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djljpanda · 2 years ago

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Hey I’m new here! And I find it amazing about your writings! Here’s my request, it’s about Wally Darling being the king of hearts, the au it’s from Neonross, so far what I know the AU (cuz it’s in process) it’s about kingdom that it’s divided from hearts, cloves and diamonds kingdom. But it’s unknown about the spade kingdom. (Possibly disappear or extinct by the others kingdoms)

I have been imagine a lot what if… or how about… Wally Darling! King of Hearts! X Y/N! Last descendant of spade kingdom? Where the reader is an undercover last royal lineage of the spade kingdom and it’s planning a revenge towards the king of hearts… but somehow it’s turning the otherwise as they fall in love with Wally.

@neonross On Tumblr

I apologize if I didn't do Wally's personality well. But I tried my best I hope you like it.

You were the youngest sibling, really just one year younger. But your older sibling was to be the rightful heir of the spade kingdom. You were fine with the fact you didn't have to do any boring royal duties. Everything was good until you had to leave for some position items that are found outside of the kingdom.

The Spade kingdom is the only kingdom that is far from everyone. It's a kingdom that was taught in positions and is very much fit for war, said to always have competitive or insane rulers.

You may say you fit that rope but you didn't care. You know what the three kingdoms did to your family and all you really want is some revenge. Took you awhile but you are ready to put your plan in motion.

When you were younger you had heard your parents mention one of the late Queen Ambrosia friends, the sorceress Poppy and how yet she is too trusting for her own good. So you decide to start with Poppy, you have seen her walk around the market but as you try to walk up to her you see a child hungrily looking at the red apples. So you gave him an apple only for the owner to hold on to your wrist where you told the child to run. The owner kept you there as you both made a scene. That was until Poppy came forward and stopped the commotion by telling the owner that she will take off the issue. You had walked with Poppy where she thanked you for your kindness to the young child, "Well we should never let our future generation to be hungry as for what they will do for us" "What a kind one you are. I haven't seen you around here before...Where do you come from?" "Ah sorry I'm Y/n-no last name from some farming land more south in the hearts kingdom" "That explains why you would want all your family's apples to go to everyone I expect".

You were taken back to Poppy's place where she had offered you tea which you expected. You say there explaining how you want to live a better life not wanting to be stuck in the farm lands forever. Poppy felt very bad and after thinking it over she spoke up, "Well I guess our majesty King Wally had been needing someone new to take care of the rose bushes and the apple trees. Are you up for the offer?" "Yes that would be my great break", you said not helping but smile as Poppy laughed at your antics.

The next few days you started to maintain the garden as you thought how to get close and kill the king. As you were lost in thought while picking apples you heard a charming voice which made you look down to see the king. "I heard you are my new gardener, would you mind if you would give me an apple" "Oh well here you go your majesty", you said coming down to give the king his apple. "Oh please call my Wally" "Well my name is Y/n", you said holding out your hand which Wally took. From that day forward the king will visit you. He would even help you with the apples and roses. Would even listen to your suggestion about the garden, "Cause if we have blue flowers the red ones will pop more. Same goes for the green and yellow apples the red ones will pop" "I see". Would even bring along the queen of clubs Julie and the king of diamonds Frank. You loved the fact all the four kingdoms are all in one place but they don't know that.

You started to hate yourself because why are the royals still alive. You would break everything in your room as your guilt started to hit. So one night you thought to just get it over with but you heard Wally yelling so you wanted to check out now. But when you got there you saw an assassin and Wally pushing him off. The assassin looked at you and not wanting someone else to kill Wally you thought this would be a good way to get your frustrations out.

Wally watched you get rid of his assassin. His eyes were stuck on you as you finished with the assassin and came up to him. You rubbed his cheek asking him if he is alright. Wally said he was and he was amazed by your strength on how you can be deadly but so sweet. When he is with you he feels more safe. He trusted you more and from that night all those feelings became love.

You enjoyed the fact that Wally was getting close with you. If you kill the king of hearts it would send a message to every other Kingdom. The perfect time to kill him was the heart kingdom banquet that was coming up. A banquet where all the royals and their courts come together and just hang out. Before the banquet you had used some undetected poison in the king's drink. But once you were done Wally himself came up to you. "Are you going to the banquet?" "Oh well I'm not really part of your court" "But you are my close friend" "Friend?" "Definitely. I love your skills, your intelligence, I'm happy to have met you". The conversation was short but you didn't pound on it too much.

At the banquet you stood as everyone else sat and talked. You had never been more disgusted in your laugh, just watching them laugh and having a good time just made your blood boil. That was until Wally made a speech about his late mother. The words he spoke of her felt genuine and even Poppy had started to tear up. Hearing his speech made you think of your family and why you are doing this all in the first place but in a small moment you had a change of heart. You knew which drink had poison, it may be undetected but how can you be a good poison maker without knowing your poison.

After the toast you thought about what could happen. If they did kill your family why be like them when you can be the bigger person. So many thoughts ran through your head as you swallowed the drink. Your knees began to become weak as your life flashed before your eyes. The last thing you heard was Poppy asking you if you are okay.

You woke up as you sat up looking around the room. You felt stupid that the poison wouldn't have worked next time you would use something else. But you stopped when someone came into your room. "Oh my goodness you are alright I was growing more worried", you looked down as you didn't want to see the king's face. As he walked up to you but there he had some roses. "You did my request?" "Well yes they do make the red ones shine". You look at the colorful roses, "Why save me when I'm just a gardener" " Because why would I let someone like you die. I know you are here for a reason as from what Poppy told me. You big break just started why would you let it go to waste. Also you had saved my life the second time around so I might need you there for the third?", Wally kept talking as you just sat there and listened.

You were stuck in bed due to the poison messing up your legs. Many have visited you but the one who surprisingly visited the most was no other than the king. He would come and tell you about his day, to bring you food, tell you all sorts of stories. You had still wanted to hate Wally but it was getting harder to do so. Maybe instead of killing Wally first you find out why he along with the other kingdoms kill your family. But while you were stuck in bed you felt yourself becoming sick again, love sick. You didn't think killing a king would be this hard, he is the king of hearts after all but you will find a way you promised yourself that.

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expresso-bean · 1 day ago

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The Man Out of Time [A ShadAmy and Silver Story]: Chapter 27

Pairing: Shadow the Hedgehog x Amy Rose

Description: It has been seven years of peace following the grueling war with Eggman and his army. Though it took time to rebuild what they have lost, life for the Freedom Fighters could not be better. Whether it's finding love or trying to run from their past, celebrating post-war times has been different for each them.

All is well until a silver hedgehog comes knocking on Amy Rose's door to deliver the tragic news about an incredible force that seems to be the cause of the future's destruction.

Will anyone believe the mysterious hedgehog's cry for help? Or will he be left to fight for his future alone? Read to find out!

Warnings: None

Word Count: 4.3k

POV: Third Person

Masterlist ❀ Ch.1 ❀ Ch.2 ❀ Ch.3 ❀ Ch.4 ❀ Ch.5 ❀ Ch.6 ❀ Ch.7 ❀ Ch.8 ❀ Ch.9 ❀ Ch.10 ❀ Ch.11 ❀ Ch.12 ❀ Ch.13 ❀ Ch.14 ❀ Ch.15 ❀ Ch.16 ❀ Ch.17 ❀ Ch.18 ❀ Ch.19 ❀ Ch.20 ❀ Ch.21 ❀ Ch.22 ❀ Ch.23 ❀ Ch.24 ❀ Ch.25 ❀ Ch.26

The house was quiet. It had been long since Shadow, Silver, and Amy over Silver's cooking while drinking the fruit-flavored sodas Amy had brought back from her quick trip to the market. Though they talked for a while after their meal, Shadow had convinced her to go and rest while they clean up the kitchen and prep for the big spaghetti lunch he had promised her tomorrow before training.

He stood in front of her door and quietly cracked it open to see how she was sleeping.

'She looks so peaceful,' He smiled, softly closing the door. 'The things I do for you.'

Shadow crept downstairs where Silver was waiting for him in the kitchen. On the counter near the stove there was a walnut wood cutting board and a wide-cut knife next to it. When the silver hedgehog spotted him, a smile spread on his face. Shadow nodded to him in acknowledgement.

"So," Silver clapped his hand's together. "what do you know about making spaghetti sauce?"

"There are salt and tomatoes in it."

"Yes, that's true. What else?" Shadow just stared at Silver. There was nothing else for him to say. Silver pursed his lips until they made a 'pop' sound. "So I'll take that as nothing else. Lucky for you, this is actually pretty easy. Since you're a beginner, we'll start with the most basic tomato sauce anyone can make."

Shadow nodded as he sat in front of the counter near the stove. Silver started going around the kitchen. First, he grabbed a pot from inside the oven and quietly placed it on the stove. Then he started rummaging through the fridge. He looked over at Shadow and motioned him to come over. Shadow swiftly walk over to him. He held out his arms and Silver placed a clove of garlic, a branch of basil, and another of parsley.

"If you could just put those on the cutting board that would be great!"

Shadow nodded and placed the on the cutting board as directed. He looked over at Silver how was organizing something in the fridge. He then stepped away from it and closed it. He walked over to the stove and pointed at the bowl next to the stove.

"Usually, we would use fresh tomatoes to make sauce, but we're going to try and fix this, um," Silver smiled nervously while looking at the mess of tomato water and pulp in the bowl on the counter. "base. But don't worry, this is an easy fix!"

"How?"

"It's real simple," Silver reached out and grabbed a can off the counter. He popped open the can of paste and placed it on the counter. "So, for this, we're using some unsalted tomato paste. It's thick right now, but once you mix it in with this, it'll balance everything out. And remember, no more salt. Amy doesn't really care for salty food that much."

"And you know how?"

"I told you, I helped her out with grocery shopping," Silver reiterated. His tone slightly aggravated Shadow. But he knew if this partnership with him was going to work, he had to keep his thoughts to himself. For better, or worse. "This is all we need. Before we turn on the stove, we're going to prepare the ingredients,"

Silver rolled back his shoulders and dusted off his hands. He opened a cupboard and pulled out a pepper shaker, oil, a bag of sugar, a dry herb shaker, and a big and small can with red labels on them. After organizing everything on the counter near the stove, he grabbed the knife by the protective sheath and handed it to Shadow.

"When cutting with limited supplies, it's best to use a wide-cut knife like this one."

"Okay."

"Your going to want to finely mince the garlic. Here, let me peel it for you first," Silver picked up garlic and moved to the sink on the other side of the kitchen. Shadow took of the knife's protective sheath and began practicing different cutting motions.

'Seems easy enough.'

"You've done this before, right?" Shadow jumped a bit at Silver's sudden presence next to him.

"Yes?" Shadow nodded. Silver smiled and placed the naked clove in the middle of the cutting board.

"With the knife, you are going to want to cover the clove with the side of the knife and press down on it. Try not to use all your strength, just enough to mush it," Shadow nodded and turned the knife onto the side and softly pressed down on the clove. He then lightly striked the side of the blade with his other hand. He was relieved that he didn't break anything and even more relieved when he saw that the garlic split perfectly into three even parts.

"That was perfect. Now just chop at it until it's finely minced," Shadow carefully chopped at the gloved several times, careful not to let the paste of the garlic get ever where. It was a slightly tedious job, but the more the chopped, the easier it got. "In any other case, you would add a touch of salt, not only for added flavor, but to also to keep the garlic from separating while you chop it. But like I said, no more salt."

'I feel like I should be taking notes. I'll just have to write all of this down later.'

"Wow, you're a natural at this!"

'I am aware that my culinary skills are limited, but I could handle a knife pretty well all things considered.'

"That should be enough," Shadow nodded quietly and scooted the minced garlic to the end of the board. "Now just chop up a couple of the leaves of basil and parsley while I get the pot ready. Don't worry I'll tell you what I'm doing so that you know what to do for next time."

"Mhm."

"You want to lightly coat the bottom of the pan with oil. You don't need to much," Silver took the oil and lightly poured it into the pit. He grabbed the handles and tilted until the bottom was evenly coated. "When it comes to cooking, unless your rushing or reheating, you always want to set it to a medium to high heat," He turned on the stove and looked over at Shadow. "That looked perfect! Be sure to set some parsley aside for the end, okay?"

Shadow looked around and spotted a small bowl near the oil. He gathered some of the parsley and set aside.

"First, we'll add in the paste and the base you made. Let me get you a spoon," As Silver went to fetch a spoon, Shadow looked at the oil in the pot beginning to shimmer with the heat. Already the kitchen was beginning to smell like the beginnings of a delicious meal.

"Here. Pour in the paste and base and give it a stir," Shadow dumped in the paste followed by the mess of watery tomatoes and salt. He grabbed the wooden spoon that was neatly side on a small plate next to the stove and stirred it in carefully until it became one smooth concoction.

'Wow. You can't even tell it used to be an abomination.'

The more he stirred, the more the sauce began to boil and the aroma of tomatoes began to build up in his nose.

"When you hear it start to sizzle like that, it's your cue to put in the rest of the ingredients. If you let it sit for too long you're more prone to burn yourself with the hot oil."

'That is actually quite helpful.'

"Start with the items on the cutting boards. Just use your hand or knife to slide it into the sauce carefully. Then, you will want to stir it in for just over a minute. Burnt garlic will ruin the flavor of the sauce."

"Right."

As Silver instructed, Shadow slid the basil, parsley, and garlic into the red mixture. He then stirred it all into the red sauce.

"That looks good," Silver commented. Shadow could hear him in the back putting things he had used in the sink. He then walked back next to Shadow and grabbed one of the spice containers. "While you have an eye on that, I'll open these up for you. Trust me, the smell is going to be amazing."

Shadow was too focused on stirring to respond. He wanted it to be perfect.

'I'm doing everything right so far. I can't mess anything up now.'

"Okay, the sauce looks amazing so far! Now, add in these."

Shadow set the spoon on the small plate and looked at the other ingredients before him.

"Any particular order?"

"It doesn't matter, but you can start with the oregano for a bit more structure. You'll only want a pinch since we'll add the rest of the parsley later. Then a couple of churns of pepper. And finally, some sugar to balance everything out and to neutralize the salt."

"Oregano. Pepper. Sugar for balance," Shadow added the corresponding ingredient with each word. A thin layer of the three ingredients set itself on top. Shadow stirred it until it was finely mixed in with the red sauce.

'It looked better!' Shadow smiled to himself proudly. Something about accomplishing something that looks so delicious from something that not even a starving wild hog would eat fulfilled Shadow. 'I wonder what else I could make?'

"Ah, smells like home."

"Home smells like tomatoes?"

"It smells like my father on birthdays. He would always make spaghetti dinner. Though, he liked to add pepper flakes to his for a bit of a spicier taste."

'Oh. Adding in pepper flakes doesn't sound too bad.'

"Have I stirred it right?"

"Yeah, make sure to reduce the heat."

"Sorry."

"It's okay," Silver quickly looked over Shadow's shoulder and chuckled softly. "And there it is!" Shadow heard Silver rummaging around the cupboards underneath, and he planked down a clear glass cover. "Here's a cover for the pan. After this, we have to wait it out for the next half hour. Just stir it every ten or so minutes to make sure it doesn't stick, and then we can put it in the fridge to chill it until tomorrow."

"Hm." Shadow gave the red sauce a couple of gentle stirs. The aroma was amazing for something so simple. He made sure the heat was on the lowest possible setting before covering the pan. Silver had already started putting things away. 'It's a shame the kitchen won't smell like this forever.'

"Wait," Silver's hum was barely auditable. "Let me take care of the dishes and wipe the counters. Just make sure everything is put away."

Silver nodded. There was a thick silence in the air only broken by the sound of running water. The smell of soap filled the room. He had already missed the rich smell of tomatoes from before.

"S?"

"Hm?" Silver hummed, closing the cupboard gently. Shadow could feel his eyes lingering on him. He didn't break away from scrubbing the cutting board. "What is it?"'

"Thank you, for teaching me this recipe."

"No problem. I've never taught anyone before, I worried I wasn't going to do it right," Silver let out an airy chuckle. Shadow could feel his smile from where he stood. "But I'm glad you could get something out of it!"

Shadow felt the air become less thick. As if a weight was lifted out of the atmosphere. Shadow carefully rinsed the knife off until it was gleaming. He placed it in the dish rack. He walked over to the stove and leaned on the counter next to it. He watched as Silver lifted the lid. The steam rose to his face and his nose twitched from the warmth. He stirred it a bit before closing the lid and putting the spoon down in a little bowl next to the stove.

"I'll check on it again in another ten minutes."

Shadow hummed in response.

"Did your father teach you this recipe?"

"Actually, this is the first recipe my aunt taught me when I was really young. She loved making pasta and would make me a spaghetti dinner for my birthday. When she passed, to make me feel better, my father would carry out her tradition," Silver check on the heat again before moving to the counter across from Shadow and hoisting himself up. "But to answer your question, yes, he loved cooking. He would tell me stories about how his cooking won over my mother. It was so embarrassing to have to listen to him fawn over like that," A sad chuckle filled in the area. His once-broken gaze found its way to the glass of water in his hand again. "I'd do anything to hear those stories again."

"Your father taught you greatly."

"I truly am sorry."

"Don't be. We both knew the consequences of coming over here."

'I knew it.' He nearly whispered. Though, he wishes he could have been wrong.

There was something Shadow had been hiding. Something that he hadn't even told Rose.

He knows about the Time Stone.

He knows that once he is done using it and he attempts to go back, there will be nothing for him to return to.

The Time Stone often requires a sacrifice for each use. The doctor who created him would sacrifice his work to get Maria back. His sacrifice will be dying without seeing his father for one last time.

"Still. Your sacrifice will not be in vain. What you are doing here is noble. Never lose sight of that."

"I'm not scared of what will happen. A part of me is happy. I will have another chance in a different life. And you guys will have a new future to discover."

"That must be..."

"Difficult? I know. I haven't exactly come to terms with it either."

