#Damien is the only one of them that can sit on chairs properly

[ashethewitch]

Something something my favorite genders

[themonotonysyndrome]

REDACTED verse - Those that stood above the rest

Summary: Everyone in D.A.M.N simp for the power couple at least a little bit - the Vampire Prince of Dahlia and the Electro Energetic. Gavin and the Freelancer would be lying if they said they haven't been watching them... respectfully. 

TW: [Swearing], [Profanity], [Explicit implications courtesy of Gavin, of course] & [Oblivious narrators]

Apologies for any grammatical or spelling errors because I wrote this the whole night and only edited it once. I’ll do the editing process again tomorrow morning.

-

Life as a student in D.A.M.N is nothing like regular colleges or universities. While the environment is hectic with exams, assignments and teachers with sticks up their asses - there's also a hint of craziness thrown into the mix. You can never really predict how your day would go here in the academy, and to most of the students, it's the typical college experience you'll get everywhere. Just... taken to the next level. 

That's what you get for a magical academy, after all. 

An Air Elemental would accidentally shatter the windows in a classroom with a powerful gust of wind on a random ass Tuesday because she was laughing too hard. A Graviton Energetic would sneeze, and suddenly, the gravity in the music room would stick the instruments on the ceilings. The entire soccer team would fall flat on the grassy field, snoozing because the Serenity Daemon playing as the Goalkeeper uses too much magic to calm their anxious Sweeper during his first play with the team. 

With so many Empowered creatures of all kinds attending D.A.M.N, there's never a dull moment. You learned that the moment a loud growl came from the Debate Club on your second week as a student. A Wolf Shifter had gotten into a heated argument with a Vampire about the toppings that should and shouldn't be on a pizza. 

So yeah, typical college life with magic thrown into your daily shenanigans. 

Today, you can't help but wonder what sort of excitement would occur as the large clock above the lecture hall ticks by, counting down the second before the class is over. 

You check the clock and sigh. Just ten more minutes to go, but it feels like time is creeping forward at such a snail-like pace. Tapping your pen on the open notebook laid before you rather irritability, you just want the lecturer to stop yammering already so you can grab lunch at the food truck parked outside of campus. 

Something gently knocks against your knuckle. You tilt your head to the side and meet with Damien's unamused stare; it looks like this is the third time he caught you losing focus in class. 

"I told you to grab a snack before class started." Damien whispers, mindful to keep his voice even so the lecturer won't catch them chatting. Sadism Daemons are scary when you piss them off, and the way the lecturer's eyes sweep through the students is more than enough to have them all shut the hell up the moment he begins their topic of the day. 

"I was meeting up with Lasko and we lost track of time." You hiss back. Yesterday you made a promise to catch up with the Air Elemental before your first class started to organise the date and invitations for the next game night. Once Lasko starts talking about the things he's comfortable with, he loses his stutter and launches into an animated one-sided conversation. You didn't have the heart to stop him, not when he looks so happy and cute. 

Buying that Arkham Horror board game was the right purchase to surprise him with. 

While your mind replays the morning you spend with Lasko, Damien rolls his eyes. "Of course you did. Here." He pushes his coffee cup towards you. His fingers linger on the cup for a few seconds to make sure that the coffee remains hot enough to drink. 

You grab the cup, grateful for his consideration, and take a big swing. The coffee settles pleasantly in your stomach as warmth spreads within your body. 

You're more a tea drinker - the classic Early Grey and Gunpowder Green - but at this instance, coffee would hopefully kick your focus back into gear. 

"Thanks, Damien." You said before passing the cup back to him. You peeked at his notebook and wasn't surprised to find that it's packed with notes written in different coloured pens. "Hey, want to grab lunch together after this?" 

Damien switched the yellow pen for a red one when the lecturer mentioned something about a topic for the upcoming test. You absentmindedly wondered if it's worth your life stealing his notebook. "Sure. What are you in the mood for?" He asked. 

Finally, the lecturer dismisses the class. Chatters erupt as students pack up while some scurry over to the podium to ask a few questions.

You lean against your seat to stretch your back; your notebooks and stationery are already in your school backpack. You're just waiting for Damien now. "I'm craving for a burger and some cheesy loaded fries with a boba tea." God, just thinking about it is already enough to make your mouth watered. 

Being a health nut, Damien throws you a judgemental look at your food choice as you two made your way towards the main campus entrance. He easily follows your lead through a crowd of students, and Damien even gently pulls you closer to his side when a student whizzes by on her skateboard. 

With so many people talking and laughing around you and Damien, you can't help but hear the conversations hovering around you. 

"...had class with them yesterday? Dude, you're so lucky! Did you sit beside them!?" 

"Are you fucking crazy? No! I sat two rows behind them, but it was enough to smell their perfume. God, they're so gorgeous - I couldn't focus the entire time!" 

"I've heard a few players from the Earth Elemental team tried to invite them to their party this weekend, but they were shot down. Apply cold water on burned area." 

"Well, duh. You can't just walk up to them like that! They're one of the hottest people in this academy."

"Yeah, but those players are in one of the most well-respected sports teams in all of Dahlia, and even they can't stand a chance against them!"

Students parted ways as you and Damien approached the gates. Rows of food trucks parked across the street with tables and chairs placed about. The conversations tapered off behind you, along with the hubbub of the academy. You have a pretty good idea of whom those students were talking about. It's been a topic surrounding the academy ever since the start of the new academic year. 

Even as an introvert who prefers to hover to your few but close group of friends, you couldn't escape the latest academy gossip.

"Finally, I thought my ears would've fallen off before we could escape," Damien mutters. It's a cloudy Wednesday; dark clouds are rolling above them with an occasional burst of strong breeze cutting through. "You'd think they would just give it a rest already." 

The food truck you and Damien stop by displays a menu with a wide variety of food and drinks. From burgers to pasta and desserts ranging from ice-creams to Thai banana pancakes, your stomach begins to growl. You place your order in a hurry, whereas Damien selects a hearty sandwich stuffed with juicy and tender slices of slow-smoked beef brisket with veggies of his choice and chipotle mayo in between two crusty loaves with a bottle of water. 

You and Damien grab your meals to sit at one of the vacant tables and enjoy lunch together. Good food and good company - what more could you ask for? Well, other than Damien's tsk-ing and wiping the barbecue sauce that smudged the corner of your cheek like the mother hen he constantly denies to be. 

"Can't you eat your food properly, Freelancer? You're getting your fingers dirty too. Give me your hand." Damien demanded halfway through his sandwich. You grin impishly and offer your left hand for Damien to wipe with some tissue while the other is holding a burger. The thick sauce begins to drip. 

Soon enough, a familiar voice shouts at them from across the street. 

"Yo, Damien! Freelancer! Are you guys, like, having lunch? Can I join!?" 

You can't help but beam and wave your hand (that was still holding the burger) high up when Huxley crosses over. Damien squawked with eyes wide in horror when the barbecue sauce got all over the table. He hurried to wipe the table clean while you greeted Huxley. 

"Hi, Huxley! Are you grabbing lunch too? Take a seat, man!" 

"Thanks a bunch, dude. It's been a while since I hung out with you two." 

"We literally had a class together two days ago." 

"Two days too long, Damien. I miss you guys." 

"Aww, that's super sweet of you, Hux!"

"Oh, for the love of - just go buy something already before the next class starts." 

Huxley happily gives Damien two thumbs up before grabbing his food and drink. When he returned to their table, he brought a tray of smoothie consisting of kale, spinach, banana, orange, and vanilla blended into green mush in a plastic cup and a plate of vegan quesadillas. 

The moment Huxley sat down, you took a sip of his drink and made a face. 

"Yeah, I ask them to hold back on the honey because I like the vanilla more," Huxley explains before tucking in. "Oh! But I can ask them to add more honey if you want. That’s like, totally cool." 

You quickly shake your head and clean your palate with your sweet boba tea. "It's cool, Hux. Just wanted to try a sip. You're really into these crazy healthy smoothies." 

"They're the bomb, dude. My Mums introduced a few recipes to me when I was a kid, and I basically hooked ever since." The Earth Elemental explains after gulping down a good chunk of the green goo. 

"Yeah, well, with the calories you burned up during practice, I guess you can't go wrong with smoothies," Damien added thoughtfully. His sandwich is all gone. He props an elbow on the table and cradles his face in one open palm. "Anyway, what's up, Huxley? Anything new happened?" 

"Nah, it's been nothing but the same shit lately. Classes, assignments and practices for the upcoming Elemental & Energetic Games - normal stuff. What about you guys?" 

"More or less the same." Damien replies, soundly ignoring your "We're hitting the tournament arc!" outburst. "Planning to organise a study group for the upcoming tests. I expect the two of you will be joining, by the way." 

At Damien's words, Huxley beams brighter. Any brighter, you'd need a pair of sunglasses. "For real, dude!? You're like, the best friend ever, Damien! C'mere - lemme give you a hug!" 

You snicker when despite Damien's frantic protest, Huxley shoot up from his chair and quickly hugs the Fire Elemental tightly before he has the chance to weasel away. 

Also, you didn't miss the chance to snap a quick picture of them to show Gavin tonight. 

Unaware of your phone, Damien grumbled when Huxley finally released him, and they sat down again. The three of you continue to chat about everything and anything. Soon, the topic shifts from tests to plans for the weekend. 

Huxley snapped his fingers when you mentioned Lasko's gaming night and the tabletop game you recently bought for him so they could all play together. 

"I totally forgot about the party! A few guys in my team are having a party this Saturday, and I want to invite you guys and Lasko. Oh! Gavin too! It's going to be a blast, and on Sunday, we can play that new board game."

You and Damien exchange a glance. "Sounds fun. Actually, we've heard about the party just now. How many people are your team members inviting?" You asked, curious. 

Huxley takes a moment to ponder before shrugging. He's nearly done with this food. "It's supposed to be just with a few close friends. Nothing too crazy, you know? After the last party that ended with fireworks exploding in someone's bedroom, they want to keep it lowkey." 

"Huh. Close friends, but they tried to invite a certain Energetic," Damien interjects. "What's up with that?" 

"You heard about that too?" Huxley replied, surprise coloured his tone. "Word travel like, super-fast around campus! It happened, like, yesterday morning!" 

Damien let out an annoyed groan and ran a palm down his face. "I think it's safe to say that everyone in this fucking academy is talking about it and nothing else. God, no matter where you go, you can't escape it." 

You pat Damien's arm in a comforting manner. "They're hot and popular; people will be talking about them until we all graduate." 

"And if it isn't them, people would be talking about their boyfriend," Huxley pointed out, stirring his smoothie languidly. Huxley smiles and offers it to you when you critically stare at it for a tad too long. Against your better judgement, you try again. 

Blek! It still tastes the same! Huxley just chuckles and finishes the rest of the smoothie while you seek solace with your boba tea again. 

"Besides, it's not often you see an Energetic and Vampire couple walking around," Huxley continued. "I think they're living together too. I mean, that's what I heard." 

"Don't tell me you also have a crush on them."  

Before Huxley could say anything, you tentatively raise your hand as if you guys are in class. Now you bear Damien's annoyed glance. "I was kinda hardcore crushing on them and their boyfriend before Gavin and I officially got together. They keep to themselves and their boyfriend most of the time, but they're super nice in classes." 

The Elemental and Energetic courses often have classes that intermingle every week. However, they're primarily compulsory lessons like magical history, laws regarding coverts and taxonomy of various Empowered creatures. 

So you're practically classmates with the hottest Electro Energetic in the academy and had even sat beside them a few times during class. Unlike many of the students who simp for them at a distance. 

The power couple of D.A.M.N is certainly interesting, to say the least. 

You narrowed your eyes at Damien when he refused to let up his disappointed stare. "Don't lie to me. You simp for them too." 

Damien huffs and crosses his arms. "Both of them look good, alright. Anyone with a working pair of eyes could tell from a mile away. They're gorgeous, and the Vampire is hot - so what?" 

"They're both super strong too." Huxley unknowingly throws more wood into the fire. 

By the time their lunch ended, Damien had demanded they talk about something else, so you jump into plans for the weekend. Party on Saturday and a gaming session on Sunday. 

Typical college life.

-

When the time on your phone displays 10.30 PM in glaring bright light and you're still on campus, you know what death feels like. 

It's quiet in the cafeteria, save for a small group of students huddled together around tables scattered in various places. Their heads are hunched down as they go over textbooks and assignments. One of the students happens to be a Vampire judging from the blood bag beside his laptop. 

A red swirly straw juts out of the bag, and for a brief moment of exhaustion, you entertain the image of the student sipping the blood bag as if it was a Capri Sun. 

Just like those students, the reason why you've stayed late in the academy's cafeteria is because of assignments. You know that if you bring your homework back home with you, you won't get any of it done. It's better to stay here and slough through them instead. 

Damien would scold and drag you home if he knew. Huxley would be sad and plead for you to rest, and Lasko would put on his guidance counsellor voice and advise you that a good night's sleep would help you think better. 

The boys mean well, and you love them for it, but you know yourself better than anyone. If you don't finish these assignments tonight, you would just procrastinate until the deadline punches you right in the face. 

You sigh and rub your temple in frustration. You've made good progress so far, but there's still a few left and you want to complete them all before going home. So you resume writing down the essay about the importance of convert and the Department on your laptop, fingers deftly flying all over the keyboard. 

Nighttime at D.A.M.N is not as busy as it is in the morning. The students that are going in and out of classes are mostly Vampires and nocturnal animal Shifters. The academy's faculties are also lesser in terms of numbers compared to their morning counterpart. 

Twice you've experienced the nightlife at D.A.M.N, and tonight would be your third. You wondered if Gavin is at home already. Hopefully, you can return to the apartment before him. Better wrap this up, then. 

The steady rhythm of your fingers on the keyboard and quiet discussion from the group of students slowly lull you to sleep. Hang in there just a little more! 

The sound of a Daemon Rifting into this world startles you awake. 

"Here you are, Deviant," Gavin said, his ordinarily seductive voice laced with conceal anger. Oh shit, you're in trouble now. "I thought we talked about this." 

You have no choice but to face him. Gavin looks devastatingly as sexy as ever; his black t-shirt snugly fits his body to the point that it showcases his biceps tastefully. A pair of dark blue jeans that he just so happens knows will get your heart racing and accompanied by a pair of shiny black Doc Martens boots. A rainbow-coloured bead bracelet is on his right wrist; a gift from Caelum. 

You would've swoon at the sight of him if you weren't seconds away from face planting on your laptop. 

So instead, you greet him with a, "Whaaa... Gavin?" You rub your eyes and blink at him. "W-What are you doing here? I thought you'd be - " You break out a yawn before sighing. "At home by now." 

"Funny. I thought the same thing about you but colour me surprised when Caelum reached out to me while I was grocery shopping — saying that you aren't home even when it's close to midnight." Gavin explains and tilts his head to the spread of books you have before you. "So, want to explain why you're at the campus cafeteria right now instead of in our bed?" 

The gears in your head are scrambling to come up with an excuse that's good enough to appease Gavin. So lost in your thoughts that you didn't hear the whispers coming from the nearby students. 

"That's the main boyfriend..." 

"Holy fuck, an Incubus? Damn, they're insatiable!" 

"How often do you think they have orgies? Twice a week?" 

" - collecting them like Pokemon!" 

Oh fuck it, you can't come up with anything decent. "I'm nearly done with my assignments, Gavin." You assured the worried Incubus. "Just need to write down a few more paragraphs..." 

Gavin is undeterred. "Freelancer, we talked about this. It's not healthy that you're making a habit of staying over at campus late at night because of assignments. You're going to burn out like this." 

Well yeah, you could feel your body is already seconds away from collapsing but like hell would you admit that to your boyfriend. It's been a long day and an even longer evening. It's a good thing that tomorrow's the weekend. 

Gavin startles you once more by leaning against the table and cupping your face in his large hands, so you're forced to look straight into his eyes. He's many things, but to those he deeply trusts and loves, his eyes would always betray the worry and concern he has for you and Caelum; even if his words aren't as forthcoming at times. "My stubborn, enticing Deviant... Are you being a brat again? Not listening to your Dom like you should be?" He purrs. 

All of a sudden, your throat suddenly feels like sandpaper, and your heart skips a beat at Gavin's tone. You're very familiar with that tone - it always promises punishment and pleasure mixed together until nothing else exists except for your boyfriend. 

But the question now is, how far can you actually push him. So with Gavin still refusing to release your face, you swallow and reply as nonchalantly as you can, "Oh, I don't know about enticing, Gavin. I-I mean, I've been running around campus the whole day. Probably have some barbecue sauce stain on my jacket and - Ow!" 

You puff out your cheeks when Gavin pinched them. 

"Are you purposely trying to test me, Freelancer? You know that just means more fun for me, and you tie up and helpless on the bed, right?" Gavin is all too happy to remind you, cocking one eyebrow at your impertinence. No doubt he already has your punishment in mind when the two of you are home. 

But you're not going to budge that easily. Sensing your stubbornness, Gavin lets you go and unleashes his ultimate move with a sigh. 

"I can see the Knots on you, Freelancer, and if I can see them, Caelum can too. I'm not covering your ass when he comes over for breakfast tomorrow and starts crying." 

You gasp and immediately recoil. "Low blow Gavin!" You counter, but you know that he speaks the truth. Your heart will literally break if you're the reason that Caelum cries. 

Gavin smirks when you switch off your laptop. He helps put your things away and offers a hand to you. With a small smile, you let yourself be gently pulled up by him and sling your backpack over a shoulder. 

"Are you hungry?" Gavin asked as the two of you stepped into the large hallway, hand-in-hand. "I didn't manage to make anything when I put the groceries away, but I can whip something up real quick when we get home." 

It's a sweet gesture, and you made sure that he knows how much you appreciate it by squeezing his hand. Ever since you two started living together, Gavin is determined to feed you properly. According to him, it's only fitting since you've constantly been feeding him too. "I'm more sleepy than hungry." You reply after a yawn. "I'll just eat a big breakfast tomorrow." 

"I'll hold you to it. Also, look alive, Deviant. Hottie approaching at 12 O'clock." 

