

• Another infamous quote at this point. Definitely feels like this is about the 'Third Most Toxic Polycule' of Harrow/Gideon/Ianthe and maybe Alecto is in this loop as well. With all the references to weddings and relationships I'm wondering who out of these four is marrying who...[maybe it's someone totally different, but my money is on someone in this situation]

Click to see part two!

[doctorofmagic]

BLOOD HUNT PREDICTIONS (and spoilers!)

Okay, I see everyone is struggling to keep it cool because of what just happened today in Blood Hunt #1. But honestly I'm very excited to put the pieces together (also very HYPED!!!). So here are my thoughts (and my friend Red's, thank you, my darling) on what we gathered so far through clues, covers and solicitations.

Obviously, spoilers.

Well, first thing I'd like to establish is that people will probably feel lost if they haven't read the last Blade volume. Thankfully, yours truly did! Which means I can provide some context:

Just recently, Blade released an ancient evil called the Adana by accident. To make it up for this mistake (which would lead to the end of the world, basically), he had to embrace his full vampiric powers by drinking Dracula's blood (they're in a kinda complicated relationship right now, not friends nor enemies but necessary allies). That also meant that he was corrupted by its evil.

Plus, as I said it many times, Blade has a deep respect for Stephen because of the Montesi Formula, which resulted in the extinction of all vampires. Yes, Stephen did it once, and I'll get back to it because I think it's REALLY important.

Since we established that Blade might be corrupted, let's move on to the next topic.

Is Stephen dead?

My best guess is "not really".

In Blood Hunt, we see that T'Challa sacrificed himself to protect Cap America Sam and the rest of the Avengers who survived the first strike. But is T'Challa gone? Luckily, I follow Farid Karami on twitter and he posted a few inks he did for Black Panther: Blood Hunt. And guess what? That's right, we'll about to have vampire!T'Challa!

Besides, we all know that the next Doctor Strange issue will feature Wong and vampire!Stephen. What we didn't know was how Stephen would fit in the plot, but thanks to the variant cover I posted last week, we do now: he'll be guiding his allies via his astral form.

Now, how can the Sorcerer Supreme deal with the vampiric threat? It was shown that Stephen and Clea are looking for the Montesi Formula again.

For those who don't know, the Montesi Formula is a spell from the Darkhold that can wipe every single vampire off the face of the Earth. Stephen already used this spell once when he fought Dracula (and Blade was there, hence the respect he holds for Stephen). Unfortunately for them, Wanda has just recently absorbed the Darkhold within her body as a way to gain autonomy from Chthon (as seen in Darkhold: Alpha and Omega). Besides, Wanda was captured by the Bloodcoven, which means she can't do much right now. In addition, as hinted by Blade himself, she won't use the Montesi Formula, mostly because the character can't be involved in another kind of genocide (thanks, Bendis). And that leads us to the next topic.

Who could do it? The very one character who would overcome morals on behalf of his people, the same one who already appeared in the first issue: Doctor Doom. And if we think about it, he has two advantages already: 1) he's second in line to be the Sorcerer Supreme, and 2) as already established, he'd do anything to protect his planet and, most importantly, Latverians.

It's also important to reiterate that an astral form is not as powerful as the body+soul. With Stephen's strength limited, it's not that crazy to imagine that he could pass the mantle to Victor for a limited period while they find the spell. "Why not Clea?" I don't know. It's already established that managing the power of two sorcerers supreme is extremely hard and draining. Could be another reason as well. I'm just trying to find a coherent train of thought through this variant cover here:

Still, we're left with a very important dilemma. We have nice vampire allies in current comics: Brielle (Blade's daughter) and Soldier and Reese from the Midnight Mission (Moon Knight), the three of them being characters to be featured in the tie-ins. Well, not to mention Stephen and T'Challa, and maybe some more to be turned in the next issues. This is why I don't think the Montesi Formula will happen. Jed won't kill THE Black Panther, let's be real. So what's next?

We're expecting a plot twist at some point, and Blade will have an important role here. He's set to have another solo title this year, probably following the consequences of his actions. But there's a high chance someone else is involved. Let's check this panel once more:

Atlantean rituals.... Where did we hear about it before? That's right, Sorcerer Supreme #11!

During the old age, Varnae become ruler of the vampires and was brought back by Marie Laveau in modern age, fighting Doctors Strange and Voodoo. His last appearance traces back to Blade when he and his friends confronted him. Frank Drake sacrificed himself in an explosion to kill Varnae, and that's the last time we hear about him.

But see how the pieces come together? Blade, Stephen and Varnae. It makes sense that things would center around these three. And this is why I'm very excited. It's not a surprise that I love Blade and Stephen's relationship, and all these elements would make a wonderful drama, one that I'm really looking forward to!

Overall, I'm not worried about status quo or anything like that. I know things will work out in time, and seeing so many of my favorite characters involved in an event written by McKay only makes it better!

And that's it! Feel free to add your thoughts on this post! And see you all next week with Doctor Strange #15! 👀

[jaabane]

Little Red Book Part 1 - Neil Perry x fem! OC

Introduction: This is my first post so be aware of that! Also english is not my first lenguage so we'll see how this goes.

Warnings: my english, in this story Welton has an all girls school aswell that is in a seperate building next to the boys school.

Summary: "You never talk anything but nonsense! Nobody ever does." The story of how Neil Perry fell in love with that beautiful girl that always had her face buried in this little red book.

Monday Morning

Another year at Hellton. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Neil just sat down in his seat in Mr. Keatings class with the rest of the dead poets. The lesson went by normal. That is, if you can define Mr. Keatings classes as normal.

Towards the end of the lesson, Mr. Keating had a rather interesting announcement to make.

"Now boys, I have exciting news for you. For the duration of this semester, I want all of you to research about any writer. Could be an author, or a poet." he said. The boys began to whisper about the upcoming project. Neil could already hear some of his classmates arguing about the people they wanted to research about. His attention however, was full on Mr. Keating.

"Settle down boys, I'm not finished yet." he stated. "Every one of you will get a partner. This is a two person project, which you will have to present at the end of the semester." The chatter began again, this time louder than before.

"Sir can we decide who our partner is?" Charlie asked loudly as he had to talk over the whole class.

That question seemed to make all of the boys go quiet. All eyes now on Mr. Keating again.

"As I was about to say. You are not the only class that is going to do this project. I will partner every one of you up with a girl from my class at the Welton all girls academy. You will meet your partner next lesson on wednesday." he said and with that, the belll rang signaling for the boys to go to their next class.

Time skip, the dead poets are hanging out outside

"Which of these girls do you think will be our partners?" Charlie asked, eyeing the girls that were also outside right now.

That's when Neil first noticed her. She was sitting on a blanket. Her back leaning against a tree. She was wearing a pair of dark blue flared jeans and a maroon coloured hoodie. Her fluffy looking brunette hair that only reached her shoulders hung slightly in her face. Which was buried in a little red book that she was reading.

"Neil? You there?" Todd asked. He noticed his best freind zoning out.

"You looking at a pretty girl Mr. Perry?" Charlie teased. "What? No. Why would you think that?" Neil asked, his attention now full on his friends.

They all just laughed and the conversation changed course again.

However, as Neil turned his head to look at the pretty girl again, he noticed she was gone.

The following day he did not see the girl anywhere. Or maybe he did, he could not see much of her face because of the book.

Damn that little red book. He thought to himself as he met up with his friends wednesday morning to go to their english class.

Somehow they found themselves in the lunch hall, waiting for Mr. Keating to come back with their partners.

pov switch

I was nervous. What if my partner didn't like me? As my head filled itself with more and more doubts my friend Becca put her hand on my shoulder.

"Relax, it's not like you never saw a boy before." she said.

"No, but what if he doesn't like me and then I'm stuck with him for an entire semester?" I said, Worry clearly visible in my eyes.

However, we did not have time to finish our conversation as Mr. Keating opened the door to the lunch hall and we bagan to enter. I purposefully hid in the back of the crowd as Mr. Keating started talking.

"Let's start, shall we? Now, I will read the names of the partners out loud. If you hear your name being called, please proceed to come forward to meet your partner. I will first read the boys name and then the girls. When you have found your partner, please choose one of the tables here to start with the project, I want everyone to decide on a writer they want to present today." he said cheerfully.