'I haven't exactly made it easier, have I?'

"I have faced worse enemies in my lifetime than the ones coming. Another battle would be nothing I couldn't handle. But I have come to realize that version of me had nothing to lose. I've built too much now. There are too many people I have to protect," Shadow looked up at Silver, who was staring at them, completely engrossed with Shadow's words. He was at least glad to have Silver's attention. Rarely has he shown the ladder this much vulnerability. "It was unfair of me to pick you as the bearer of my anger towards my own failure to protect what I cared for deeply. I'm sorry for that."

"Oh, um, it's okay, Shadow. I am in the prime of my life right now and I still haven't exactly processed everything completely," Silver held out his hand and Shadow watched as a cyan mist covered the empty cup next to Silver. The cup moved to hover itself over Silver's lap. It then began to slowly flip over itself. "But with everyone's help, I know there is nothing I can't do."

Now that we have that out of the way..."

Shadow readjusted his posture against the counter. Silver, confused, slid his finger over and lightly placed his empty glass in the equally empty sink.

"What is it?"

"I need you to start being more honest with me."

"But-"

"I could care less about who your parents are. But there is something I need to know," Shadow interrupted. "You aren't related to those villains, are you?"

"Why would you even think that?"

"I understand the secrecy behind it because it could be one of us. But the problem is that you look nothing like us or other people we may know."

"What are you suggesting?" Silver questioned with an almost offended tone.

"The girl you mentioned has physic-like abilities, as do you."

"Trust me; it isn't like that. I'm only following my father's orders. He didn't want anyone to know who he was."

'An anonymous being...?' Shadow pondered.

"Did you have siblings? Or at least a mother?"

"No, no siblings. It was only my dad and I. My uncle and aunt never had any kids," Silver went slight for a moment. Shadow tilted his head, not knowing what was on the other's mind. Then, Silver let a sigh. "I never met my mom. She passed away a little after I was born. My father talks about her a lot, though. He says I have her eyes."

'None of us have golden eyes. Unless it's Espio. But he's a hedgehog and has no signs of being a chameleon. Could it be someone new? What about an old enemy? Someone else?' Shadow shook his head slowly. 'No use in asking him. It's noble that he respects the wishes of someone he will never see again.'

"I'm sorry about your mother."

"It's okay. Can we just move on already?" Silver muttered out.

"Of course. About that plan," Silver's head perked up at the word 'plan'. Shadow cleared his throat slightly before continuing. "It makes little sense that we should train together. Both groups have different tasks to complete and other opponents to face. Would it not make more sense to have those groups dismantle and work with those same people?"

"That's actually a good point. And I'm regretting not thinking about that sooner."

"Do you even know everyone's abilities before planning everything out?"

"I know...some!"

Shadow rolled his eyes and sighed. He knew he had his work cut out for him with that one sentence.

"Each person has a unique fighting style, and through the war, we saw who worked better with one another. Despite many changes personality-wise, there are certain things that we both need to be wary of."

Silver nodded intently. He pressed some buttons on his bracelet before looking back up at Shadow and waving his hand for him to continue. Shadow chose to ignore his strangeness.

"Amy and Knuckles work well together as they have similar fighting styles, but their hot-headedness makes their strong personalities class. I've seen them stop in the middle of battles to dish one out at one another."

"They get along well now, don't they?" Shadow gave Silver a look. A look that he hoped would communicate some of Amy and Knuckles' last interactions. Silver's expression shifted, and he nervously chuckled. "Oh, right. Yeah, you've got a point."

"Knuckles works better with Rouge compared to Amy, but they are also prone to arguments. They need a buffer."

Silver typed out more things into his watch. The tip of his tongue slightly poked out from his mouth as he concentrated.

"So, Knuckles and Amy are a no-go, but I can put him with Rouge. Got it," He looked up at Shadow with a slight grin on his face. "What about everyone else?"

"Tails is the strategist. A genius if I ever saw one. His mechanical intellect was on par with the Doctor's. Though, he can fumble under pressure if doesn't have a fighter with him."

"Why not put Cream with him? She knows him best."

"Cream is a good scouter since she can fly. She can fight, though, she would rather avoid it if the choice was hers."

"Oh, hm, that's tough," Silver paused to think for a moment.

"Sonic?" He questioned haphazardly.

"That could work, but no. Not only is this serious, but Tails is too compliant with Sonic. Tails will allow Sonic's arrogance to rain freely and push the opponents past their limits to test his own strength."

"I remember. He's full of himself," Silver muttered. He shook his head in almost regret as he said that. "But what do we do with him then?"

"Put him with Rose and I. Unlike the others, I am not afraid to step in to prevent any conflict with him."

Silver nodded in agreement.

"That form of him. It's too dangerous to be let out again."

"What anyone has failed to tell you is that isn't as absent-minded as he appears to be. He is in full control of what he is doing, form or not."

"So you mean, if you hadn't stepped in, he would have...?"

Shadow shook his head. "No. Despite his anger, he would never dare to kill an innocent person. Which brings up his main issue."

"What is it?"

"His stubborn nature allows him to try and spare someone if they show any sliver of humanity. He will try and negotiate with the enemy to try and avoid killing someone. In any other predicament, I would agree with him. But from what you tell me, both of these beings are beyond redemption."

Silver went silent. His demeanor seemed to darken in a way Shadow had not seen before.

"You can't let him try and reason with them," Silver said in a low voice. He wasn't even looking at Shadow, which uneased the black and red hedgehog.

'This is strange, even for someone like him.'

"You have to promise me you will put an end to this. For the future of you and the people you love."

Shadow nodded, not entertaining the odd seriousness in the other's voice with a response. This seemed to anger Silver. His eyes gleamed with what seemed to be anger.

"Promise me."

'This is important to him,' Shadow bit back a sigh. 'I shouldn't…'

He rarely makes promises. He has only ever promised four people anything.

He promised the Doctor who created him that he would always look after Maria.

He promised Maria that he will always keep kindness in his heart even after she is gone.

He promised Sonic he would destroy him and everything he stands for.

He promised Rose to stay and protect Mobius.

Though it does not count, he even made a promise to him to protect those he cares about. That includes the things those people care about too.

He has only kept two out of the five. Both of which were Maria and Rose respectfully. All things considered, he has a 50/50 track record.

"Shadow?" Silver interrupted the silence. Shadow nodded again.

"I promise," Shadow reassured.

"Good," Silver whispered, relieved. "There is some evil that cannot be reversed."

'Something about that sentiment…'

Shadow tried not to let his real emotions show on his face. But he couldn't help but have this pit in his stomach. Usually, Shadow was more calm in these situations. Nothing phases him. But Silver's words have been spoken to him countless times before, even by the very people whom he calls his friends.

'It doesn't sit right with me.'

"Getting back to the plan," Silver interrupted. Shadow perked up and nod for him to continue. "What I’m getting at is Sonic, Amy, and you will take on Anti…”

"Rouge, Knuckles and yourself will distract Ace long enough for the three of us to neutralize the other. You said you came close to defeating her, correct?" "Yes, but-" Shadow help up a finger to signal for him to stop. Silver shut his mouth almost immediately and hummed a muffled 'yes?'.

"With training, you are only bound to grow stronger through these coming weeks. Not only that, you will have two other people to help you."

"Do you really think I can do this?" Silver's words were laced with uncertainty. He looked at Shadow, who could tell he was desperate for reassurance.

"I don't think you can, I know you can do this," Shadow moved slightly closer to Silver. He noticed the silver hedgehog's wandering eyes. The nerves were practically eating him alive. "Do not doubt you own abilities because of the pressure. You have experienced warriors on your team that rely on you as much as you are willing to rely on them in this moment."

"T-Thank you, Shadow. That's pretty nice of you to say."

"Well," Shadow smirked. "I'm not heartless."

Silver couldn't help but smile softly. Shadow tried to ignore the contagious happiness it brought to him.

"Wait, there still something I don't understand."

"What?"

"Why are there only two teams of three? What about Cream, Tails, and Sally?"

"Sally can be the fighter to complement Tails and Cream. We can still keep the aspect of the plan where Tails drops the enemy at our feet, but until then, the rest of the them will ensure the other’s army does not expand. I doubt they will come empty-handed. We have to set aside people who can care for that," Shadow paused for a second, trying to gather his thoughts. "If you didn't already know, Sally is no ordinary person. She's the heir to a kingdom and a natural-born leader. She will likely request aid from her father, the King, for the use of their royal guard and access to their technologies."

"Oh, wow. Really?"

"Hm." He hummed.

"I-I didn't know that."

"It isn't outward obvious, considering she lingers around us as if she isn't royal-born."

"It's so funny. I thought I finally figured everyone out. But it seems this timeline is full of surprises."

"Did your father not inform you of everyone?"

"Not really. I wasn't even supposed to stay this long. But he wanted me to meet of of you. He wanted me to help all of you. But after I informed all of you of what would happen, I was meant to go back in time and show up for the main fight."

"It feels like I'm living out the childhood I never had. That was his dream. To be surrounded by the people he loved."

"I'm sure he's very happy for you, even if you are not there with him."

"He has company," Silver reassured. Something in his expression changed when he did. Shadow tilted his chin up for a moment, trying to read his expression. "There is something I haven't asked you."

Shadow nodded. Silver seemed to hesitate, looking away to avert his gaze to his hand that was resting on his knees.

"There is still someone who's missing. I meant to bring it up earlier, but with everyone's emotions at an all-time high, I forgot to mention it."

"Missing?"

"Yes," Silver's gaze suddenly landed on Shadow. It was oddly intense for the usually aloof hedgehog. Shadow tilted his head upwards as he tried to read his expression. "There is still one person I haven't met in my time here."

"Who?"

"Where is Espio?"

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blueberrypancakesworld · 5 months ago

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Private training

Career Tributes x recruit!reader

warning : obsession, some touching, kiss, no use of Y/n, nicknames

Summary : The four from the best districts there were, young examinees who had eliminated all others in the Hunger Games and wanted the four golden future teachers, four young teachers who had their eyes on a new recruit. The only solution private training four times because as outstanding talents they should be entitled to everything, shouldn't they?

info : Not only because of dear anon i found motivation and an idea for the four of them, it was also nice to write for them again, have fun reading :)

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Cato

Everyone knew the golden boy from the second district, his strength for thousands of millions was to be seen when he simply broke the neck of one of the players, how fast and precise he was with the sword and had slaughtered his opponents, it was brutal, horrible but above all without mercy.

A young man now after the 74th games it would soon be the 75th games bigger more brutal and above all even more successful and more memorable than the last, which is why the respected mentor and coach was not surprised that he received a letter from Snow asking for his strength for the new players. But he hadn't expected it to be such an extraordinary new recruit.

So he found himself in front of this pretty little bird, almost too gentle to lift anything heavy and too powerless for a real blow, ,,But your wings are beautifully dipped in black,” he murmured as he approached her, entering her personal space and squeezing her hand, his lips approaching her ear and his hot breath giving her a goose bump.

His rough hands seemed to feel her body, but he seemed to have noticed this very thought as he withdrew with a smile of pleasure. The new black training uniform was tighter fitting whether intentionally for the audience or not he couldn't tell but it didn't bother him a bit as he watched what exercises she was doing.

Pure strength wasn't her strength anyone could see that but his blue eyes saw her agility, she reacted quickly well quickly almost more than well, ,,A quick flight you have birdie use that…come here!” he called to her and watched as she came back to him trying to ignore the judges watching over them as usual.

He had felt comfortable in the attentive makite but she seemed to want to disappear like a shadow but he wouldn't let that happen so he grabbed her in front of him and put the sword in her hand.

His hands on hers covered her even more fragile, smaller but above all helpless, something he had often seen in others and something he loved, ,,Just let me guide you, do you understand?” it came like a question but it was more of a command that she answered with an almost choked ,,Y-Yes, I understand” as he moved.

Still a little stiff at first, after a few minutes of being pressed against him she seemed to relax and let him lead.

Cato heard her sweet smell, it reminded him of flowers, pretty flowers between his fingers that only he could hold. Soon he slowly let go of her as she made the sword movements herself, it seemed that his bird was about to blossom under his watchful eye, such training had to be used not only to win but also to catch a pretty bird.

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

Clove

The golden girl and the golden boy from the district two hopefuls who had been through blood before the games had even started.

Two contestants who together could have won it all according to the estimates, bets, calculations and the other districts, but in the end even they would hardly have believed that the four of them had made it, a win was a win and that was all that mattered.

But even after the games were over, the four of them celebrated, and unlike Cato, who continued to train recruits and not escape the battlefield, Clove continued to indulge in her training and weaponry, of which there was never enough.

Until she was asked by Snow to take care of a recruit who would take part in the next games. Her time was precious, the president and the others knew that, which was why she had the training room to herself with her recruit, apart from the observers and judges.

,,Weak as a mouse, cute to me at most, but not convincing to them,” she said harshly, pointing to the glass behind her where the men who had gathered here were sitting.

In order to get a better picture, she accepted Cato's suggestion and handed a few weapons to her peer. The only way to find out what you were good at was to train endlessly like her or just keep trying until you didn't trip over your own feet and make training dummies stop.

Minutes almost turned into hours and Clove lost more and more of her already low spirits but her eyes never left her mouse, she was really cute she had to admit her attempts to be as good as she could be and yet fail so miserably again, ,,Twitchy scared little whiskers you have my mouse take these knives here…and put them on me” the dark haired one demanded and stood a few meters away from the other.

She could see the overcoming in the recruit and felt her own smile on her lips as she felt the adrenaline in the arena for a fraction, but she caught every precise knife throw, it was more than a good start to begin with.

Clove caught the knives and walked them back to her little mouse, ,,Precise very good keep it up and I'm right here for you my scared little mouse” she said and the tip of one knife pressed lightly against the younger girl's cheek as the dark-haired woman feasted her eyes on the uncertain expression before Clove pulled back satisfied with her reaction, the game was going to be interesting.

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

Glimmer

With pink glitter and feathers she came riding into the arena with her teammate Marvel overwhelmed by the mass of spectators and eyes on her but this attention was something she learned to love. Since then, she had kept her frilly style with lots of attention but most of all gemstones as a reminder of her father.

Gemstones were her chosen design and were almost worked into every outfit, the glitter had to continue. Since she had won the games with the others, she was relieved, more than relieved to be able to continue living, but also to finally be able to do something she had always liked in this brutal place.

Her survival had been worth it, she had won and her honor, her reputation had only increased. Shortly after the 74th hunger games, Glimmer rose to become the top designer for the entire Capitol.

She was responsible for every new design, whether it was for District Twelve or a new suit for Flickerman, she had her fingers in every pie of the Capitol.

Until she received the somewhat surprising letter from Snow, she had even met the president a few times herself to design a new dress for his granddaughter.

But this time it was about something she hadn't done for a long, long time: fighting. In the performance room, however, she found herself face to face with a pretty butterfly, almost an image of herself from back then, pretty, engaging but not yet deadly if you got too close.

,,A butterfly in my design, pretty but you can always be better” she said and the blonde moved towards her student, letting her fingers wander over her arms, feeling the small precious stones on the buttons before she pulled the zipper down slightly.

She could see a little of the bust, it would at least be enough for an extra point or two with the judges, something she had done herself, had to do.

She was aware that she wouldn't keep her student for long if she didn't show results but the designer felt she had found a new muse, a pretty butterfly that would be hers in her room, something she wanted to and would try out new designs on, ,,Something that pretty needs to know how to kill though?” she asked, pointing to the various weapons laid out.

A grin appeared on the blonde trainer's face as she saw the other grab a bow and arrow, a weapon she had once chosen herself, it was okay not as perfect as Katniss was for the games but the okay was enough but she wouldn't make that mistake again.

She let her shoot so that she could aim and as good as this weapon was at a distance, something she had to maintain, Glimmer came up to her after a few minutes, ,,Distance is safe for a start but close combat is even more deadly…you just have to be faster” she warned and grabbed the rubber knife the blonde was about to wrap around her pupil and put the tip of the knife on any deadly body points that would have brought her opponent to the ground with a real knife.

But Glimmer didn't let go yet and stayed pressed against her for a moment before she left a kiss on the other girl's cheek as a farewell, ,,Keep training with the knife, sweet butterfly, and I'll be right back with you soon,” was the last thing the blonde said before she disappeared from the training room.

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Marvel

The young man from district one had been raised, trained to kill and hunt until the victim lay before him, his father a hunter to emulate him, he too had signed up for the games and entered the arena, the capiteol and finally the Hunger Games with his comrade-in-arms Glimmer.

He was someone with strength and a will to win, but never forget to have fun, because that was the best part of the whole thing. From the moment he arrived, he laughed knowing that charm and wit could make people like you, so shortly after the 74th Hunger Games, Marvel found himself moderating before or after Flickermann.

He conducted interviews and showed glimpses into the secret worlds of luxury, including meeting his friends Cato, Clove and Glimmer again and again “by chance” until he received the letter from Snow and found himself back in the training room for a long time, but his interested eyes settled on a pretty sight.

,,A cute bunny that would be an interview for later mhh would you like that?” he asked seeing that she felt uncomfortable under the eyes of the judges but for him it was a matter of course as he was seen every day.

He slowly walked over to her inwardly thanking Glimmer for the new tracksuits pretty in that black clinging to the body a really pretty victim she herself wasn't even aware of something he loved, being superior having his fun and being allowed to teach something so cute.

He placed his hand on hers and brought it to his lips, placing a kiss on the back of her hand he felt the smile on his lips as he saw her embarrassment, ,,Don't be so shy always smile and be funny for them and for your life remember bunny” he admonished before he broke away from her and went to the weapons looking at some of them memories of his own training he had reached a year ago and so much had changed for the better when he had her with him.

Marvel instructed his student to fight with the weapons to show what she could do and he assessed what was the best they had to train together besides all the TV appearances and announcements of course.

His bright eyes were already on her, imagining the interviews and aftershows, the pretty clothes and how she would always have to stay with him to avoid being eaten by the Capitol.