That got your attention immediately, and snapped your eyes forward. Your jaw would've dropped if it weren't for Gavin lightly nudging your side when you saw who was walking towards the two of you. 

It's them — the Electro Energetic that became the talk around campus. 

They're as breathtaking as ever, even after a whole day of classes and club activities. Not a single hair out of place and clothes unruffled. Their body language stood out to you; their gait is a little hesitant but friendly, while their eyes are kind. 

It's easy to see why so many people harbour crushes on them, and you've always been a sucker for cute faces. 

When they finally approach you, they pull out a pair of wireless white earbuds from their ears. That's when you hear intense music playing:

It's the Pumpkin Patch King 

With the corpse with the ring

And she'd fuck my best friend if I die here today...

"Um, hi. Good evening. I'm sorry for bothering you guys so late like this. Are you heading home?" They inquire tentatively. 

Gavin waits for you to take the lead. "Hey, man. Yeah, we kind of are, actually. Want us to walk you home?" You could feel how pleased Gavin is beside you. The offer just crosses your mind, and besides, it's not nice to walk alone this late at night. 

That's what you're telling yourself despite the small part in your brain whispered that walking them home would be a great step of getting to know them better. It's just a harmless crush anyway. 

Unfortunately, they decline the offer. "I'm waiting for someone, actually, but when I saw you, I wanted to talk for a bit." 

Your heart skips a beat for a second time tonight. They specifically sought you out? You? When they've never done so towards anyone before? 

"O-Oh," You embarrassingly squeak, clutching Gavin's hand tighter.

The Electro Energetic nod. They tilt their head like an indulged, curious cat and god, that simple gesture shouldn't look so hot. "I don't know if you notice me, but we share Covert Laws - "

If you notice them? If you notice them!? They have a stronger presence than the lecturers themselves! They radiate magic like thunderstorms - intimidating, powerful and commanding that you have no choice but to submit to it. 

Sitting beside them was an experience and a half! There's no way an Empowered creature could ignore them despite their quiet demeanour! 

" - and I was wondering if you would like to be partners for the final project this year? Um, I heard that you're really good in that class, and I promise to pull my weight with the research and - "

You don't know how to react. Is this really happening? One of the most popular students in the academy wanted to be your project partner? You thought this sort of situation only occurs in animes! 

"They'd love to." Gavin smoothly answers when you're too shocked to say anything. "It's always nice to make new friends after all. Especially with a walking wet dream such as yourself." Here, he purposely pauses to appraise the Electro Energetic. 

Just like his Freelancer, Gavin has heard all about this Empowered human and even basks in the delicious energy coming from the thoughts and emotions his partner has for them. As an Incubus and their boyfriend, it's hilarious that his Deviant thought he's not aware of their crush. It's cute. 

Hmm... it'll be nice if he and the Freelancer could invite the Energetic and their Vampire lover into their bed one of these days. Regardless if they've been Marked; honestly, that just made the couple as appealing as the biblical Forbidden Fruit. 

And besides, Gavin has a strong feeling that the Freelancer wouldn't oppose the idea. It'll be the perfect anniversary present for his Deviant. 

"...Was that supposed to be a compliment?" They ask warily. Oops, looks like he's coming on a little too strongly. Time to take it down a notch. 

"It's whatever you want it to be. Anyway, now that you guys are... partners, what say you get to know us better, hmm? My lover has been eager to be friends with you." Gavin explains. You whip your head at him incredulously. Is he seriously doing what you think he's doing!? "I'm Gavin, by the way. It's a pleasure to finally meet you." 

The Energetic look confused, and you can't blame them. You need to save them before Gavin proposes something as crazy as an orgy on your behalf! 

You laugh awkwardly, bringing their attention to you. "Right! Partners! I'd love to be yours - I-I mean, uh, for school stuff! Yeah! Can we exchange numbers?" 

"Smooth, Deviant." Gavin teases. Something caught his interest, not that you notice as you and the Energetic trade contact information. They compliment the cute picture you have as your Home Screen (it's a selfie shot of you and Gavin, Lasko, Damien and Huxley during the previous game night. It's a shame that Caelum couldn't appear), and in return, you ask where did they buy their sick phone cover. 

While they still feel like the human embodiment of a fierce thunderstorm, it's nice to have a casual conversation with them. They're thoughtful, kind and fun that you soon find yourself calming down a little. 

"Not to cut this riveting conversation short, but are you sure that you don't want us to walk you home? It's getting really late, and we're more than happy to have you crash at our place for the night." Gavin interjects with a seductive grin, eyes half-lidded. 

"Umm..." 

Whoa, what happened to being friendly, Gavin!? You shoot him a look; he's going to drive them away! 

"We have an extra guest room at our apartment." You hurried to explain. "So it's totally cool if your place is far away or something." 

Their hesitation melts to understanding. The last thing that you want is a misunderstanding between you two. 

"You guys are sweet, but I'll be alright. Actually, I'm about to leave the campus too. I'm just going to hang out at the cafeteria until he arrives." They said. You have a pretty good idea who 'he' is judging by their soft smile. 

Gavin, for some reason, amp up his game. With a smirk, he cajoles, "Since he hasn't shown up yet, how about you hang out with us for a bit? There's a bar not too far from here - "

You flinched, and Gavin automatically shuts up and pulls you close to his side when a Vampire appears behind the Electro Energetic. It was so sudden that his appearance was a blur at first. 

"Vincent? You're done with class already?" They blink. An arm snaked around their waist as the Vampire pulled his Mate close to his chest. The Energetic had to crane their head up slightly to look at him. 

He's as tall as Gavin. Dressed in a casual black coat that screams money with a dark grey shirt accompanied by a pair of black jeans and boots. His silver studs, rings and watch glimmer underneath the fluorescent lights. Everything about this man reminds you of a panther sizing up its prey. 

You gulped. He's currently glaring daggers at you and your boyfriend. You're itching to stutter out a, "This isn't what it looks like!" for some reason. 

Now, ever since you learned about the existence of magic and Empowered creatures, you did your best to be open-minded. Even that whole ordeal with Vega didn't stop you from reaching out to the various Daemons attending the academy. 

However, you haven't managed to befriend a Vampire due to their night classes, and even the few times you stay back like today, most of them are running back and forth through the hallways to catch their next lesson. 

So to be the target of a pissed off Vampire made you uncomfortable. You want to fidget, but Gavin's arm secured around you ease some of that tension. 

"Mm-hmm. I'm on break right now, so I can drive you back home. You done with that talk with your guidance counsellor?" The Vampire inquired, eyes still glued at you and Gavin. 

"All done. We lost track of time when we discussed next semester's timetable for the Energetic course and potential careers once we graduate." His lover explains, unaware of the displeasure rolling off like waves from their boyfriend. "I think I need some time to go over them again. It's a bit much to take in."

The Vampire hums in acknowledgement. "We can go through them together this weekend if you like, Lovely. Maybe we can ask Will for help since he's coming over on Saturday for dinner too." 

Oh, you suppose that's why they reject the Earth Elemental players' invitation to the party. 

But the Vampire wasn't done. He assesses you and Gavin with narrowed eyes as if you were stains on the bottom of his boots. What the hell? "By the way, are these guys bothering you?" 

A chill sweeps through you, sending goosebumps crawling on your skin at the sudden shift of tone. He was warm and affectionate when speaking to his lover, but now? It's colder than ice.

Gavin, whose smirk turns into a shit-eating grin, is utterly unfazed at the Vampire's hostility. In fact, you would go as far as to say that he's relishing it. "We're just keeping your gorgeous Mate company while they're waiting for you. I was just about to propose that we move the conversation to a bar so we could all get to know one another a lot more... intimately." 

Oh god, they're so fucked. You have no idea why your boyfriend is trying to start shit up, but you're too tired to deal with this drama. So again, you try to salvage the situation. 

"Just as friends!" You quickly butt in. "We decide to be partners for an assignment in Covert Laws, so hanging out at a bar sounds like a good idea as friends." You're sprouting bullshits at this point, but you hope it's enough to save both of your asses. You also made sure to emphasise the word 'friends'. 

The Vampire quickly looks at the Energetic for confirmation, and they readily nod. His aggressive body posture relaxes somewhat, but he's still wary of you and Gavin. 

Maybe this is the best time to introduce yourself to him. 

"Uh, it's a little silly that we didn't introduce ourselves right away, but I'm a Freelancer." You mutter out rather awkwardly. Should you offer a hand to him? 

Gavin saves you from doing so. "And I’m their boyfriend, Gavin. An Incubus." 

"...Vincent Solaire." The Vampire - Vincent - reluctantly replies. 

Wait - his surname sounds familiar, though. You think you heard it in one of the classes about the supernatural factions in Dahlia... It's on the tip of your tongue... 

"Oh, we've heard all about you, Your Highness." Gavin slyly quips. "You and your lover are quite the celebrities around here." 

Holy shit. Solaire! The most powerful Vampire clan in the city! You remember now; the King has two progeny - A Vampire Princess & Prince. You didn't expect the Energetic boyfriend to be the Prince himself! What a twist! 

"Celebrities?" The Energetic - Lovely, as Vincent calls them - pipes up in confusion. The way their eyebrows furrow is adorable, but you wisely keep that to yourself. 

They really are a mesmerising couple. You detect the perfume that lingers around Lovely is sweet and misty. It's calming yet so light that it dances just out of your reach; like a coy lover. Slowly driving you mad with desire. Vincent's cologne reminds you of husk and cedar. Subtle, but once you catch a whiff of it, it'll stay within your mind for hours on end. Wondering if that particular scent will ever return - like the perfect one night stand. 

It says a lot about the couple. 

"We haven't done anything wrong." Vincent Solaire stated, voice as hard as steel. "I don't know why you're trying to rile us up, Incubus, but I don't appreciate you and your lover hitting on my Mate when I made it clear that I Mark them." 

Ooooh, he's jealous! Wait - did you come across as flirty to him!? Did Gavin purposely flirt with Lovely to make Vincent jealous? You've completely lost the plot. 

"Consider it as an act of public service," Gavin answers, easily brushing off the Vampire Prince's irritability. "Besides, how can I not when you both are half of the student body's recent fantasies." 

Lovely 'eeped' when Vincent bare his fangs at your boyfriend. "Back off, Gavin. Lovely is mine. Not yours or the Freelancer's." 

Whoa, whoa! A severe misunderstanding is boiling here! No one is stealing Lovely away from him! 

Fortunately, Lovely has gotten tired of the conversation. With a put-out sigh, they pat the arm around their waist to capture Vincent's attention. It worked. "No one is stealing the other's partner, Vince. It's all good; chill. You know you're the only one for me, right?" Here, they peck his cheek. "When did you get so possessive?" 

Vincent grumbled but didn't explain himself, so Lovely just shook their head. 

"Anyway, we better get going before Vincent's next class starts. It was nice meeting you two. I'll text you soon so we can plan on how to tackle that project." 

You give a shaky smile and a thumbs up. "Looking forward to it." 

Immediately after you said that, Vincent bares his fangs to you next. Oh my god, this guy needs to fucking relax! 

"We're going! We're going! C'mon, Vincent. You're driving me home. Now." 

And with that, you watch as Lovely drags the Vampire Prince to the parking lot. It's a strange yet comical sight. You only sigh in relief when they're out of your view. 

"I thought I saw my life flashing before my eyes!" You complain. Those were the single most stressful moments that you’ve encountered— second to Vega invading your home. 

"I think that went well, Deviant." Gavin objected, very pleased with himself. "He's pissed now, but he and his Mate will be thanking us soon." 

So you were right; Gavin purposely flirted with Lovely just to rile Vincent up, and for what? Possessive, sexy time later tonight? Oh, whatever. That's enough drama for one night; you seriously just need to pass out now. 

And with that, the two of you head home without realising your interactions with the power couple of D.A.M.N didn't go by unnoticed by the several students who were hovering close. 

-

"Are you hurting anywhere, Lovely?" 

"I'm alright, Vincent. The hickeys and bruises are healing nicely; my body still feels a bit sore but not enough to cripple me, so stop hovering near the door." 

Vincent guilty did as he’s told and takes a seat on the corner of the bed. He watches you apply some light makeup on your face and neck in front of the vanity table as you're getting ready to head out to the academy. Your outfit compliments your look and, most importantly, hides any patches of skin except for your hands. 

Vincent really went all out last weekend after his night classes ended. It's obvious that Gavin unleashed something within your lover, and you will freely admit that an unrestrained Vincent makes for a very fun and wild night. 

The moment Will came over and realised that Vincent re-Mark you an hour before he arrives, he graciously decided to take a rain check and promise to have dinner with the two of you some other time. 

Once Vincent gets it out of his system, he teased before leaving you gobsmacked and Vincent a blushing mess. 

"You know, your guidance counsellor wouldn't mind if you're absent from classes today, Lovely. Probably." Vincent tries; a part of him doesn't want his Lovely to attend their lessons while their body is still healing. Then again, that part also whispers that the Incubus and his lover would be around them without his supervision. 

Nope. No. Bad Vincent. Lovely is more than capable of taking care of themselves. They don't need him acting like a jealous, clingy boyfriend. 

However, something that the Incubus bothered him. 

"You and your lover are quite the celebrities around here." 

What did he mean by that? He and Lovely had been playing good students the entire time they've been on campus! Their assignments are always delivered on time, grades nothing but above average, and they keep to themselves to avoid any typical college dramas.  

Is it because of his status? For some reason, Vincent feels like it's more complicated than that. What a headache. 

"Maybe, but I did promise the Freelancer that I’ll catch up with them to discuss our project," You commented and spritz your favourite perfume on your wrists and neck. You love this scent, despite it being cheap and common. "Vincent, honey, you're making that face again." 

"It's my face, Lovely." 

"Yeah, well, you have your happy-snappy-neck face again, Vincent." You dryly point out before sitting beside the Vampire. "Did that Incubus really rub you the wrong way?" Your voice is gentle. You didn't get any bad vibes coming from Gavin and the Freelancer - just genuine, harmless, friendly flirting. In a way, you welcome it as their attempts helped you drive your anxiety away. 

God, walking up to them was hard enough. You always feel a little intimidated whenever you're around charismatic people. 

"I don't know... I thought they were making you nervous, and the words that kept coming out of that Daemon's mouth? He knew what he was doing; I just can't figure out what or why." Vincent admits, frustrated. 

Seeing him look so frustrated saddens you, so you propose a suggestion. "How about this, I'll ask the Freelancer what that whole thing on Friday was all about, and if it's anything gross, I'll give you a call so you can deal with them. How's that?" 

It assured Vincent. Seeing his tiny smile urge you to peppered his face with kisses until he laughs. With your boyfriend now properly appeased, you leave the apartment for D.A.M.N. 

It's a bright Monday morning. You hope that this week will be a little kinder to you than the previous one. However, the moment you arrived on campus, everyone was glancing at you curiously. When you made eye contact with the stares, the students couldn't walk away fast enough. 

Weird. 

Your first class of the day is on the second floor, so you didn't waste any time heading for the stairs. Students mingle around as they go about their day; some grab breakfast at the convenient store, while others chat with their friends at the cafeteria and lounge room. A Water Elemental is performing simple tricks at the marble fountain to an adoring crowd.

Just as you rounded a corner, the crowd parted ways with a subtlety of a serial killer in slasher movies, which is to say, absolutely none whatsoever to reveal your new friend. The Freelancer is flanked by their boyfriend, Gavin, on the left and on their right, the famous player in the Earth Elemental team Huxley and one of the academy's guidance counsellors, Lasko. 

You couldn't help but notice that everyone is giving them a wide berth. Not that it matters when Gavin's body is positioned to shield the Freelancer from bumping into any of the passing students. Huxley passes a bottle of orange juice to them while Lasko is staring at something behind the Freelancer. He mutters something under his breath.  

A loud voice suddenly bounces off the walls. "What happened to my water tumbler, Freelancer!?" 

You and every other student in the area watch as the Freelancer turns around and loudly replies, "Don't worry! I already got you a new tumbler, Damien! It looks exactly like your old one. Except it's pastel pink with kittens on it, and the shape looks like a really fat snowman with bunny ears for straws." To make a point, the Freelancer rummage inside of their backpack and proudly present the weirdest looking water tumbler you had ever seen in your life to their boys. 

"AAAAAHHHHH!" 

"You know you could at least see it before you judge it, Damien." The Freelancer grumbled and shoved the tumbler back. Huxley gently pats their shoulder in a comforting manner. Lasko laughs nervously while Gavin continues to protect his lover silently, all the while looking at ease. 

Everyone knows of the Freelancer and their boyfriends. They're the most popular group in D.A.M.N for a reason. Friendly, yet no one can be a part of their group due to the tight bond they have with one another.

The Freelancer is quickly shaping up to be a remarkable magical individual in their own right, marching to the beat of their own drums rather than the world's. Unwaveringly kind and friendly, constantly making sure the people around them are comfortable and safe. 

In terms of academic performance, Damien remains unchallenged among his peers. Everyone could tell that he would undoubtedly change their world for the better the moment he graduates, especially in governing. He's also known for his fiery temper, yet that fire becomes a hearth when it comes to the Freelancer. More than once, students have stumbled upon them huddled close in the library, softly discussing the future they wanted. 

If Damien is known for his academic excellence, then Huxley is famous for his prowess in the field. His mastery over his element made the younger Earth Elementals look up to him as their role model while his teammates view him as their ace. Charming, cheerful yet a bit absentminded at times, and even then, you can't help but be fond of him. You can find the Freelancer cheering him from the bleachers during his matches, and once Huxley won the game, he would immediately launch himself at them. Sweats, dirt and grass all over him, but the Freelancer would laugh as he hoisted them up in his embrace. 

Lasko is an odd addition to their group, but once he drops his stuttering, he shows just how capable he is as one of the academy's guidance counsellors. Acknowledged as one of the most powerful Air Elemental of his generation, Lasko is well on track to graduate D.A.M.N with honours, and while the future might be uncertain, students like to speculate that he will remain with the Freelancer and the others no matter what. Sometimes you can even catch a glimpse of them hanging out at one of the local cafes and see how bright and alive Lasko can be when around the Freelancer. 