Pair after Pair found themselves and went ahead to sit at one of the many tables in the lunch hall. Becca was still standing next to me when I was called.

"Next we have, Mr. Neil Perry and Ms. Stefanie Krammer. Please come forward." Mr. Keating said as Becca shoved me a little to get me going.

Neil could not believe his eyes, before him stood the girl from monday afternoon.

"Hi" he said a little breathless

"Hi" she answered with a shy smile.

"You want to go sit down?" he asked.

"Yeah sure." she answered as the two began to walk to a table.

As they sat down, Neil noticed Charlie looking at him and wiggle his eyebrows. Neil just grinned and focused on the girl next to him. Now he could finally look at her face properly, her dark blue eyes were even more beautiful than he imagined. They even looked like a mixture of dark blue and grey. He could not stop looking at them.

Stefanie, the name suits her, he thought.

She began to unpack her things from her bag. That's when he noticed the little red book as she placed it on the table.

"The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde." he read out loud.

"That's what you were reading on monday." he said before he could stop himself.

"You saw me on monday?" she said, looking surprised. When I saw Neil with his friends on monday I didn't think he noticed me at all.

"Yeah, you were reading by a tree right?" he asked.

"Yeah I was." I answered.

"That book is very little." Neil said as he looked at it again.

"That doesn't stop it from having a lot of content." I said.

"Really? How's that?" he asked, intruiged.

"Well firstly it would be because it is actually a play, not an ordinary book." I said, confidently telling him about my favourite book.

At that point, Neil was even more intruiged. She liked reading plays, perfect.

"And do you only read plays or do you also act in them?" he asked.

"Oh god no. Acting is not for me, I almost had a panic attack when I had to sing a solo in choir in 9th grade." I told him.

He laughed. "Really? I love acting, I was in a play last year. Even got the main part." he said.

"That's so cool, but I can Imagine what your parents must have thought of that. They don't send their kids here with little expectations for them." I said, looking down.

Neil nodded.

"Let's do our presentation about Oscar Wilde. Maybe I could act as him at the end of the semester hm?" he said, trying to change te topic back to our project.

I laughed.

"I'm sure Mr. Keating would love that." I said, laughing a little.

At that point, Mr. Keating stopped by our desk to ask us if we decided on a writer yet.

"Yes, we would like to present about Oscar Wilde, Captain." Neil said.

"Good choice. Stefanie, I wouldn't expect anything else." he said with a knowing smile as he walked away.

Thats Part 1 guys! Hope you liked it!

I'm not sure when the next part is coming since I am in the middle of my exam season but I estimate it's next week or the week after.

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

[ohimsummer]

for ur lil date game

satoru taking you to a carnival? n we'll say 🍦for the emoji

— light descriptions of vomit, established relationship, satoru x reader, kinda proofread

“I…don’t think this is a good idea.”

Satoru snaps his head towards you, staring in utter astonishment. “Huh? What are you–,” he raises a fist to his mouth, turning away as a burp slips out, “–talking about? You don’t think this looks fun?”

As if to prove his point, a round of shrieks reaches your ears, the cart of people zooming by in a blur. Your eyes follow the ride’s track, the loops and sharp dips of it, angles that would have your stomach churning.

“It’s not that I don’t think it’s fun...,” you reply, gulping. “Maybe just not so soon after all that ice cream.”

“Pft. What are you, a wimp?”

Your brows furrow, avoiding Gojo’s gaze even as he leans over to grin at you. “No, I’m someone who doesn’t wanna puke all over themselves. You’re supposed to wait like an hour after you eat before getting on a ride, remember?”

Satoru crosses his arms, leaning back against the side of someone’s game booth. “Waiting, schmaiting, that whole thing’s a myth anyway, ya know?”

“…Is it?”

“Duh, babe. How could you get sick just from eating something and then getting on a ride? Use that pretty little head, we’ll be a-okay!”

Doubt and suspicion still creep at the edges of your mind, but Satoru’s confidence in his belief convinces you enough to let him drag you in line. Your tummy feels a bit full, having been stuffed with all the different flavors he wanted to try, but it’s only replaced with a somewhat empty feeling as you both draw closer and closer to the front of the line. Satoru is giddy, bouncing on his heels, jittery and jiggling you under his hold around your shoulders.

“This is gonna be so cool!,” he rambles, points at a section of the roller coaster. “Look, it even goes upside down at that part! If you do puke, it should probably be right there– ow! Pffft, baby, I was joking!”

In no time, you two are squished into one of the carts, right at the front as Satoru’s preference, and the attendant tugs the belt to make sure you’re both properly restrained.

“I wonder if they have one of those secret cameras that takes pictures throughout the ride?,” he asks aloud, reaching an arm around to pinch your cheek and laughing when you slap him away. “Make some silly faces, I want a new wallpaper.”

The ride begins before you can laugh at him to shut up. It’s a slow start, gradually creeping upwards to reach the tip-top of the first hill. You lace fingers with Satoru's, who’s chatter has suddenly gone quiet, and he faintly returns the tight squeeze you give his hand.

“All good?,” you ask, eyes stuck on the path ahead, ears filled with the loud rumble of the coaster as it draws nearer to the top. In your peripheral, you see the swish of Satoru’s hair as he gives a swift nod and a short ‘mhm!’.

You glance over at him, and immediately something’s wrong. His bottom lip tucked between his teeth, brows furrowed and eyes wide with anxiety. “You sure you’re okay?”

He glances over at you and smiles, forced. “Y-yup! I’m fine, baby.”

“Satoru, you’re sweating.”

“It’s just hot–“

“You’re also really pale, even for you.”

His lips falter, eyes blink as though the sun beams straight through his blackened shades. “U-uh…”

You study the way Satoru wipes his forehead, and then smacks his lips. He doesn’t answer your ‘what’s wrong?’, only presses himself back in the seat as the coaster finally crests the first hill.

He licks his lips, smacks them again. “Ugh, my mouth feels really watery.”

Your brows raise. “Oh?” And then you recall something you’ve read related to sickness. “Doesn’t that mean you’re about to vomi-“

Your shriek, not because the ride has went plummeting, but because liquid now ejects from Satoru’s mouth, spews between his fingers as he tries to hold it all back. You lean away, constantly glancing back to see regurgitated ice cream shooting back on other passengers. Someone screams ‘Eww, what is this?!’ and you just pray they’ll think it’s bird poop or whatever, and also that too much of Satoru’s puke doesn't reach you.

By the time the amusement ride ends, a crowd of people are giving both you and Satoru dirty looks, mumbling insults and complaints under their breath and heading to the nearest restrooms to clean up. Satoru’s once clean shirt is stained in a dull rainbow of tossed-up ice cream, and you grab napkins from a nearby food booth to wipe his face clean.

“This is embarrassing.,” he mutters, shielding his face from passerby as you both begin heading home.

You sigh. “I told you we should wait, ya big baby.”

bonus :3

The next say, Satoru grabs your phone, intent on his usual activity of snapping an overabundance of selfies that you won't notice until the next time you check your album or he hints at having tampered with the device if you take too long. His thumb freezes over the camera icon in the corner.

"Y/N!," he yells, and you come rushing because why does it sound like he's in trouble?

You come sliding around the corner in socks, gripping the doorframe to steady yourself before coming to a halt in front of your held-out phone.

"What?", you ask, biting back a grin.

"What? Look at this photo!"

A giggle threatens to slip past your lips at the picture, a polaroid of you with a look of absolute shock and disgust as you hold up hands to shield yourself from Satoru, who sits next to you on the ride with wide, blue eyes, puffed out cheeks and throw-up bursting from between his fingers.

"Don't need to, I've been laughing at it since yesterday."

feel free to send a char + date idea <3

[welldonekhushi]

Under My Spell | Part 9

Part 7 Part 8

Part 9 of Under My Spell!

Note: I deeply apologize for the sudden hiatus of this series! Now that I'm back on track, here's another part. Finally.

Enjoy, amigos! <3

Previously..

You two were bound by the beasts, and being ready to attack, until the wolves whimpered and flopped their ears, bowing down gently as they back off and slowly found an opportunity to run away. It confused you and Valeria on the fact that what could have pushed them back in fear.