,,You are truly quick as a rabbit try it here with me” he said and took a spear in his hand his weapon since ever demostrietre not only to the audience but also to her a well aimed throw that hit the mark and the doll was pierced and dead if it was a human he made an angdue bow for the audience he saw her incredible in her own power.

He stood next to her and put his hands on her body again, correcting her position, ,,That's it, that's it my rabbit, now strike out and just let go," he whispered softly, hollering out with her before the metal spear whizzed through the air and dug into the doll's abdomen, not piercing it but killing it.

He saw a smile on her lips as she rejoiced in the motivation and hope that she could really do it and Marvel knew that once she was victorious she would be all his for his interviews and beyond as he left his new star in the training hall.

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

@daegalyah , @sleepygirlmia

#hunger games #cato hunger games #marvel hunger games #glimmer hunger games #clove hunger games #cato x reader #clove x reader #glimmer x reader #marvel x reader #the hunger games

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theadventurerslog · 18 days ago

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Quest For Glory IV: Shadows of Darkness | Part 9

The Adventurer's Log

Baba Yaga time! What will she want from this time?

Well, it wasn't frog time. Disappointing.

I walked in to get a bucket of water dumped on my head then she appeared and froze me.

There she is...

And here's my herosicle.

She still remembered me, claiming I turned her into a frog. She was the one who cast the spell! I just reflected it. At least share the blame. She was mad.

"You turned me into a frog, didn't you? Thought I wouldn't remember you? 'Let's just visit Baba Yaga and see what we can turn her into today,' you thought to yourself, hunh?"

And bitter.

Then she tried to decide between hero sandwiches or 'eye scream', deciding to go straight for dessert if I didn't have anything to say for myself.

Obviously I lingered silently first to get a death.

"Food for Thought?"

I tried to bring up the gnome. She wasn't impressed.

She really does like her food.

I tried talking to her about other stuff and in the midst of that her bat buddy chimed in wanting Elderbury Pie instead according to her translations anyway. Then that made her want some. Batty saviour also reminded her I was the one to bring her the mandrake that made for some lovely mousse. So she made a deal with me to bring a fresh elderbury pie and she'd let me go. The way to her heart truly is food.

I have the berries and a pie pan. I wasn't sure how to pie-ify it. Thankfully Bonehead came to the rescue again when I talked to him. He had the recipe for me:

Bonemeal - need to find bones and crush them

Grue Goo - I scooped more up last time I was around the Dark One's Cave so that worked out

Elderbury Berries - I got those already

Pie Pan - I bought one way back

So I just needed bonemeal. I wasn't sure where to get bone. No luck at the cave which is magically sealed or the cemetery so I tried for the swamp...

And glided straight into its loving arms.

I need add nothing more.

I did find some bones though! Then I needed to figure out a way to crush them.

I went back to town to get more corn in case I need to feed the hut again and maybe Igor could help with his tools? Igor was of no help. Maybe the hut could crush it?

No, but as soon as I arrived...oh yeah, the GIANT MORTAR AND PESTLE sitting outside her hut.

Right there. That I'd wondered about previously. So yeah, that worked and I used a flask to hold the bonemeal. Showed my disgusting finished pie to Bonehead and he told me to show it to their lead skull who then cooked it with those lasers they fire.

I didn't even need more corn for the hut; Bonehead told it to sit down for me.

Baba Yaga being Baba Yaga couldn't just let me walk in. She turned me into a hedgehog.

Who's a cute little hero? I could just finish the rest of the game like this.

She was gonna eat me again until she was reminded I was bringing her the Elderbury Pie. It 'wouldn't be polite' to eat me now and I could be useful in the future. Everyone wants to use poor ol' Cinder Win.

She did offer a reward for the pie once she changed me back: the gnome's humour, a spell, or 'something' useful.

I got a little panicky at this point because these all seemed to be things I needed as I tried different things with reloads. The spell is a hide spell and the 'something useful' is the ritual that was supposed to be in the tree.

As it turned out when I tried entering again after making a choice, you can give her more food--garlic to get another reward. I'm just glad I happened to have two cloves and she was good with getting it twice.

I got a Good Humor Bar for the gnome.

He has been a bit pathetic yes.

I got my hide spell.

And I got my ritual. I also found out that the ritual could be used to summon a Dark One OR send it back to its own world. Finally an answer to why I'm even collecting these! I mean I'm sure an answer was coming and maybe I'm not doing things in an ideal order in terms of information, but good to know now. That said, she said it'd take a very powerful wizard to succeed at sending one away and didn't think I qualified. Hmph. I'll show her.

The Dark One's Cave has been around for years and was the cult's place of worship. They wanted to bring a Dark One to the world but failed. Dark Ones come from another plane and bring darkness, madness and destruction. So basically eldritch beings? She doesn't want me messing with the cave as she doesn't want to have to leave due to me ruining the neighbourhood. Thanks. As for the Dark One they were worshipping, it's stuck in limbo now. So, I'm assuming it's gonna get summoned and I'm gonna be sending it back.

But its magic aura is leaching into the world, thus all the fun dark stuff and undead and whatnot. It also affects magic so stuff like crystal balls don't work well. And it's what caused me to end up in the cave; I was summoned by the people in the castle but interference led me there instead.

And she also told me I should go to the castle sometime and that there was a secret passage. I'll get there, I'll get there.

Aside from wanting to eat me she was genuinely quite helpful. Good clarification on the Dark Ones, including that they're basically a their own species and it was just one Dark One like I thought.

And now I could go help Punny Bones. Yay? Since I've also wholly completed elderbury berry related things, I thought maybe I could properly answer Leshy's next riddle too.

I could and he had a new and final sounding one for me. "Watch out for the Faerie Queen."

What is it faeries seek? I don't know, but I'd like to find out for myself too! I wondered if I should try to find that faerie fountain that appeared at night, if it reappears anyway.

Onward back to town for now anyway. I gave Punny the Good Humor Bar and he was very happy. I'm not sure he was all that much better to be honest, and he was being a real jerk about dwarves.

But that wasn't half bad I'll admit. Not necessarily a major hit, but not bad.

He intends to give one last show then continue on his merry way. Before I left he told me the ultimate joke.

He's gotten back the whole name rhyming thing gnomes have had anyway.

Didn't share the joke with ME the player, oh no schmoe.

He advised using it on some big bad about to do me in then make my exit while he's laughing. We'll see I suppose.

I ate some dinner then napped for an hour which took enough time for it to be evening enough for Punny to give his final show here.

He made several jokes about the town and its people and it was better than the first show at least... It made some sense. He also gave me a shout-out for the help. And ended with a bow. He's still no Keapon Laffin (even though the wordplay is very similar). I think partly it's just his voice putting me off. It's obnoxious... he's obnoxious so it fits, but...

Return of the down joke which came up with Alichica in Shapeir.

He's headed off to Silmaria next. Not sure how he's intending to get there given I thought this valley was inaccessible now, but that's his problem I guess. Gnome will out?

The innkeeper and farmer trio were certainly more appreciative this time.

Ya did something good, Punny, I'll give you that. You could stop being such a jerk about dwarves though. More dwarf jokes--and they're mean-spirited!--came up when I talked to him individually again.

Anyhoo, that was that. I was still waiting for full nightfall to see Katrina but a short nap took care of that. (And Punny really was gone, even his room was cleared out.)

I met up with Katrina and she gave me another healing potion. I won't say no to those.

She works in the castle and that's why she can't see me in the day--someone might notice her absence. Is that the only real reason though. No one's allowed in unless invited.

You're making me uneasy, lady.

She had to go but she wanted to meet again some evening outside the castle gate as it'd be too dangerous for her to come here again. She also doesn't want me to mention her to the gatekeeper or she'll get in trouble for sneaking out.

Still making me uneasy.

I had a few other night tasks:

the gypsy leader said will o' wisps were said to be children's souls so somehow getting one to the squid stone could get me another ritual and I haven't even seen them yet

find the faerie fountain again if possible

sleep at Erana's staff for a dream?

Will o' wisps first, not that I was sure how I'd get one...

Found them!

They didn't respond to my greeting.

But given they're supposedly children souls I thought I could offer candy and it worked. It was put on the ground and they clustered around it. And if Zelda has taught me anything it's catch things in bottles, so one of my many flasks came in handy.

That was simpler than I thought it'd be. I feel a bit bad though...

And the squid stone is in the next screen over. Using them made runes appear and I was able to use the Dark One's Sign again.

Got another one of these point the sign at the right things in order puzzles. I recognized this as similar to the sign and letters down in the monastery basement, so I figured I needed those letters specifically and checking back on my screenshots the A had a notch indicating a possible start.

I tried going in order in both directions. Alzoov didn't work, but Avoozl did.

A slot opened and I was able to retrieve the next ritual. I'm only missing two now, though I have no idea what to do about either one.

I couldn't find the faerie fountain again. I ended up at Erana's Garden and decided to try sleeping there. I'm not actually totally sure if Bella meant Erana's staff or garden as she talked about both. I did get a dream.

It started well.

Then things took a dark turn. Trapped by darkness. Unable to breathe. Darkness tearing the warmth, life and magic away.

Then I woke from the nightmare the next morning, it still seeming perfectly clear like it had really happened. Yikes. Rough night, though I was still restored. Rough morning too because there wasn't any fruit on the tree, at least not yet.

Another day and I wasn't quite sure what to do now. I still need two rituals but no clues there. I need it to be evening to see Katrina again. So, let it be a talking day until something comes up. Gypsies first, then Rusalka then back to town.

I went to see the gypsy leader, Magda. She had a strange vision about me:

Strange yellow bird like a bird but not a bird? My...rubber chicken? Something to do with Leshy maybe? The elderbury bush? Some other bushy area? Baffling. I would like to find a use for that rubber chicken though. Maybe the hawk I sometimes see??

I also learned more about the undead here. Some stuff I knew already like the rusalka, but she also talked about vampires. Finally vampire talk.

A person drained to death will come back as Revenant. If the vampire shares its blood with the victim the victim will come back a vampire but a slave to its Vampire Master and can't harm them directly. Sometimes someone won't be drained completely and can live until a natural death and then rise from the grave.

Also some info about the Boyars. The last one was a strange man supposedly. His son apparently left the valley in shame and horror. The gypsies returned when they heard Borgov Castle was inhabited again, thinking the son had returned and they could trade again. They found out from the gatekeeper that the last of the Borgov family was dead and the castle owned now by a distant cousin who promised to protect the valley as a true Boyar. They were able to do some trading with the gatekeeper but never saw a sign of this cousin. Then the rains fell and they were trapped here.

I also got another card reading that summed up to some kind of master and apprentice turned slave relationship and bound man wanting revenge once freed. On me I'm sure. Vampires, it's vampires. Is Katrina the can still live until dying naturally type Magda spoke of?

I headed out and stopped by the Leshy bushes, but no chicken luck there. Give up your secrets, Rubber Chicken.

Not too much from the Rusalka. She did talk about the swamp a bit more.

I didn't have any trouble getting away from that tomb though. That said, enchanted swamp certainly fits.

I gave her more flowers too. Why not? She appreciates them.

Nothing much in town though the Burgomeister keeps telling me to please be careful now. That's nice. And I bought some more garlic and candy just in case.

Dr. Cranium had a couple new options. I could ask him about his career after he said I'd make a good assistant if he didn't already have Frankie.

Eh.

I could also tell him about Silmaria.

Maybe that'll be in the next game.

I really wasn't sure what to do now beyond kill time until evening so I could go see Katrina again. I've had plenty to do so feels a bit odd that I'm at a 'now what?' state again. It may be castle time soon... I don't want to try again until I've talked to Katrina, so I’ll just have to see what comes of my meeting with her.

#quest for glory #QFG 4 #shadows of darkness #QFG_4_Log #sierra #adventure games

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fourchuu · 3 months ago

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Day 19: Palette 3

Character(s): Vivienne

wc: 747

The sand was hot but it was as soft as ever. Back home in Playa, Vivienne was fond of laying in the sand. Feeling the sun tan her skin as her family played in the water. Here, it was more dangerous but it felt the same. Warm and comforting. It was dryer here than in Playa, a plus. But it lacked that smell. The salt, the fresh seafoam that washed over the shores.

But Vivienne can't complain, the people here are nice and there are far more of them than Playa.

Walking outside, she threw on her thin shawl and began walking. Her job wasn't far, but it was a good walk away. Enough to see the scenery everyday. The nude-ish orange buildings decorated with bold teals and pinks. The dark green cacti with bright pink prickly pears blooming from the arms.

Women and their children sitting outside talking to neighbors, occasionally waving to Vivienne as she passes by.

Vivienne walks to a pale yellow building, it's a two story, squat but full of everything one needs. Inside is the town curandera, a wise older woman well practiced in her herbal medicine. Walking through the wooden door, Vivienne is greeted with the soft scent of sandalwood.

"Ah, Vivienne." She smiles, sitting on a stool putting together sachets of herbs.

"Come here, it's a slow day."

Vivienne walks over, sitting across from her. She picks up some sachets and begins filling with each herb displayed on the table.

"How are you?"

"I'm good, Gloria, how are you?"

"Same as always." She laughed.

They continued packing things together, a bit of anise, some nettle leaves, a few pieces of clove.

"We got a shipment this morning, could you unload the boxes?"

"Of course." Vivienne stood and walked over to the back room, there were glass canisters of herbs, spices, even some glasses of lye water. But along the back door there sat three large crates of products Gloria ordered.

Vivienne began the process of opening and paying out the contents of the crates, carefully putting them out before stocking some of the product onto their counters and shelves.

The two heard the bell of the front door open.

"Hello?"

A stranger, a young woman probably in her thirties.

"Hello, welcome to our curanderia." Gloria said.

"Do you do readings?"

"Yes! Vivienne, could you give her a reading upstairs?"

"Yes, follow me." She led the lady up the stairs and into their reading room.

Upstairs the floor as four rooms separated with sheer drapes. Vivienne led the woman into the room with the bright orange sun drapes. A warm sunny room with the light shining into the room.

Vivienne began shuffling her deck of cards.

"We use loteria cards, but we can use a tarot deck if you'd like." Vivienne says to the lady.

"That's fine. I'm-" She stops, thinking of what to say.

Vivienne continues shuffling her deck as she waits for the woman to give her the question she's wording.

"I want to know if I should choose route a or b. Route a has a handsome man, a future with love. Route b as a change of scenery, an uncertain future."

Vivienne takes in this dilemma. She picks out two cards for route a and another two cards for route b.

Flipping them over, route a has la sandia and el diablo, roube b has el tambor and la pera.

Vivienne collects her thoughts before telling the lady.

"While he may be sweet, he may have devilish intentions. Route b has sweetness too, and the drum tells you to see this route through. It may not be what you initially want, but it can be trusted far more than the other."

She nods and listens intently to Vivienne's words.

"Thank you. I will ponder on this more, if I need further readings can I come back?"

"Of course!" Vivienne smiles, "We are always open to new people and familiar faces."

"Thank you, here." She hands Vivienne some money for the reading.

"Thank you."

They walk downstairs as Gloria continues packing sachets.

"She's a good reader, huh."

The lady smiles, "Yes."

"If there is any further help we can provide, don't worry about asking."

She walks around, looking at their wares.

"If I need any, I won't hesitate." She smiles at Gloria.

She picks up an herbal bath sachet and walks over to the counter. Vivienne checks out her items, getting the correct money before waving her goodbye.

#bweirdoctober #never thought I'd tag this #the arcana mc #vivienne #apprentice oc #fuck I gotta make another tag #memories do not always soften #<- arcana tag ig #writing

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ejzah · 9 months ago

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A/N: Here we come to the end of yet another story. Thanks once again for for your support and love for this story.

***

The Other Shoe, Epilogue

One Year Later

Deeks moved around the kitchen, dicing some onions, stirring a pan of chicken, grabbing a couple of cloves of onion. He’d gotten home from work 45 minutes ago, and started in on dinner, knowing Kensi would be back later than him.

In the last year, a lot had changed. For one, he could walk down the beach, even run, without feeling like he’d collapse. He’d recovered from his transplant surgery better than could be expected. Although he had returned to most of his previous activities pre kidney failure, he had officially resigned as an investigator upon receiving his medical clearance.

Now, he supervised a team of NCIS lawyers and assisted with modifying agency procedures and guidelines as needed. Much like his job as liaison, he had a feeling that the position had been designed specifically for him. It was hardly what Deeks had expected for himself, but he found he enjoyed most of the work.

A timer on his phone beeped and he absentmindedly turned it off, grabbing the medication sorter off the counter, and popping the contents in his mouth along with a swallow of water. Humming a John Denver song under his breath, he continued cooking. He heard the front door open and close, and called out,

“I’m in the kitchen!”

Deeks looked over his shoulder as Kensi walked in, barefoot and in a tank top and jeans.

“Hey, welcome home, Lady Bird of my Heart.”

“Hey. Ooh, what’s for dinner?”

He grinned at her eagerness, nodding to the pan of peppers and onions. “Fajitas and semi-authentic rice. How was work today,?”

“Good. I taught a baby agent how to disassemble an incendiary device hidden inside a truck,” Kensi told him excitedly. Deeks turned around completely, his eyebrows high enough to touch his bangs.

“You what now?”

“It was a simulation,” she clarified quickly. Deeks visibly relaxed.

“Could have led with that, baby.” He left the stove to wrap his arms around her, and kissed her temple. Kensi tipped his chin down to kiss him more firmly on the mouth.

“Sorry. I just got excited,” she explained. “As much as I don’t miss the danger, I do miss the adrenaline rush that comes with fieldwork.”

That was another big change; shortly after Deeks settled into his new position, Kensi decided resign as well. Kilbride hadn’t been pleased to lose two of his team within months of each other, but ended up recommending Kensi for a supervisory position as well. She now trained incoming agents fresh out of FLETC to prepare them for their first real field experiences.