Gavin came with a mystery trailing his saunter. See, no one knew how exactly he and the Freelancer first met. Speculations range from a cute, accidental meet up in a random convenience store to the Incubus boldly inviting them into a threesome when the Freelancer stumbled upon him mid-feeding. Lovely wonders if there's a betting pool going around the academy. The seniors would recognise Gavin, for he was their peer before he suddenly dropped out and vanished for a while. But judging by his frequent presence around the Freelancer, some say that he's looking forward to retaking his previous course. But whatever the reason may be, no one can deny the chemistry he has with the Freelancer. How fiercely protective he is of them when the Freelancer isn't looking. 

They're certainly an intriguing group, that's for sure. 

And when Gavin notices you were watching them, he winks at you. No doubt as an Incubus, he could scent what you and Vincent had been up to the entire weekend. 

That's what you get for a magical academy, after all. 

-

PS: Everyone in D.A.M.N (including Lovely & Vincent) hilariously assumes that the Freelancer is in a poly relationship with Gavin, Damien, Lasko & Huxley when in reality, they're just with Gavin. BBBBuuuttt... Gavin could detect the romantic/lustful feelings the other bois harbour for the Freelancer but kept it to himself for now. He's just waiting for the Freelancer to feel the same way so he could give them all The Talk™ and then go buy a bigger bed!

Anyway, I seriously had a lot of fun writing for this oneshot! It's been a while since I had that writing fever again so I hope you guys enjoyed it!

[mane--attraction]

You are a servant, hired to clean the mayor’s office. Today is a tiring one, and you decide to take a nap. When you wake, you accidently hear something you shouldn’t.

A/N: This is technically supposed to be part of a larger piece, but since it can easily stand on its own (and I’m not entirely certain how soon the rest of it is going to be written), I’ll just post this for now. If anything, it would be part of chapter one. Also, the larger piece would likely be female reader because of the time period (maids and all that), but this portion is more gender neutral.

Word count: 1450

Rating: M (kinda smutty, but no sex and not super explicit)

* * *

You can barely keep your eyes open and your body upright as you dust, yawning what feels like every other minute. Last night was terrible; tossing and turning into the early hours of the morning, it seemed like you had just closed your eyes and it was time to wake up. Frankly, you’re almost unsure how you made it to work unscathed.

Your eyes water as you yawn again, glancing over at the sofa in the room. The thought of just sitting down and resting a moment is very tempting, especially since you’re not sure you can finish your work without it. The furniture is practically begging for you to take a break, it feels like; or maybe that’s just the sleep still in your bones. Either way, you plop down onto the sofa and let out a long sigh, leaning your duster against it. It’s not exactly meant to be the height of luxury, but the cushions still feel very nice. So nice, in fact, that you lean against the back of the couch and shut your eyes. The mayor won’t be in for a bit longer, so just a few minutes rest should be fine, right? He won’t mind; you’ll be up and finished on time. He’ll be none the wiser. You mentally pat yourself on the back and settle yourself.

...but when you come to, you find yourself laying on your side, facing the back of the sofa, very unsure how much time has passed. You go to sit up, but you’ve barely made the motions before you hear some noise behind you. You shift like you’re adjusting but still asleep, and it stops for a moment, then resumes soon after. Despite feeling very much awake, listening closely, it takes your ears some extra time to “wake up,” so to speak, and identify what you’re hearing. It sounds like...huffing. Panting? A man, that much is certain from the quiet curses that float over to you. There’s another sound too; less identifiable, yet repetitive. It stumps you for a while, long enough that in the interim, it dawns on you that it sounds like the mayor. And then the realization of what you might be hearing is enough to metaphorically bowl you over.

Is the mayor...is he actually masturbating? Right now?

No, of course not, you tell yourself at first; the mayor is a respectable gentleman, he would never do such a thing at his office, let alone with someone sleeping in the room. But the longer you lie there, the less convinced you are: the way he hisses out his words, the focused noises, they all scream “Mayor Damien,” and it very much sounds like he’s getting himself off. Yet, you still doubt your senses. Until you hear your name.

You freeze, the heat rising in your cheeks. There’s no way.

But then you hear it again, and you can’t deny that those syllables are your own, nor that it sounds rather enticing to hear them fall from his lips like this—

You mentally smack yourself. He’s your employer! It won’t do to think about these things. Not when it can never go anywhere. And yet your accidental eavesdropping is making that very difficult as the heat you feel increases in other areas as well, and you have to keep yourself from squirming more. He doesn’t seem to notice you move, this time, and you bite your lip as your fingers twitch. It won’t do to imagine what he looks like right now; is he curled over at his desk, pretending to work on anything but himself? Is his face flushed? Is there hair out of place? Is there sweat on his brow? You try and sweep these thoughts away, but more raunchy ones rush in to replace them.

How would he react if you went over there and sweetly asked if he needed any help? How would he feel? How would he taste? Damn it—

You swear you hear a moan, and it takes half a second for you to be reassured that one didn’t unthinkingly slip from you, the sound too deep to be yours. From the way he’s puffing, it sounds like he’s close.

Would he let you finish him off, throwing his head back with a groan? Or would he take control, holding onto you and using your mouth—

His sounds stutter, and then he lets out a very low, long moan, the noise making something deep within you flutter. Fuck, how you wish it was you causing that sound—

You nearly have to yell at yourself to stop the train of thought there before it goes any further, wrangle back your own breathing before it ticks up any more. Behind you, the mayor’s panting levels off, and the sound of him touching himself slows until it’s barely audible. The telltale sound of a zipper traveling up its tracks follows relatively soon after.

The quiet seems to last an eternity before he sighs and his chair scrapes against the floor. His footsteps come up behind you, and while your heartbeat is practically in your ears, you shut your eyes again and try to breathe exactly as if you were asleep. It seems to fool him, from what you can tell, since he doesn’t say anything when he stops by the sofa. He stands there longer than you expect, and you’re not entirely sure what he’s doing. After a time, he says your name; this time, it’s soft, gentle. The desire lacing it before is nowhere to be heard; instead, it’s said like one would when rousing someone from slumber. He says it again, paired with a hesitant hand brushing against your arm. You can’t stop the thought that shoots rapid fire from your mind about—

He says it a third time, and you figure now is as good a time as any to pretend to wake up. You shift and stretch slightly, making a sleepy-sounding noise for effect. He pulls his hand away quickly, something that has you a little disappointed. You lay still for a few moments, acting as if his attempts hadn’t quite worked. His hand returns, and so does him saying your name. This time, you yawn lazily, stretching properly and blinking slowly. Again, his hand is gone in an instant. You furrow your brow, acting confused, then slowly turn your face towards the mayor’s.

“Good morning,” he jokes good-naturedly. “Someone sure was tired.”

His smile is soft, and it makes your heart flutter. That being said, if you weren’t blushing already, being caught sleeping on the job would have you flushed with embarrassment. “M-mayor Damien!” You sit up quickly. “I’m so sorry—”

He chuckles quietly. “It’s quite alright, you don’t need to apologize. Just an unexpected surprise to find the help sleeping on my sofa, that’s all.”

You glance away, contrite. “I-I meant to only rest for a little while, then finish my work. It won’t happen again.”

He waves his hand as if dismissing it. “It wasn’t a problem. I don’t mind if you need some extra rest while you’re here. You’re very hardworking, and you deserve it.”

You blink up at him. You’ve never had an employer say things like this before. “Thank you, sir.”

“It’s no problem at all.” He looks over at the clock. “You’re free to leave, if you’d like. Your shift usually ends around this time, yes?”

Your eyes follow his, widening when you see the time. You practically jump up, grabbing blindly for your duster, suddenly remembering every task you have remaining. “Y-yes, but I haven’t finished—”

“It’s fine.” His tone is still gentle, but there’s an undercurrent of authority that makes you stop. “The next shift can take care of it. My office hardly gets as dusty and dirty to need such constant cleaning.”

Your mind is wandering again to places it shouldn’t. You glance around the room, both to clear your thoughts and also to take in the state of it. He is right; it’s quite clean today. “Alright. Thank you, sir.”

“You are welcome, my dear.” You swear you see a flash in his eyes, something similar to the day you first met him. “Take care.”

“Th-thank you, sir.” You bow your head and walk to the door. Your gaze catches on the trash bin. It was empty earlier. Now there’s—

You snap your attention in front of you, turning the handle perhaps a mite too fast. You chance a look when you shut the door; and while his expression changes in an instant, you catch an unmistakable glimpse of something...almost hungry, completely uncharacteristic from what you’ve seen from him. Something only barely seen in those flashes. You quickly leave without another word.

[gottawriteanegoortwo]

WKM Role Swap: The Story Splits

Prologue

With our attention on the day after the fateful poker night, we return to the story just as it splits from the one we are familiar with. Some of it may sound familiar, but don't be fooled. Change is in the air as the Colonel misses his cue...

We also neglected to attach the AO3 link, should you prefer to read it on that platform. Consider that remedied now.

-

Realising that nothing would happen unless someone took initiative, Celine led the group from the scene of the crime to the dining room. The guests took their places at the large, round table as Celine took a moment to calm her frustrations with the immaturity facing her. With such a serious issue at hand, she couldn’t understand how some of them were so careless about it.

“Look, Mark’s death is a terrible thing indeed. But I fear that there are forces much darker than anything we’ve seen here today. I’m well versed in the arcane arts, but if you,” she gestured at the group, “untrained and uninitiated, can summon lightning with a mere word, we’re all in far graver danger than anything we could ever hope to face alone. We’re gonna have to work together if we’re gonna survive this.”

“Celine… What are you proposing?” Damien’s voice was tinged with worry, and the Attorney flashed him a look of concern as they put a supportive hand on his arm.

“We need to speak with Mark.”

-

“I knew it!” Chef slammed his hands on the table. “He’s a flesh-eating zombie!”

“No -”

“Well, maybe one of those smart zombies,” William helpfully suggested, “homeo sapio zombifus!”

“No, no!” Celine snapped, catching the attention of the two men. “I need to commune with the dead.” Silence briefly fell on the table. William was bemused. The Attorney tilted their head in confusion. Damien looked away. Benjamin and Chef exchanged light shrugs.

“That… Doesn’t sound like a good idea,” spoke Abe, the voice of reason. Celine rolled her eyes.

“Well, it’s a good thing I don’t need your permission. But YOU.” Her sharp tone drew everyone’s attention to the Attorney. “You’ve been awfully quiet through this whole thing.” At once, the atmosphere of the room grew heavy, as though Celine had granted some of the guests the ability to see the Attorney in a completely different light.

“With those beady little eyes…” snarled the Chef.

“And wearing THOSE rags?” Benjamin tutted. 

Abe looked conflicted as he said, “maybe I shouldn’t have trusted someone so goddamn gorgeous.”

The Attorney's head turned to William, waiting for whatever belittling statement he wanted to make. There was a brief pause as he belatedly realised they were looking at him with resignation. He had been dismissive of them in the morning, it would likely shine through now.

"I - I'll pass," William lifted his hand a fraction to dismiss the moment. In doing so, Damien's shuffling caught his eye on the other side of the Attorney. This confrontation toward his university friend was making Damien uncomfortable, but he was in no position to try and object once Celine set her mind on something. Not only that, William could see exhaustion weighing his friend down. William knew it was his fault, but he couldn't tell them. No one would believe it was an accident.

"- stand for it!" The Detective jumping to his feet and slamming the table threw William back into the present moment. A few seconds passed in complete silence, like actors knowing a line was missed and not knowing if they should continue or not. Celine was the first to recover as she dismissed the Detective's worries by giving the offer to stand outside.

Like a student frantically trying to figure out what they missed while zoned out in class, William glanced around as he put the pieces together. The Attorney had agreed to help Celine in trying to talk to the dead. The Detective objected. It was a matter that likely went against Damien’s own opinions on the matter, but he said nothing.

 -

You see, William did trust Celine with all his heart… But he would quickly say the same for Damien. The younger twin had an innate talent for finding ‘good’ people, ones with kind hearts. From what William had seen throughout the day, the Attorney was no different. Why sit back and let them be involved in something reckless when the thought worried Damien?

 -

In the moments of William’s internal dilemma, Damien had chased after Celine to try and talk sense into her. The movements were too quick for a man worn out from the day’s stresses. Every time he stopped during the argument, Damien leaned more on his cane or on the stair’s bannister to lessen the risk of his good leg buckling. But as the Attorney began climbing the stairs after the siblings, they felt a firm tug on their wrist that yanked them back a step. They turned in time to witness William quickly pulling his hand away to show he meant no harm.

"Can I have a quick word before you follow?" The Attorney glanced up toward the bickering twins before nodding. "I know you agreed to help Celine, but I think Damien needs your assistance more right now. Did you see the way he moved out of his chair? He's relying more on the cane. If left unsupervised, he’s going to collapse. I swear, it’s been years since the war and he still lacks the basic ability to take care of himself and accept his limits." The Attorney’s concentration faltered as their gaze drifted upward to the frail Mayor. "All this stress has exhausted him. He needs to go lie down, and you're the only one he'll listen to." The Attorney gestured to William, suggesting that he could complete that task instead. "You heard our last conversation. I know he's still angry at me. He wouldn't want to talk to me… He needs a friendly face right now that will keep him calm. I can handle Celine in your stead. She doesn’t scare me." The Attorney tried to point out that Damien wanted to talk to William. Reconciliation was necessary, but he had to avert the immediate danger first. William put a hand over his heart and bowed his head. "I will talk to him after he rests for a while. I promise." While not ideal, it was enough for the Attorney and the Colonel to switch places.

 --

The twins' argument screeched to a halt when they noticed William ascending the stairs with the Attorney hot on his heels.

"What are you doing?" Celine turned on the Colonel.  "You aren't supposed to be here."

"I'm helping you with your ghosty-whatevers," responded William calmly, raising the brim of his hat to properly look at Celine, "and it's either me or no one." He kept his expression neutral, making it known that his decision would not be swayed. Damien was taken aback, throwing a confused look to the Attorney. They flashed a supportive smile as they moved a little closer to William. A subtle action that gave a clear message to Damien: "it's okay. We're on the same side". It was a reassurance that had him take a step back and let William pass. All Celine could do was let out a sound of exclamation as William marched past them toward Celine's personal study.

"Just be careful!" Damien called after them. William spun around to grin at Damien while Celine opened the door. To his delight, the Attorney was at Damien’s side. They gave William a thumbs up, and he nodded his head in gratitude.

--

Next Chapter.

[aldi-mikazuki]

Final Dance

I had been friends with the queen to be for years, she was beautiful and kind! My best friend, and loving twin flame. Never once did Naveir fail to make me feel better, she knew all my woes and all my secrets. The future queen was one of great trust and a gold heart! But one thing I suppose she failed to notice was my jealousy, had my father not died my family would have been the next to take the throne, but i was to young and her father was to replace mine. Currently she is next in line to the throne, but that changes tonight.

The preparations for Naveir's coronation were happening today, and as her best friend and noble i had permission to stay by her side through all of it. I sat in a chair in the middle of the room as her servants fussed over her hair.

"Oh I'm awfully nervous!! Can you believe I'm being crowned ruler today!? I've been waiting years for this and now today is the day." "Your father would be really proud of you, you know." Naveir looked my way with a sad smile "you think so, Amelia?" I nodded encouragingly "I know I'm proud of you! The kingdoms pride finally becoming queen? It's perfect! I imagine you'll find a fine suitor to rule by your side as well!" "Oh don't remind me of that!!! It's embarrassing...." "You know you have to get one before 25! Besides, I'm fairly certain you already had a certain guy in mind" Naveir blushed as i laughed. "If you asked for Damien's hand in marriage I'm sure he would be flattered! And certainly he would say yes." Damien was our childhood best friend since we were 5, we shared many exciting nights and lazy mornings, he was also quite the charmer indeed! He had half the kingdom wrapped around his finger, including me and Naveir. "Oh would he!? I can't bare the thought if he were to say no!" "Now now princess" Naveir laughed at the nickname, i always called her that teasingly because she hated titles, but i was the only one who could call her princess just because i can, although today would be the end of that... "he can't say no to the future queen can he?" Naveir turned to me smiling "I wouldn't hold my title over him, i don't have the heart to. Damien is special, you know? I want him to be happy, i want him to make the choice, because i value him over me." My heart ached hearing her talking about him in that way, she was so selfless, and i the complete opposite. I was so selfish for wanting him all to myself, i was so selfish for not considering Naveir as much as she considers others, but i guess that's one more reason to love Naveir, because she was perfect. "Listen Naveir, no matter who the suitor is, you'll always be their perfect bride! And they'll love you no matter what."

The servants finished up her hair and then moved down to adjust her beautiful dress, she looked stunning and admittedly i was in awe. She walked over to me and gave me a hug. "Thank you for your kindness Amelia, truly i don't know where i would be without you." I hugged her back tightly. "Me too..." But that was a lie, i do know where i would be, i would be in her shoes. "Well now that I'm ready lets get the maids to help you! After all we have a ball after the coronation and you're my right hand lady" she winked at me and we both giggled. "As you wish my queen, i will try my best for you." Naveirs eyes widened as she realized i used her new title now and then smiled. She turned around then, and left, me in thought behind her.

I got dressed and later headed speedily towards the large court room, picking up my dress a bit so i can get there easier. The big court room was truly beautiful, white marble floors and walls, grand statues and windows where you could see the gardens and groves near the castle, and 3 large chairs at the end where the queen, her right hand lady and Husband would go. I of course had to get here before the guests and took my place next to her as we waited for the guests to be ushered in. "Soooo, how are you feeling my queen?" Naveir gave me a nervous laugh before replying, "oh don't remind me!! We're so close, just minutes away from sealing the deal, and then i will be sentenced to sit in this chair for good" "I imagine that's a good thing though, wouldn't you say?" "It is don't get me wrong, but i won't be so free you know? As a princess i had less duties, now im afraid I'll have little time for myself and all the time to mess up!" I chuckled at her, how does one so adorable become queen? How do you train all your life and still not be ready? How can one so innocent lead? How could she doubt in her abilities? It's almost as if she isn't prepared to be who she will be. "Well Naveir, you've been studying and training all your life for this! We've spent hours at the library studying for this day, i helped you remember? There's no need to worry, you trust me don't you?" Please say no... "I do trust you! But- You helped me Amelia, where i fail you always succeed! You should be here, not me" You shouldn't say that to me... Not when i already took my chance before you offered... Don't make me feel bad now. "That's not true, you're amazing! And you'll be great, i know you will, besides I-" before i could finish the guests were all seated and the priest came in trumpets blaring, the ceremony had begun.