Turning around, you see through the darkness, a figure walking out from the shadows, holding a flaming torch as it makes its way into the light. Your eyes widened when you realised who the individual who was approaching its way towards them.

It was Rodolfo.

Feeling relieved, you were glad that after his reluctance about going with you two, he finally made up his mind to follow you. He couldn't leave you alone in this danger and he knew it.

"Rudy!" You ran towards the man and hugged him tight. ".. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been stubborn but, I needed answers.."

"It's okay, Y/N. I know.. I also need the answers like you all, as well. Walking away from the battle feels like I'm being a coward." Rudy replied, furrowing his eyebrows. "I need the people of Las Almas to be free from this threat, too. And this is why.. I came back for you."

You smiled, feeling glad that Rudy was able to convince himself.

"I'm happy that you're back on track, Rodolfo." Valeria nods her head. "Seems like the amulets drove us here. To this cave."

Rudy looked towards the huge entrance, analysing it. "This cave seems ancient.. as if it stayed here for generations."

"It was the same cave I saw when the demon caught me! This whole place.. it feels so similar.. I think this is where we can find all our answers." You said, in hope.

"But, Y/N.. currently I can sense whatever is in there, it's not friendly. It's going to kill us.. I'm not doing this because I am preventing you from finding the answers, but you well know the demon is doing this from reaching our goal late."

"I know.. but I wouldn't let El Charro Negro stop us.. he knows it's the end of his wrath, so he's doing his best to stop us. But if we can do this together, I'm sure we'll be unstoppable." You walk towards Rudy, and extend your hand so that you can grab the torch.

Rudy blinked his eyes a few times, but then gently handed you the flaming torch, walking inside the cave. Rudy and Valeria look at each other for a while, and then agreed to follow you as well. You delve deeper into the cave, seeing the dark habitat present around the interior.. bats, dead plants.. strange noises.. and the eerie atmosphere. You made sure Rudy and Valeria followed you from behind, while looking around the place.

"We need to be careful as well, amigos. Make sure nothing attacks us out of nowhere."

"Got it." Valeria responds, and as the three walk further for a couple of minutes, you could realise things were getting shadier and obvious once you go deeper into the darkness. There were strange writings on the wall.. mostly Spanish but they were impossible to read, having the texts ragged and withered, with the strange drawings on the wall.

You wanted to make sure that no one gets lost again. "Hope whatever is beyond this darkness.. we can find out the solution.. guys.. guys—" You turn around to see Rudy and Valeria.. gone in thin air. You widened your eyes, realising you were talking to yourself all this time.

"Rodolfo? Valeria?" You called the two but you could only hear your voice echoing through the walls of the cave. "Shit.. what do I do now?" You try to muster up your courage, and walk further into the cave, trying to find the two as well. Maybe they lost track in the middle of nowhere, or..

You grew a little panicked, and held your torch tighter, while you walked further through the darkness. Mustering up the courage, you tried calling for the two but your head started to ache. You were getting strong visions of a powerful entity, with a skull face and wide-brimmed hat. You tried to hold onto yourself, and clenched your eyes, but as soon you opened them.. you found something which you couldn't believe.

The light of the torch illuminated the texts on the walls, which were now clearer, and readable. You carefully observed the words, though you weren't really trained in Spanish, but you made sure to remember the sentence.

"Dicen.. que si viene a tu casa.." You carefully read the texts. "Se come.. almas para mantenerse con.. vida? I don't get it.. but it seems to have a connection with this area." You then keep on exploring further, reaching the center of the cave. The texts turned into carvings, scriptures, paintings.. something that looked more like the El Charro Negro. Did people worship the devil here too?

As everything was now revealed, you saw.. a huge rock in front of you, with a scripture. It felt more like a chanting prayer, something which you pray for. It looked like some ancient language, but you couldn't find anything special.

All of a sudden, your mind started to show blurry images about a lifeless forest, damp and dark, with a man in a brimmed hat while he's on its horse. It was the other time where you faced a flashback like that, and you gasped, sweating profusely. The vision looked really horrifying, and then you faced the ancient rock again. The texts on the rough surface started to glow green in color, with an orb of light hitting your eyes. It seems like the amulet had brought the rock back alive from the dead.

Your body shivered, and goosebumps arose from your skin, and you had a headache again, experiencing another flashback. You saw a figure, who was getting its neck grabbed, by a mysterious presence, with a wide brimmed hat and glowing green eyes.

It must be the demon.

You thought it must be Rudy getting choked, but the face was blurry, making it impossible to recognise. As another scene flashed in your head, the figure getting choked passes down on the ground, while the demon brought his horse back and prepared to take him away with it. appearance becoming more visible to reveal the one who was getting taken away by the strange figure, on it's horse.

That face.. looked so familiar.

"Alejandro?" You opened your eyes, and widened them, seeing your amulet glow brighter, feeling a presence behind your back. You could only try to look behind yourself, slightly, as the demon roars and you push him back with your amulet powers with brute force.

The El Charro Negro groaned, and cried in anger. You held your flaming torch tighter, being prepared for the impact. It was a trap. The demon's trap, to capture you. "I know you want this, you monster." The demon roars and then pulls its attack towards you, and you bash the flaming torch over its head, making it cry out demonically. The demon growled, and destroyed the torch in your hand. But, knowing you had your powers from the amulet, you whirl your hands, and brought your attack to hit the beast with it. But, the devil was trying to take control of the fight, making you powerless in the process, though you aren't giving up this easily.

One attack of the devil pushed you behind, and you took hold of yourself, till the devil disappeared from your eyes. You looked around everywhere, finding a trace of him, but with nothing to see. You immediately flinched in instinct and saw the demon behind you, your hands charging the energy and creating a force field so its attack wouldn't reach you. But, knowing how strong the demon is, you were losing balance.

You used all of your force, to be able to make it walk back towards the rock, the demon still protesting.

It was dragging you through it's veil, as it tries to pull you back so it can seal you permanently. So with the help of your amulet powers, you were slowly burning its hands, making them evaporate. The demon's eyes glow brighter, and more violently, pushing you towards the rock.

But midway, before you could bring a more powerful wave, he suddenly vanishes with a demonic screech when someone attacks it from the back. You were shocked but saw that the one who saved you.. was none other than, the cloaked man again. It came running towards you, seeing if you're alright.

"Oh dios mío.. are you okay?" The man checked to see if you were injured, but forgot the injuries, you were more shocked about his sudden arrival.

"Wait a second! Are you following us all the time?!" You cried.

"I came here because I knew it was going to happen, querida!" The cloaked man replied. "The truth is coming closer.. and the devil El Charro Negro will do anything in it's power to stop you."

"I think this was the place where the spirit of the El Charro Negro existed.. and through these writings.. I can't believe there were people who worshipped him too."

"People do find a particular entity divine. Especially when they're supernaturally powered." The cloaked man spoke while he treated your wounds. "And it was enough to drive humanity into its trap so it can find itself a way to survive through human souls."

After it finishes healing you, he gets up and takes a look around the carvings of the devil, while talking to you. "The melody from its guitar.. could make anybody admire him in a matter of seconds, and then, you're a goner. You don't even have a way back. Let it be for falling in love.. or worship him. Only a few.. possess such power where they don't fall for both options. More like, individuals who know the true intentions of the devil, and its plans to threaten human civilization."

The cloaked man turned around, facing you back with a concerned look. "The devil knows you're his ultimate end. And you're going to stop it, once and for all, Y/N."

Hearing the man's words, you sure had many questions in your head, but you wanted to ask him that one doubt. "Do you think.. that Alejandro Vargas is the vessel for the El Charro Negro? Or it's—"

"Y/N!" A voice echoed in the area, hearing arriving footsteps to see Valeria, panting for air, looking absolutely panicked and terrified, with her face and clothes covered in slight dirt.

"Valeria? What happened?"

"We need to get going! Rudy is in trouble!" Valeria said, with her eyebrows furrowed. "If we didn't save him, it'll be too late!"

"But where did you go last time when I saw you both disappear?"

"I don't know.. all I remember is following you, but we unexpectedly lost track all of a sudden and I fell into a large pit. Rudy said that he was going to rescue me, but I heard him scream.. I'm scared that something might have happened to him!" Valeria explained the events that happened to her, feeling worried for what's beyond. "Thank God, I was able to get myself out of the pit and came looking for you."