“I know you do,” Deeks said softly. He also knew his health crisis had played some part in her decision to step down. Thought Kensi insisted it was for many reasons.

“How about you? How was your day?” Kensi asked, reaching over his shoulder to sneak a piece of chicken.

“The new edits to the handbook were accepted. Finally got the definition and duties for an NCIS investigator clarifies more thoroughly.”

“That’s been bugging you for years! Congratulations.” Kensi kissed him again, as though he’d performed some impressive feat.

“I mean, it’s not nearly as exciting as yours,” he pointed out.

“Hey, don’t downplay your efforts. Because of you, future investigators won’t have to wonder about their scope of duty. Of course, it also means they won’t be able to use it to their benefit like you did.”

“True. It was fun to mess with you guys.”

“Yes, I know,” Kensi said dryly. She slid a hand up into his hair, leaning into him. He felt the gentle rounding of her stomach pressed against him, and he brushed his fingers over it.

“And how’s Baby Deeks-Blye today?” he asked.

“Happy and hungry.”

“Dinner will be ready in a few minutes.” He grinned again, squeezing Kensi against him. “Does baby want salsa tonight?”

“Definitely,” Kensi responded immediately. She slid out of his arms, heading for the cabinets. “I’ll set the table.”

Deeks watched her for a few moments, overwhelmed by the simple delight of it all. Last year, he thought he might die, and here he was healthy, happier than ever, a baby on the way.

Yeah, a lot had changed. He’d always be on medication, he had to watch his diet to a degree, and his days chasing bad guys were gone forever, but he found it didn’t matter as much as he thought it would.

In the end, he was just happy for a second chance.

***

A/N: Sorry for the slightly cheesy ending. Hope you enjoyed this final bit of lightness after all the dark and angst.

#ncis la fanfiction #marty deeks #kensi blye #densi #fluff #the other shoe #epilogue #ejzah fanfiction

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perfectpurls · 2 months ago

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Flufftober was an absolute blast this year! I wrote about 34k words across 11 fics, covering 26 regular prompts and using 5 of the alts! Three more fics using 5 of the remaining 10 prompts are still on my "to write" list, so I'll probably work on those in the near future In the meantime, here's my round up, sorted by fandom:

Nancy Drew

Citrus & Cloves: Ace realizes he's in love with Nancy when a spell makes him smell citrus and cloves. (favorite scent; ingredients & spells, "wait, you love me?"-"I always have")

Ace's Coat: The first winter after they break the curse, Nancy notices Ace being weird about his coat. (hoodie weather; "I can't find it")

Trapped in a Cabin: Nancy and Ace get stuck in a cabin after a case. (acorn, chestnut, pine cone; chopping & piling wood; only one bed; afternoon stroll)

Rainy Day: On the anniversary of breaking the curse, Nancy plans a special day with Ace. Unfortunately for her, the universe has other plans. (rainy day; porch swing)

the only memory is us (kissing in the moonlight): When George loses her memories of the supernatural, Tristan steps in to help. ("this is spooky"-"really?"; bewitched; comfort food; make a wish)

The Case of the Haunted Tech Billionaire: When Ace is concerned his new house might be haunted less than two weeks before Nick and George's wedding, there's only one person he can ask for help. (heirloom; haunted house)

pouring out my hopes and dreams to you: Nancy never wanted to work at the Claw. The job is a drag, and she can’t manage to get on her coworkers’ good sides. The only good part about the job is it gives her time to talk to EagleScout98, who may be as dedicated to solving mysteries as she is. A “She Loves Me” AU. (mistaken identity; “Don’t do that” – “But…”; yarn)

Hudson & Rex

Runaway Rex: Rex has a habit of running away from his pet sitter. Luckily for Charlie, he runs right into Sarah. (lost pet meet cute)

Stormy Night: Sarah turns to Charlie for comfort after a nightmare. (stormy night; lucky charm; "I've got you")

Julie and the Phantoms

Bonfire: Julie hasn't written music in over a year. Not since her mom died, anyway. But when she hears a mysterious guitar on the night of the senior class bonfire, inspiration strikes. (bet, game, contest; yes, no, maybe; bonfire)

Twisters

Campus Visit: It's Kate's first day of her re-started PhD program, and what she needs more than anything is moral support. Luckily, Tyler's there every step of the way. (Left, other left!; attic, cellar, hidden room; "what are you wearing?" - "It's laundry day!"; "I hate it" - "no, you don't")

Thanks to the team at @flufftober for hosting such a wonderful event! I can't wait for next year's prompts!

#flufftober2024 #nancy drew #ndcw #twisters #julie and the phantoms #jatp #hudson & rex #nancy x ace #george x tristan #tyler x kate #julie x luke #charlie x sarah #fanfic #writing #welcome to fluffville #population: all of my fanfics

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aza-writes · 1 year ago

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Revenge or Revolution

Chapter 1

• District 2 • Six Years Before the Revolution •

My calloused, tough fingers work fast as I braid the feathers around the fishing hook. I tell myself to make the wire tighter in my head before my mom says out loud a minute later.

"Tighter, Ivory! Or, do you not care about winning?" my breath gets caught in my throat. I hate when she uses that tone, it means she's disappointed. I hate disappointing her.

"Yes, mom. I'm sorry." I know better than to reply with anything else. I pull tighter before one wire slips from my finger, unraveling the whole thing.

"It's fine." Her tone shifts as she lets out a sigh. She's still disappointed, but more subtle in showing it while accepting the fact that I still have areas to improve in. I feel worse now. "Just take a break. Go work on your flashcards."

"Yes, mom." I go into my room away from our "future Victor workstation." My mother came up with the idea when I was very little and I gave it to me as a birthday present for my fifth birthday. That was ten years ago. Ever since I've been training.

My mother has been very controlling with all my training and preparation aspects. She wasn't abusive in any way, she wasn't even mean. I felt love from both my mom and dad. They told me they loved me, but only when it was deserved or earned. It makes sense for love to be conditional, you wouldn't want to love an idiot loser who can't even give you something in return. There are many ways to earn love in my family, but most of them come with being the best at something like getting the best grade in the class or winning one of the many stupid contests they hold at school, and there are a lot. It's one of the many ways competitiveness and drive are instilled in kids in District 2. Not that I mind the competitions, they're mostly fun. They're also a way for me to win another medal or trophy for the case in our dining room. I fill with pride when my mom smiles and announces to our family, basically the whole neighborhood since she insisted the windows had to be open to "let in the fresh air," that she was the mom of a winner.

And it wasn't that my mom was mad if we didn't win or if we came short in one of the many events or training exercises in a career district, she just added another thing on the list of things my sister, Clove, and I need to improve on. She doesn't do it because of reputation or anything, she was just concerned for my sister's and my future. Mostly mine since I'm older. And her efforts aren't in vain. Even at fifteen, I hold the title for the female with the highest ranking in the district, in all aspects.

Bow and Arrow: Perfect Spear: Perfect Swords: Perfect Axe: Perfect Knife Handling: Beyond Perfection

Most people specialize in one or two things, but my mom insists I'm a "well-rounded tribute" because you never know what the arena will be like or what weapons will be available. It's also why she has us practice specialties of other districts. Climbing trees like Seven, fishing like Four, simple engineering like Three, and stuff like that. It's what allowed me to beat out all of the older students. If there was one thing they weren't good at, I could capitalize on it.

It's also why my mom pushed on survival skills just as much as combat. "The poor districts may not be able to fight as well, but they are scrappy as hell. They know how to survive on nothing because they have nothing. So you have to outsmart them." Followed by this speech was an extensive lecture about every victor ever, how they won, and why they won. I've sat through that lecture so many times I'm able to pick up on the patterns of each district. One and Two are similar in how they are the strongest in combat, but Two is better with a variety of weapons instead of just one or two. Three was brains, Four always had something to do with water, and Seven was best with close combat. The rest are a scramble of dumb luck since there weren't many victors from those districts. A lot of them only have one or two victors of each gender that are still alive.

Even now as I study my flashcards I'm learning about the other districts. My flashcards include plants from every district and every region of Panem where the games could potentially happen. I look at the many plants, roots, and barks and name what it is, their identifying features, and how they can be utilized. Eat, poison, medicine. And if it's poison or medicine I have to then state how it would help or hurt someone. I got these flashcards on my fifth birthday along with the "victor station."

I don't know why my mom makes me go through these flashcards, it's been months since I got one wrong. And I only got it wrong because it was one of the new ones added.

I toss the deck to the side of the bed as I look at the clock on my desk. 4:45. Clove should be finishing up her training soon. If my training is enough to get me in the games, then Clove won't have to go through all of this. Mom will have her victor, she might let Clove stay good enough to earn respect amongst the District, but not high enough to have her be chosen to volunteer. As much as it is an honor to be chosen to volunteer and win the games, in the end, you're still killing people.

I go through some of my other decks of flashcards for another fifteen-ish minutes. Identifying soil, matching the bite to the bug then the treatment, and other simple survival trivia that I can't learn firsthand in District Two.

Tap... Tap Tap... Tap Tap Tap... Tap Tap... Tap

Right on time.

Clove's signature knock echoes from my door, indicating mom gave her approval for her to be done with training for the day. She knocks this way to politely ask if I'm in training or not. Instead of walking into my room and risking interrupting me. I don't know why she started it or even when, but it's been our tradition as long as I can remember. A smile grows on my face, excited I finally get to spend more than a few minutes with her.

"Come in, Clove." My door opens, Clove peaks in with a small smile on her face.

"Has Mom dismissed you yet?" Her voice is in almost a whisper, worried she's interrupting me. Even though she did her knock and I gave her verbal confirmation to come in, she still asks.

I nod my head, even though Mom hasn't come into my room and officially declared it yet, but it's the time she usually would come in. "Yes ma'am, I'm all done." In a millisecond she comes in and hops on my bed next to me.

Fragments of her uniform are still on, just not as prestige as it was at the beginning of the day. Her shoes, tie, and jacket are off, and her school dress pants have been replaced with softer trousers. The only thing that remains the same from the morning is her hair up and her collared frilly tank top that the younger grades wear, reminding me of her short time between the end of the school day and training. Since I'm older and it's a more formal part of my day, I have designated time to train, but for her, she goes directly from school to a private trainer. Most kids don't start practicing until they turn ten, sometimes they wait until they're twelve. Like me, Clove started her training when she turned five and started weapon and then combat training two years ago when she turned eight. Our training has been almost identical, starting with practice weapons and survival skills starting at five, then combat training beginning when we turned eight. Although we were trained in all weapons, there was an emphasis on knife handling. It was a long and short-distance weapon that provided an extra level of protection.

Clove sits right next to me on my bed, our shoulders touching. "How was your day?" Her voice is soft. Well, as soft as hers can be. She isn't annoyingly loud, but she isn't weak by any standards. She is confident in herself and her abilities. She's the smallest girl in her grade but she scores higher than them in every aspect. I hope this doesn't mean anything though, that my training is enough for me to gain the win for our family and she can slow down her training. Maybe she can even enjoy her childhood without thinking of how every second she isn't training, she is failing our parents.

"My day was good. School is school. Training is training." She leans her head on my shoulder and I rest my head on hers. I'm not a fan of any kind of physical touch, but I like Clove's. Her's was comforting. "How was yours?"

Her hands reach for mine. "It was good. I got the highest grade on my history test."

"Atta girl."

She smiles softly, relishing in the praise. "Thanks." She sits up and looks at me. I can't make out her expression. It's worrying but also very matter-of-fact. "Mom was mumbling to herself at the victors station. What happened?"

I meet her gaze, a small smirk appears on my face. "I can't make a fishhook." I giggle a bit, trying to make her not nervous. Anytime I'm not doing something perfect, Clove worries. I get it. I have high expectations this year. Not just my family, but the whole district. If I won these games I would get the title of "Youngest Female Victor" ever, giving another "only," "ever," or "first" victor to add to their collection. It's still hard for my district to talk about the 65th Games. Saying it's not fair that the youngest victor is from District 4. They might be able to tolerate District 1, but 4 is unacceptable. Me winning might start a chain reaction of children training at the age of five, producing younger and younger victors.

Clove's eyes search mine, trying to see if I'm worried or not and if she should be worried too. "But you'll get it, right?" She sounds like mom. So much like mom.

"I'll get it. Besides, it's not something I 'need' to know."

"Don't say that. You need to know everything so you get in. So you win." Her voice is earnest, stressed. As many people come home to District 2, there are even more that don't.

"Trust me, I'll be okay. And if I need to fish I'll use a spear or something." I snuggle into her, trying to calm her nerves but she is as stiff as a board. Even my reassuring words aren't fixing her anxiety, but I know what will. "Clove?" a mischievous smile grows on my face, " Do you want to grab the nail polish?"

Her eyes immediately light up and she runs into her room. I hate the feeling of nail polish, but Clove is still at the age where she likes to do girly things. Mom might also like it, an added bit of "flair" for the cameras when I get reaped. Making my stylist appreciate me more thinking "she'll be so easy to work with."

My life has been planned around these stylist, stylists I don't even know. My mom crafted my appearance around them. She had me grow my hair out so if they want to cut it they can. I keep my skin as clean as possible so it will be easier for them to do makeup. My whole life revolves around the games.

Clove comes back holding a large, dark red box. "Can I do yours first?" Her smile is wide, we finally have sister time that doesn't revolve around training. Time to relax.

••••••

Series Masterlist

#finnick odair smut #finnick x y/n #finnick x you #hunger games finnick #finnick imagine #finnick odair x reader #finnick x reader #finnick odair x oc #finnick x oc #clove kentwell x reader #clove kentwell

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clatoera · 11 months ago

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Picket Fence is Sharp as Knives Chapter 3: All I know, Is this could either break my heart (Part 1)

Heyyyy besties. Sorry this has been a minute. My future is crashing in on my very fast and i'm falling apart. Originally this was a much longer chapter, but I realized this could stand alone and gave me time to really dig in on part two which features Cashmere and Enobaria and Gloss and others I don't use as much so I want time to be sure I do them justice and this is to tie you over until then :)

Title from tswift Electric Heart bc of course it is.

AO3

Masterpost

Shoutout to the usual besties but especially @kentwells who actually inspired this whole arc and @bodyelectric77 who said yes split it and is also my go to enobaria/cashmere source who I will heavily be consulting on part two.

Love you all thank you as usual, see you soon for pt 2!

They should be used to it by now. Expect it, even.

They should be used to the fact that their home is the place of refuge, of meal times, of assembly for their small group of friends for an impromptu gathering. For two adults who were once children whose only real friend was the other, it should remind them of how far they have come. The fact they even have people who want to barge in to their kitchen unannounced should make them feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

And you know, maybe that would be the case if absolutely anyone ever asked if it was a good time.

Cato and Clove are probably not people who you should show up on unannounced, considering Clove sleeps with a knife in arms reach and Cato sleeps with Clove.

They absolutely should not be shocked, when Glimmer absolutely flies through their front door for the second time in a week, just as distressed and disheveled as the first.

Maybe, actually, even more so.

“This is all your fault.” Glimmer actually screams, wasting no time on pleasantries as she stomps her way up the stairs and to their bedroom, throwing her shoes off unceremoniously as she confronts the couple in their own bed.

“Good morning to you too, Glimmer. Sure you can come over, Glimmer. Sure, we absolutely weren’t in the middle of anything, Glimmer. Yes Glimmer, we are absolutely awake and ready to hangout with you.” Clove greets, not even lifting her head to glance at her friend who so casually entered her home apparently only to lose her mind at them. She wraps her arms tighter around Cato’s neck and stifles a yawn into his shoulder, having been so cruelly pulled out of her sleep by Glimmer’s intrusion and following tantrum.

“We really need to change those locks..” Cato mumbles into her hair, before he lifts his head to rest his chin atop Clove’s head. He brings up a hand to rub his finger tips over his eyes, willing himself to be more alert in light of whatever accusation Glimmer had come to throw their way. ‘Nice to see you too, Glimmer.”

“What exactly is our fault,” Clove mumbles, stretching one arm out above her head, before stretching it down to grab the comforter and bring it to snuggle her face into. “And what is so important that you decided to break into our bedroom over it.”

There is a hesitation, a heavy and shaking breath that escapes her before she loses all semblance of composure (of which there was not much) before she truly and fully bursts into hysterical sobs. “Everything was going so well, so so well, and now it’s ruined. I’ve gone and ruined everything good and ruined my life and..and.. and–” She sits on the edge of their bed without an invitation, fiddling with the hem at her shirt with a desperate attempt to find anything to focus her nervous hands and attention on. “I’ve ruined everything.”

“Glimmer. Use your words. Actual sentences, preferably.” Cato groans, glancing over at the bedside clock. “Did you come here at…ten in the morning to wail at us like a banshee? Come on Glim at least wait until afternoon to do that–”

“I’m pregnant,” comes out in a clipped voice, Glimmer unable to look anywhere but her own hands that itch to dig into the skin of her arms, that yearn to break the skin and watch rivulets of red wash away some of her anxieties with them. “And it’s your fault.”

Clove’s blood runs absolutely cold, and as she feels Cato’s chest tense underneath her, she knows he is just as taken back. Eyes that were once fighting sleep go wide, and Clove finds herself pushed to a seated position before she even realizes she has control of her body. She feels her heart catch in her chest, as if her own heart were trying to catch it’s breath and calm down. “What do…when..who…are you absolutely sure?”

At the same time Cato slowly rises himself, narrowing his eyes as he focuses in on the woman– barely more than a girl, really, and looking even younger as she curls herself up– at the foot of his bed. “How is that our fault.”

“It’s your fault because it was your stupid wedding and your stupid champagne and your stupid cake and your stupid speeches and that stupid stupid suit and that look on his face and–” Glimmer blubbers out, shaking her head rapidly as if she can will this all to be no more than a terrible dream. “You two did this to me.”