After a long speech the priest got to his final questions "Will you Naveir care for these people?" "Yes" "Will you put their safety and needs before your selfish wants?" "Yes" "Will you rule justly and without bias?" "Yes" "Then i declare you Naveir Neru to be the next ruler of the kingdom of Lark" the priest declared her queen and placed a beautiful gold crown with purple diamonds over her head, as the crowd clapped and cheered i did to, though it felt hollow.

Later at the ball, me and Naveir laughed and danced the night away, it felt like we were little again going to balls with her father watching over us so we wouldn't cause to much trouble, i truly was happy in that moment to be her friend, i felt wanted and loved all over again. My happiness as always was cut short though, later that night she asked Damien for her final dance and i had to step aside. "You don't mind if i dance with him, do you?" Well of course i don't mind you sweeping the love of my life off his feet, go ahead your majesty. "Of course not! Go have fun with your date" i winked at her as she giggled and ran to her partner, suddenly i wasn't so happy to share the same space and i went for some fresh air on the balcony.

Some time later Naveir found me again. "Getting some fresh air?" I turned as i saw the queen walk towards me serenely, smiling. "Ah yeah, just felt like taking in the pretty sky you know?" "It reminds me of back when we would sneak away and dance here instead, father always got mad i saved my final dances for you here" i grimaced "it would seem your last dances are reserved for someone else now..." She looked at me in surprise "Oh Amelia that's not it at all! Why do you think i followed you here?" "What-" she took off her shoes, climbed on the thick banister and then extended her hand "May i have this dance, just once more?" I smiled as i took off my shoes and took her hand, standing on the banister with her. "Remind me again why we always used the banister instead of the actual balcony?" "Haha you're testing me aren't you?" I chuckled as she decided to give me an answer "You like walking the thin line" "that i do!" She twirled me as turned to the other side. I always liked the danger and thrill of dancing with a princess under the stars, the thin line between her safe space and my space beyond the palace walls reminded me of how special our bond was, but today is the day we switch places.

"Have i ever told you why i love you so much my queen?" "You know you can just say friend" she giggled. But i shook my head, if i use that word it'll make things harder, titles are what im after, and we'll keep it that way. "No, why do you love me friend?" I sighed. "You have this wonderful heart of gold, such kindness and selflessness bundled into a wonderful person, i truly admire how qualified you are" as we continued i held her a little tighter "but you know something Naveir?" I brought her closer "It is said that the things you love in someone can be the very things you despise" "what...?" She looked at me surprised as i dipped her slowly "I hate that you're always so kind, caring and perfect in every way!" I was spitting venom as she struggled in the dip a bit but i held her in place "i hate that you took everything away from me! I hate that i care so much about you despite you being the enemy, i hate that i love you as my closest friend despite you being ruler is better in a way.... I hate that you want to marry the love of my life! And i hate... I hate how long it's taking to let you go" at this point we were both crying as i held her tight, i kissed her forehead gently trying to forget my anger for a moment. I brought her out of the dip and then made her face me properly, with her hand in mine i continued "but putting all that aside... I refuse to let you stand in my way!" And with that i shoved her off the balcony with all the strength i could muster. She went flying onto the pavement as i saw her teary eyes look at me with a sad smile one last time, and then she was gone.

I stepped off the balcony and walked away, towards the guards head courters, i would tell them in tears that i found our queen had fallen off the balcony and to hurry because i didn't know if she would make it. They ran as fast as they could and once they found her dead they brought her in to a room to lay her down to rest one final time, before they could prepare the body. They left me to grieve over her, as i knelt by her bed and held her hand. I kissed her hand then got up "Thank you for this final dance, goodbye... Naveir."

[belpheroo]

Title: Fear & Loving in Devildom, Part 2 Pairing: Belphegor x female!MC Rating: M for discussions of mature themes Summary: Belphie is guilt-ridden, but also horny. Funny how often those two things coincide when you catch feels for the girl you killed. Notes: Yet another follow up to my Belphegor fics- A “maybe”, On the Way to a “Yes” and Fear & Loving in Devildom, Part 1

Belphegor had slept through the lunch break, arms folded over his desk as he breathed in deeply and even. He’d been sleeping very well lately. He always slept well, but there was something particular satisfying of late. In fact, his entire mood had been improved, even Beel remarking on how he was spending less time tormenting Levi and “stirring up shit” between Lucifer and Satan.

Half awake, he turned his cheek into his arm and heft a contented sigh before letting his mind go soft and blank.

A heavy weight abruptly draped over him, a chin digging into his back.

“Hey. You think you could knock me up? Being different species I was thinkin’ no, but then I realized I don’t actually know.”

God help him.

Belphegor didn’t respond, trying to fake being asleep now as his moment of peace slowly drifted away. Her weight disappeared and he watched her through half closed lids as she puffed out her stomach and rubbed a hand over it.

“We can name it Damien!”

“Please don’t insinuate our love child would be the anti-christ.” He said, voice muffled.

She laughed, puffing out the breath she was holding. She crouched down by his desk, forcing him to make room as she rested her own arms over the surface and meeting his eyes.

“Have I worn you out?” She asked smugly.

“No, but it would appear you are ‘reforming’ me.”

“I heard. Beel was saying you’ve been in a spectacularly good mood. Can’t imagine who is responsible for that miracle.”

She winked. Belphegor said nothing and opted to just watch her smile and be frustratingly beautiful.

“So whatcha think? Should we like, do the tried and true pull-out method from here on or invest in some condoms?”

“No complaints to pull out. I would like to see you on your knees like this, your face covered in my—“

At that moment, the door opened as a rabble of RAD students came pouring in. Lucifer among them. The eldest eyes had immediately settled on them upon his entering.

“— affection.” Belphegor finished.

She practically beamed as she snickered. He hid his face in his arms to avoid having to greet Lucifer as he made his way over to them. She stood up straight, fluffing out her skirt as she grinned up at him.

“Are you feeling well now? I was informed you took a sick day this week.” Lucifer said, his deep voice smooth and soft with genuine concern. Belphegor fisted his own sleeve beneath his hand.

“Oh— yeah. I’m fine now. Just had a bit of a cold. Probably not even a cold! Probably allergies.”

More like she’d been so sore from the perfectly thorough fucking he had given her, she could barely move her legs. Belphegor’s smile was hidden from sight.

“You should wear a face mask when you’re outside.” Lucifer said, half reprimanding.

“I will! No worries, I will take care of myself.”

Belphegor hated how sweetly she spoke to Lucifer, bouncy and light. It was the same way she talked to everyone but still, he hated it. Despite that, he would never try and crush that spark in her. She was a social butterfly and that charm was part of why he loved her. She had a light in her that drew in everyone like moths to the flame… he could hardly blame them for wanting to bask in this little sun here in Devildom.

Lucifer must have nodded, because their conversation stopped and he heard his footsteps fading away. She crouched down again, voice a whisper.

“What were you saying there? Something about covering me in your affections?”

“Don’t know what you’re talking about.”

She smiled, wicked and amused before finally the teacher arrived and she had to go back to her own seat.

—

Belphegor didn’t care much to keep their growing relationship a secret from his brothers, but deferred to her wishes. She wanted to keep the “peace” for now, until she had time to properly show they were a couple. Belphegor was certain Beel had suspicions, if not just downright knew about them. Others who had likely tuned in were Asmo and Satan, one simply because of his intelligence and observation skills, the other because he probably could sense the change in the air by pheromones or some wacky Lust based shit.

No one had displayed too much objection to their spending time together except for Mammon, but that was to be expected. Mammon loved her. He loved her the way Belphegor loved Lilith. Devoted, but familial. This fact had kept Belphegor from glaring too many daggers Mammon’s way when she went off to hang out with him and play model at Majolish… or the fact that every other Devilgram selfie she posted seemed to include Mammon.

Jealousy still coldly laced its way through Belphegor’s blood sometimes, but despite himself, he knew she loved Mammon too. He was her first man, her best friend. There were things he could never replaced that Mammon gave her… but he reminded himself, there were things he gave her that Mammon definitely did not. The sound of her voice and the touch of her body, welcome and inhibited was all Belphegor’s. It was childish perhaps, to think of all the things Belphegor had wrung from those lips, all the things he had sparked in her heart that Mammon did not… but it calmed the beast in his chest.

After class, he had expected to find her waiting, but instead found the person he least wanted to speak to.

Lucifer gestured to him, waving his index and middle finger to beckon. Belphegor’s eyes narrowed, but he crossed the hallway at his leisure and came to stand nearby.

“What do you want?”

Lucifer normally would have prickled up at the disrespect, but Belphegor was surprised to find there was not even a trace of indignation in his older brother’s expression.

“I need to speak with you. Come with me.”

Any of the other brother’s would have felt anxiety at this no doubt, except maybe for Satan. Belphegor merely frowned.

“Do you remember what happened the last time you asked me somewhere to talk?”

Lucifer sighed, “Would you like to bring Beel with you?”

That… was not what he expected. A reprimand, a threat or a repetition of his demand? All possibilities. This? Not so much.

“I don’t need a sitter.”

“Then come along.”

Belphegor knew better than to try and force out a “please”.

—

It didn’t take long for Belphegor to recognize where they were going. Diavolo’s office. Thankfully, the room was devoid of Diavolo or his little servant, Barbatos.

“Why here?”

“Privacy.” Lucifer answered, leaning against the edge of Diavolo’s desk. It seemed even he wouldn’t presume to sit in Diavolo’s chair.

Belphegor noted Lucifer gesture for him to sit in one of the plush chairs before the desk, but Belphegor, despite himself, elected to stand.

“This is all wonderfully morbid, but if you could get to the point…”

“I have tolerated your cheek until present because… of the situation. But I would ask that you mind your tongue for the remainder and let me speak. I have questions. I ask you answer them simply and truthfully.”

Belphegor said nothing, fixing Lucifer with a piercing stare. When the silence had stretched out enough to Lucifer’s liking, he spoke again.

“What do you plan to do when she leaves Devildom and returns home?”

“Who-“

“Simply and truthfully.”

Lucifer’s voice was tinged with barely veiled anger. If Belphegor kept pushing him, he’d pop… and on a normal day, that would be a good time in his eyes, but for now Belphegor crossed his arms.

“I will visit her.”

“Frequently?”

“As frequently as possible.”

Lucifer nodded, “And where do you intend to find the energy reserves to propel the glyphs for such frequent trips? You’ll expend your own fast enough.”

“… the others will want to visit her too. We can share the burden.”

“Is that what you want? Visiting her with everyone?”

Belphegor frowned deeper. Sharing the burden would also mean sharing her and her time.

“I’ll make it work.”

“I suppose there is no point in asking if you have already been… intimate with her?”

“Not that it is any of your business, but yeah, Lucifer. I have. I made a pact with her.”

“And now you’re sleeping with her.” Lucifer said, less a question and more a simple disapproving statement.

“We fuck on occasion too.”

“How crass.” Lucifer said, distaste evident in how he wrinkled his nose and furrowed his brow, “So she is simply a means to sate your desires? An object of pleasure?”

“… why are you asking these questions? What is your game?”

“I am protecting her.”

Belphegor laughed, curt and mirthless.

Lucifer continued on unfazed, “You have made a selfish and fatal error. What do you think will come of this? You will break her heart and I will not allow it.”

“I have no intention of hurting her you presumptuous—“

“Your intentions are worthless. She will return to the human realm at the end of the term and there is nothing you or I or anyone can do to stop it! And this entanglement will only serve to prolong her suffering when that day comes! Have you thought nothing about this? What it would mean?”

Belphegor felt his throat seize around his words, keeping them strangled in his throat as he stared at Lucifer, eyes narrowed with growing rage… not all of it for Lucifer.

“… you’re a demon, Belphie.”

He hated hearing that nickname come from Lucifer’s lips, especially when he said it so gently.

“She’s a human. She belongs up there, not here with us.”

“Why did you even bring her in the first place?” Belphegor spoke, his voice raspy and low as he struggled to get out the words, “Why allow Diavolo to do it? I told you… it was a bad idea.”

“Do not pretend you were trying to prevent this. Not when we both know it was hatred that spurred your displeasure at that time… and now? You’re the very reason it has this… complication.”

Belphegor swallowed, tasting acid and feeling something still starting right at the height of his throat, spreading prickles over the roof of his mouth. He… he hadn’t thought about her leaving. He truly hadn’t. It had always felt like something he would have time for later, even as he lamented his ��lack of time”. A part of him just… just assumed she would stay.

“What do you want from me? You want me to… what? Break her heart now? Lie to her? Tell her I don’t love her?”

Lucifer stiffened at the word, trying to keep his eyes from giving away his surprise as he met Belphegor’s own. Belphegor was certain he was a pitiful visage and Lucifer seeing it only added an edge to it that made him seem even more a pouting child.

“You love her?”

Belphegor bristled, anger making him quick to speak how he truly felt without a thought, “With every breath I breathe.”

It was Lucifer’s turn to look stunned. The rush died down as quickly as it sprung up, leaving Belphegor slow to speak once again.

“I... tried to keep my distance, but she wore me down… I… I didn’t intend…”

Too much. Belphegor closed that gate up as soon as he opened it, turning his face away from Lucifer’s scrutiny. He wished he could go back to those days, when he was young and full of light and trust and his older brother was someone he could talk to… someone he could confide in.

He’d forgotten himself, but it was only a momentary lapse. Lucifer must have sensed this, because his own demeanor relaxed and his arms fell from where they were crossed over his chest to his sides.

“This… is not a situation I think anyone was prepared for.” Lucifer said at length and Belphegor took it for the olive branch, masked as a non-answer, it was intended to be.

“I would have been remise in my duties as your brother if I did not speak up.”

Belphegor winced, “You picked a hell of a time to start giving a shit about that.”

“I have always ‘given a shit’, Belphegor.”

Ah, he was “Belphegor” again. “Always. You spent so much time with your head up your ass you just can’t see it.”

There was something… fond? In the way Lucifer said that? He even chuckled faintly.

“You’d know all about that.”

Lucifer snorted, “About being a rebellious child? Yes. In fact I do. Mankind wrote a lovely book about it, I suggest giving it a read.”

Belphegor laughed, surprising himself. When did Lucifer get a sense of humor? It did some to ease the tension, but still Belphegor was fairly certain he’d like to be anywhere but here.

“…I suppose I would just ask you be thoughtful to the situation. Understand that this relationship, should you both continue to pursue it, will have obstacles. Many obstacles. I say this to prepare you. And I suggest, if you have not already, you speak of it with her. It is all well and good to enjoy your time together, but at some point… be sure she understands what it means too. And if she is willing to traverse those obstacles with you.”

Lucifer averted his eyes in his usual fashion, looking up and away rather than down. Never down.

“It’s not just her getting hurt I worry about.”

“Ugh, gross.” Belphegor said, rolling his eyes for effect. Lucifer did not look remotely amused.

“I have said what I wanted to say. Though one last bit of advise…don’t be within arm reach when Mammon finds out.”

He flashed a wicked smile. Belphegor scoffed at it before he quickly left the room.

—

Belphegor’s D.D.D. had vibrated a couple times in the office and now looking through it he saw her usual messages, oversaturated with emoji.

03:15

☆*:.。.o(≧▽≦)o.。.:*☆

03:15

class is over!!!

03:16

come join me and Levi, we gonna play games!! (=`ω´=)

03:37

Belphie! didya fall asleep?!

03:43

jus text me when u wake up bb (´ ε ` )♡

04:05

Are you still with Levi?

04:10

yep! u wanna come play????

04:11

I’ll come by. I was talking with Lucifer after class.

04:11

〣( ºΔº )〣

04:12

Don’t worry, it was fine. I’ll be there soon, so wait for me.

04:13

(￣^￣)ゞ

04:14

(￣▽￣)ﾉ(ºωº )

04:14

is dat u pettin me?!

04:15

Yes, what else would it be?

04:15

(っ˘ω˘ς )

Belphegor found her where she said she would be, perched on the edge of a beanbag chair while playing a racing game against Levi. Given Levi’s attentiveness, she must have been doing well.

“Eh?! Another blue shell?!”

“Goddamn Baby Peach!!” She hissed in reply, clearly neither of them in possession of the dreaded item.

“Back up! Back up!!!”

“I’m trying!!” Levi said in a panic, both attempting to drop far back enough in the race lineup to avoid getting hit. It was too little too late, with the shell colliding into Levi’s character and then she was unable to get back up passed third place. The ending theme played and both of them threw themselves back with a groan.

“Remind me to never let you two drive me anywhere…” Belphegor said, finally getting their attention. Levi frowned, but she? She positively lit up, beaming at him with open delight.

“I gotta go, take me outta this round, Levi.”

“What? Already? I wanted to play a grand prix with you…”

“We can tonight! I’ll come back to play more after dinner, but I got some things I need to do for class and Belphie is helping me out.”

Levi didn’t look entirely convinced, but the promise of more game time coupled with how sweetly she was batting her eyelashes at him was a critical hit.

“Don’t be madddd, please?”

“..o-okay. Later then. Belphie, you should come play too.”

“Yay! We will!” She said, answering for Belphegor. She leaned in and gave Levi a peck on the cheek, sending the otaku directly to cloud nine. Belphegor tried to hide the tight grimace he made at the sight.

When she lifted up her hand for Belphegor to help her up, he was a bit rougher than usual, as if pulling her away from his brother.

“Later.” Belphegor managed and then ushered her out into the hall.

“Quit pushing, ya jerk.” She mumbled, pulling her arm free. Apprehension took the place of her cheerful demeanor, twisting her mouth into a frown.

“What did Lucifer say?” She whispered, looking around to make sure no other brothers were hanging around this part of the house.

“About what you’d expect. He knows about us.”

She clapped her hands over her face, half laughing and half groaning.

“Glad you find the possibility of me getting straight up murdered so funny.” Belphegor said with a chuckle.