"I'm glad you're still okay, Valeria." You sighed in relief.

".. but, who is he?" Valeria's attention diverted towards the individual next to you.

"This is the cloaked man, that I used to talk about. I don't know his name, but.. he wears a cloak. That's all." You cleared your throat. "But he knows a way on how to stop the devil."

Valeria came rushing towards him. "Please.. you got to help us."

"I always waited for this moment to come, mujer joven." The cloaked man smiled underneath his shaded appearance. "I'll do whatever it takes to seal the pendejo from hurting anymore people."

"Don't worry, Valeria.. we're going to save him. All this time, he had been saving our lives. But now, we'll return the favor." You smiled, and gave a determined nod, so does the woman in return, and the cloaked man closing his eyes, preparing himself for the moment, as they continue their journey further into the cave.

The camera then switches to a cave painting of the El Charro Negro, in it's full, demonic form, where the rest kept worshipping him.

During the quest, you, Valeria and the cloaked man continued their journey to locate Rudy. For a brief moment, Valeria started to look a little unsettled, that the man with the cloak noticed. "You seem tensed, mi señora."

"Huh? No. I'm just.. not feeling very good. Whatever this is going on.. it's just, messed up. I don't know but, my mind is getting more puzzled and fuzzier." Valeria said in concern. "Alejandro being possessed.. Rudy getting kidnapped. This.. is too much."

"I'm very sure we'll find your friend, señora. The devil won't stand a chance in front of us." The cloaked man tried to encourage Valeria, giving her hope. She held the amulet more closely, gripping it tighter with her hand.

You were listening to Valeria, but your mind kept on constantly flashing over that one scene of Alejandro Vargas getting taken away by the El Charro Negro. You felt a deep pit in your stomach, realising something was wrong. If Rudy is the victim, why would they show Alejandro? And if Alejandro is the real victim.. where is he now?

No.. I think this is just a way to distract or weaken your aim for defeating the devil. But what kept you divided.. was it a way to divert you from the truth.. or was it actually the truth?

Is Alejandro really the El Charro Negro or—

You were brought back to reality when you heard Valeria scream, seeing someone through the distance, who was passed out on the ground. You could sense who it was even being far away..

"Rudy.."

[metashard]

Fucks me up that we'll never get to hear the accents of people whose first language is now a dead one. Could you have told how far north or south someone's hometown was along the Nile because their 𓄿 and 𓂝 were fused on some words? Did the ancient Mycenaeans have a "pirate accent" from those who spent their days sailing to foreign lands?

How hard was it to translate things or learn a new language if one or both of the languages didn't have a written form, or if writing was limited to a small class of people? You couldn't use a phrase book or anything, and all vocabulary would have to be memorized. Someone would have to do it first. Would you pantomime everything until you found some basic understanding on a few words? Would you prize someone who had grown up in a mix of the two cultures, maybe born to a pair where each parent primarily spoke different languages, and treasure them as your translator?

What was it like to live in a world where literacy was so universally limited that nothing was built around being able to read? No signs, no labels, no notes, no advertisements, no help without asking someone verbally. The government (if you had it) and the priests (if you had them) might write a whole lot, but the average person wasn't expected to ever need to read that directly. Would you have paid more attention to the non-written world if you weren't under constant bombardment from text trying to make itself known everywhere you looked? Or would the hunger for information simply have gone unsatisfied?

[likeapriceless-wine]

Glory

Another C.J thingy!! This isn't TOTALLY canon yet (???) Like I'm not 100% sure if he'll be getting that quest or not but the rest is canon so like <33 enjoy

I don't think we'll need any content warnings for this one?? It's a tad angsty but I think we're good otherwise!!

@cabin-12-resident-daddy-issues @im-always-highhhh @glowsticks-soda-and-magic @childofthewargod @dawn-lovelace

C.J never felt like enough

Sometimes he felt like he was too much, but never enough

He was never as smart as his brother and sister, and he couldn't read or hear as well as them. He wasn't as fast as his brother or as artistic as his sister, and he never would be

Finding out he was a demigod didn't make that better. At first he didn't think about it too hard, but then he saw quests. He never went on one, but he saw people leave and come back, and he was jealous

The first one he saw was when Clarisse La Rue came back from her secret mission for Chiron to scope out the labyrinth and it's entrances. She was frighteningly beat up and frazzled for someone who looked so strong and tough

He listened in from a distance as the next quest was planned, and Clarisse screamed about how she would never go back into the labyrinth. It almost amazed him to see her deny a quest like that, but the more he heard about the labyrinth, the less he blamed her

He heard it played tricks on the mind, and it was dark and full of monsters and traps, and Clarisse had gone in alone. He snuck into the big house basement and saw Chris one time, too. He knew most dionysus kids had some insanity powers that he was learning to use, so he wanted to see if he could help the poor boy

He couldn't. Chris just kept screaming and crying about the dark, and how he was scared. That was the first time C.J realized just what went down in the labyrinth

Then Annabeth was chosen to lead her quest into the labyrinth. She talked to the old mummy in the attic of the big house, the oracle of delphi, and she got her prophecy and she picked her team

The fact that she picked three other questmates intrigued him, because though he hadn't been here long, Annabeth seemed like she was big on rules

He saw when they came back from that quest. He saw when they flew in on pegasi and swooped down to join the battle of the labyrinth just in time

As an aphrodite kid helped him straighten the battle armor he was sweating in, he saw as Annabeth, Grover, Tyson, and Percy all took their respective places in the battle formation

If he hadn't have been scared out of his mind right now, he would've been jealous of their glory. Maybe it wasn't as glorious as it looked through his eyes, but he knew he wanted that someday. He wanted to swoop in and save the day. He wanted people to be happy he was there, not just because they liked him, but because they needed him

He watched people go on more and more quests. Short solo quests, group quests, quests that were huge deals, quests that were went on in secret. He never went on one. While people were on quests he was doing what he always did. Feeling inadequate

He was grateful that he could hang out with the people he loves in the warmth of his cabin when some of his fellow campers were out risking their lives, but that didn't stop his longing

He wanted to go on a quest, a solo quest even! He wasn't picky, and he didn't care, he just wanted to go. He wanted to suit up and pack a bag, and set off on some dangerous mission that he'd return from soon enough

He turned 17 and still hadn't fulfilled that dream of his. He was getting older every day, and still nothing. He'd fought in two wars, sure, but he wanted to go on a quest and come back to pats on the back, to attention, to maybe, if he was really lucky, hear the words 'I'm proud of you' from his father

That was the only reason he wanted the quest. For the glory, for the attention. That was it, really. His undying, all consuming need for attention was one thing that never failed him

Attention was like drugs to him. Some people get drugs from a dealer, C.J gets them from other people's eyes on him, and sometimes from his brother who keeps them in his sports bra

He waited and waited. He longed and listened in to conversations to try and hear about a quest he could snag

Even if he did catch word, beating the ares cabin to it might be harder than the quest itself

But then it finally happened. A volunteer was needed for a quest, another scoping of the labyrinth because there was a 'disturbance' in there

He was beyond quick to volunteer. If he'd have taken a moment to think he would've realized how stupid he was being. The labyrinth was known for driving people insane, and he already wasn't quite right in the head. Not to mention it was dark in there

C.J was terrified of the dark

Nevertheless, he volunteered for the quest. It was a solo quest, so he didn't get to do the whole picking his questmates thing, but that was okay. He didn't want to drag anyone into this with him, not with how dangerous the labyrinth is

He packed his bag and practically sprinted around camp, telling everyone important to him where he was going with a smile on his face

He packed bandages and a needle and thread, a change of clothes, food, a flashlight along with some extra batteries, etcetera etcetera

He wasn't sure what he was going to do when the batteries in his hearing aids died, but he supposed he'd figure that out when he got there

He prayed to his stepmother, the goddess of the labyrinth. He burned some food for her that night at dinner, asking for her protection and guidance, and just saying that he loved her

He always burned food for her, but a little extra tonight

He set out on his quest the next morning

It was bright and early when he bade his see you laters with hugs and kisses and reassuring grins, and then he slung his backpack over his shoulder and set off into the labyrinth, immediately swallowed up by a cool darkness that made the hairs on his arms stand up

[bbymunsonx]

The Last Time (Ted's Version)

Chapter Six

chapter warnings: language, lots of sexual tension, masturbation (f),

word count: 3.3k

enjoy ;)

Weeks have gone by since Trent Crimm of 'The Independent' published his article and the respect that Ted has gotten from other journalists has sky rocketed through the roof. Not only does that make my job a hell of a lot easier, but as Ted's friend, it makes my heart burst with joy. Even though the team has lost several games, the media isn't tearing Ted apart like they used to. Instead, they choose to talk about how charismatic he is during press conferences, and how he greets everyone he sees on the streets.  Even though Ted's public reception is through the roof, Rebecca is still incredibly standoffish. I mean, the woman just went through a very public divorce, I would be standoffish too if I were her. 