“I don’t know how drunk you were, Glimmer, but I can assure you we did not participate in ANY activities that could lead to this with you present.” Cato put his hands up in defense, glancing more intently over at his wife to gauge her response, because such wild accusations could go one of two ways when it came to Clove.

“I obviously did not have sex with you two, genius.” Glimmer snaps back at him, finally looking up to see them. Dark circles under puffy red eyes betray exhaustion and quite substantial crying– definitely the entire train ride to two if not longer. She’s got crinkly hair falling in her eyes, and when they look long enough they can see that the sweatshirt she wears as a dress is most certainly not hers at all. Paired with the obscured black running shorts underneath, it is somehow the most exhausted either of them have ever seen her, which is quite the feat when considering her and Cato’s time together in hell- okay, District 13.

Clove is still frozen, unblinking, unmoving as the gravity of Glimmer’s words settle in her chest. It aches in a way she cannot understand. Deep down she wonders if it is because of her own mother. Was this how that poor, unsuspecting teenage girl had felt? For a moment Clove can picture her own young mother, crying that her life was ruined by Clove’s unintentional existence, and she has to bring herself back to the hard reality infront of her before she thinks too deeply on that front.

“Are you sure?” Clove almost moves closer, but hesitation keeps her firmly planted beside Cato, just in case an unsuspected touch would send Glimmer spiraling further and further into her despair. “Is Marvel…”

“Of course I’m sure. Trust me I checked over and over and over and- seven times. I couldn’t make this up if I tried.” Glimmer digs the heel of her hands into her eyes, pressing in with just enough pressure to make the world dark. “Of course he is, Clove. And now everything is ruined, things were so good.. We were getting back together and now- now it’s all ruined.”

“Was he mad? What did he say to you Glimmer, I swear-” Cato raised a blonde eyebrow, pushing the sheets off his legs as he swings his feet to the ground. “I can go beat the hell out of him right now Glimmer, he has no right to be pissed–”

“No! No. I…he doesn’t know. He can’t know. I can’t tell him.” Her eyes go somehow even wider, welling with even more tears as she shakes her head rapidly back and forth, and she reaches forward to grab Clove’s hands as if she were going to up and run to One on her own.

“What the fuck do you mean you can’t tell him. You have to tell him.” Cato nearly snaps at her, the signature Cato Hadley aggression a hard 180 from the way he was willing to literally kill for her just moments prior. He still pushes himself to his feet to begin grabbing scraps of clothing off the floor and pulling them together in a make shift outfit. “It’s his right to know, it’s his kid. If you aren’t going to tell him I sure as fuck will–”

“Cato…” Clove pleads, reaching out and grabbing him by the hand as he shuffles around their bedroom. She stills him, calms him with just the grasp of her hand, with her fingers threaded through his. She’s the only person in the world who will grab him in the middle of his rage, and she is the only person in the world who can pull him out of it. Despite her choosing to stop the impending rampage, she does vocalize her agreement. “He is right, Glimmer. He needs to know.”

“No! He’ll hate me again–”

“No he won’t, Glimmer. He absolutely will not hate you, not over anything, but especially not over this.” Clove tries, but Glimmer has already curled on her side, rolled into a ball at the foot of the bed like a dog. “What did your sister say?”

“She doesn’t know, either. I went to see her yesterday when I found out but she wasn’t home and I didn’t want to just let myself into Enobaria’s house because she kind of scares me still and so I just stayed home but I can’t stop crying and I cried all night and–” Glimmer throws herself face first into the mattress, but even still the thick layer of mattress barely muffles her cries. If they didn’t know any better they’d think she was being tortured– and maybe emotionally she was. “Everything was starting to be good again.”

“Cato is going to go get your sister.” Clove instructs, and the glare he shoots in her direction tells her he may be going to get a lot more than just Cashmere. “Don’t.” She mouths, as if she can read his mind and his plan to go all the way to One. “She’s right across the street, he will be right back with Cashmere and she’ll tell you the same thing! He isn’t afraid of Enobaria.”

“Depends on the day.” Cato glances between Glimmer and Clove, and the look of disapproval written all across his sharp features tells Clove this fight is far, far from over. “Fine. I’ll go get Enobaria and her sweater–”

“Cato!”

“I’m going, I’m going.”

“And don’t you dare tell them whats going on, Cato.”

When Cato slips out the bedroom door, Clove waits until she hears the front door both opening and closing to signal he’s left. She reaches down and pulls some of Glimmer’s blonde hair that is stuck to her tear slicked cheek and pushes it out of her face and behind her ear so she could actually see her as they speak.

“Now, Glimmer.” Clove starts, her voice somewhere between her normal volume and a whisper, almost soothing in nature. “Your life isn’t ruined. I thought you wanted this..”

“I was just so stupid, Clove. I thought, after all the things they gave me and all the times– I didn’t think I could get pregnant. I didn’t think I had to worry.” Glimmer lifts her head weakly, resting her forehead on Clove’s knee, grateful when she does not push her off. “I used to want to when I was little! When I didn’t know the world was horrible and the things men do. I don’t..I can’t put someone through this! And things were going so so good the last few weeks! And now..he’s going to think I trapped him or something.”

“He will absolutely not think that, Glimmer. He’s good. He’s kind. He absolutely adores you. I’d go as far as to say he is absolutely in love with you. You have to tell him.” Clove reiterates, gently pushing her hair back off her face and behind her ear as they spoke. “I…know it’s very scary Glimmer. After everything. But the world is different. There's no more victors, no more games..it would never have to go through what you did. If that’s what this is about…wasn’t that the whole point of everything we went through? You know, a better life for the future, and all that?”

“You can’t know that, Clove! I’d never forgive myself for having a baby only to let her go through this-“

“But it won’t go through what happened to you and Gloss and Cashmere and Finnick. Or what happened to me and Marvel. They’re going to be safe, Glimmer. Your kid will be safe.” Clove promises, and though she can’t guarantee it, wasn’t that the literal point of all the shit they went through? The point of that entire war? “You thought you couldn’t have them, and here you are. He’s a good guy, and you live in a world where you won’t have to send it to be a Victor. All in all Glimmer…I’d say it’s not a life ruiner at all.”

Another round of sobs rack Glimmer’s body, as if another wave of immense grief has racked through her thin frame. “What if it’s a boy, I can’t have a boy.”

Clove sighs, and leans back to support her body on her hands. “You can’t change that, Glimmer, you don’t get to decide–”

“I have had to share my body with so so so many boys and men, Clove, almost never my choice. I can’t have to do this–”

“You don’t get to decide. That’s a risk you have to take, if you want to have a kid. Thats a risk you’d have to take no matter when, I guess if, you got pregnant again. It’s a risk you take and you can’t choose–”

“I didn’t ask for this! I can’t have to share my body with a boy again, I just can’t.” Glimmer sounds as if she is begging, begging a girl who can not help her nor change the fate that is already decided.

Clove brings her hand down to Glimmer’s cheek, turning her face up so that she had no choice but to meet her eyes. There was an ache she herself couldn’t place, and her voice betrayed it with the slightest waver as she spoke. “It wouldn’t be a random boy, Glim. He’d be yours. He’d be your baby, You would get to be his mom. And you could make absolute sure that he turns out good and kind and loving– and he has a really good dad. There are good men in the world, too. Who would never do what was done to you. Cato, and Marvel, and your brother…You can’t just…You can’t not love him because of the crime of being a boy. He didn’t choose it. It isn’t your kid’s fault that they exist, you have to love them. If you have a baby you have to love it, please, Glimmer, you have to. ”

It feels like something in her own mind snaps, the metaphorical levee breaking, and Clove finds herself silent and looking away to avoid Glimmer’s green eyes piercing into her from below.

Glimmer rolls from her side to her back, tears now streaming back towards her ears instead of down her cheeks towards her lips. “Clove? Are you okay?”

“I can’t help but wonder if my mom said I ruined her life, too.” Clove admits quietly, looking off into anywhere but Glimmer on her thigh. “Because I did. I definitely did. And everyone always told me she wanted me and she loved me but, no fifteen year old wanted to give up a year of training for a kid. My grandmother always told me I ruined my mom’s life and I just wonder if she thought I did, too.”

“Oh…no, Clove, there’s no way she didn’t want you, we’ve all heard about her...”

“Even if she did…she died. She died and then noone wanted me, Glimmer. So I know what it is like to be unwanted and unloved and know it and thats why I am just begging that if you decide to have this kid, Glimmer, that you love it. And you want it. And you never let her or him feel otherwise because it is really really really hard to be a kid that is unwanted. Don’t tell your kid they ruined your life. Please don’t have a baby you do not want.” Clove actually pleads, glancing up at the ceiling and not daring to look at Glimmer, even when she feels a hand slipping into her own.

“I’m sorry, Clove. I didn’t…I didn’t mean that it ruined my life. I am the one who ruined everything. I do want it Clove. Of course I do. And of course I will love it because it’s mine. I didn’t..I do want it. I promise, I didn’t mean it like that.” Glimmer blinks away a round of tears, rubbing them away with the back of her hand. “I’m just scared and i’m alone and I don’t know how to do this alone and i’m tired and can’t eat and can’t stop crying and keep throwing up and i’m just …I’m scared, Clove. I’m really scared. I don’t have a mom anymore. I don’t know how to be one and noone can teach me and I really want to be a good mom.”

Clove nods swiftly, bringing her own breathing back to a normal pace. She would argue, later, that she wasn’t alone. That if she would just tell Marvel– who she has to tell– this would all be resolved. That she had all of them, really, that in this post war world none of them would ever really be alone.

“For what it’s worth, Glimmer, I think you’ll be a really good mother.” Clove says as a peace offering, letting out a steady sigh through her nose.

After Glimmer lets out a soft “thank you,” in response a comfortable silence falls between them for a few minutes as they await the return of Cato with her sister, before the whole conversation will begin again.

“....do you want something to eat? I know you said you haven’t eaten in a few days. You’ve been sick, but I can make something simple...”

“Oh. No. I’m not hungry, Clove, but thank you.”

Clove does not accept her denial as an answer, and instead gently removes Glimmer’s head from her legs and standing instead. “No, you have to have something, especially if you’ve been sick too.”

“I’m really not hungry, I swear. Thank you, though, really.” Glimmer insists, curling her knees up closer to her chest once she is alone in Clove’s bed.

“You may not be hungry, Glimmer but your little–” Clove struggles for the word to use next, as Parasite seems too cruel for Glimmer right now, but baby felt far too formal for the thing that it was at this point. “...your little… stowaway needs something too so. Whether you want me to or not, i’m making you breakfast. So. What do you want?”

Glimmer hesitates, but gives the slightest hint of a nod, rolling on her side to face the doorframe. “....can I have a grilled cheese?”

And despite the fact it is not even 10:30 in the morning yet, Clove says yes.

#arwbfb tag #clato #clato fanfic #glimmer tag #always remember we're burned for better tag #picket fence is sharp as knives tag #picket fences tag #arwbfb au #clove and cato

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alavestineneas · 2 years ago

Text

Silence

pairing: Clove Kentwell x fem!reader

summary: There has to be more to life than this endless cycle of violence and death. Otherwise, what's the point?

warnings: out of character, violence, mentions of death and torture

word count: 3k

author’s note: It’s completely my take on Clove’s future if she won the Games years before Katniss and lived long enough to see the Second Rebellion. In my head, she would grow to hate the Capitol as much as most victors do. As for the fic, I wrote a more certain ending for this one but was not sure whether it fits here. If you are interested in reading a so-called part 2, let me know. Enjoy!

Silence. The thing that has followed Clove the most since her victory. It was everywhere—exhausting, haunting, and almost inevitable. Her mother calls it peace, but she doesn't seem to understand much of Clove's life. There has to be more to life than this endless cycle of violence and death. Otherwise, what's the point?

Silence is yet again her only companion in an empty office. She has been there countless times but never received a punishment. It is almost interesting; to see how things work from the other side, although her body aches in alarming waiting.

The office feels lifeless, and Clove thinks it has something to do with the lack of decor. It's as if the space is designed to be temporary, as if no one is meant to stay here for long. Clove wonders if this is intentional or simply a byproduct of the job's demands. Either way, it adds to the sense of isolation that she feels. She tries to push these thoughts aside, but her mind keeps drifting back to the emptiness around her. She wonders how long she can keep up this charade of normalcy before it all becomes too much to bear.

The door finally opens, and the man in his usual white uniform enters the room. Clove doesn't stand up, although the protocol says she should. What's the point of formalities?

The man recognizes her. While District 2 has a lot more victors than others, they can still be counted on ten fingers. The soldier's face twists, his mouth curving in a slight O-shape.

''Kentwell?'' he barks.

Clove nods, almost curious about his following actions. Undoubtedly, the whip doesn't discriminate between the golden stars of Panem and commoners. However, they live in separate areas, earn more money, and wear different clothes for a reason. The Capitol's goal is to divide the district from within, diverting their attention from the real threat. She knows that now.

''I'll make a call.''

The man leaves as rapidly as he came, - the door closes behind him with a loud thud. The walls here are paper-thin. Does the Capitol not trust its guard dogs? Although it has its perks, she must admit - Clove can hear the call better than her heartbeat.

''Report.''

''Ma'am, I have case fifty-eight.''

Clove knew exactly what that meant. She braced herself for the inevitable order that would follow.

''And do I need to remind you what to do in such cases?''

''No, ma'am. But I thought it was better to report: we have a victor.''

There was a moment of silence before the female voice spoke again.

''Lessen the whipping.''

''But ma'am, the protocol states that...''

''Roundtree, execute.''

''Yes, ma'am.''

Clove hears the man take hurried steps back to the office but doesn't pay him much attention. Her sentence, while not as harsh as it should be, remains. Clove's stomach turns in dread; this time, she gets what she deserves for not being careful enough.

The party is at its peak when Clove shows up. Her movements are slower than usual; while the wounds are not bleeding anymore, they still ached. The dress stylists gave her barely covered white bandages—if you looked long enough, you could put two plus two together.

The mayor's house is crowded with important people from the district's elite. Those people look idiotic in a pitiful attempt to mimic Capitol's people. It's almost funny how they think they are closer to them than their people here. The real power lies with those who control the resources and manipulate the masses for their own gain. Clove can't help but feel a sense of disgust at how easily these people are fooled into thinking that they are part of something greater, when in reality they are just being used for someone else's benefit.

''Miss Kentwell!''

The mayor's face is a little red, likely from the heat or the amount of alcohol he consumed. The man is near sixty, although Clove is not entirely sure; they say work like this ages people quicker. His face, framed by odd round glasses, expresses nothing but delight. If Clove had to guess, she would assume he doesn't know about her small rebellion yet or doesn't bother remembering it.

''I believe you haven't met Miss Y/L/N before; she isn't a big fan of our smallish dinners. A woman of work, you see.'' The man throws up his hands as if it were a ridiculous idea. ''But what can be better than this, am I right?''

Clove agrees, chuckling into her glass. The mayor seems not to notice her obvious sarcasm, happy to prove his point. The woman beside him, however, doesn't miss it; her piercing eyes are riveted to Clove, examining her.

''What do you say if I get you, ladies, something to drink?''

The mayor breaks the silence settled between them, and Clove opens her mouth to disagree—her glass is half full anyway, but the woman is quicker.

''Sounds wonderful, Fellord.''

If she wasn't curious about the woman before, she definitely is now. Not a lot of people consider themselves good friends with the mayor, and, for sure, not people her age—the woman looks a few years older than Clove.

''I would ask you to dance, Miss Kentwell, but, unfortunately, I am the proud owner of two left feet.''

The woman smiles, and Clove thinks she has heard this voice before. Perhaps she works at the mayor's office.

"Well, that makes two of us, Miss Y/L/N.''

''Oh, call me Y/N. I can't have such a beautiful woman think I am a prune, can I?'''

''That would be a catastrophe indeed.''

Clove likes the woman. She doesn't look as posh as most people here; her dress is much simpler, and her neck doesn't bear the burden of a hundred pearls. She is quite captivating, too. Something about her stance and confidence make Clove's brain a little cloudy.

''Here come the drinks.'' The mayor is yet again near them, holding two stemwares with bubbling liquid. ''Miss Y/L/N, I am afraid I have to steal you; there is a line of people I absolutely need to introduce you to. Miss Kentwell.'' he nods, passing her a glass.

The woman left, leaving nothing but a fling of curiosity in Clove's mind and a pleasant warmth in her body. While taking a woman as a lover wasn't unusual in the Capitol, here it would raise some eyebrows.

Clove's eyes fell on the glass left behind by the woman. It was half-full, the condensation on its surface glistening in the dim light of the room. She couldn't help but wonder who this woman was and what her story might be. Yet Clove has more important things on her mind now. She needed to focus on her mission, gather information, and make connections that would help the rebellion.

It's 4 in the morning when Clove makes her way into the kitchen; nightmares keep her sleepless most nights. The day is already breaking, slowly painting the sky in shades of pink and orange. The district is long awake; workers are just now returning from the night shift in the Nut. Clove sees their small, dark figures coming down a broad path. It is too far to make out the faces, although it's not hard to predict how tired and dirty they look.

The Capitol doesn't pay half what their labour is worth—not enough money to feed a grown man, let alone a family. Clove hears the talks in pubs—people are angry, and rightly so. The discontent is growing, but not as quickly as she would like it to.

But Plutarch believes that the time for revolution has come, and Clove can't help but feel a glimmer of hope. She knows that the 75th Games are fast approaching, and with them, the potential for change. Though she also knows that change won't come easily. The Capitol will fight tooth and nail to maintain their power, and it won't be long before they realize what Plutarch is planning.

Clove can only wish that he's right about the people being ready to rise. As she watches the sun set over District 2, she can't help but wonder what the future holds. Will they succeed in overthrowing the Capitol? Only time will tell, but one thing is certain: Clove is ready to fight.

Maybe it's the reason for her sentiments now—she had never felt this way before. Clove had dated in middle school, but it was nothing serious. And since then, she had only had a few hookups—nothing that made her heart race like this. It was almost embarrassing to admit to herself that she was blushing at the thought of someone she barely knew.