“It’s not that! Just… god, I can’t even imagine his face. He must have been so uncomfortable… kinda wish I had been there.”

You love her?

With every breath I breathe.

Belphegor was pretty certain he was glad she wasn’t, the memory of his own words made his face feel hot. He hoped silently that it didn’t show.

“It was dumb. Just telling me to ‘be careful’ and usual Lucifer bullshit.”

“Ohh? Be careful of me? The lusty human exchange student?”

“Bit late for him to be warning me about that.”

She swatted him in the shoulder and Belphegor caught her hand, making a quick look around the hall himself before he pressed her up against a wall and kissed the smirk off her lips. For as sleepy as he was, there was nothing tired in his kiss. Like a spark on matches, one strike and he could feel her body light up.

She giggled incessantly into his mouth, the feeling like pop rocks of mirth and joy within his very soul. No matter how hard he kissed her or how he pressed his tongue against her own, still she was ever sparkling and noisy.

When he drew back she gave him one last tiny lick to his bottom lip, an enticement, but Belphegor restrained himself for now.

“…he also mentioned the end of the year is coming up.”

And just like that, her spark began to fade, settling unto the back burner as her expression softened to one of almost veiled disappointment. He knew it was the carefreeness she was disappointed to lose, but even she had to be serious sometimes.

“So?”

“…So?” Belphie repeated, eyebrow raising slightly.

“Yeah, so what?” She said, “I’ve already decided. I’m not going back.”

Now it was Belphegor’s turn to look snuffed out, drawing back and looking at her with a frown. He said her name gently and then, “…Diavolo isn’t going to give you a choice.”

“That’s such bullshit,” she seethed, voice rising, “…I’ll visit then. I’ll visit all the time.”

“How? You aren’t a witch.”

“Solomon maybe. Something. Maybe Mammon will tell me where his witches are!”

“You’re not making a deal with witches when you have pacts with us.” Belphegor said with an edge of warning, protectiveness coming out of him in an almost oppressive wave. There was just a hint of sulfur on the air.

“So… so then you’ll come visit! ...right?”

The way she said it, so uncertain, hesitant and unassuming… as if she genuinely believed there was a possibility the answer would be ‘no’ but was trying in vain to hide it.

“Of course I will.”

“Yeah… yeah, of course. Yeah.”

“Stop that…” he murmured, leaning forward to kiss her cheek and then her forehead.

“What? Stop what?”

“Acting like you didn’t think I would!”

“I’m not acting…” she defended herself with a grumble and Belphegor felt his stomach sink.

“I love you, you belong to me. I would never let you out of my sight for long.” Belphegor said, voice harsh and low so no one but her could hear. Whenever he said those words they were never gentle, but earnest and firm, as if he were still trying to convince her… and he could hardly be blamed with how shocked she seemed each time he said it.

It had nothing to do with Belphegor, this was something in her own thoughts and heart that made her worry such affections couldn’t possible be directed at her. Belphegor snaked his arms around her, pulling her in close enough that he could press his forehead to hers, his hands laced together and resting against her lower back.

After a moment and a soft sigh, she lifted her arms up around his neck and pressed back hard enough that Belphegor muttered a half-hearted “ow” as she dug her own forehead into his.

It felt so safe, so warm and secure in his arms… his entire body had relaxed beneath her own touch and together they enjoyed the brief reprieve from the stress and far away worry of her departure.

Belphegor’s eyes were getting heavy, lids falling and fluttering as he fought back the urge to fall forward into her and just let himself dose, wrapped up in her scent.

“… we’ll figure it out when we get to that point.” She said at length. Belphegor mumbled an agreement and did finally move to sink his forehead against the crook of her neck, huffing a heavy contented sigh. The wall behind her kept them upright, but she batted at his back after a moment.

“You’re smashing me.”

“You never complained before.”

“Different kind of smashing!”

Belphegor chuckled darkly, but even she knew there was no chance of him finding the energy for such activities anytime soon. His avatar was claiming its needed afternoon nap and the aura was enough to make even her feel a sudden need to sleep.

“Attic nap time?”

“Mmhm, yes.” Belphegor said, more than happy to retreat to their private world away from the rest of the House of Lamentation. It was strange how a prison had now become a refuge, a sanctuary where nothing mattered… just him… and her.

She yelped in shock when he bent down and scooped her up with ease. She locked her arms tighter around his shoulders and her legs around his waist as his hands gripped under her thighs.

She giggled, releasing some of her hold with her legs so she could give them a few girlish kicks.

“Don’t make me drop you… I’m not as strong as Beel.”

Belphegor wouldn’t, of course. His strength far surpassed a human and carrying her felt like carrying nearly nothing at all… except for just the slight edge of heaviness in his own limbs from tiredness. Regardless, his words got her to tighten her legs around his waist again, a sensation he greatly enjoyed.

“Take me to bed or lose me forever.” She said, quiet and giggling by his ear.

Belphegor snorted, but he knew the follow up line from the human film well enough now.

“Show me the way home.”

[insertdeeplyrics]

The new guy

Hello! Well, here you have it, my first Destiel fanfic! I plan to write more, but I wanted this share this one first, as it has been sitting on my computer for around two years. Sorry if it sucks!  Also, any type of feedback is appreciated, as I want to improve my writing skills (which are quite rusty hehehe). Finally, if there are any grammatical mistakes or expressions that are a bit off, I apologize, English is not my first language. I hope you like it! :)

It was Dean’s first day at the force after spending six months away undercover to take out a drug ring. He had been dreaming about this day for ages, not being able to have any contact with his family or friends was difficult enough on its own, but to spend the best part of his time stuck with criminals was just plain torture. Besides, he was not big on changes, he liked stability and routines, that’s the main reason why he avoided going undercover unless there was no other option left. He spent all morning carefully choosing his outfit, trying to feel more like himself than he had been these past few months. As he opened the closet, he quickly spotted his favorite shirt: the light blue one that his mother gave him for his birthday three years ago and that made his green eyes pop. He remembered he used to wear a dark blue tie with it, alongside some grey dress pants, so he went ahead and put the outfit together. He took the badge from his bedside table, wearing it like a necklace. After he left the house, he took a quick glance at himself in the mirror as a small smile crept upon his lips: he might still feel like Jason Damien on the inside, but he sure as hell nailed the Dean Winchester look. Perhaps if he cut that ridiculously long sandy blonde mane he was forced to grow out, he would retrieve a little part of himself.

The drive to the precinct was a rather intense one, as all of Dean’s anxiety started to kick in. What if his partners didn’t recognize him? Or what if any of them had had an accident while on duty and they were gone? What if the precinct was different? What if he was different? Dean rushed through the busy streets of New York, almost running a couple of the red lights. After fifteen minutes of car horns, some blasphemies and taking a wrong turn, he arrived at the 99th precinct. He barely even made it to the elevator, which was closing its doors when Dean arrived. Luckily, one of the men inside noticed the panic in his face and held it open for a few seconds. Dean sent him a grateful look and a quick smile and then proceeded to stress over how he was going to react when he finally saw his friends after some long, hard six months. As soon as the doors of the elevator opened, revealing the second floor of the 99th precinct, he was instantly filled with a sense of relief: everything still looked the same. People were going back and forth all over the office, a phone always ringing on the background, some officers taking statements or locking up some crook. In the middle of the office were his colleagues standing in a circle with their backs turned from him. Not quite the welcome he was expecting. He walked towards them, his heart pounding. Once he was close enough, he noticed a man amongst the group, around whom the circle was created. By the quick glance he took, he saw that the unknown man had raven black hair and a tall and well-built frame.

“Hey, guys! Look who’s back!”, shouted Charlie as soon as she saw the sandy blond man. Everyone turned their attention to Dean, who was instantly tackled with hugs and words of relief and happiness. He didn’t even have time to properly process the situation.

“Oh, how stupid of us!” said Charlie while he was still caught in a whirlwind of people. “Let me introduce you to C. J. Novak —He has been transferred from the 96.” Dean was still a bit disoriented due to the overwhelming welcome, but something changed in him when he was met with the blue-eyed man who was leaning on Detective Rogers’ desk, observing the scene with his hands in his pockets. Now that he was closer to him, Dean noticed he had piercing blue eyes, rather chapped lips, a squared jaw and a five o’clock shadow. He was wearing a white buttoned up shirt that hinted at his worked-out body, as well as some black suit pants.

Dean stretched his arm and put his hand out for C. J. to shake. “Dean Winchester”

“So I’ve heard. Pleasure to meet you.” He had a deep voice, which took Dean by surprise. They didn’t break eye contact once while they were shaking hands. He didn’t feel quite right about the new guy, there was something about him that made him uneasy. For the few seconds —that felt like ages— that the handshake lasted, Dean forgot that there were people around them. He was too distracted by the man’s eyes and trying to figure out what the hell was wrong with him. Tension started to build up between the two detectives, the atmosphere notably shifting to a dense and heavy one.

“Winchester, good to have you back!” the tall and broad frame of his boss, Captain Singer, appeared in front of him, forcing him to remove his green eyes from the new guy. The tension evaporated, and Dean found himself releasing the breath he didn’t know he was holding. “If you don’t mind, I would like to see you in my office.”

“See you guys later” Dean took a last glance to the new guy before he followed the older man to his office.

On the way there, he ran into some co-workers who quickly greeted him and congratulated him for the success of his mission. Once they reached their destination, just a few steps away from the elevator, the Captain closed the door and motioned him to sit down on the chair in front of his desk.

“Winchester, it’s a pleasure to have you back on the team. I know how hard it can be to go undercover, but it really pays off: The Lockwood family has been finally sent to jail thanks to your inside information. You are one of our best detectives.”

“Thank you, sir. All I want to do is go back to my regular job and move on.”

“About that” Captain Singer paused, avoiding eye contact. Dean had been working with the older man long enough to know what it meant. “There had been some changes around here while you were gone.”

There it was. Ever since he saw the new guy, he knew that something was off and that he wouldn’t be the only thing new around here.

“A few of your colleagues have been forced to leave the force due to getting hurt while on duty, Detectives Rogers and Joseph. I know you had worked with them on numerous cases, so I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news. I am also sad to inform you that Detective Masters passed away a few weeks after you left. She was trying to stop a mugging and, while she was chasing the criminal, she suffered a heart attack from which she never recovered. I’m only telling you this because I know how close you two were. Sorry, Dean”.

The news hit him hard. The only thing he could do was just to remain silent, his eyes fixed on the carpeted floor of Captain Singer’s office, trying to process all the information. Hearing about Detective Rogers and Joseph was a bitter pill to swallow, but he comforted himself thinking that at least they were alive, but Detective Masters was a different story. She was the first partner he ever had, the one with whom he worked his first case. It was she who showed him the ropes, who taught him how to be a competent detective. Before leaving, Dean had the hardest time saying goodbye to her.

“I’m sorry” said the Captain. “I understand it’s a lot to digest.” Dean nodded his head, attempting to swallow the lump on his throat. He stayed in silence for a few more seconds, trying to compose himself a little bit.

“Thank you for telling me, Captain.” Singer’s features softened.

“Anyway, I won’t hold you any longer, you can go back to work. And Winchester, once again, good job.” He dedicated him a small smile before burying his head in a never-ending-pile of files.

Once Dean got back to his desk, he retrieved that sense of familiarity that got lost during his conversation with the Captain. Everything was exactly how he left it, his pencil holder sitting at the far left corner of his desk, filled mostly with blue pens and a few pencils that were halfway down their size, some paper clips and rubber bands scattered next to it, the picture of him and his brother Sam on their very first trip to New York on the opposite corner and the all-too-familiar folder full of cases neatly stacked at the side.  Dean smiled to himself: things were still the same. His smile was quickly turned into a furrow when he saw the blue-eyed man from before plop down on the desk right in front of him.

“You’re not Charlie” Dean thought at loud when he saw his partner, taken aback by the sudden intrusion.

“And you’re not Brad Pitt, but I guess we’ll have to make do” the comment took him by surprise. Now he was a hundred percent convinced he didn’t like the guy. “They promoted Detective Bradbury a few months ago, so they moved her to the third floor.”

“She got promoted? That’s good to hear!”

“Yes, it was big news around here. The celebration party was insane.”

“You threw a party?” Dean asked quietly, a pang of jealousy spreading through his chest. He knew it wasn’t fair to feel upset by that, after all, he was undercover, and he couldn’t reach out to anyone.

“Of course! She has been working hard for years to become a Sargent!” C. J. Novak huffed.

“Exactly how long have you been working here?” Dean asked, unable to keep his anger from showing.

 Weeks passed and Dean was now more convinced than ever that the chances of the new guy —he refused to acknowledge that he had been around for more than a few weeks— and him becoming friends were zero to none. Ever since the first day, Dean felt suspicious of him, which lead to becoming surly whenever C. J. was around, which was all the time given that they sat in front of each other. Perhaps some of his negative energy rubbed onto his partner, because, soon enough, Novak started being standoffish. The atmosphere surrounding their desks was almost too heavy for anyone to handle, so they steered away from the negative environment the two men managed to create. That they were practically at daggers dawn took Dean’s friends by surprise, since they knew them both and thought they would have gotten on like a house on fire by now. And every time they asked the sandy blond why he disliked the blue-eyed detective so much, he was at a loss of words. He didn’t know why C. J. got on his nerves so much, all he knew is that he did and that was a good enough reason to not give him the time of the day.

But it all changed once they worked their first case together. Up until that point, they had managed to avoid doing anything together, Dean making the most efforts to dodge the situation. But this time, there was no way out: Captain Singer was tired of the excuses he kept coming out with and gave him the order to work with Detective Novak.

“So, there was no way to talk Captain Singer out of this.” Dean walked to C. J. and threw the file on his desk. He received a long sigh from his partner.

“So, what do we do?”

“I guess we go check the crime scene” replied the green-eyed man with resignation.

Rather hesitantly, they got into a police car and hit the road. C. J. read through the file, since his partner barely gave him time to even see what the case was about at the precinct. The atmosphere in the car was tense, Dean had his jaw clenched and he focused on the road, trying his best to forget that another person was in the car with him.

“So, stabbed through the heart at a dentist office.” C. J. tried to make the air lighter, aiming for small talk. At his partner’s silent response, he went on talking. “No murder weapon and only just one witness, it sure looks interesting. What do you think?”

“I think you should stop talking. Look, I don’t think neither of us is happy with this situation, so let’s get this over with as soon as possible. No small talk, no trying to socialize with each other. I hope this is just a one-time thing, so let’s just stick strictly to business, okay?” C. J. looked at him, frustration clear in his eyes and resumed to sit in silence while gazing out the window.

Ten minutes later, they arrived at the dentist office where the crime was committed. Surprisingly enough, the office floor was completely clean, and if it weren’t for the dead body in the middle of the room, it would be impossible to know that someone had been a murdered. The corpse was lying on his back, a stab wound on his chest. Some other officers were already there, taking pictures and examining the crime scene. The witness, a middle-aged woman with short black hair was waiting outside the office, fidgeting with her hands and her gaze fixed on the entrance door.

“Detectives Winchester and Novak, NYPD. Are you Ruby Campbell?”

“Yes, I am.” C. J. took a notepad and a pen out of his jacket to take her testimony, which earned him a dirty look from Dean.

“So, what can you tell us about last night? When did you find the body?” asked the dark-haired detective with his deep voice, which made Dean’s blood boil for whatever reason.

“I’m the receptionist here. I usually help Doctor Jason close, but I had to leave early because it was my daughter’s school play. When I came to work this morning, I saw that his car was still parked, which caught my attention since he was supposed to leave today to visit his family in Detroit. I went to his office and found him dead on the floor.” The woman told her story with tears in her eyes, and her voice broke a couple of times while she was narrating the events.

C. J. wrote everything down on his notepad and comforted the witness, showing tremendous care and tenderness, which became too much for Dean, who excused himself and went to check the body while his partner made further questions.

“What are your thoughts on the crime scene, Detective Winchester?” asked Detective Novak in a serious tone, trying to engage in a professional conversation.

Dean, who tried to ignore the chills he got when he heard his partner’s deep voice address him as ‘Detective Winchester’, angered at the fact that the other man was still willing to have a conversation with him. He gripped the steering wheel even harder, his knuckles turning white.

“The witness can be ruled out, her alibi checks out, I looked at the security cameras.” The blue-eyed man read through his notes, resolved in carrying on with the conversation even if his partner was giving him the cold shoulder. “What we have to do when we arrive at the precinct is to call the victim’s family, they probably are still waiting for him to show up in Detroit.”

“Just shut up!” roared Dean, unable to take the sound of his voice anymore. “This is hard enough; you don’t have to fill the silence with whatever comes to your mind. I don’t give a rat’s ass about your stupid thoughts and theories on the case. I know we have to work this thing together, but I swear to God, if I have to hear another word come out of your mouth, I’m leaving this car.” He took a quick glance at his partner, who had a furrowed brow and his hands turned into fists.

“Stop the car” Detective Novak said quietly.

“What?” asked Dean in disbelief.

“STOP THE DAMN CAR.” Intimidated by his partner reaction, the green-eyed detective pulled up at the side of the road. “We’ve been working this case for less than three hours and you have been nothing but hell on wheels!” yelled C. J., looking directly into his green eyes. “Look, I don’t care if you have been nothing but a dick to me, even if I had been nothing but nice to you ever since you came back; I’m fine with you bossing me around as if I were your fucking assistant, but what I won’t tolerate is you putting my professional integrity on the line. Whether you like it or not, we are working this case together, so swallow your damn pride, because we are talking murder here, Dean, there’s too much at stake. So, stop behaving like a damn child and start acting like the great detective everyone claims you are.”

Dean was speechless. Once he composed himself from the original shock, he got angrier than before. He knew damn well that he was being more than unfair to C. J., and he hated to admit that the other detective was right. So, he shot him a dirty look, which gained him an exasperated sigh from the blue-eyed detective and drove back to the precinct.