While I was sitting at my desk, reading through the dozens and dozens of comments about what people had to say about Ted and the team, I felt a tap on my shoulder. 

"Howdy doody, Lacy Loo," Ted said, excitedly. 

"Ted," I greeted, with my face remaining stone cold. "To what do I owe the pleasure of conversing with London's most talked about coach?"

"What are you doing tonight?" He prompted. Do I tell him the truth about how I was going to order take out and fall asleep on top of my vibrator? That might cause a problem with HR. 

"Hmm.. nothing. Why? What's up?"

"Well, the boss lady invited me to her annual charity gala tonight." At least Ted was making leeway with Rebecca. I haven't been able to break through her yet. 

"Ooo. That sounds fancy. And maybe a little scary." I smiled up at him. 

"Well, actually. I was gonna ask if you'd do me the honor of being my plus one. I'd hate to go alone." Ted actually looked nervous to ask me, like I'd ever say no. 

"I would love to be your plus one, Ted." I smiled. 

"Yeah?" He seems genuinely surprised that I said yes. 

"Absolutely! I love a good excuse to get dressed up and eat fancy food. What time is it?" 

"We'll have to leave around seven." Ted answered. 

"Alrighty. I'll see you at seven." 

Lacy Watson: EMERGENCY 

Keeley Jones: WHAT IS IT??

Lacy Watson: I got invited to the gala tonight and I have nothing to wear.

Keeley Jones: Oh, fuck. We need to go shopping NOW. 

***

After trying on dozens and dozens of dresses, we finally found one that looked perfect. Keeley insisted I go with an emerald green dress since it would match my auburn hair. The gown was floor length and showed just enough cleavage that Ted wouldn't have a choice but to look. 

"Lace, you look so fucking fit. I just wanna kiss you on the mouth, right now." Keeley took a step back and made me spin around in my dress. 

"You really think so? You think I look pretty?" Out of nowhere, I got all timid. Just because Keeley thought I looked pretty didn't mean Ted would think so. 

"I think Ted is the luckiest man in the world to be walking into this gala with you on his arm." Keeley held onto my arm as she spoke to me, looking deep into my eyes.

"Alright now I wanna kiss you on the mouth," I joked. 

I had about two hours to go back home and do my hair and makeup. Keeley offered, but she had to get ready to go to the gala too and I felt guilty monopolizing all of her time. 

I curled my hair into beach waves and went with a medium coverage makeup look. I wanted to feel pretty, but I wanted Ted to see me. Not this made up version of me. 

Ted knocked on the door while yelling "I'm coming up!" My heart did somersaults when I heard his footsteps coming up the stairs. I just stood there, playing with my dress when Ted turned around the corner and saw me. 

"Jesus fucking Christ," he mumbled underneath his breath. 

"What do you think?" I spun around so he could see the entire dress.

"I think... I think you look beautiful." Ted softly let out. I felt my face heat up as a blush started to spread across my cheeks. 

"Thank you, Ted. You look quite handsome, yourself." I smiled at him. 

Ted cleared his throat, "We better hit the road, we don't wanna be late." 

As we arrived to the venue, I audibly groaned as I noticed a red carpet heading up to the door. 

"What the fuck is this?" I groaned. 

"Just a few pictures. Pretty much just like prom all over again," Ted laughed. "You're the prettiest person here. There should definitely be proof of that."

"Well, if you say so." 

We got out of the car together and walked up to the carpet. The two of us posed for pictures together, with my arm wrapped around his torso. 

One of the photographers screamed, "Let's get a photo of the couple kissing, yeah?" The other photographers started laughing. That's when Ted loosened his grip from me and gently let my arm down and walked into the venue. Without me. 

Fuck it. I did some solo pictures on the carpet because Keeley was right. I looked fucking fit. When more people started to arrive on the carpet, I walked into the venue by myself. I looked around to see most of the footballers there and also some other people I've never seen. But they all looked scary and rich. 

As I glanced around, I saw a table with Ted, Roy, Jamie, Keeley and Nate. I started to walk up to the table when Keeley screamed, "Holy shit!" 

"Hi, everyone," I waved, sitting in the empty seat next to Ted and Jamie. 

"Let me go grab some drinks. I'll be right back." Ted got up from his chair, stumbling a bit, before running off to the bar. 

My cold eyes followed him to the bar and stared at him as he conversed with the bartender. 

"What's up his ass?" Keeley questioned. 

"Not sure. He was completely fine but then he totally bugged out as soon as one of the photographers called us a couple." I answered. 

"What a pussy," Jamie muttered under his breath.

"At least he has a date, Jamie. You're stuck at a table with your ex-girlfriend," I laughed at him, causing Roy to let out an audible laugh. Keeley and I immediately snapped our necks to look up at Roy. He covered up his laugh by clearing his throat. 

"Shut the fuck up," Roy said coldly. 

Ted came back to the table with a bottle of wine and a shot for each of us. I quickly grabbed the shot out of his hand and took it. Tonight was going to be a long night. 

***

One shot turned into two and one glass of wine turned into two. Safe to say, I was properly buzzed.

Ted spent a majority of the night trying to get Roy and Jamie to get along but obviously, they weren't interested. Speaking of uninterested, Ted seemed uninterested whenever I tried to spark a conversation. Ever since the red carpet, he just shut down. 

"Whatever," I scoffed and walked away. I found myself walking past Coach Beard making out with his date in the hallway. At least someone here is getting some. 

As I approached the bar, I felt a tear fighting to escape my eye. I just didn't understand why Ted was acting like this. Wiping the tear from my eye, I sat at the bar and ordered a water. I should probably try to sober up a bit. 

"Do you mind if I sit?" A voice came from behind me. Roy. 

"Yeah, of course." I motioned to the seat next to me. 

"You alright?" 

I chuckled. "What makes you think I'm not doing alright?"

"You scoffed and left the table like a proper fucking lunatic." 

"Oh, welp. You got me there." I laughed again and took another sip of my water. 

"You're in love with Ted." Roy told me. He didn't even have to ask. He just knew. Not knowing how to respond, I just lowered my head and nodded. "I'm in love with Keeley." That was enough to make my head snap up.

"You what?"

"Yeah. I've been in love with her. It killed me seeing that fucking asshole treat her like that. That's why a part of me hates that prick so much. But now that they're broken up, I just wanna show her what it really feels like to be loved." Roy looked at me. 

"At least she's single. Ted, he's- he's married. I can't be the girl that sleeps with a married man. That's just not me." A few tears escaped from my eyes. 

"Watson, his wife is all the way across the fucking Atlantic. Between you and I, I don't think things are going well between them anyway. Anytime she calls, he looks fucking miserable. You can be the one to show him how it feels to be properly loved, alright?" Roy reached over and wiped my tears away. Out of my peripherals, I noticed Ted looking at the two of us, looking like he's been shot. 

"Thanks, Kent." I smiled. I got up and rubbed his back, showing my gratitude for his friendship. "And if it means anything, and I hope I'm saying this properly, you and Keeley would be the fittest couple in England." 

Roy laughed and raised his drink to me before taking a sip. I walked over to Ted before giving him a sad smile. "I'm sorry I walked out. I think I just drank too much." I looked back over to the bar and saw the Keeley took my spot at the bar, making me smile to myself. 

"It's okay, Lace. Are you sure you're alright?" He rubbed my shoulder, trying to console me. 

I nodded. "Yeah, Ted. Let's go back in." I grabbed his hand, to which surprisingly he didn't pull away, and pulled him back into the room. 

As I walked up to the table, Nate had been sitting at the table, obviously being ignored by everyone else. "How's it going, Nate? That's a nice suit." I said, motioning to his outfit. 