Clove sighs, gathering her thoughts. It is time she got going; the revolution won't plan itself.

A few gunshots are heard somewhere nearby. Clove is running for her life through the narrow streets of the slums. She feels her legs burning with heat and a sharp pain aches in her calves. Was disobeying Lime's orders and attending the worker's gathering stupidheat,? Sure. She wishes she had never done it, but it's too late for regrets now.

Clove has run far enough to be out of peacekeepers' reach for now. The fire in her lungs is almost unbearable, and her heart is high on adrenalin. The shouts of the less fortunate are loud and clear; if she closes her eyes, it's like she is back at the arena.

She had escaped death once again, and it was starting to feel like a blessing and a curse all at once. Fate seemed to be playing a cruel game with her. As Clove caught her breath, she knew that she needed to move quickly before anyone came searching for her. The home was the safest place for her right now, and she needed to make it there without being seen.

She straightens up, lifting her eyes off the dusty ground.

Looking right at her are two pairs of eyes.

Peacekeepers.

Caught.

Clove feels the air leave her lungs. Her mind races with regret and fear as she realizes that this is the end. She had always known that being a rebel was a death sentence, but she never thought it would end like this. Clove had been so careful, but now it seemed that all her efforts had been in vain. The peacekeepers stood before her, their eyes cold and unfeeling as they trained their weapons on her.

The gunshot fires faster than she has time to react. The foul ground colours are red with blood, contrasting with a white uniform on the still warm, dead body.

The pair of unfazed, cold eyes sent shivers down her spine. Clove finally recognizes her saviour. Y/N. She is also in a white uniform, slightly tinted with blood. She speaks into her radio calmly: ''Soldier 237 is eliminated. The subject is armed. The perimeter is clear. End of report.'' before turning on her feet and leaving in the opposite direction.

Clove takes a deep breath, feeling the adrenaline coursing through her veins. She looks down at her hands, still shaking from the intense encounter. She is alive.

As Clove starts to wander away, she can't help but feel grateful for her saviour. Why did Y/N shoot her partner and not her? Was it because of one conversation a few months ago? Ridiculous. Her mind races with questions, but Clove knows that she may never get the answers.

They didn't come for her. Clove waited for interrogation or a gun to her head at night—nothing. Lyme was furious with her, of course, but Clove still managed to grab a few pieces of information vital to the planning.

Clove has looked at death's face many times, but she hasn't been so shaken in forever. Perhaps she is getting older, or the impact of betrayal was big enough to darken her mood.

It wasn't even a betrayal to begin with; she has to remind herself that Y/N promised her nothing. Hell, they spoke once or twice, and she was already head over heels. Clove is losing her grip, or maybe she is just tired of not allowing herself to feel anything, but it still hurts more than she would like to admit.

Y/N was an enemy—a serious one. Clove's heart surely knows whom to go for. It would be easier for her to convince herself to hate the woman if she let her partner shoot her. But no, Y/N saved her not once but twice already—she was the voice on the phone. Then she is not just an ordinary soldier; she is someone of higher rank. Someone who can have her dead in a matter of seconds and, for some reason, doesn't.

Clove feels as if her head is ready to explode; the Games have already started. It's only a matter of time before the rebellion begins. Before then, they have to plan a lot. Lyme had gotten the message from District 13: they are ready. Clove isn't sure if she is, but there is no turning back now. The rebellion was coming, and it was only a matter of time before everything exploded into chaos.

The dim light above cast eerie shadows on the blueprints. The silence in the room was suffocating. Their recent mission failed; the rebels lost a lot of their people and weapons. The revolution raged in all parts of Panem; however, the power of authority in District 2 remained strong.

Clove was low. Besides a few wounds gained on their last mission, she lost a few good soldiers. Those past months were nothing but agony; the constant lack of food and medical care destroyed the rebellious spirit better than any propaganda. Clove doesn't want to admit it, but she is scared. Lyme is too, and that kills Clove from within. The only person who seemed to know something is lost too.

Now, at the meeting of commanders, no one speaks a word. They know that they cannot afford to make any mistakes or take unnecessary risks. The faint knock disturbs the silence. The soldiers look at one another at a loss; their team is already here. The knock grows louder, and the commanders exchange wary glances. They know that they must proceed with caution.

Clove stands up from her seat, grabbing the nearest gun. The door creaks open, and while the lighting isn't helping to make out the face, Clove still does—it's Y/N. Years of training kick in. Her fingers wrap tightly around the trigger of the loaded gun, and she feels a rush of adrenaline as she raises it to point directly between the woman's eyes.

''Drop the gun,'' Lyme commands.

Clove isn't sure if she heard the woman right. It's their enemy she is holding at gunpoint—the reason for their losses.

''Lyme, she is a -'' Clove starts.

''I know who she is. She is on our side. Lower the gun.''

Clove hesitates for a moment, unsure of whether to trust Lyme's words or not. But as she looks into Y/N's eyes, she sees a glimmer of distress that she can relate to. With a deep breath, Clove lowers her gun and steps aside to let Y/N in.

The woman rolls her eyes. ''Finally. I don't have all the time in the world.'' She takes a few first-aid kits out of her bag. ''All I could sneak out without drawing too much attention.''

Lyme nods. ''Commanders, this is Y/N Y/L/N. She was recommended by Plutarch as a valuable soldier.''

Y/N looks around. ''Shall we start?''

The meeting lasted for almost four hours and only ended because of Y/N's departure; they couldn't afford to blow up her cover that foolishly. The woman brought many new points to the plan; having someone who knows the system from within made an enormous difference.

And while a lot became clear after the gathering, Clove found herself even more confused. So as the last person left the room, Clove approached Lyme with a furrowed brow.

"You don't trust her," Lyme stated.

''Clearly. The thing is, why do you trust her?''

Lyme looked at her calmly. ''I don't. When the rebellion was in planning, Plutarch introduced me to her. We've worked together since.''

''How do we know she doesn't betray us at any given chance?''

''She didn't before.'' Lyme shrugged. ''Or did you forget the time she saved your ass?''

As Clove sat there, staring at her friend, she couldn't help but feel the weight of her guilt bearing down on her. She knew it was wrong to hide such a vital piece of information, but she was too ashamed to admit her mistakes. It wasn't just the fear of being judged that held her back; it was the fear of losing everything she had worked so hard for.

''Look, I know it's hard, and frankly, that Plutarch man is slimy, to say the least. But it's all we've got.''

Clove nods. Lyme had always been honest with her, and she had no reason to doubt her now. ''Okay. But I'll keep an eye on her.''

The attack was successful, finally. Clove loosens up a little; a light of hope sparkles in the rebels' eyes once again. More people have joined the resistance since Y/N's addition to the commanders' board. The woman is bright, Clove must admit—she is a trained officer after all.

Lyme has them work together most of the time. Y/N renders an account of the peacekeepers' tactic and plans one to counter. It's hard work—if she makes it too easy, she will be under suspicion; if she doesn't, rebels lose people. Clove is there to report recourses and check for mistakes; after hours of work, it's easy to make one.

''That's it,'' Y/N announces, ''Those are the exists, the ones marked with red—the weakest points.''

Clove nods, taking a seat next to her on a tiny piece of wood—an improvised chair and desk. She feels Y/N tiredly stretch next to her. The handwriting is small and uneven, but understandable enough. ''Good,'' she mutters under her breath.

''The Nut won't be easy to take; you have to know that. I have fifteen people making the decisions there; I can't go against their commands.''

''I know.'' Clove feels the ache in her chest growing. Why can't things be easy for once? When Y/N steps out of this forgotten factory, she is a peacekeeper. And if she had the order to kill her, she would.

''The sun is almost up. I have to go.'' Y/N stands up, and Clove feels the cold touch her skin. She wants to say something to make her turn and listen, but she knows deep down that it wouldn't have made a difference. Clove watches the woman look around before disappearing in the morning fog. If only they had more time.

The Nut was invincible, just like Y/N had predicted. They've already tried four times. Nothing. A crushing defeat each time. Their miserable position even earned them guests—the Mockingjay and her famous squad.

Clove listens to their discretions, not too attentively—what do these people know about her home? Was a seventeen-year-old speech supposed to make workers turn their backs on the system they had been under for 75 years?

She shares a look with Y/N; she is also not impressed. As the conversation progresses, Clove finds the situation they are in dreadful—after executing the plan, most of the workers will be dead. She knows her people well; they won't surrender to someone who just bombed them. It's common sense.

''I'll check the weapons for tomorrow.'' Y/N stands up. She is angry.

''Alone? How do we know you won't purposefully ruin them?'' one of the newcomers asks.

Y/N opens her mouth to say something, but Clove is quicker. ''I'll make sure of that.''

The walk to the armoury is silent; Y/N is fuming. She goes over the guns and bullets, the weapons in her hands changing faster than Clove blinks.

''I'll try to save as much as I can," she finally says.

''What?''

''The people. I'll command them to surrender.''

Y/N's words hang in the air, and for a moment, there is silence.

Clove feels a lump form in her throat as she realizes the gravity of what Y/N has just said.

''But they will kill you then.''

''Earlier than you can say cheese," Y/N chuckles. ''But I'm dead anyway.''

''I'm afraid we both are.''

They look at each other for a moment.

''Fuck it then.''

Y/N shortens the distance between them in a few quick steps, her body pressing Clove against the cold wall. The closeness of their bodies sends shivers down Clove's spine. The kiss is hungry, almost heated. Clove feels her cheeks burn, and blood rushes through her veins. It's hard to focus on anything Y/N is doing to her; it feels too good.

''Fuck me.'' Clove's voice is hoarse with desire, and she doesn't immediately realize that the words have left her mouth until she hears a familiar chuckle.

''Right here?'' Y/N raises her eyebrow, her lips a hot, soft, rosy mess.

Clove nods almost too quickly, but she is far from caring; she wants those lips on her body again.

"You don't have to ask twice."

Their lips met again in a passionate embrace. Clove moans softly as Y/N's hands roam over her body, exploring every inch of her skin. The intensity of their desire is almost overwhelming, but she doesn't want it to end. Tomorrow, the world will burn; they have a few hours before then.

Y/N left at dawn, as she had all those times before. Except for this one, Clove couldn't hold her tears for long; small, almost invisible droplets ran down her cheeks when she returned to her troop. Lyme threw her a meaningful glance, and Clove shook her head. She is fine. For the first time, Clove felt at peace with the silence around her.

#thg #hunger games #clove kentwell #district two #wlw #imagine #au #clove kentwell x reade #clove kentwell x y/n #clove kentwell x you #i love women

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lilcreaturethingfromthewoods · 8 months ago

Text

New headcanon: Petra's flower is a Geum.

After some (very limited) research, I came up with a few interesting facts about these flowers:

they are versatile and hardy, as well as easy to grow

it has medicinal properties, including anti-inflammatory and antibacterial (fitting for a member of Squad Levi and its cleaning routine)

good for pollinators

resistant to pests including deer and rabbits (plant equivalent of titans? probably)

the roots have similar properties to cloves and can even be made into tea (yes I will mention the fact that Levi likes tea. I'm a shipper, deal with it)

a symbol of good luck!

I will probably attempt some art of Petra with geums in the future, but I have extremely limited skill and resources in that department so don't expect anything extraordinary.

This whole idea was sparked by the flowers on @sleepy-sham's Petra moodboard, which reminded me of pictures of geums I'd seen before.

#plants #flowers #attack on titan #petra ral #petra for best girl #rivetra

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olsenmyolsen · 2 years ago

Text

Unpaid Intern

Part 6 of On The Inside With Elizabeth Olsen

Word Count: ~5.7K

masterlist

🚨 SMUT AHEAD 🚨

Y/N POV

"Do you want kids someday?" I blurt out without realizing it.

Liz gets up and sits up next to me. "I think so?" Liz begins playing with her fingers. I notice she does this when she's nervous and anxious. So I take her hands and put them in my own. "Do you?" Liz asks as her finger gently traces the line inside my palms.

"I do."

"What would you like to name them?" Liz asks, now leaning herself onto me. "Luke, Clementine, Wanda, Taylor, and Clove are my top five. "Wanda, huh" I hear Liz mutter to herself. I nudge her. "Gotta problem with the name Wanda?" Liz lets out a wide grin. "No, I think it's one of the most beautiful names ever. It's one of my favorites." One baby name down, then. I think to myself, "Glad we could agree." I peck the top of her head.

I see Liz thinking. "Do you believe in soulmates?" I open my mouth to answer before remembering how I felt for the longest time that Naomi was my soulmate. "Yes, I do. But I believe everyone has multiple soulmates. I believe I've met one already." I pause when I see Liz raise an eyebrow. "My ex." Liz frowns. "Don't get me wrong; I still think she is one of the worst people ever. But I wouldn't be where I am right now without her."

I watch Liz's pretty face think about what I said. "I completely understand what you mean. I feel like I've already met one or two of mine. I don't hate them. But you're right. I think meeting soulmates helps you on the path to your future soulmate. Hopefully, one who you want to share a life with."

"Couldn't agree more, Liz."

The movie has officially become background noise to us.

Liz giggles. "Do you believe in Zodiac signs?"

"Nope!" I say, popping the 'p' "Do you?"

"Only if they work."

"Okay. Let's see." I think about what to ask. "Dogs or cats?" Liz gives me a look. "Plants." I dramatically roll my eyes. "No sass, Coffee Girl!" Liz shames me as I watch her hand fall onto my knee, softly rubbing the area.

"Do you like your job?" Liz asks, rubbing my leg. "I do. It's nice. It's cool to know you're a constant in your regulars lives, as weird as that sounds. Also, meeting new people can have surprising outcomes." I pull Liz's hand up to my lips. "Plus, I make a pretty good ass coffee."

"Yeah, the coffee from your shop is better than some unpaid interns." I laugh at her matter-of-fact statement.

I think of a new question. "Oh, I got one!" Liz looks at me excited, waiting. "What was your gay awakening?" Liz's mouth drops. She was not expecting this. Liz crossed her arms. "Nu-uh. Next, please."

"Oh, come on! That's not fair. If you tell me yours, I'll tell you mine!" Liz shakes her head no. "Come on. Is it super embarrassing? I promise I won't make fun of you! If I tell you, one of mine will tell me yours?"

"Maybe." That's the most I'm going to get.

"This is a judgment-free zone we're about to enter, right?" Liz uncrosses her arms, smiles, and squeezes my thigh, letting me know she's here for me. "Linda Cardellini as Velma in the live-action Scooby-Doo movies. Also, the Hex Girls in the animated Scooby-Doo movie!" I get out as fast as possible.

Wait, I'm seeing a pattern here.

Liz covers her mouth to push back a laugh I know she has in the chamber. I see the ends of her mouth curl up. "Is that why you're favorite color is orange?" There it is. I get up from the couch in shame. "Agghhh," I groan.

"Y/N, you know I'm kidding." I stop and pout away from Liz. "I'm sorry. You were being vulnerable with me! I'm sorry." I can hear her smile through her apology. Liz wraps her hands around my stomach and rubs. I instantly feel myself feeling better. How does she do it?

"So, are you gonna tell me yours, Miss?" "Maybe someday," Liz whispers into my shoulder. I know I can't get it out of her, so I pull my phone out, turning to Liz. Within seconds of opening Spotify, I put on Dancing Queen by ABBA. I place my phone on the coffee table before asking for Liz's hand to dance. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" Liz curtsies. I take Liz's hand and pull her toward me. Chest to chest. My hand slides down to her lower back. "There's always a good time to dance, and who doesn't love ABBA." Liz follows my lead as silly as this dance is becoming. But she's smiling and letting herself have fun. That's what today was about.

"You know I did ballet for years?" I look at her, surprised. Why should I be? She's one of the most beautiful beings on the planet, plus she's a model, for god sake. "Care to bust out those moves?" Liz comedically shakes her head no. I push my forehead to hers, singing along to the lyrics. Liz looks into my eyes. "I can't believe this song is about you," I say to watch her emerald orbs roll.

Liz and I are both laying on the floor, letting the sweat take us over. After Dancing Queen, my playlist really did hit us with Lady Gaga, Kate Bush, Queen, Harry Styles, and many more artists, so we couldn't help but groove out. "That was so fun! I can't remember the last time I had an impromptu dance party." Liz says in between pants. "Correct, you are Chase. Correct you are." "Oh, shit, look." I peer up to see Liz point to Gone with the Wind. "It's over? Damn, I was just getting into it!" I don't need to see it, but I feel Liz rolling her eyes at what I just said. She needs to stop doing that. They're going to pop out one day. Liz crawls herself towards me. "Hardy har har." Liz positions herself above my face to face.

"Are you gonna kiss me or just stare? I've recently heard it's insulting to stare." I smile to myself for being such a smart ass. "Well, I wasn't going to kiss you, but since I don't want to be rude." Liz leans down and kisses me. I kiss her back, slowly picking up my pace. I feel her push harder against me. I hear a small moan escape Liz's lips when I come for air. I pull her face forward and attack her lips again.

Before I know it, I'm the one letting a tiny moan slip out the side of my mouth. Liz responds by moving herself on top of me, straddling me. Liz starts kissing down my cheek and neck, moaning, making goose bumps zap down my body. I feel her slightly under my hands as they start working their way up under her shirt. Her toned body feels so good. Is this all from gardening?

I moan into Liz's head as she reached my collar bone. "Fuck Liz" She keeps moving her body further down. Her hands are working their way up my chest. One hand softly brushing my neck. I go to remove her shirt but stop.

"Liz?" She looks up at me. "Yes, my Coffee Girl?"

"Do I have your consent?" Liz nods. Not good enough. "I need a yes, Liz."

"Yes, Y/N Y/L/N, you have my consent. 100%." Liz smiles and starts attacking my chest and body again. In response, I rip her shirt off her body and see what only my drunk eyes have seen. Oh my god. I left hickeys all over her chest too. Liz's eyes follow mine. "Like what you see?" Her bare chest with my marks? Yes!