Once they arrived at the office, their tension and bad temper spread through the whole room, like a dark cloud blocking the sun rays, letting everyone know that a storm was coming. The always busy and noisy precinct turned silent, as if afraid to set one of them off. Everyone steered clear of the two detectives, who went their separate ways as quickly as possible, sick of the other’s company. Dean went straight to the coffee room, in desperate need of caffeine to get through the rest of the day, while C. J. went to his desk to start with the paperwork. After twenty minutes, Dean had calmed down enough to go back to work. However, as he was about to leave, a furious Charlie approached him, forcing him to stay in the coffee room.

“What the hell is wrong with you, Winchester?!” she yelled, poking his chest with her finger, while Dean was left with his arms up in the air in defense. “I’ve just talked to C. J. and he has told me about how much of an asshole you have been to him. At first, I thought you were being salty about this whole new partner thing, but this has gone way too far. Pull your head out of your ass, apologize to C. J., and work the damn case.” As she spoke, she got up in Dean’s personal space, until he was backed into a wall, her finger never leaving his chest. Charlie could be intimidating when she put her mind to it. She sent him one last threating look and stormed out the room.

As soon as he processed Charlie’s threat, he straightened himself up and returned to his desk. It bothered him to admit that they were both right, he was well aware of being unreasonable and unfair, but he just couldn’t do anything about how he felt about the guy, he still had this weird feeling about him. However, for everyone’s sake, he decided to put his feelings aside and work the damn case. The sooner he ripped the band-aid off, the better.

He set a cup of coffee on Detective Novak’s desk, who looked up from his computer screen and eyed the beverage confused.

“Consider it a peace offering”, said Dean flatly, as he himself started his computer up, hiding behind its screen while peering from the corner of his eye his partner’s reaction. The other detective looked intermittently at him and the cup, still suspicious of the whole affair, until he finally caved in and took a sip of the coffee.

At first, they exchanged short and to-the-point sentences, a lot of formality still surrounding them. But as the case progressed and they were forced to stay late at night, they evolved from being at arm’s length, to getting along, some would even say they even became friendly. It was during those nights that the two of them bonded, which left Dean wondering why he had been so rude towards the other man for such a long time. By the end of the case, they were both as thick as thieves.

 “Heya, Angel” Dean greeted the dark-haired man as he set a cup of coffee on his desk, a custom he had adopted since they had buried the hatchet.

“How long are you going to keep calling me that?”

“What, you don’t like it? Would you rather I called you Castiel, the angel of Thursday?” replied amused, a playful grin on his face.

“I knew it was a bad idea to tell you my name” said C. J., obviously fed up with the nickname his colleague had decided to give him. Dean just laughed.

“Anyway, I was just dropping by to bring you your coffee. Charlie found a lead on a case she has been working on for weeks and she asked me to be her back-up, so we’re leaving in a few minutes. Any advice?” asked the sandy blond man while leaning against C. J.’s desk, with no intention at all to leave.

“A few: don’t piss Charlie off, follow her every order and listen to her. Oh, and don’t get shot again, I would hate to lose my drink slave. I forgot how life is like when you have to get coffee for yourself.”

“First of all, I technically didn’t get shot last time, a bullet grazed my arm. But don’t worry, you’re not getting rid of me so easily.” Dean winked at his partner, who started blushing. “Though, getting shot doesn’t sound that bad, I might do it again.” He moved closer to the dark-haired man, a hint of amusement in his voice. “I mean, it was really cute seeing how worried you were and how much you took care of me. Also, I heard scars make you more attractive. Perhaps you should get one yourself, that way you could get laid.”

“You know what, Winchester, blow me” C. J. rolled his eyes, trying to remember why he was still friends with such an idiot.

“Don’t mind if I do.” Blushing, the detective punched him playfully in the arm while Dean just laughed.

“Hey, Winchester! What the hell, man? I’ve been waiting ten minutes for you in the car! Stop flirting with Novak and let’s go!” yelled Charlie from the elevator, anger spilling from her voice.

“Gotta go, duty calls” Dean got up from his partner’s desk, putting a hand on his chest, while looking up, trying to add dramatism to the situation, which gained him a snort from his co-worker.

“I meant what I said earlier, Dean! Be careful!” shouted C. J. as his partner was approaching the elevator and meeting with the redheaded detective. He turned around and blew him a kiss. C. J. just rolled his eyes and went back to his work.

“Asshole” muttered under his breath, while a small smile made its way onto his lips.

 “What was all that about, Dean?” asked Charlie once they were on their way to a drugstore, the last place Charlie’s suspect had been seen.

“What do you mean?”

“Do I really need to explain it?” her tone full of exasperation. She was met with the dumbfounded expression of her colleague, forcing her to go on. “The non-stop flirting? The long-lasting eye sex? The heart-eyes you give each other when the other is not looking?”

“Oh, that” Dean suddenly felt shy and awkward. “It’s nothing. You know that I like flirting and C. J.'s so easy to mess with… Besides, I don’t swing that way.” The last comment got a snort from the redhead.

“Yeah, you’re as straight a circle, honey” she muttered under her breath.

“What?”

“Nothing”

“No, I heard you mumbling. What do you have to say?” Dean pressed on.

Charlie remained silent for a few seconds, debating whether she should speak or not.

“Well, this is probably not my place to say and this is something you’re supposed to figure out on your own, but it seems like you need a nudge in the right direction.” She paused, choosing her words carefully in order not to sound rude or patronizing.

“I’m not following” said Dean, confused. His whole body suddenly became tense. He could hear his heart beating in his head.

“Do you remember Lisa?”

“Of course, we dated for three years. But I don’t know what she has to do with any of this.”

“Remember his brother, the one you had a major crush on? Don’t even try to deny it”, she stopped him, seeing Dean was already opening his mouth in defense, “you might have played it off as admiring him for being a firefighter, but man, you couldn’t stop staring at him when he was around, completely ignoring your then girlfriend. You were drooling after him! She even stopped including him in our plans when you were around.”

Dean chewed his bottom lip as he remembered how the aforementioned girlfriend broke up with him, her words engraved in his mind: ‘You have some stuff to figure out, until then, I don’t think you can fully love me.’ He thought she meant something completely different, given that during the last years of their relationship, he was in a dark place and all she wanted was for him to get his shit together.

“And last year’s Christmas party? You probably won’t remember this because you were pretty wasted, but you spent all night flirting with the male bartender, with whom you ended up making out by closing time.”

“I don’t remember that” said the green-eyed detective, his voice small.

“Of course you don’t! You practically drank yourself senseless!” scoffed the redhead. “And now C. J. and your initial so-called hatred for the poor guy. I mean, I spent endless coffee breaks hearing you ramble on and on about him and how much he got into your nerves for doing the littlest of things that no one even noticed. And then you guys declared a truce and began flirting like crazy, getting to a point where everyone tries to avoid you two, because you guys are so chummy, that anyone who is with you two instantly feels like they are third-wheeling.” Dean felt his cheeks burn, as he bowed his head down, looking at his hands, ashamed.

“What are trying to say? That I am gay?” he quietly asked, trying to make sense of what Charlie was throwing his way.

“Well, that’s something you need to figure out,” she said in a much softer tone, “And you know that whatever happens, we’ll always have your back, right?” he just nodded, still trying to process everything, his gaze still fixed on his hands.

 After the heart to heart with Charlie, Dean felt more self-conscious around C. J. He toned down his flirting, which got the other man confused, who had already gotten used to his partner’s overly confident, snarky, and teasing remarks. Dean was also more distracted at work, usually messing up various forms and spacing out during coffee breaks or at lunch, not really listening to his partners’ stories of whatever arrest they had made that day. Those subtle changes didn’t go over C. J.’s head, who started worrying if something of a greater scale had happened to his desk partner.

 “Hey, Dean-o” greeted C. J., who bumped into him on the coffee room.

“Hey.” Replied the other man softly, not really looking up from his cup of coffee, deep in thought.

“So, how are you?” the dark-haired detective sat down on the chair next to him.

“Fine, I guess.” Dean started playing with the plastic stick, stirring his coffee.

“Is there something bothering you, Dean?” C. J. placed his hand on the other man’s forearm, making him look up from his coffee and directing his green eyes on Novak’s hand placement. “You seem off these days.”

“It’s just that I have recently found something and I’m still trying to wrap my head around it.”

“Well, if there’s anything I can do to help…”

“You have done more than you think.” Dean finally looked him in the eyes and offered him a genuine smile, which gained him another from his partner, easing his worries.

In that moment, Dean realized how hopelessly in love he was with C. J. Novak. He had spent these past few months not only trying to embrace his new-found bisexuality, but also figuring out how he felt about the deep-voiced detective. He initially thought he had a crush and that it would eventually go away, but seeing that he failed to stay away from his partner long enough to get over his stupid infatuation, he realized that it was probably bigger than he had deemed it at first. Still, he was new to all this consciously-flirting-with-guys thing, so he didn’t really know how to express his feelings to him. Besides, there was also the chance that C. J. wasn’t into dudes, so Dean decided that it was better to not act on his feelings and be content with giving him longing looks from behind the computer when the other detective wasn’t looking. It took some more weeks and a lot of soul-searching and awkward family conversations for Dean to finally build up enough courage to go back to their original aggressive flirting, which C. J. received with a smile and a ‘that’s the Winchester I know’. It wasn’t until he eavesdropped on one of C. J.’s phone calls to his sister and he made a passing comment about his previous boyfriend that Dean decided to ask the guy out, as Charlie was so adamant about every time the subject was brought up.

“Morning, sunshine!” like every morning, Dean set the coffee on his partner’s desk while he leaned against it. “Wow, you look like crap.” C. J. had dark circles around his eyes, droopy eyelids, and black strands of hair were sticking out in every direction.

“Gee, thanks Dean, you look stunning as always.” The sandy blond detective was sure that C. J. would’ve rolled his eyes if it weren’t because he was so tired. Instead, he pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Rough night?”

“Yeah” the blue-eyed detective sighed. “My neighbors recently had a baby, and she spent all night crying her lungs out. I barely got any sleep” as in cue, a yawn made its appearance.

“If you want to hit the sack on the break room, I won’t tell anyone. Maybe I’ll even join you, I’ve been told I make a great big spoon” said Dean proudly, moving closer to his colleague.

“Oh, Winchester, ever the tease. Tell me, do you actually plan on following through with all the propositions you have been making me all these months?” C. J. blurted out, leaving Dean speechless.

This isn’t exactly how he had expected to ask the man out, he was waiting for the perfect moment, like going to a shootout and after almost losing his life, he would return to the precinct and C. J. would run to his arms and probably then Dean would have enough courage to ask him on a date. But then again, in his head they were already married with two children, a dog, and a house in the suburbs. So, this was as good a moment as any.

“I am. In fact, how do you feel about dinner tonight at my place? Not to brag, but Charlie has remarked several times that my cooking skills are out of this world.” He tried to sound nonchalant and suave, but a sudden tremble on his voice and the constant fidgeting with his hands gave him away.

“Wait, are you serious? Are you asking me on a date?” C. J. shot his head up and looked at the sandy blonde man, who quickly glanced at him before returning his gaze to the floor, his head bowed down.

“I mean, if that’s what you want.” A smile appeared on C. J.’s face; any trace of tiredness erased from his features.

“Fucking finally” muttered the blue-eyed man. He took Dean’s red tie in his hand and pulled it, forcing the other man to bend forward, planting a kiss on his lips.

Everything leading up to it happened in slow motion for Dean. A million thoughts were rushing through his mind, when he suddenly felt a strong grip on his tie, and then before he knew it, detective Novak’s lips were on his own. It took him a few seconds to take in what was happening, but when he did, he gave into the kiss. When they pulled away, Dean was left dumbfounded, still not a hundred percent sure that if what just happened was real.

“So, tonight at 7.30?” was all that the green-eyed detective managed to stammer out. The other detective laughed, looking him with tender eyes.

“Yeah, I think I can make it.” They smiled at each other. “What took you so long?”

“I don’t know” replied Dean genuinely, going in for another kiss.

[speedybooksandcreativeheaven]

The Path Less Traveled

Story Summary: In the Abyssal Plains, Reastrao has been under constant supervision as the heir of the demon world. His father, the Demon Lord makes sure the young lord knows his place. With the non-stop training, Reastrao has had enough as he only desires to be a true family with his brothers.

Word Count: 1,963

Trigger Warning: Mentions of implied beating & implied scars

AN: The song lyrics are in bold, while the past is in italics

Names of characters

·         Damien – Izroul

·         James – Reastrao

·         Matthew – Zecaeru

Link of song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZN04y-Aj5hI&list=WL&index=7&t=0s

I hit a wall, I never felt so low, so low

Like a waterfall, my tears dropped to the floor, the floor

They left a swimming pool of salted crimes, crimes

Oh, what could I do to change your mind?

I lean back in my fathers throne clearly uninterested as I felt his angry presence behind me. I’m currently in a meeting testing my training on how to negotiate properly. I zone out from the meeting, thinking about my own wishes and desires. My brothers could tell that I was avoiding them, I couldn’t help it. If we were caught my father would drag me back to studying. I was never given a break from his constant high expectations. I always had to remain obedient to his every command. I was rudely awakened from my daydream to see both leaders ascending from their chairs. I heard their heavy footsteps on the stone floor as they reach their way towards where we were sitting. I could feel my father’s pride illuminate as we all came to an agreement. Finally, they turned to leave the room but not before one of them gazed into my golden eyes quickly as they shake my father’s hand.

“Good job, my lord,” my father puffs up his chest as he hears the praise, “Within no time, young Raestrao will one of the greatest leaders the Abyssal Plains has ever seen!”

Right, I sigh as I roll my eyes once the last leader leaves the room. Like I want to live in my father’s footsteps. I stand to stretch my legs; this is two hours of my life I’ll never get back. I hear my father’s footsteps echo in the throne room as he makes his way towards me. I look up to see his black eyes brimming with pride as he gives me a pat on the back.

“Good job with training today! With more practice you’ll be able to pass your old man! You’re dismissed for the day.” I let out a forced smile as he proudly laughs as makes his way out of the room.

Nothing

I'm bracing for the pain and I am letting go

I'm using all my strength to get out of this hole

It has been a couple of hours since the meeting has been over. I still sit in my fathers throne as I think about the conversation earlier, “Good job, my lord,” my father puffs up his chest as he heard the praise, “Within no time, young Raestrao will be one of the greatest leaders the Abyssal Plains has ever seen!”

I slam my fist down on the table with rage! Nobody ever asked what the heir wanted! All I desire is to spend time with my brothers but with my constant training I barely see them. I have bags under my eyes, I silently let a couple of tears flow. I had to wipe them quickly, I heard the large stone door creak open to reveal my fathers pig servant with a pile of books in his talons. Great, more books to read! I snarl to myself as he makes his way towards the throne. I thought that I was dismissed for the day! That should include no more books!

“Here you go, young heir. I have collected the next area of study that your father wants you to read.” I hear the books slam on the small table beside my father’s chair.

I let out a non-verbal thank you as he turns to leave. I thought he was gone as I violently slammed the books off the table – they made a loud sound, clanging on the floor. I couldn’t hear the noise. My hands ran up to touch my soft gray hair, I had enough of reading books and trying to impress my stupid father. I had enough!

I hit a wall, I thought that I would hurt myself

Oh, I was sure, your words would leave me unconscious

And on the floor I'd be lying cold, lifeless

But I hit a wall, I hit 'em all, watch the fall

You're just another brick and I'm a sledgehammer

“A home is where you can be yourself, not tied to your duty.” I mummer out in the cold stone room. I turn around to see a painting of myself and father. He wore a stone-cold expression as he wore the golden crown with silent pride. My hand touched the painting as it curled into a fist, “I don’t even want to rule, I thought that I was dismissed for the day!” I snarl.

What I didn’t expect was to hear the pig servant stop in his tracks as he narrowed his eyes and made his way back up towards where I am standing.

“Do you know many people in this kingdom would love to have the power that you have! You can change things, to speak, be listened to, and to be able to read! Servants like us have no power! Hell… We can’t even read! Your father never said that you were dismissed from more reading.” I was startled at the fury edged from the servant’s tone, “Ah! Children always make mistakes!” he sneers.

I rub my temples sighing as I met his intense gaze, “It’s my life.” I snarled back, “I should be free from all other duty’s today since I was dismissed from the negotiation meeting!” My eyes started to shine its golden color, ready to dispel magic but what stopped me was the servant’s laughter. It was dark and eery, like it held onto dark magic.

I stood there in confusion as he walked closer to face me, “You don’t live in a bubble, Raestrao. If it hurts other people you don’t get to sing about your Disney princess woes. You are going to do whatever the fuck your father wants from you! Do I make myself clear?!”  

The servant sighed as he walked over to the fallen book as he picked it up and he roughly shoves it in my hands. I glance at the book… more war strategy. I touch the rough edges of it to see my golden lineage marks mock me. The servant smirked at my angry stare as he slowly makes his way out of the room. Using the magic, I was brewing inside I formed a small round ball of energy and chuck it at him. He doesn’t even blink as my magic hits the stone wall. Shit! I missed!

“You need to have better aim, young lord.” He jokes as he walks back towards the servant quarters.

Yeah I hit a wall, I prayed that I would make it through, make it through

I can't survive a life that's without you, that's without you, yeah

And I will rise up from the ashes now, the ashes now

Oh, the sparrow flies with just the crumbs of loving spilled, yeah

I finally hear the wooden doors shut as I am now alone in the throne room. I let out a deep breath that I didn’t even know I was holding in. I walk around the throne room as I have practically lived in this room. All of my teachings, lessons and brutal training sessions were taught here. I remember peeling myself off of the floor one day as I had enough of training. I remember his snarl as he watches me try to stand to face him. I barely had time to think before we started again. A couple of hours later, I was finally excused from my lesson. My body was exhausted, but I cheered in silent victory as I was going to see my brothers. I run as quick as my little legs can carry me as I make my way towards my brother’s chambers. As I become closer I hear hushed talking as I knock on the door. All of the talking is silent as I hear someone shuffling their feet to open the door. The look of pure confusion and shock soon turned to excitement as I walked into the small room.

“Raestrao, we were starting to become worried when you weren’t excused sooner.” Zecaeru pipped in as Izroul nodded his head.

“I’m sorry that I couldn’t be here sooner,” I apologized, “but we all know father.” I let out a dry laugh as I sit down to hear about their days. Everything was at ease when I was with them. No expectations to follow, no rules, no responsibilities. I let out a sigh as I was finally able to relax.