"This? Oh, thank you! Ted got it for me." I looked over and Ted and smiled. 

"For future, just say thank you. You don't have to say that Ted got it for you," I laughed and took a seat next to him. 

After a few minutes of conversation, a man came up behind Ted and tapped him on the shoulder, "You must be the man that's managing my club." 

"Oh god, Rebecca? You in there?" Ted laughed at the man, trying to joke around. 

"Rupert Mannion. Nice to meet you," Rupert shook Ted's hand. 

"Ted Lasso, but you already knew that."

Rupert turned his attention to me. "And you must be Mrs. Lasso?"

"Actually I'm Mrs. Watson. Lacy. I do PR for Richmond." I shook his hand. 

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't know Rebecca started hiring supermodels to run the PR, but you know what? Power to her, and to you!"

"Yeah, well. I think my college degree would say differently." My eyes became cold. I hated this guy.

"I hope you two enjoy the event," Rupert rubbed my back as he left, sending chills down my spine. 

"Pardon my language for a second, but what an asshole." Ted looked over at me to which I just shrugged. I was used to asshole men. That's one of the downsides of being a woman. 

After Rupert hijacked the auction, people were starting to trickle out of the gala. Coach Beard was on the dance floor with his date, Jane. The two of them were just dancing like no one was watching, it was quite entertaining. Next to them was Roy and Keeley in each others arms dancing, which made me heart almost explode. Roy had his eyes closed, he looked like he just wanted to cherish the moment.

"Hey," Ted said as he got up, extending his hand to me, "Wanna dance?" 

"You're not gonna ignore me half way through the dance are you?" I laughed as I took his hand in mine and he lead me to the dance floor. Ted perked up as he realized what song was playing.

"Oh would you look at that? Isn't this your favorite singer?" Ted beamed as he took me into his arms and started to sway us back and forth.

I smiled into the crook of his neck when I realized the song playing was "Labyrinth" by Taylor Swift. I brought up Taylor Swift one time the first time we met and he remember this whole time.

As Taylor Swift sang, "Oh no, I'm falling in love,"  I couldn't help but close my eyes and smile, relating way too much to the song. 

It felt like we were the only two people on the dance floor as the song played. Feeling his heartbeat and his body so flush against mine was incredibly euphoric. As the song ended, Ted pulled away so he could look me right in the face. "You know, I'm really sorry about how I acted earlier."

I sighed. "Ted, it's okay. Seriously."

"No, it's not okay. Hearing them call us a couple just really, I don't know, it freaked me out. I'm just trying so hard to save my marriage and I didn't want anything to jeopardize that."

My heart sank a little bit, "I get it. No worries, pal." I playfully punched him on the shoulder. What the fuck was I doing? 

Ted smiled at the ground before saying, "Alright, we should probably get out of here. I'm gonna go find Nate and say goodbye real quick. I'll meet you outside." 

I quietly gave Roy two thumb's up and winked at him while walking out, seeing that he was still dancing with Keeley. The two of them looked so natural together. 

As I walked out of the venue, I ran into Rebecca leaning against the wall, sniffling. 

"Are you alright, Ms. Welton?" 

She quickly wiped away her tears before cleaning her throat. "Yes, Lacy. I'm okay, thank you. Did you have fun, tonight?"

"Yes, thank you. I had a great time. Except that asshole ex-husband of yours." I sighed, which made her laugh. 

"He is a bit of an asshole, isn't he?" She pretended to laugh. 

"Listen, Ms. Welton. You are a powerful, independent woman and he's an insecure little boy. Your power scares the shit out of him. Do not let him bring you down. You're way too much of a badass for that." I rubbed her arm. 

Her eyes widened as she digested what I had told her. "Thank you. That really means a lot."

"Of course," I saw Ted exit the building, waiting for me by the door. "Have a good night, Ms. Welton."

"Please, call me Rebecca." A warm smile spread across her face. 

"Have a good night, Rebecca." I waved goodnight as I ran up to join Ted. 

Ted and I walked home in almost perfect silence, the two of us feeling perfectly comfortable just being in the others presence. As we reached the flat, the two of us stood in the foyer for a second, not knowing what to say. 

"I really had a great time. Thank you for coming with me, and again, I'm so sorry about acting like a, ya know." Ted seemed almost ashamed. 

"Either way, I really had fun, Ted." I smiled up at him. Something washed over me as I was looking up at him and he was looking down at me. I'm not sure if it was the alcohol or the butterflies in my stomach but one of them were telling me to kiss him. 

As my hand reached up to cup Ted's face, his eyes started to close as he took a deep breath in. I caressed his face with my thumb while I moved my face closer to his. As I could feel his breath on my lips and the warmth radiating off his face, he pulled away ever so slightly. 

"I'm married." He spoke softly. I couldn't bring my hand to leave his face, never knowing if I'd touch his face again. I'd even be okay if I never kissed him. I just wanted to touch him. 

"I'm so sorry. I don't know what I'm doing. I'm just gonna go." I said erratically while slowly removing my hand from his face and rushing into my flat. 

Fuck, I groaned to myself as I walked up the steps. I just needed to go to bed and sleep this off. After slowly getting out of my dress and putting my pajamas on, I sprawled across my bed. I didn't even take my makeup off, I just wanted today to be over.  

Five minutes turned into ten and ten minutes turned into fifteen and I couldn't get to sleep. My mind was racing, thinking about the events of tonight. Thinking about the way Ted's breath hitched as he saw me in my dress and how his eyes instantly fell to my cleavage. Thinking about the way Ted's hand crept around my waist during the red carpet and how his thumb rubbed ever so gently on the fabric of my dress. Thinking about the way Ted's body was flushed against mine as we swayed on the dance floor. Thinking about the way I could see Ted's lips quiver as I got close to him, sensing that all he wanted to do was engulf me in him. How his pupils immediately dilated when my thumb caressed his cheek. 

As my mind began to race, so did my hand. My eyes fluttered shut as my hand slowly went from cupping my breasts to sliding under the band of my pajamas shorts and underneath my underwear. 

A deep sigh escaped my lips as my fingers reached the place that needed attention the most. As I  lazily rubbed circles around the little bundle of nerves, my second hand reached back up and cupped my breast as I started to arch my back off the bed. All I could envision was Ted at the bottom of the bed, laying between my legs.  His mustache adding to the euphoric feeling his tongue was already providing would push me over the edge. His southern drawl telling me how good of a girl I am and telling me to just let go, all over his face. 

Lazy circles turned into quick rapid movements to keep up with my mind's rapid visions of Ted. 

Ted, I softly moaned as I visioned him still laying between my legs, my knees bent over his shoulders and my feet interlocked, keeping his neck and head in place. 

You're doing so good, darlin. You taste so good,  He groaned in my mind. 

That's all it took for heat to begin to form in my lower belly. I whined into the darkness of my bedroom as I finished on Ted's face, in my mind of course. In reality, I had just masturbated to the thought of my boss eating me out. 

I laid on my bed for about two minutes, trying to catch my breath, and also trying to stop myself from going at it again

Christ, I need to get some sleep. I got up to go to the bathroom when I heard little sounds coming from right beneath me. It sounded like something creaking. 

My footsteps stopped in their place so I could hear what was happening. Rhythmic creaking sounds joined by the sound of a low grunting sound. 

No fucking way, I thought to myself. 

Great minds think alike. 

authors note: phew is it hot in here or is it just me? I wasn't gonna post this part until tomorrow but I was literally way too excited to not post it. i hope you enjoyed besties 

taglist: @nerdgirljen

[dalesramblingsblog]

I've been struggling with very peculiar feelings this past month in light of the US election result. Because, like, intellectually, and in spite of my kneejerk "Fuck all of you" reaction (which, to be fair, I did try and warn people would probably happen ahead of time) I *do* care about what happens to America, and not just because they exert a grotesque gravitational pull on world affairs to the point where they'd affect me half a planet away.

No, I *do* care that life is probably going to become much harder for queer people and other minorities, I *do* care that this is probably going to do substantial damage to the country for decades to come. Doomsday will start out of simple indifference, as was predicted by one of the two writers who we'll still be reading in a thousand years (though frankly even Chung's prediction of "a thousand years of the same old crap" sounds downright optimistic right about now), so I never want to stop caring.