I smirk. "I love it. Come here." I scoop Liz up, making her laugh as I carry her to the bed. I gently put Liz onto the bed. Within a second, she rips my shirt off as I kick off my shorts. Liz goes to remove her shorts as well, but I grab her wrist and put them above her head. "These stay right here. Okay, Miss? You gonna be good for me?" Liz nods. "I don't want to have to punish you." I wink.

I spread Liz's legs as I kiss my way up her body. I hear Liz whimper as I go past her knee and up her thighs. I look up at her eyes shut, lips puckered in. I keep going before stopping at her shorts. I hover my mouth over where clit is and wrap my mouth around the area. Letting my mouth soak her shorts. I suck in feeling her.

"Please take them off!" The model below me moans. I oblige, wrapping my fingers in the hands of her shorts. I slowly peel the shorts down her legs. Just as I thought. Liz isn't wearing any panties, and she's dripping for me. I look up to Liz, red in the face. "So naughty!" She groans. "Shut up and fuck me!"

"Oh, so is that really how we're going to do this? You've been warned, Chase." I back up and position myself off the edge of the bed. Liz looks a little confused before she realizes. I grab her legs and pull her towards me. Without warning, I dive my tongue straight into her clit, moving my tongue up and down as fast as I can, only stopping to harshly suck on her clit. Liz moans loudly explicits as I pick up speed. I feel Liz's hands grab onto my hair. I pull my mouth away and scold her, "what did I say? Hands stay above your head!"

Liz looks down at me, pissed, but obeys." Liz can't see my hands, so I take advantage and begin moving my index and middle finger over her folds. Her legs shake in response, and my fingers are dripping wet within seconds. "Do you want this baby?" Liz whimpers out something I can't quite make out. "I said do you want this?" I continue teasing.

"Y-Yes pleas-e!"

"Good girl!" I slowly slide my fingers in. The sounds escaping from Liz echo off the walls. "You're being so such a good girl!" I quicken my pace, placing my thumb on her clit, rubbing in a circular motion. I work my left hand up Liz's thigh stopping at her hip giving her a squeeze and a push. I run my mouth over her thighs and the top of pussy. Out of the corner of my eyes, I see Liz go to grab my hair before stopping herself, gripping the sheets below her, balling them up in her hands' white knuckles and all. "Y/N- fuck baby- I-"

I decide to take my chances and add a third finger. "Fuck!!" She pushes her legs up towards herself, allowing me to position myself deeper into her."Go ahead, baby cum for me!" I watch as Liz gasps for air. Her mouth moves, but nothing comes out.

"Cum for mommy!" And just like that, Liz, let's go. I watch her green eyes roll back on her pretty pink face before they come back to look down at me. Her heavy breathing returns as she comes down. I softly slide my fingers out as I look back at her. I put my fingers up to my mouth, licking them. "So sweet." I wink at the gorgeous woman in front of me.

"Come here." Liz weakly lets out as her breathing begins to go back to normal. I oblige her by crawling up the bed to lay down beside her. I close my eyes and kiss her flushed cheeks. When I open them, she's staring right at me. Her eyes are holding in more than she's telling me. But it looks like pure love or lust.

Liz pulls herself into me. We are now stomach to stomach. Legs wrapped around one another. "So, how bad was it?" I huskily whisper. Liz smiles and kisses me "so bad I definitely didn't just have one of the best orgasms ever." I kiss her ear "damn, guess I better try again." Liz giggles. She has no idea how big of a grin I get hearing her laughter. "Maybe another time, Coffee Girl. I'm still recovering... ya know from how awful it was!" A smirk falls onto Liz's face. "Understandable." I lean in and kiss the girl I've officially fallen for.

I rub my eyes open, and to my disappointment, I'm alone in Liz's bed. "Liz?" Escapes my lips with a groggy tone. No response. I try again but louder, "Liz?" This gets a response because the bedroom door flies open with Liz on the other side, back in her t-shirt and shorts. "Coffee Girl!" She squeals, jumping onto the bed. "I was beginning to think you'd never wake up!" Oh my God, what a fucking cutie this one is.

"I don't even remember falling asleep. How long was I out?" "Almost two hours," Liz says nonchalantly. My mouth drops. "Liz! Oh no! Today was our day! Why didn't you wake me up I-"

"Y/N. Don't worry about it! You look too peaceful and pretty to wake up. It also gave me time to answer my team and people in greater detail."

Oh, that's good. Right?

"Plus, I ordered us some dinner. I was going to make it, but I remembered what you said, and oh boy, you're right. I don't have any food! So come on, get up and dressed. If you want, that is." Liz winks and leaves me alone in the bedroom to freshen up and get dressed.

Once I'm done, I walk out of the bedroom and into the kitchen. "Jesus, Liz, it's only us two!" I say, shocked at the amount of Mexican food I see in front of me. You would think a house party is about to happen. "I know it's a lot! But I wasn't sure what your favorite dish was, so... tada!" Liz throws her arms out, shaking her hands. "You're such a dork! Thank you for this, Liz."

I look into Liz's eyes, seeing the care and love in them. I once again thank Liz for her thoughtful choice for dinner and be sure to shower her in kisses before I begin stacking my plate. I don't mean to, but I make a quick comment about food waste, but Liz assures me that won't happen.

I don't know where in the hell Liz got the food from, but it has officially become my favorite spot! I can't explain it, but it's like a five-star meal wrapped in that hometown Mexican restaurant your family loves. You know the one.

Liz and I finally finish our meal only after I made sure to thank her and tell her how much I love this place's food a hundred more times! Liz goes to take our plates, but I stop her from leaving the table. "You cooked, so I clean." "But I-" "I can't hear you, Liz. You're too busy not wanting to clean these dishes." I walk myself into the kitchen and put all the food away so Liz can have leftovers. After that, I begin to clean the dishes.

"Fine." Liz pushes herself off the dining room table, playfully pouting as she shimmies her butt to the living room, ensuring I'm not missing the show. I watch the beaut sit on the couch, turn to me give me a goofy smile before drawing her attention to the tv. I glance at Liz as she sucks her lips into her mouth; she appears nervous, scrolling through the TV.

I close the fridge door. Everything has been cleaned and put away. I smile to myself at a job well done. A job I haven't even done to my place in who knows how long. Sure, I tidy it up when I have Max come over, but nothing like what I just did for Liz's kitchen.

"Y/N?" I look at Liz on the couch with my phone in her hand. I tilt my head confused. "Yeah?" I carefully make my way to Liz. "You have two missed calls from Max." "Oh shit," I reply, worried and confused. It's not like Max to call me. I sit next to Liz as she watches me call Max back. On the screen, Liz has a movie called Martha Marcy May Marlene paused at the beginning.

After a couple of rings, Max answers.

M: "Dude, where the hell are you?"

Y/N: "At Liz's. Why?"

Liz looks at me curiously. I shrug.

M: "Dude, hello, movie night. As in tonight is the night you finally watch the MCU. Wait, did you, Liz!? You slut, omg!"

I slap my hand against my forehead.

Y/N: "Shit, dude, you're right. I'm sorry. Fuck. I'm in the city, and yes, Liz's! But I can be there."

Liz turns her head away from me and turns the TV off.

M: "Whoa, Y/N, if you're with Liz, this can wait!

Y/N: "Are you sure?"

M: "Hell yeah! But look, I'm probably just gonna chill at your place till you come home, that is if you do come home."

Y/N: "Yeah, that's cool. Once again, I'm sorry, Max, it slipped my mind."

M: "No worries. Just want you to be happy. Later whore."

Y/N: "Yeah yeah."

Max ends the call.

I close my phone and turn toward Liz. "Sorry that was-" Liz cuts me off. "I know. I heard. I'm sorry, Y/N. I didn't mean to steal you away from Max." The look in Liz's eyes is a look of guilt.

"Hey, don't apologize and say that. You didn't steal me away. I've enjoyed every single second with you. Even holding you while you let everything out this morning. I'm the one that lost track of time, plus Max is my best friend. They understand. So put the movie you were going to show me back on." I go to grab the remote, but Liz stops me. She places my hand in hers. Liz goes to speak but stops herself. Thinking about what to say.

"Y/N." I don't believe my name has ever been spoken as softly as it just was. "Look at me." Liz places two fingers under my chin and lifts them, so our eyes meet. "Earlier, I asked you for a day together—just one. And you've done way more than you even realize for me since then. I genuinely appreciate it." Liz clears her throat. "I thank you. I just want you to know that everything we said to one another remains. I do feel you and want to continue to feel you."

Liz looks away. I can feel the word coming.

"But." There it is. She turns back to me."Like I said earlier, I have a lot going on that I need to figure out before I want you to become more a part of my life."

What the heck does that mean? Does she see a future with me?

"So within the next couple of days, I'm going back to London." Liz sniffles and swallows the tears she's trying to keep in. "Before I leave, during my stay, and after, I want to be in contact with you. I don't want to lose any part of what we've built up till now. Yes, I know everything between us has happened super crazy soon, but I like it. I know, or at least I hope you feel the same Y/N. I'm not trying to say goodbye to you or anything; I am trying to make you understand."

A single tear falls from Liz's face. My hand instinctively wipes at the trail on her face. I listened to every word that dripped from Liz's mouth. A part of it hurts, but yes, I understand.

I cup Liz's face and pull her into a slow passionate kiss. Liz wraps her arms around my body as our lips part. "I understand. I do. A part of me doesn't want you to go, and I wish you could just tell me everything you have inside of you, but I can wait. I know that's what the underlying question is."

I push our faces together, feeling the tears fall from Liz's eyes onto my cheeks. "Okay. So this is super awkward now because we just said all of that, and now I feel like that's my cue to leave." Liz and I giggle at the obvious yet painful observation. "Let me help you get everything," Liz says, getting up and wiping the tears away.

Liz POV

Within what feels like a minute, I have a tote bag full of Y/N's clothes from last night, two Tupperware containers full of Mexican, and a fruit roll-up all packed up for her to take. "Are you sure you want me to keep this?" Y/N says, flaunting my t-shirt and now grey sweat shorts.

"Yes! I want you to be comfortable and have something to remember me beside the memories for now." I look Y/N over. "Plus, you look ridiculously hot in such a simple outfit."

"And here I thought you didn't want me." Y/N clearly teases, but it still stung just a little bit. I watch her slip on her vans and look around for her phone. "Already in the bag, Coffee Girl." I slip the tote over her shoulder and kiss her on the cheek. This fucking sucks. "Okay, as I mentioned, a car is already downstairs waiting for you. Just tell the driver where you need to go. Call or text me when you get home!"

I open the door for my girl. She, in her own sulky way, exits the apartment door. I grab her wrist and spin her around to face me. "Y/N, thank you so much." I pause. "I meant everything I said on the couch, okay? I feel you." A flush of pink shines over her face. "I know you did, Liz. You know everything I said and did today, I meant with my heart. I'll text you when I'm home." Y/N shuffles her feet to move but doesn't; instead, she plants a kiss of pure bliss. "I feel you too." With that said, I watch her walk down the hall and into the elevator, out of sight but not out of mind.

Y/N POV

As I reach the lobby, it hits me what a bittersweet moment this is. I exit the elevator, still lost in thought about everything with Liz, before I hear my name from a voice I don't recognize.

"Miss Y/N?"

I look up to see the doorman of the building. Does he know my name? "Yes?" I hesitantly ask. The man looks at me, confused. "I said I hope to see you again, Miss Y/N." That's when it hits me.

A very drunk Liz and I, hand in hand, enter the building. We walk straight past the doorman before Liz turns us around. "Mr. Madison, I'd like to introduce you to Miss Y/L/N, a special friend of mine."

"Pleasure to meet you, Miss Y/L/N." Mr. Madison extends his white-gloved hand to me. I promptly take it and begin shaking his hand. "Just call me Y/N next time you see me." I realize I have yet to stop shaking Mr. Madiosn's hand. "I'm shaking your hand too long." I awkwardly let go and bid him farewell, following Liz into the elevator.

"Mr. Madison?" He nods. "Thank you for being so kind," I say to him as I exit. Once I step out, I am meant by paparazzi, but I realize they're not for me because why would they be? A rush of flashes goes off as someone enters the building. Liz lives here and is a model, so it would make sense that other people like her would too.

After watching the paparazzi do their annoying thing. I find the car and the driver Liz told me about. Miss Y/L/N?" I shake my head yes. I go to enter the car but first. "And you are?" The man smiles. "Mr. Bronson." "Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Bronson. Please call me Y/N." The man agrees and helps me into the car. Once he gets in the vehicle and routes us to my place, I let out a breath I had not realized I was holding. Mr. Bronson told me he texted my friend to let her know I was secure.

Throughout the drive, I made small talk with Mr. Bronson. I asked him multiple times to give me his first name, but he refused, not in a mean way, just in a nice formal way. It turns out he has a wife and two kids. I apologize for taking him away from them tonight. He calms my worries and says the amount he gets paid; he makes sure to make it up to his kids. I asked him if he was our driver last night, to which he replied yes. He said he made sure to give us privacy the previous night, so I embarrassingly got the picture of what he meant. Small talk is something I don't do anymore, so having it with new people is nice.

Liz POV

I returned to the couch after Y/N left. It hits me what a bittersweet moment this is. I'm beyond thrilled with everything that happened between us, but it hurts knowing it might be a long time till I can see her again. Plus, I still have to face everything I've been ignoring. I'm lost in thought about everything with Y/N.

My phone next to me lights up. It's a text from Mr. Bronosn telling me the package is secure. I chuckle and blame his son Billy for that phrase. A man as old as Mr. Bronoson should not be using that vocabulary. I send him a thank you text and ask him to ensure she enters her building without a problem.

I put my phone down on my coffee table and decided to distract myself with some trashy TV. I go to grab the remote, but a set of knocks from my door stop me. I cautiously make my way over, unlocking and opening the door.

"Robbie?"

Y/N POV

Not too much longer, and we're out in front of my building. Mr. Bronson opened my car door for me before I even had a chance to protest. He helps me out and makes sure I have everything with me. I thanked him for the ride, and he responded by giving me his card, letting me know that he'll be there anytime I need a ride. He waits until I enter the elevator of my building to leave.

During the ride up, I text Liz letting her know I made it home. I don't immediately get a response back, which saddens me a bit, but there's nothing I can do about it. The doors open, and I make my way down the hall to my apartment. Through the New York thin walls, I overhear Max playing one of her Marvel movies.

"What are you doing!?" I shout as I fling open my door, scaring Max and making her throw her popcorn in the process. Thank goodness I don't have a dog. It would be going to town right now. "WHAT THE FUCK, Y/N! I wasn't expecting you for a couple more hours!" Max walks up and hugs me before jabbing my arm. "Don't do that again!"

Max takes notice of my new outfit and tote bag. "Well, it looks like you really did more than spend the night. New clothes, food, and a tote!" Damn, putting the whole lesbians move to fast thing to work." I would go to argue, but Max nailed it on the head.

"Once again, Max, you're always right." Max throws up some finger guns and begins cleaning up the mess I made her cause. I put the food away and threw my dress from last night in the wash. Max finishes picking up the popcorn, throws it away, and sits herself down on my couch, making herself at home. "Come sit and tell me everything, Y/N!" I plop down next to Max and look at the TV. "Hold on. You're watching this one again?" Max looks up and sees what I see a guy in a black catsuit fighting a dude with a metal arm."Okay, I don't need your judgment. Besides! We were supposed to start on these movies tonight!" I roll my eyes. "Who's right! Come on, Y/N, say it!"

"You are." Max pumps her fist. "Always." Max grabs the remote, exiting this movie, and goes back to a film called Captain America: The First Avenger. "We are going to start from the beginning. We will enjoy this movie, and then you will tell me everything that happened with Liz! Everything."

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the movie. I lost count of how many times I asked Max how they did the body transformation stuff. Also, I thought the guy named Stark's first name was Tony. But Max told me to wait. Whatever that means. I'm so sad about Bucky. Why did they have to do him like that? Max also told me the next movie isn't her favorite, but she loves Brie Larson, so since I'm surprising, not tired after a war movie, we decide to jump into it when I decide to check my phone for the millionth time.

Still no text back from Liz.

"Nothing?" Max asks. I shake my head no, and she leans closer to me. "Who knows, maybe she just fell asleep." I like Max's ability to look at things differently. "Now tell me everything before we watch Captain Marvel!"

I do just that. I tell Max everything. I tell her about the bits of the night I can remember. The hickeys. The garden. The missed phone calls. The movie and dance party. I brush over the details about Liz and my sex romp because that's for me. I tell Max about dinner and more.

When I finish, Max just looks at me, stunned. "What?"

"The whole time you talked, you had the biggest smile on your face. You've fallen for her! Haven't you?" I blush, and Max sees it. "Oh my God!! My freaking Y/N finally got back out there and gets the one! This is amazing, Y/N. Tell me her name again; I wanna stalk her Instagram."

"Elizabeth Chase."

Max gives me a smirk and raises an eyebrow. "You serious?" I give her a look right back. "Yes?" Max goes back to her phone, seemingly satisfied with my answer. "Okay."

"Let's see. Private account. Private account. Fan acc-." Max stares at her phone, frantically scrolling. "Oh shit. That's why!" I turn to Max, very confused. "That's why what?"

"That's why she looked and sounded so familiar at the coffee shop! Oh my god. I can't believe this. My heart-"

"Dude, what the hell is going on?" I try to look at Max's phone, but she moves it away from me. "What did Liz say she does again?" A worried look grows on my face. "Model." "And she has a sister named?" "MK." "Y/N. You have zero idea who you just spent all day with."

Max hands me her phone. That one article I saw this morning is staring at me.

ELIZABETH OLSEN LEAVES NY RESTAURANT WITH MYSTERIOUS WOMAN DAYS AFTER LEAVING SET OF THE DOCTOR...