I came to my senses again, looking at the large family painting near the entrance of the room. The painting featured all of us standing outside our castle. I look more clearly to see me and my brothers on one side while my father stood further away from us. I sigh as that was the longest time that I have been away from them. I started to think about my future. I was confused as to what I wanted to do. If I stayed here I would be something that I will dread. The option of leaving sounded almost fitting but who would be here to run after we leave. How would father feel? What would happen to my home?  

I was bracing for the pain and then I let it go

I gathered all my strength and I found myself whole

As if someone heard my thoughts I saw that the room start to become dark. I grip onto the stone walls for balance. I blink a couple of times until I could see an older demon sitting on the throne with a woman sitting next to him and Izroul in chains as he brings forth a map of our kingdom. My blood boils as I never wanted to see him as a slave. I wanted to protect him, give him a better life; give all of my brothers a better life than living in this hell. I decide to move forward since nobody in the room has noticed my arrival. I gasped as I made my way closer to see myself wearing my fathers crown; my lineage marks were darker, and I noticed a couple of scars on my skin. I cry out in pain as I see Izroul getting thrown down onto the stone floor. I see his visible deep scars all over his small form as he’s scurrying away from the throne. My golden eyes are pulsating with rage as I saw a spitting image of father that was sitting right in front of me. I scream into the room, falling down to my knees with my hands buried in my face. I never want to turn into this monster. I need to change my fate, for my own safety and my brother’s sake.

I hit a wall, I thought that I would hurt myself

Oh, I was sure, your words would leave me unconscious

And on the floor I'd be lying cold, lifeless

But I hit a wall, I hit 'em all, watch the fall

You're just another brick and I'm a sledgehammer

The room must have heard my screams as all of a sudden, I stood back up to see that the people vanished. I wipe a few tears from my face as I needed to change, or else that image will haunt me for the rest of my life living here. I walk out of the throne room with a new pride in my step. I wasn’t sure where this new path will lead me and my brothers on. As long as we are together that is all that matters.

What I didn’t know is that the rest of my brothers found a way to change our fate.

[theashofwkm]

Hesitant kiss, dark and DA

To Be Expected

You have been quiet, scarce, ever since you came back. Since you moved into the manor and out of your prison.

It was to be expected, sure, but Dark still worries. His memory of trapping you there is vague — he had been new and Celine and Damien were still desperate, still their own beings within him. He remembers being angry, hurt. Mark... Mark had taunted Damien, he thinks, pushed him over the edge.

Celine had been practically gone, dormant to her rageful brother who crafted the reins. He had been more in control, while having no control at all.

His early days are confusing. Being both himself and Damien and Celine. They weren’t in control, not since his birth, but they could influence him some.

At the time, Damien hadn’t cared for the consequences of leaving you behind.

Dark had run on emotion and instinct, than. Running on anger and fire and magic. He’s calmed, since, learned the perks of control and patience. Quieted the voices in his head, old souls.

He’s separate from them now. They influence nothing because they are nothing. They’re just an origin story, puppeteers of his birth. Nothing more.

So while technically, he was your captor, he had little say in the matter at the time. So he guilts and regrets what he had done. He worries for what it did to you.

He raps on your door softly. He’s been watching you, but he’s been too scared busy to talk with you before.

“Come in.” Your voice is weak, but less bland than it was when you first got here. You’ve warmed up to the egos some, breaking your shell of isolation.

He steps in. “Hello.”

Despite having thought about talking to you for weeks, he never came up with a good greeting.

“Hi.”

You look better too, less sallow and boney. Healthier. Happier. Something still hangs over you though, a dark ghost clutching at your shoulders and staining your eyes.

He sits in a chair, hating the tense air of the room. It’s because of him, he knows. Earlier, he heard you laugh at the Jim’s antics. So your tenseness has to do with him.

Which was to be expected. He was the one who had trapped you in your prison, after all.

“I hope you’re settling in well.” Why is he being so awkward? Usually he’s better tongued, more charismatic. He chalks it up to lack of experience in this type of situation.

“I am, thank you.” Your eyes are fixed on your lap and he thinks that you might be afraid of him. Of course you are.

He shifts nervously, altering his position as none of them feel comfortable. “I’d like to apologize,” he says, voice quiet and not backed by his ringing like it usually is, blue predominant in his aura. “I realized that I haven’t properly apologized for what I did, back then, and I’d like you to know that I am sorry. I was... new, then, and things were... chaotic. I wasn’t in my proper mind.”

“It’s...” you shift, looking off to the side, no doubtedly remembering his face when he shoved you out and trapped you. “It was crazy.”

“It was. And I’d also like to say that I won’t do anything similar again.” You look at him now, something hiding in your eyes — hesitation?

“I’m not the same person I was then. It’s... repulsive that I did that and I would like to make amends.”

Your mouth drops, shock overtaking the hesitation in your eyes. You hadn’t pinned Dark as the type to apologize, but an exception was made for you.

He’s not Mark. He’s man enough to know when he crossed the line and has to apologize. He’s man enough to feel regret and still move forwards.

(Mark was a coward. Hiding behind his self-made sheet of being a Hero. He never apologized or showed his vulnerability.)

“I...” You’re at a loss, knowing his apology to be sincere but still remembering the stark hate in his gaze after he’d turned the lock on your cage and left you to rot.

“Damien was... he was more in control in that moment than I was. I’m not trying to make excuses, nothing can excuse that, but I would like to start fresh with you.” He doesn’t want you to fear him. He doesn’t know why he cares if you fear him or not.

You look at him, wondering if this is a farce or if he’s being serious, if he means it. You remember Damien’s sweet words, now lost to the emptiness of the betrayal he’d succumbed you to. But this... this isn’t Damien. So was it fair for you to hang him for his mistakes, regardless on if they shared a body?

You decide to trust him. To believe him. If only for the fact that you don’t want to look over your shoulder wondering what he’ll do to you next.

Plus, you’ve been here for weeks and he’s acted nothing like Damien would. (Not that you’ve been watching him, you’ve just been afraid. Right?) It’s hard to accept — despite his betrayal and your anger — Damien was still a friend, and him being gone still hurt.

“Alright,” you whisper, looking at his solemn face. “Let’s start over.”

He looks up at you, relief in his gaze, aura settled and in one piece. His eyes are dark with an emotion you can’t place, but one that seems familiar. You have a feeling that you could look at him like this for forever. It’s just because it’s softer than the face of his you had when he left. It’s bordering on kind, this face, and you like how it looks when it’s kind.

You scoot forwards, placing a hand on his and smiling gently. “My name is Y/N,” you say, wanting to brighten him up, for him to lose the sad edge of his expression. “It’s nice to meet you.”

He actually chuckles a little at that, surprised. “Dark,” he says, making a show of shaking your hand and then holding it in his.

The two of you stay like that, knees touching, hand in hand, unsure of the next step but free of fear, relieved. The air is still tense, tight with some string linking the two of you.

“I can’t do this. I know you too well to be a stranger.” Dark leans down, voice quiet and intimate.

“Yeah.” You laugh. “It was a dumb thing to do, anyways.”

He hums, tilting his head and staring at you through his fringe. “No,” he says, “it wasn’t dumb.”

You gulp, blinking at the intense power of his gaze, breathing shallowing out a little. Why are you out of breath?

“No?” Your voice hitches with the small word, the small question.

“No.” He leans a little closer, his breath now blowing against yours, brushing against you like a cool summer’s breeze. “Not at all.”

He stops there, hovering inches, centimeters, away. His eyes narrow some, but not in a way of anger, just partially closing at the proximity, but he still stares at you from his lowered lids.

He’s waiting for you, you realize. He came here to apologize and he won’t cross any boundaries, any lines, without your permission. It’s sweet, in a way. Nervewracking.

You close the final inch, pressing your mouth to his and sliding your eyes shut, hoping he takes the lead from here as you have no idea what you’re doing.

He does, tilting his head and cupping your face with a hand, angling you better to heighten the pleasure.

It’s terrifying, kissing him. Like walking the edge of danger and there’s a part of you that thinks that this is just a ruse, but you don’t think that he could fake the emotion in his kiss.

There’s hesitation, some fear of his own that you can only guess at. He’s so confident usually, in control. You don’t think that he’d give that up just to play with your heart.

It’s also sweet. Behind the fear, there’s warmth, something you’ve only seen glimpses of up to now. It’s soft and gentle and it reminds you of velvet sheets.

It’s too long and not enough time later when you pull away, gasping for air you had forgotten you needed. His kiss had wiped away any thought, any rationality you had. Mind melting, you think it’s called. His kiss was mind melting.

He moves on instinct, beaten lungs not hungering for air like yours. He moves to the curve in your jaw, pressing a chaste kiss there before he leans away, features softer than they’ve ever been.

His hand thumbs at your cheek, an attempt at a soothing, gentle show of affection. “I’ll leave you to think,” he says. “But thank you.”

You blink dumbly at him as he stands and leaves the room, wondering what had just happened. You knew that you’d speak to Dark at some point — it was inevitable, living in the same house.

But that was not what you expected.

—

Still pretty long for a prompt, but when do I do anything short? Hope you liked this!! It’s not often that we get to see soft!dark.

Also just gave this a title cause it fit. And plot because who doesn’t love plot in a prompt. Jk, I just added plot trying to figure out how they kiss.

[mgrgfan]

Past of the future, future of the past...

Chapter 7. Never the same. "Entering Hoenn airspace!" announced the navigator. "Current speed - 100 km/h, altitude - 10 km." "Coolant temperature… normal," added mechanic. "Reactor’s working at optimal capacity. Main propellers rotating at 300 rpm, blades angle set at position 4." "Good," responded the captain, looking in the front window. "Rad-scans?" "I think directed rad-scanners are picking up something in the Meteor Falls… looks like our target," said the radiation safety officer. "Pilot - drop us down to 3 kms and lower the speed to 30 km/h. When we'll be directly above the Meteor Falls - shut down the primary propulsion and deploy the auxiliary thrusters, then transfer the control to me." "Acknowledged, commencing corrections," replied the pilot, slightly shifting joystick and thrust control rudder. "Good," noted the captain, then relaxed a bit. Right now, they were escorted by a few of military helicopters, tiltjets and some Hoennian military Pokemon, just in case anyone gets the wrong idea upon seeing such a great airship. After all, it was equipped with a nuclear reactor for power source and, should the rest of the airship be destroyed and the ultra-durable protective shell breached, will cause a lot of contamination… ---- "Your Majesty… your Majesty..." a scientist in Zemlino carefully tried to wake up the Emperor, who was sitting asleep in the chair near the ORBCOM station, after all those crazy events of yesterday. "Hm?.. If there's a third moon around the Red Planet - notify the Team 37, especially if it turns out to be an… eyed balloon or something…" the Emperor replied without actually awakening, being, apparently, in the midst of some bizarre and adventurous dream. "Again…" the Empress, who has just recently arrived to the flight control center, sighed, knowing a bit too well, just how enthusiastic her husband could get about anything aerospace-related. Especially after the first manned flight, when he has, somehow, managed to get into the SP-04 "Black Bird" spaceplane and, therefore, become the first human in space... "Anyway… now with the "Red Explorer" around the Moon, "Hauler" preparing to deorbit and "Dreamwing" back in hangar… we need to decide, how to direct the space program," said director of Zemlino FCC. "During the last nine months, it was directed solely towards building and launching the nuclear pulse battleship to open the road towards the skies again, with a few resupply vessels for it, but now, once we did it and made our intentions on keeping it open clear… what do we do?" "Honestly…" Empress started, in uneasy voice, "... I don't know. I mean, yes, we've opened the road to space again and people of the Empire are very happy about that, as well as showing Nation, that we're no jokes, but… I'm not really sure, what kind of directions are to be made of greater priority." "Orbital factories," Emperor replied, waking up upon hearing it at once. "Factories? Well… yes, they can be of use, but…" began director, only for the Emperor to interrupt him: "No buts. Even though I'm not big at ruling, I think we should capitalize on our success and get the info about the materials, which can be produced only in microgravity, and how they can help to improve the lives on the ground. I think info about the orbital hospitals can also help, since they are something everyday human can understand. If they start telling, that it'll be only available to aristocracy and rich - we should capitalize on grandiosity of our new Integrated Program Plan. It's finally time to put it back into action and make it reality." "... I guess," sighed Empress, thinking about words of her husband. "No time for guessing. We must make them realize, that the only way for them to get access to all the cool space stuff is to support the space program and help it grow as never before. We're on the verge of greatness now and we must achieve it." "Hopefully, you succeed at this," said director of the FCC, "because I'd hate the program falling apart, after all we've done..." "We all would," replied the Emperor and the Empress at the same time. ---- "So… that's it," murmured Damien, seeing gigantic nuclear-powered airship soar through the skies back to Soris, carrying highly radioactive corpse of Rayquaza inside the shielded cargo section. For all of the Draconid People, it was one heck of a blow - not only the Dragon Lord was killed, but they could not even bury it properly, having to allow sorisians to stuff it into an underground nuclear waste dump. And, what's worse, none of them could do anything about it - not only Rayquaza's corpse was radioactive enough to be able to give human a fatal radiation poisoning in matter of a few minutes, burying it in classic way would've allowed the leaking isotopes to, eventually, contaminate the groundwater and cause a big ecological catastrophe. "Grannie…" started Helian, "... What will happen now? With no Dragon Lord?" "I don't know," said the Elder, looking at the airship too. "But I think, that the world will never be the same…" ---- "So, we're done with preliminary checks," sighed mechanic, who was servicing the "Dreamwing" in the hangar #2 of Zemlino Space Center. "So far, everything looks fine." "Great," replied commander of the spaceplane. "Hopefully, our birdie will stay fine in the future too." "Hopefully… but it may get replaced with the new nuclear-powered spaceplane soon, when they iron out the hiccups of nuclear turboramjets and aerodynamics of the aft. I've heard Emperor got opposed to the idea of jettisonable aerodynamic tail cone and they're busy developing something, which will allow everything to come up and down in one piece." "Cool. Almost like our machine." "Yeah. From what I've heard, test flights of the SPN-01 "Blizzard", the first BLUEBIRD spaceplane, should start pretty soon. And with no Rayquaza around, they should be safe enough." "Safe, you say… the debris is still in place, though. And I don't think, that this spaceplane can be as armored as the battleship we've launched recently." "Well… yeah. Still, we've managed to take a flight to the "Red Explorer" and spend some time up there, so, maybe it won't be as bad. Besides, I've heard some rumors about how there are plans for dual-purpose weaponized satellites, which can both destroy targets in space and use their weapons for clearing space junk." "Hm… Interesting and kinda makes sense. I guess those laser researches in the ISFs 5 and 9 will be put to good use, after all." "I guess." "Hi, guys," said the engineer of the "Dreamwing", approaching the two men on this catwalk. "Anything wrong with sensors?" "No, nothing is wrong with them," replied mechanic and was a bit surprised upon seeing, how crewmembers of the "Dreamwing" suddenly got grimier and exchanged looks of understanding. "I guess we may have another dragon problem soon enough…" stated the commander, looking at the machine. "And who knows, if we'll have to resort to warships again…" ---- Awake. Alive. Those were the first thoughts of the young dragon. Right now, it did not understand the situation yet, but some strange memories, belonging both to the dragon and not to it at the same time, were flooding its mind. It was slowly to understand some things, but not too fast. It understood, that its name was Rayquaza, the Sky High Pokemon. It understood, that it exists to protect the skies and deal with Groudon and Kyogre. It understood, that something must've happened to its predecessor, if it was awakened right now. With those thoughts, young dragon has struck the hard shell of the egg and broke it apart, freeing itself. As it has just remembered, despite most of the Legendaries, like itself, being near-immortal, there were still contingency protocols in events of something exceptional happening. And, apparently, something exceptional it was. The young dragon has remembered the last moments of the old dragon, when it fought some huge cone-cylindrical metallic construct and, somehow, was struck down by it. Whatever moves this construct was using, they've had near-infernal power. And young dragon could not allow itself to suffer the fate of its predecessor. For now, it will lay low and explore, as it grows back to the power level of a full Legendary. Then… it will depend on circumstances. With those thoughts, young pitch-black serpentine dragon took off, flew past the obstacles and left the cave, well-hidden in the mountain range. Right now, it had to, first and foremost, survive and grow up. ---- Inside the bridge of the huge sorisian airship, there was not much action now. Rayquaza's highly-radioactive corpse was now in the reinforced storage, they were en route home, everything on the airship worked perfectly… honestly, it was kind of boring. "Guys…" started the navigator, "Do you remember our first assignment? The aerial expedition to Alola?" "Oh, I sure do!" replied the pilot, shifting in the chair a bit. "How we all have flown to it, how we've spent a decent amount of hydrogen burnfuel for our recon plane and heavy-lift helicopter, how technicians were able to assemble the mooring masts in just three days… that was the time!" "Especially with how we've managed to bring some Flygon eggs to Soris. Who knew, that those insect-dragons will become so popular at our home!" "Well… they did become popular with our colonists, didn't they? I mean, by the end of our stay there, quite a few people liked their partner 'Spirits of Change'. Including you." "... Yeah. Also…" With those words said, pilot reached out for one of his MFDs, quickly selected "security camera feeds" options and looked at the feed from the top hangar a bit. In it, an insect-dragon was quietly sleeping, curled near the tandem-rotor helicopter - much like during their return from the expedition. "... Nah, she's fine. Took Sunny form for some reason, though." "I would've said because of our cargo, but it'd be stupid. By the way… strangely enough, but native Alolan Flygon seem to be extinct nowadays, with Hoennian subspecies, somehow, having replaced them." "Hoopa's shenanigans again?" "Likely. May also be combined with the fact, that Hoennian Flygon, while lacking the sheer versatility of its Alolan progenitor, is better adapted to the desert conditions. I guess they've just lost the competition there." "And our region has preserved those dragon-bugs. Cool." "I guess. I've heard from some of my friends in ISF 4, that some scientists from Hoenn and Alola would be really happy to get more data about the extinct-for-them Alolan Flygon." "Likely." Author's notes: ISF - Imperial Science Facility. ORBCOM - Orbiter Communicator. MFD - Multi-Function Display. Sorisian nuclear airship is based on that. BLUEBIRD spaceplane is based on the real M(G)-19 "Gurkolyot". Alolan Flygons are based on that wonderful picture.