But... well, let's be blunt, it will probably have escaped nobody's attention that I have become a lot more jaded, cynical and bitter over the past year or so. And I won't lie, a lot of this comes down to simple plum exhaustion, for reasons that were set in motion long before November, but which certainly haven't been fucking helped by the American electorate's rather idiosyncratic (read: really fucking stupid) choice of candidate.

This is something I've found reflected both in my writing (I mean... I wrote the Longest Day review months ago but it's probably the bitterest thing I've ever written since my piece on The Well-Mannered War, so look forward to that, folks) and my personal life, and I really don't like it. I've never used my exhaustion-fuelled cynicism as a pretext to hurt anyone; if anyone's been the target of any sort of verbal beating, it's more often than not been myself in lamenting how I feel like a burden to my family.

But I don't like being cynical. I don't like being mean. I don't like being snarky. Dale's Ramblings definitely began with undertones of that vein of mean-spirited, shouty Internet criticism - primarily because I was a moody fourteen year old recuperating from two suicide attempts - but I like to think I've made steps to move away from it.

And as for my personal life, I know that this side of me is very much purely a creature of emotional extremes, and doesn't dictate my day to day life. I think of the people close to me and I still feel nothing but love, frankly.

But it still weighs on me, and I can't help but feel that I am, in a sense, letting those same loved ones down by having moments of such soul-crushing bitterness.

I don't know if the bitterness will ever be entirely gone. But I guess that just means I'm going to cherish those moments of genuine enjoyment all the more.

IDK, maybe everyone will read this and think "Nah I didn't notice anything, you're fine man." Maybe taking a slightly grumpy review as a sign that I'm a fundamentally damaged misery guts is a bit overblown (OK, it is).

But yet, it weighs on me...

[thedelusionreaderbitch]

Parental! Kanej x gn! Reader - History repeats itself (sometimes in the worst ways)

A/n: I had a question, a terrible question and decided to write about it :)

Warings: child exploitation, slavery, allea gets slapped my inej when she's in a bad headspace, gore, blood, death, rape (it's alluded to, you never read anything that happens), dismemberment, thoughts about suicide, kidnapping, guns, knives, violence, injuries, swearing, violence against children, I think that's it? You have been warned!

Request by: @nikfigueiredo (I'm sorry this took forever, and I will fulfill your other request soon!)

Summary: When one of the worst things imaginable happens to you, your family stops at nothing to come and save you. Unless of course, it's too late.

The 3 P's:

[Pronouns used: you/your, they/them] [Pov: multiple/2nd person] [Pairings: (parental!) kanej x reader, (sibling!) allea x jordie x reader, (romantic!) kaz x inej]

Inej

Kaz had stumbled into the house with a panicked look on his face, with a crying Allea at his side, Inej knew something was terribly wrong.

She didn't even have to question him for Kaz to know what she was asking, as soon as their eyes connected he knew.

Perhaps even worse, she knew too.

But she had to hear him say it.

"Y/n's gone."

Her breath stuttered in her throat and she had to grip the side of the chair she was standing beside.

It's Jordie, her eldest who asks what truly happened, and the answer makes her blood run cold.

"They were taken by slavers."

No, no, Inej couldn't- She tripped over her own feet and fell backwards, not even registering that Jordie had gone to catch her.

Her child, her beautiful child had been taken by the same people who had taken her, she couldn't even fathom the reality. Why must fate be so cruel? What had Y/n done to deserve this? What had she done to deserve this?

Saints- No. No more saints, no more games! Her- her sweet Y/n, had been taken, despite everything, despite the fact that Inej literally hunted slavers they had still been ripped away from their family. Inej was tired of everything going right then so, so, wrong, she wanted peace for once, she wanted-

She wanted her youngest child in her arms.

"It's okay mamma." Allea murmured softly, as tears bleed down both their cheeks, Jordie taking a step back to give the two of them space. "The saints will watch over Y/n I'm sure of it." She whispered.

Slap!

"No! No more talks of saints, do you hear me!" Inej screams and looks at everyone wildly, as Allea scampers away from her mother, "Never speak about them again!"

"Allea step away from your mother." Kaz's soothing voice comes out like a hand in the darkness.

Slowly, he limps over to her, he doesn't touch her, all he has to do is count a few times until her breathing is under control. Once it is, he pulls her into his arms.

"We'll find her, treasure." He whispers into her hair.

Inej grabs the hand that he's given her, pulling her out of the darkness and finally she speaks. "We will, and when we do will burn them all down."

____________

Y/n

You didn't know where you were.

You didn't know if your family was okay, you didn't know if they were alive and well, hell you didn't even know if you were.

Perhaps this is hell, maybe you died on that boat.

Often, you would look at the door and wonder if you should make a run for it, but you can't you're indentured. You could hang yourself with your silks from the ceiling.

Anything is better then living this life.

Your hand twitches at the collar around your throat but you close your eyes and you open them again to this wretched world.

Terrible, cruel, evil world. Oh, how fate must have been having the time of her life watching you suffer. You didn't want to suffer any longer.

But you are indentured and there are kids here.

It must be a pretty new pleasure house because the kids that were on the boat with you are the same ones who are here now. Most are younger than six.

You curse all the saints above that they look up to you, to them you were the closet safe adult- even parent. You whisper to yourself at night that you don't truly care for any of them, that they don't matter to you.

Yet you know that's not true, it's as true as saying Allea didn't get piss-drunk and fall off of one of your ma's ships once.

Your family, you chocked on tears as you brought your knees closer to your chest. You want your dad, you wanted your mom.

"Y/n?" A little voice mumbled among the darkness of the room you all shared.

"Yes Kai?" You questioned the little girl as she shifted closer to you before you opened your arms and let her fall into them.

"The others want a bedtime story."

Rolling your eyes fondly you called the others over.

"Come here, I know you're all awake."

Eventually, six more pairs of eyes of all different colors surrounded you, and as you gestured for them to get closer they all snuggled into your arms.

"Have I told you the story about Santka Inej yet?"

_________________

Nina

Barreling through the rest of the crows Nina panted before Inej and Kaz.

"We found them."

Kaz stands abruptly and bangs his cane on the ground. "Where?" he growls.

Nina wishes it wasn't true, that you were taken somewhere in Ravka or even Fjerda, that history didn't have to repeat itself. When she found out, she pondered why they had taken you on a boat, perhaps to throw off their tracks? She wonders why it all fell onto you, why did you get all the ugly parts when the others got all the good parts?

"They're here, in Ketterdam."

_______________

Y/n

A man yanks you by the arm, taking you out of your living quarters as he yells something in a language you don't know.

You know many languages, Suil, Kerch, Fjerdan, Ravkan, and Zemeni, there are very few well-known languages that you don't know. It had been something that scared you in the beginning, not knowing what their next move was, even now it still sent an elusive shiver down your spine.

"I don't know what you're saying!" You yell back in Kerch.

"It's okay little crow, you'll find out soon enough."

A man with blonde hair comes up from behind you and grips onto your shoulder as he plays around with a little lion toy in his other hand. You freeze in your place immediately, as you have come to know him as the boss. The man who ran this place.

"Let's get out of here, shall we?" He keeps his grip on you as he leads you out of the building.

It was as if you weren't in control of your own body, you were just a puppet for these men.

"Where are we going." You whisper as he loads you into a carriage with himself and no one else.

"As it seems from all the houses I have set up in Kerch," He begins, and you wish he would stop.

Wait you were still in Kerch?

The man continues, much to your displeasure. "This one has been the least profitable, they don't like the workers."

Probably because they were young children, you scoffed in your head. Most people who come to pleasure houses at least like their workers to be around your age, it helps clear their consciousnesses, although you're not too sure how.

Then he grins and leans down towards you, and what he says next, makes bile rise to your throat. "But they love you."

You hear it first, it's a sound you usually only hear when uncle Wylan is around, then you turn around and you see it.

The building has exploded.

There were screams ringing throughout the air, and fire everywhere and all you wanted to do was run back.

The kids, the kids.

"There are kids in there!" you screamed as you banged on the carriage doors. "Stop! Stop the horses, there are children in there!"

No one stops though, and the man across from you only laughs.

"You little crow, are going to be my prized possession, I am sure of it."