"Okay?" Max scrolls down the page for me. I see Liz and I, hand in hand, walking into a car. I get hit by a wave of information.

The articles.

The calls.

Her job.

London.

I scroll down the page and start reading the actual article.

"MCU star Elizabeth Olsen seen exiting a NY restaurant with a mysterious woman in hand. Earlier the same day, the pair were seen leaving a state park. This news comes days after Olsen was seen exiting the London set of the Doctor Strange sequel distraught. No one knows when Olsen arrived in NY, but it's clear she arrived alone. Only today was Olsen's fiancé Robbie Arnett seen at Heathrow Airport. Rumors have been flying around Olsen and Arnett for a while now. Is this the end? Who's this mysterious woman? For up-to-date information, be sure to stay subscribed to our newsletter."

I stay silent, holding Max's phone. The rage and hurt I'm feeling is one I haven't felt in- since-

I eye Max, tears pooling in my eyes. "She lied, Max." I whimper out. Max doesn't catch it. "Dude, you're dating the Scarlett Witch!" "Max." Max doesn't hear me. "Omg, she's like top 5-"

"She lied!" Max turns to me, stunned. Max softens her body. "Y/N..." I open my mouth, which has suddenly become dry. "I'm sure she had her reasons" I glare at Max. "Max, she lied about her job. She's engaged! She lied about her fucking name!" I get up and start rushing to put my vans on. "Dude, what are you doing!?"

"I'm going to talk to her. I want her to explain herself." I open my phone. My messages are still sitting on DELIVERED. "She hasn't even fucking opened my text!" I begin snapping at Max. I know this is unfair, but I can't let this happen again. "Y/N, just stop and-"

"Max, I love you. But I can't." I say through gritted teeth. I grab my phone, wallet, and keys. "I'll be back."

I close my door and sprint down to the elevator. Luckily my neighbor Miss. Jones was getting off, so I didn't have to wait. I pull out my phone and call Mr. Bronson, asking him to pick me up. It turns out he doesn't live too far and would be happy to take me back. Thank God.

While waiting, I decided to send a text to Liz. Elizabeth? Lizzie, or whatever the fuck her character's name is called.

"Olsen. We need to talk."

Part 7

#soooooo #uhhhh #fanfic #elizabeth chase olsen #lizzie olsen #OTIWEO #y/n #elizabeth olsen x y/n #smut #future angst #mommy #hot mommy #mommy? sorry. mommy? sorry. mommy?#this was my first time writing smut so im sorry

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lumine-no-hikari · 4 days ago

Text

Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #384

I still seem to be in a bit of a funk. The empty feeling persists. Oh well.

Today, it seemed to manifest as a sensation of being disconnected from everyone and everything. I figured maybe my body just needs resources for whatever it's trying to do. So I made myself a tea...

...I also made myself a salad to go with the tea. It's got mixed greens, bell peppers, cilantro, and scallions in it. I put salmon, the rest of that burrata filling, and some ranch dressing on top:

At some point, I did some dishes, and that was cool. J did a bunch of them, too.

This feeling of disconnect is not reflective of my reality. I am loved and understood by M and J. My brain is just... being a brain right now. And that's all right; we'll just wait for it to go back to normal. We can still do stuff in the meantime.

...Stuff like making confit garlic. I dunno if you remember me writing about it, but I wanted to try to see about making the garlic cloves really dark – I think I talked about leaving it in the oven for some 6-8 hours instead of 3 or 4. I wanted to see if I could make confit garlic that has more of a black garlic type of flavor to it – one in which all the sugars are deeply caramelized and any proteins have had the Maillard reaction occur.

...I don't actually know if it'll work. It could be that I'll just end up ruining some butter and some garlic. I guess we'll see how it goes. It's been in the oven since around 2pm, and it is still in the oven now, at 8:30pm. My kitchen smells AMAZING right now.

That said, the garlic cloves, they tend to float up in the butter once everything gets hot. I tried figuring out some way to prevent this, because if the cloves aren't submerged, the side that is in contact with the air will roast instead of get soft and mushy in the oil. It's not a bad thing, necessarily, but it's not quite what we're going for. So... I improvised a way of keeping the cloves weighted down:

...Yes, it is just a bunch of small mason jar lids layered inside a larger mason jar with silverware keeping it held down, ahaha... I know it's very silly. I know. But it seems to be working, at least for now. Though I think I'm gonna hafta find a more practical way of doing this in the future.

...I'm looking forward to the results. For sure, they smell good so far.

I made another food today, too, out of the various leftovers in the fridge. This is some rice cooked in the leftover chicken drippings, filled out with water:

Here is an omelet that J requested; it's made of eggs, tomatoes, and the leftover cheesy broccoli I made before.

...And here is the bowl of yummies I put together with these things. I added some heated-up frozen meatballs to it to fill it out...

At the moment, I kinda feel a bit like a wind-up toy – just clunking around and going through the motions of whatever. Rationally, I understand that the weirdness will pass, but... well. The thing to do in the meantime is to just endure. I can do that, no sweat.

In a bit, J and I are gonna try to play StepMania on my laptop. We tried to put it on his laptop, because my laptop hinge is broken, which makes it difficult to move it around. But his laptop is Apple; mine is Windows. Apple can't run StepMania, but it can run a similar program called OutFox.

While the pad does work on J's laptop, the OutFox software does not properly recognize it when two arrows are pressed at the same time. So, at least until the developers of OutFox fix it, J's laptop is a no-go. Oh well.

He's thinking to move the pad over to the dining area where my laptop is set up, from the living room area, so we can play StepMania on my machine. Maybe some movement along with some jaunty tunes will help me a little. Who knows.

...Well. I had a nice time. I don't have the endurance that I used to, but... it's still fun.

Anyhoot! Here's how the garlic turned out:

This was in the oven at 250 degrees Fahrenheit for around 6 hours. It's deliciously sweet and savory. This is probably the best batch of the stuff I've made yet. And... I think it could stand to stick around in the oven for even longer, still. Here's why:

It looks burnt, maybe, but I promise you it's not; it has a sweet, almost chocolatey flavor with all the savory of the garlic, but with very little of the allium zing. It's rich and intensely flavorful. And, given that it comes off of the surface easily when moisture is applied, I think it's primarily made of sugar.

...If all the cloves of garlic could reach this consistency...!!! Oh my goodness...!!!

I'll have to try to make something out of wire to keep the garlic cloves submerged next time. Because there will be a next time. I think this jar isn't gonna last very long; it was everything I could do to avoid eating it all in one sitting; it really was that delicious.

...There are so many things I wish I could share with you. Confit garlic, lovely tea, rice cooked in chicken drippings, and StepMania are just a few delights I wish I could show you. I have so many more...

...It almost seems unfair...

...I guess that's it for today. My brain feels kinda like it's blocked up like a clogged sink, so... I guess I'll stop writing now.

I love you. And I'll write again soon. Please stay safe out there, okay?

Your friend, Lumine

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cf8wrk4u-us · 1 year ago

Note

Ok idea, the district kids and their potentional Guardians.

District 1 kids(Marvel and Glimmer): Ultra Magnus or Kup, either by Ultra Magnus strict nature or Kups story will humble them.

District 2 kids(Cato and Clove): Jazz or Mirage heck maybe even Starscream, both came from upper class before Cybertron fell to war so they can help break the kids out of their mindset.

District 3 kids(Calling them Chip and Wire): Soundwave, Shockwave, or Wheeljack. Techies have to stuck together

District 4 kids: Either Rodimus since he bonded with one of them, or Seaspray or Nautica

District 5 kids(Calling them, Jules and Watts): Jolt, a lesser known autobot with Electric powers

District 6 kids: Cyclonus, he's an alien jet he'd be so cool to them.

District 7 kids:

District 8 Kids: Swindle or Knockout, with Swindle trying to get them to but "authentic" 21st century clothing and Knockout just telling them hot Goss or making fun of Capital people's clothes.

District 9 kids: Honestly hard pick

District 10 kids: The Predacons, they'd especially love Razorclaw or Headstrong

District 11(Rue and Thresh): The Dinobots, mainly because I love the idea of Rue riding Grimlocks T-Rex mode

Katniss and Peeta: Megatron or Optimus

I really love this idea! I think you made a lot if great pairings for the tributes and ideas of their personality and names👍

If I have to be honest though I sort of limited most of the potential tribute partners to members of the Lost Light Crew and the tributes I do know.

While your list is good I'm happy to show you what I had in mind.

District 1 and 2 are basically pariahs among the bots and their fellow tributes, especially Cato. Yes, the crew understands that these tributes are basically a bunch of brainwashed kids who have been manipulated to be killing machines by the start of the game but it still erks a lot of them that when Rodimus gave them a way out they still chose to attack the humans. A 12 year old even!

Not that the Career tributes mind since. their equally as hostil at first. They're scared and anxious, because in their minds they blew it. My headcanon for how the Career Tributes are that the mindset and mentality is that you "Come back a winner or you don't come back at all". They were expected to die in that arena or come out a victor. Nothing else. But there all still alive and the games are ruined. Yes, through no fault of their own but they doubt that it'll make a good explanation to their families or trainers. Even if they do make it home the only thing ready for them is disgrace.

But there are some bots that try to be friendly or at least cordial with them. Like you meantioned Ultra Magnus is a firm and strict character that will get them in line, his attitude may be reminiscent to their teachers. He keep an optic on them but also make sure their equally attended to. He may not approve of their mindset but refuses to discriminate against them.

Megatron would be a surprising presence around them, given that he did threaten to vaporize the group back at the arena. But it stems mostly from his own complicated feelings. Because to him, these Career Tributes were so much like his followers during the early stages of the war. How many young bright-eyed Cybertronians came to him looking to change the oppressed system and better their station in life only for him to turn them into ruthless war machines? How many did he indoctrinate into his cause and convince anyone who wasn't apart of it to be there enemies. To Megatron, he was the Districts, manipulating his own people to be machines of war instead of agents for change. There are actions he didn't regret when it came to the war, but robbing the futures of the next generation was something that will always weigh on him. So , he will check on the Career tributes to make sure there handling everything well for the most part. He's the one to notice how agitated and hostil they were and thought to bring Rung

Rung is the next and by far the most significant figure to the Career Tributes, he's the one to really sit down with them and try to help them sort their emotions and thoughts about their circumstances. He doesn't have any bias towards them or their Districts, and he does his best to let them vent and just listen to their thoughts.

District 3 and 5 would definitely be great friends with Brainstorm and Preceptor, given that both those districts have a background in technology and engineering. The tributes would love observing some of their projects and inventions. Learning how they work.

Though Preceptor and Brainstorm are careful of what they show them and what information is given. Since the last time advance technology and knowledge was left to the humans it caused a whole mess of problems.

Obviously, the District 4 tributes would get along with Rodimus with how friendly he was to the male tribute, who I named Luca Alberts.

With Rodimus being a fishing enthusiasts they swap more stories and advice on the topic. Not to meantion to Luca, Rodimus is the coolest person ever! Rex and orange and captain of his own ship he's definitely someone the 12 year old looks up too!

But Nautica, too, could be someone they like, especially with her interest in marine biology. She had always heard Earth had an interesting ecosystem within her sea. But she be disappointed to know that the tributes haven't been past the coast because the Capital doesn't allow them away too far from the mainland unless it's for specialty catches. A far cry from when humans sailed along the sea for decades. Not to meantion because of the past war and pollution a lot of species are now extinct.

The Rodimus make a promise to Luca that when things get better he let the human take him to all his favorite fishing spots. Nautica says that she wants to explore the ocean with their help.

Members of District 6 aren't the biggest fans of travel, but when it comes to the bots vehicle modes and watching them transform they are immediately interested.

To be honest I don't know what pairs to make up for 7-10, I think overall most of the Lost Light Crew are friendly to the remains tributes and try to make them as comfortable as they can. While there are some who might not be comfortable with organics, there are some who are generally interested in humans and their culture. Swerve has a huge collection of human movies and thinks it's a tragedy that none of the tributes have seen them! He schedules a daily movie night and ask Rewind to project the films for him which he doesn't too. The tributes were never really exposed to media and entertainment like movies and TV shows, things like animation are like magic to them. Most things like that were reserved for the Capital people and for most of them, they didn't have the luxury of media given their poverish backgrounds and how most had to join their Districts industry to support their families. Being with Rodimus and their crew brought a break to there mostly labor focused life. Though they still worry about their families and friends and what their rescue from the arena means for them. Rung is brought in to help them process their concerns and overall trauma concerning the Reaping and their experience before the games.

As for District 8, I've thought of them a lot! Rue would be the apple of most of the crews optics! Especially that of Tailgate and Cyclonus.

Tailgate has never seen humans outside of Swerves films and can't get over how tiny and cute they are. He doesn't make the greatest impression after the humans are allowed out of the tank and he tries to hold one, marveling how much smaller they are to him. Most of the tributes ran from him but Rue stayed and badly said how cute she thought he was!

"I'm not cute! I'm fierce! " Tailgate objected, but from then on he always hung around Rue. He showed her different parts of the ship and carried her with on his hoverboard, the halls often filled with Tailgate and Rues excited cheers.

And when you have Tailgate you get Cyclonus. While the purple mech adores Rue too, he makes sure to remind Tailgate to please be careful with her as humans are fragile creature. Though Rue often test those boundaries.

Once Cyclonus was having a conversation with Tailgate only for the minibot to burst out laughing, confused Cyclonus realized that Rue had climbed all the way to his shoulder blade without him noticing. He immediately startled and snatched Rue in his shoulders scolding her and Tailgate how dangerous that was, that Rue could have fallen or got caught in one of the jabs in his armor and crushed.

Cyclonus and Tailgate are both taken aback at how Rue gushes over what a cute couple they are!

Despite her mischievous nature, Cyclonus genuinely does like Rue and is protective of her. This even extends to her fellow tribute Thresh, these two share a stoic nature and protective streak that comes with the understanding that their strength is what keeps those close to them safe.

Thresh also finds a surprising friend in Whirl. The cyclops bot thinking that Thresh was impressive with his strength for a human is and that silent attitude of his made him extra cool. Basically, Whirl saw it as a challenge to break through Thresh shell. It started with just gruff replies to the helicopters' questions, to warning against certain actions Whirl thought would be "fun," to finally being the reluctant voice of reason to Whirls shenigans. Given Thresh's background, he probably worked hard every day from an early age to help support his sister and grandmother. His district not giving him the option to have fun or just experience his youth. Whirl is chaos incarnent, and while that can be exhausting it brings out a side of Thresh he didn't know to how much he enjoyed participating in Whirls games.

Now we get to District 12! With Katniss and Peeta!

Because of Peeta's injury he and Katniss spent some time in the medbay with Ratchet. The medical comes off as gruff and stern but Katniss can't help but respect him. He reminded her of her own mother in his quiet concentration when it came to healing others. Ratchet does his best to assist Katniss in addressing Peeta's wound and in intent at making sure the teen is well treated.

Peeta often likes to joke or try to make friendly conversation with Ratchet though he's often met with a dry rely and orders to rest instead of chattering on. Not that Peeta is detered and keeps a bright smile while under Ratchets care.

Drift is another bit that Oeeta surprisingly gets close with, given the former visits Ratchets medbay to check up on the bot and interact with the two humans who have joined him there. He likes talking with Peeta and wishes him a speedy recovery, knowing Peeta got his injury while defending a younger tribute Drift sees Peeta as honorable.

Though things get awkward when Drift mentions how sweet it was that Katniss was treating Peeta and says that they have a beautiful story. Believing that the pair were getting closer romantically because of seeing Peeta's confession on the interviews. This gets a frown from Katniss and a sheepish look from Peeta.

After his recovery, Peeta is allowed out of the medbay he makes another friend in Ten. While Ten can't voice much Peeta sees a fellow creative spirit in him when shown the mechs collection of hand made figures and the flowers he's drawn on himself.

Peeta impresses Ten by drawing items on his armor skillfully, with the enthusiasm he never had when decorating his shops cakes and cookies. Tens more than happy to share his paints with the tiny human.

Going back to Katniss, there's another bot she gets close to and that's Megatron.

At the beginning Katniss believed Megatron was the same as his past self that attempted to take over Earth. Brutal and bloodthirsty but over time her expectations of him were dismissed.

Yes, he came off as cold and standoffish, but more than anything, he was respectful to all the tributes and was observant of their needs, even the Careers who again he had threatened to vaporize.

Seeing this Katniss finally asked him why he even tried with them, his response "Because there as much victims to this system as you and the rest are"

Slowly but surely, Katniss begins to hang out in the side lines with the former tyrant. She was never one for socializing and eventually just ended up spending time with Megatron more often then not. Just silently staying in each others presence.

To her surprise one day Megatron ask her about her district, that he understands that they came from a mining background and he admits that he came from a similar industry.

This takes Katniss by surprise, she could never imagine the "Emperor of Destruction" working in dusty mine shaft. They share their lifestyle experiences, comparing the disparaging life and workload of the miners, eventually the topic drifts to Katnisses father who died in a collapse.

"It probably didn't take them long to move you all to a new hole to dig." he chuckled dryly, but at Katniss silence, he backtracks. "Apologies.... I understand your grief, I too have lost many a friend to accidents in the mines"

Megatron admits to Katniss that even before the arrival to the arena, he and the crew had observed them through their network. He saw her volunteer for her sister so she wouldn't have been taken. And despite Rodimus's intervention, she very well could have saved her from death. He tells her she's an admirable human and sister.

Katniss might tear up and ask if she'll ever see her family or Earth again.

"I promise to do everything in my power to help you and the rest of the humans return safely home one day"

There's another bit on board that also seems to gravitate to Katniss, with how close she's getting to Megatron its no wonder that Ravage takes an interest in her.

Ravage at first makes Katniss and the other tributes nervous, being seen as a large wild animal at first. Startling them as he actually speaks.

But as he starts to wander near Katniss more Peeta starts to joke that Ravage is possibly mistaking her for "catnip" instead of Katniss, the girl is not amused.

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