Without thinking you lunged forward. "You bastard!" You howled. "You're a fucking monster, Rollins!"

Alby Rollins doesn't even seemed fazed by all your howling and fighting, all he has to do is shove you to the ground. You crumble as soon as he does, the lack of proper care lets him over power you easily.

"Shut your whining," He slid a hand over your thigh. "I own you, you are mine." He growls, his eyes glinting with things you wish you could unsee.

You don't know what he does to you after that, you had left your body then, the only thing you could think about is what must have been the children. Even if they would have survived the initial explosion, the rubble would have eventually suffocated them.

Did Kai cry out for help, did they cry out for you?

_____________

Kaz

Kaz doesn't believe in fate.

That's what he's repeating to himself anyways, as he sees the man who's beside you.

He may not believe in fate, but this was pretty damn laughable.

It's Alby Rollins who's sitting at the table, with you, covered in black silks, your eyes are covered in kohl and there's some dark feathers that wind around your neck, and your wrists. Inevitably, to cover the chains that bound you to this place.

It's called the fucking sweet shop. Kaz felt like he was going to throw up.

All the other available clients were dressed up like candy, but not you, no this is a different kind of torture Kaz wasn't prepared for, because you're dressed like a crow. Kaz has told you, and your siblings time and time again about how it was an honor to be a crow. That crows always knew how to pick the right people, that they were strong. Now it's being used against you and him, in the worst way possible.

He was sure you'd never wanted to be called a crow again.

Nevertheless the terror doesn't take him, because he's Kaz fucking Ghafa-Brekker, and he was going to show them what happened when they fucked with his kids.

"Mr Brekker, I was hoping you'd show up tonight!" Alby clapped his hands as a smile creeped onto the man's face. "Let's get to our agreement, shall we?" He gesture's for Kaz to take a seat but he stays stubbornly standing, looking at the monster before him with a blank face.

"You said you would set Y/n free during our agreement process, so they could have a pitch in it themself'." He raised an eyebrow at the Rollins. "It's obvious you have not done so."

Alby pursues his lips before his eyes flicker something sinister behind them, behind all that sweetness that people see. Behind the facade, and out of the corner of his eye, Kaz sees you shift nervously. Though he doesn't dare to look at you directly.

"That was before my crow here broke the terms of our agreement." He says firmly as he wraps an his disgusting hands around the chain that was hiding beneath his desk and pulls you closer to him with it. His hand rests underneath your chine, as he forces you to look at him. Kaz's hands twitch on his cane and Alby grins at the thought of Kaz Brekker getting twitchy, not yet knowing the full truth

Just then a woman comes out of the shadows and puts a knife against his throat.

"If you don't release my child now, I will cut your throat." The Wraith hisses, her hands tightening around her dagger.

The demon only chuckles, even as a bead of blood trails down his neck. "What would your saints think of this one Inej Ghafa? Now that you no longer need to kill to survive?" He taunts her.

"Didn't you hear? Our mother is an extension of the saints themselves." Your sister's voice comes to hit everyone's ears, as Jordie stands beside her, a gun in hand, as she has a knife in hers.

Kaz, despite the situation couldn't be more proud of his family, for coming together, defending each other like this. Though, he would trade it all if this were to never happen, he would've traded his own freedom to make sure this never happened to you, yet he can't change what's happened. So, he has to make sure this pathetic bastard will never stand on this earth again, that he would find out how Dirtyhand's wrath would feel after years of being soothed and coddled.

Nervously, Alby looks frantically all over the room before he sighs in defeat and steps away from you.

For the first time since coming in here, Kaz lets himself properly look over you, his kid. As you walk over to his side, he sees that your eyes underneath the khol are puffy and red rimmed. While the black silks cover you more nicely that he would have originally thought, he can still see the blood that is slowly dripping from where the chains around your wrists, and neck have dug into your skin. Kaz wants to throw Alby Rollins against a wall.

Revenge, would be quicker this time, so his child wouldn't have to suffer at the hands of this man ever again.

However, because of the fact that he was distracted, just even for a second, it was a second too long.

Alby smashes his head back into Inej's face causing her to lessen her grip on her weapon slightly, but enough for him to get out of your mom's iron hold. He darts to his desk, narrowly missing a bullet that Jordie shoots and grabs a clawed knife and pulls his arm back and throws.

Leaping towards you, Kaz tries to push you out of the way, but it's too late. The claw embeds itself in your eye, and you let out a shrill scream, while crimson starts to cover your face.

Kaz takes you in his arms, and to the best of his ability tries to comfort you as Inej and Alby dance a dangerous fight with knives. The blonde only goes down when Jordie shoots him in the leg.

Immediately, Inej kicks away her fallen weapon from the first time, and seizes the demon's weapon as he stays on the ground groaning in pain. Then he's at the mother bear's mercy.

Inej

She waits for your cries to calm, therefore Kaz can join her. She knows your siblings will take care of you, but you need your father's love first, your dad's rare embrace to calm you enough. To console you, so you don't break out into a panic attack, and faint, or worse.

Inej wishes that she could be doing that for you, that she could remove your chains and sooth your tears. That she could be the mother that you deserved, that she hadn't failed you despite the fact that you were taken by the same people she's vowed to destroy.

Glancing in your direction she catches a glimpse of your figure slumped into Allea and Jordie's arms. As her husband makes his way towards his wife.

"It's time for death to take you Rollins, just like it took your father." She hisses as Kaz nods once and she lifts her dagger to carry out the killing blow.

"Wait!"

Hobbling to your parents, you stand in front of the man that took you, that took everything and more from you with a hand limply covering your eye. Even while the clawed dagger sticks out of it.

"Don't kill him." You whispered as you pluck the blade that Inej had dropped and step closer to the man.

Inej can't help but let panic engulf her for a moment as her eyes widen and lunge forward to stop you as you get closer to the man. She couldn't let him take you away from her again, she couldn't let you go down a path you wouldn't be able to come back from.

However this once the Wraith is not fast enough, neither is Dirtyhands, who dove in front of you. They both miss you by a centimeter, just one, but it's enough for you to do what you'd intended.

With force they didn't know you possessed, you sliced your blade and Inej heard two sickening thuds on the floor. Your chest heaves, your eye go awry and all she wants to do is take you into her arms.

Even if she knows you've done something terrible, possibly irredeemable, she knows that you're her kid. Her wonderful child, and nothing will ever take that away from her. She doesn't care if you killed hundred men, with the state that you are in now, she would always pull you into her loving embrace and let you cry. She can see the way your body quakes and how you blink excessively to make sure it is all real.

Inej is shaking too, shaking in fear for your soul. She hopes that they haven't molded you into their will, made you something you could never be.

Then you burst with sudden energy, and a scream of pain is heard from you as you pull the clawed dagger out of your eye and shove it down Rollin's throat.

His eyes were like saucers, wide and afraid. Gurgling, his quivering hand goes to his neck as you cut something in his mouth and he goes to scream but nothing comes out.

Releasing him, his head drops forward and his mouth opens. As it does, Inej looks on with horror as Alby's tongue rolls out of his jaw onto the floor below. Following it with her eyes she spots two other pieces of flesh on the floor and Inej quickly realizes, it his severed hands.

A dark part of her is proud, proud of you for taking initiative, proud of you for doing what you thought was right. Another part of her, is disgusted, and asks why didn't you just kill him?

"Listen carefully Rollins," Your voice pulls her out of her moral debate. "I am going to let you go, let you walk away. But if I ever hear of you in Ketterdam again, if I ever hear of you opening up an establishment anywhere in the world."

You haul him up by his collar and snarl, "I will destroy you, brick by brick."

Slowly, Inej turns her face to look upon Kaz's petrified expression.

Kaz

Kaz can't slow his breathing, not when you look like he used to.

When he was relentless, when Inej was unafraid. He thought he had officially left that all behind, behind in the depths of the barrel, now he was back and it had all been resurrected in you.

Your eye - omen's eye, getting taken - Inej being kidnapped, being put in a pleasure house - Inej being placed in one as well. Saints, he never told you about his motto when he was teen! There were more though, why did there have to be many similarities? Why did fate want to torture him so?

My crow, he thinks somberly, as he sees you with your head held high despite the tears lining your eye.

I'm sorry.

Words 3117

-thedelusionreaderbitch

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