[juju-on-that-yeet]

Unravel, Chapter 10/20

Work Summary: Antisepticeye has a plan to destroy Darkiplier, steal his power, and take over everything - and he might just succeed. What starts with Yandereplier going missing evolves into a messy web of betrayal and grief, of blood and tears, of old wounds and new faces. However this ends, Ego Inc. will never be the same again. Chapter Summary: Now that Yandere’s awake, the other egos try to get to the bottom of what Anti might be planning, with mixed results. Warnings: Descriptions of past abuse, discussions of death, some sexual content at the end

Read on AO3

Enjoy!

~

When Dr. Iplier wakes the next morning, Yandere is still there beside him, eyes closed but already awake. It’s obvious from the lines in his face that he’s still not okay; he likely won’t be okay until Dark is back.

“If that’s even possible,” chides a voice at the back of Dr. Iplier’s mind.

“Morning, honeybee,” Dr. Iplier mumbles, kissing the nearest tuft of Yandere’s hair.

“Mmf,” Yandere mutters, face still in Dr. Iplier’s shoulder. He may be awake, but only barely. Dr. Iplier chuckles a little.

“Alright, I’m getting up,” he says, before pulling himself out of bed. Yandere whines as Dr. Iplier lets him go, but doesn’t actually protest, only burrowing deeper under the covers to make up for the lost warmth.

He’s still like that when Dr. Iplier returns from getting dressed and freshened up, and though Dr. Iplier would normally get him up to examine him, he decides it can wait until Yandere is actually fully awake. He no longer fears that Yandere will run, and besides, Yandere isn’t his only patient.

Celine is still comatose, of course. But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t need care; it’s not like the medical dramas Dr. Iplier’s character is meant to call back to, where comatose patients can lay there all day, only occasionally having their monitors and IVs checked by a nurse. Celine’s case is strange, though, because there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with her. She can breathe on her own, she exhibits some reflexes, and none of the scanning and imaging Dr. Iplier’s done on her brain can find any sort of damage. It’s as though she’s sleeping deeply, or under the influence of some sedative or sleeping aid, but both are demonstrably untrue. Then again, though, Celine’s medical history is complicated, to say the least. Dr. Iplier can’t expect her body to be the same as a normal human’s. He already knows she likely won’t wake up, but he can’t help but wonder how she’d be feeling if she did.

After looking after Celine, he goes back to Yandere and finally examines him. Fortunately, Yandere seems to be doing well: His wounds are still healing well, and his shoulder, while sore, seems no worse for wear after its dislocation yesterday.

“Sorry I didn’t let you fix it before,” Yandere tells Dr. Iplier as he checks it, “Guritchi liked tying me up by my arms so my feet couldn’t touch the ground, and it kept popping my arms out. It just…kind of reminded me of that.”

Yandere may be home, but he’s not the same boy Dr. Iplier lost. All Dr. Iplier can do is hug him gently before continuing the exam.

Eventually, a visitor arrives at the clinic: Wilford. He looks as though he’s spent all day and night worrying, no doubt about Yandere. Even after Dr. Iplier invites him into the room, he still seems uncertain, as though afraid Yandere will be angry with him or try to find Damien again. But Yandere instead lights up to see Wilford again, now that his mind is clear enough to appreciate it.

“Onii-san!” he cries, practically jumping into his arms to hug him.

“Heya, otouto,” Wilford laughs, hugging him back and swinging him around. “You sure freaked us out yesterday, but it’s good to see you up! You feeling any better?”

“Yeah,” Yandere says, but Dr. Iplier can see that his smile doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “Just…I’m sorry about before.”

“It’s alright,” Wilford assures him. He pulls away enough to look at him. “You should’ve seen me after Dark disappeared, I caused at least twice the commotion you did!”

He says it with humor, and Yandere can’t help but giggle, but Dr. Iplier knows it’s not really a joke. Wilford holds Yandere against him again and they stay that way for a long moment, two brothers both undone by Dark’s death.

“I just wanted to check on you, ya know,” Wilford murmurs, “Properly talk to you after everything, make sure you’re doing alright.”

“It was a lot,” Yandere admits, “I mean…waking up from one nightmare and going into another.”

Wilford sighs, and Dr. Iplier shudders.

“How badly am I gonna have to kill that glitch next time I see him?” Wilford asks Yandere. The note of humor in his voice is gone, his grip on Yandere is tighter, his eyes are pink.

“Real badly,” Yandere says, laying his head on Wilford’s shoulder, “Maybe if you put him in your void he’ll fall apart after a while. Like…a clump of sand in a glass of water.”

“He might do the same if I shoot him a whole bunch,” Wilford offers, “Or just skip the guns and break his bones with my bare hands.” Something unhinged enters his eyes. “Maybe I could rip his head off if I pulled hard enough. I’d just get a good grip on the edge of his slit throat, and then–krrsch! No more glitch.”

“I like that one,” Yandere says softly, eyes bright red. “Do that.”

Dr. Iplier shudders again. Here is the clearest reason why Yandere and Wilford are brothers: They both have that chaos inside, something burning and violent and unnatural.

“…I knew he’d taken you,” Wilford sighs, trading tension for weariness. “I knew it had to be him, but…we couldn’t find you in his hideout. Dark used his aura, searched for a whole mile around, almost split apart right then instead of later…”

“He really went that far?” Yandere asks, red leaving his eyes at the mention of Dark. “He did that to find me?”

“Of course,” Wilford says simply, “He loved you, kiddo.”

They all notice the past tense, but none of them say a thing about it. Instead, Yandere lifts his head from Wilford’s shoulder to look at him.

“What do we do now?” Yandere asks, lip quivering. Wilford coos and kisses Yandere’s cheeks before speaking.

“That’s actually part of why I’m here,” he says, “I’m gonna hold a meeting soon. The others are gonna want to see you now that you’re awake, and they’re probably gonna want to know how much you saw of Anti’s planning.”

“It’s not much,” Yandere admits, “But I’ll tell what I remember. I want to help.”

“Great!” Wilford exclaims. “You just have to promise not to try stabbing Damien again. Normally I’m all for stabbing, but Damien’s a good bit squishier than Dark.”

“I won’t,” Yandere mumbles, cheeks turning pink.

“Hold on a minute,” Dr. Iplier interjects, “Yandere just woke up from a week-long coma, and he’s been through a lot of stress, even excluding the past month – from which he’s still not fully healed, by the way. He needs to rest.”

“But Dad!” Yandere cries from Wilford’s arms, “I’ve already missed so much, I want to know what’s going on, and I want to help!” His eyes are wide and nervous. “Guritchi brought me back the same day he killed Yami, right? Then it’s already been a week since he got Yami’s aura, we’ve lost too much time!”

“Yandere–” Dr. Iplier starts.

“We need more information,” Wilford cuts in, suddenly stern. “You’ve been stuck in the clinic for so long, Doc. You don’t know how anxious the others are. Our past few meetings have just gone around in circles. No one knows anything. The others need to hear from Yan. We need a plan before Anti decides to attack, and there’s no way he won’t.”

Dr. Iplier closes his mouth, steps back. He’s still not used to this, he’s still not used to Wilford acting like a leader. And as worried as Dr. Iplier is about Yandere, Wilford makes good points. Dr. Iplier exhales.

“I don’t want Yan reliving his trauma,” he sighs, “And I don’t want him straining himself, especially after yesterday.”

“I’ll be okay, Dad,” Yandere says quietly, “But I really want to do this.”

Dr. Iplier sighs again, but finally nods.

“Right, then!” Wilford says brightly, like nothing happened. “Let’s go!”

“Oh, now?” Yandere asked, a little surprised.

“Of course! I said the meeting was soon, didn’t I?”

That’s the only warning Dr. Iplier gets before the trio are poofed to the meeting room through Wilford’s sickly sweet, topsy-turvy void. Some part of that strange space, some part of that chaos and ozone, reminds him of being transported through cyberspace by Anti. He stumbles as they land in the meeting room, and a familiar arm takes his own to steady him.

“You alright?” asks Host. Dr. Iplier wonders if Host predicted exactly where to stand to keep him from falling. Knowing him, the answer is yes.

“I hate Wilford’s void,” Dr. Iplier grumbles. Host chuckles lightly, not sensing Dr. Iplier’s deeper discomfort.

Most of the egos are in the room already, and the sounds of their conversations run over each other. Dr. Iplier looks to Yandere to offer him his chair so he doesn’t have to stand, but Wilford beats him to it, poofing a new chair into existence for Yandere to sit in. It puts him next to Dr. Iplier and close to the head of the table where Dark used to sit, where Wilford now stands, waiting to start things. But before sitting, Yandere finds Chrome and Yancy among the crowd, and goes to greet them. Dr. Iplier can’t hear them through the loudness of the room, but it’s obvious enough that they’re happy to see each other. Yandere hugs them both with a huge grin, Yancy grins just as wide in relief, and even stoic, stone-faced Chrome lets one corner of his mouth quirk up as he ruffles Yandere’s hair. It warms Dr. Iplier to see Yandere and his band of musketeers so happy, especially after the awful day Yandere had yesterday. There’s still something sad in Yandere’s eyes, his smiles still aren’t as bright, but he’s miles beyond where he used to be only a day ago. Dr. Iplier just hopes that recounting Anti’s torture doesn’t send him right back where he started.

Suddenly, a gunshot goes off. Everyone jumps and looks to the source: Wilford, who’s just added another bullet hole to the ceiling.

“Do you have to do that every time?” Google growls, rubbing his ear.

“It got your attention, didn’t it?” Wilford responds cheekily. “Everyone find a place to sit or stand, it’s time to get down to business.”

A low grumble starts up among the egos, but they do as they’re told anyway. Yandere is the only one who still seems relatively chipper instead of annoyed or spooked. He sits in the chair Wilford poofed for him, and gives Dr. Iplier a smile. Dr. Iplier can’t help but smile back.

“Hey,” he whispers to Yandere, “If you start hurting anywhere, or feel like you need to leave, I’ll go with you if you need me to.”

“I know,” Yandere says, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. He leans into Dr. Iplier for a moment and then pulls away, like a shoulder-check but softer, friendlier.

“He has so much trust in me. Would he still trust me if he knew I’ve been lying to him?”

Dr. Iplier hides his guilty thoughts and pecks the top of Yandere’s head before looking to Wilford, who starts by clearing his throat.

“Well, as most of you already know,” Wilford begins, “Yandere finally woke up yesterday! And as some of you know, he’s here today to see if he can’t help us get to the bottom of everything.”

Already, this meeting is so different than any Dark led. Wilford goes right to the point, no formalities. Yandere straightens in his seat as the other egos train their eyes on him – Damien included, who sits on the opposite end of the table from Wilford, regarding Yandere warily.

“Konnichiwa,” Yandere says, offering a piece sign. He steals a glance at Damien out of the corner of his eye.

Dr. Iplier can tell he’s hiding some anxiety behind the gesture. He wants to grab Yandere’s other hand to hold, but decides to let him be for now and see how he does on his own.

“He’s not gonna try murdering Damien again, is he?” drawls Ed. King smacks him in the arm, and Silver reaches over Eric to do the same on his other side. “Ow, hey!”

“You don’t just say stuff like that in meetings!” King hisses.

“That was rude!” Silver yells at the same time.

“How do you know about that??” Wilford asks. His eyes wander the room until they settle on the Jims. He stares at them, unimpressed. “I swore you two to secrecy. What gives?”

“It’s not my fault!!” RJ yells, putting his hands up in surrender. “CJ’s butterfingers can’t keep a secret to save his life!”

“It wasn’t just me!” CJ signs vigorously, indignant at being ratted out. “You told everyone who can’t read sign that well, which is way more people than I told!!”

“Why are you both so stupid…?” Bim groans, hopelessly putting his head in his arms as the twins start slap-fighting.

“Alright, alright, enough!” Wilford sighs, “I guess it can’t be helped. Quit fighting.”

Another difference between Dark’s meetings and this one: Dark would’ve been much more severe about correcting the twins’ behavior. The twins, for their part, do stop fighting, but continue to pout. Knowing them, they’ll be friends again in two minutes.

“I’m not gonna attack Damien-san,” Yandere grumbles, cheeks pink. Fortunately, though, most of the group seems distracted by the Jims’ antics.

“Anyway, Yandere,” Wilford says, “I brought you here to ask: Do you remember anything about being with Anti? Did he give you any inclination of what he was planning?”

The whole group looks to Yandere with rapt attention. Yandere squirms a little under their gaze, but answers without hesitation.

“Not much,” he says, “He was really secretive about everything. But thinking about it, that kind of proves he was planning something in itself, right? He at least planned from the start that he wouldn’t be keeping me forever. Otherwise he’d brag about it to me or something.”

“That does sound like something Anti would do,” Google muses.

“Did he give anything away?” asks Plus. “Anything at all?”

“A little?” Yandere seems unsure. “I guess it’s hard to tell, since I don’t know what his plan is in the first place. And it’s…hard to sift through everything. I was in such a different mindset when I was his puppet.”

Dr. Iplier chooses that moment to reach out below the table and take Yandere’s hand giving it a comforting squeeze. It seems to help; Yandere sits up a little straighter and holds Dr. Iplier’s hand back.

“But…there were some things,” Yandere admits. “The biggest thing was this…potion he showed me once.”

A flash of cold runs through Dr. Iplier, top to bottom. He hopes Yandere can’t feel it through their shared hands. Maybe it’s masked by the chill that runs through the room at Yandere’s statement.

“A potion?” asks Bim.

“I think that’s what it was,” Yandere says, “It was this liquid in a tiny little bottle, and it didn’t look like any liquid I’d seen before. It was really dark purple, but sometimes it flashed red or blue in the light. Guritchi said something about how it was the key to everything. That potion, and…and me.”

“Well, I couldn’t say what potion that is without seeing it for myself,” Bim says, thinking aloud. “Or even what type it is. But it must’ve been what let Anti split Dark apart, and if that’s true…it must be magic. Either Anti used it on Dark, or he used it on himself to be able to take Dark’s aura by force.”

“Isn’t that what you do?” Bing asks. “Like, splitting things up and stuff?”

“Yes,” Bim says, “It might be a similar magic. But whatever it is, it’s stronger than me. You say it was a tiny amount, Yandere?”

“Yeah.” Yandere lifts the hand that Dr. Iplier isn’t holding to gesture the size of the potion. “About this big.” Bim nods, as though he expected that.

“An amount that small is probably a single dose,” Bim says, “And it was probably heavily concentrated to give it so much power. It takes a really skilled, determined magician to make something like that. No way Anti could’ve managed it; he’s powerful, but he has no mind for magic.”

“C-Could he have taken it from you?” Eric asks nervously. “He t-took Yandere before, a-and he came back to kill D-Dark…”

“I don’t do potions.” Bim waves off his concern. “But…” His eyes get a little wider. “…Marvin the Magnificent does.”

A silence settles over the room.

“I’ve tried to get in touch with him since Dark died,” Bim continues, suddenly downcast. “To warn him about Anti, and all that, but…I haven’t gotten a response. He hasn’t even read my texts.”

“Chase has been pretty MIA too,” Bing admits, scratching the back of his neck. “I wanted to warn him, too.”

“Jackie’s been impossible to reach…” Silver murmurs, twisting his hands.

“And Dapper Jim,” CJ signs sadly.

“And Henrik,” Plus adds quietly.

The news is surprising to Dr. Iplier. Henrik is a casual friend to him, borderline acquaintance but they get along well enough. Dr. Iplier had been too caught up in looking after his patients and wallowing in guilt and fear to try contacting him. It hadn’t even crossed his mind.

Not that it mattered, evidently, if he’s been as silent as the rest of the Septics. The others seem shocked, too…and worried.

“Anti had to have taken that potion from Marvin,” Bim murmurs, “But…to what end? What’s his game plan?”

“I don’t know,” Yandere says, quiet. “The only other useful thing I remember is him telling me we were going somewhere right before I woke up.”

“Huh?” Bing asks, not following.

“I mean…” Yandere squirms again. “Sometimes he’d do this thing, fill my head with static. That’s what it felt like. Everything just turned into fuzz. Whatever happened during that time, I don’t remember. According to Guritchi I was still aware of him and still listened to him, but I don’t remember anything that happened during it. He did that to me after telling me we were leaving, and the next thing I knew I was awake and free.” Yandere’s gaze hardens. “He brought me along to kill Yami, and left me here after, but for some reason he didn’t want me to remember it. Why else would he have done that?” He looks down. “I mean, maybe he was worried that seeing Yami get hurt would make me snap out of his control, but he let me go anyway, so…”

Silence reigns again. It seems Yandere’s input has created just as many questions as it answered.

“I have my own question,” Yandere says. He looks at Damien, who nearly jumps under his gaze. “We’ll be able to get Yami’s aura back, Bim-san or Wil can take it from Guritchi. But when we get it…will we be able to get Yami back? Can we recombine all his parts into a whole?”

The silence is thicker now. Dr. Iplier suspects that Yandere’s asked the question that everyone’s been thinking but no one was brave enough to ask. Everyone’s looking around uncomfortably.

“Now, hold on a minute,” Wilford says, conflicted, “I want Dark back, too, but we can’t just force Damien to go back to that. If it’s even possible, then it should be Damien’s choice.”

“Well…” Damien says with a grim smile, “I don’t have much of a choice at all, do I?”

Wilford frowns deeply, but says nothing more.

“From what I remember of Dark’s creation,” Damien continues, “The circumstances were…unusual.” The memory is clearly hard to recall, after so many decades past. “Celine had never seen anything like what was happening to us. Dark’s aura…it’s not just an aura. It’s a creature, an entity, it has its own mind.” Damien looks away. “It lived in the manor first, drove Mark mad, not that he needed much help…” He shakes his head. “What I mean to say is…it chose us for a reason. The DA’s death–” His breath hitches briefly, but he continues. “–was what allowed that entity to maintain a form. It came into the body, and dragged Celine and I with it.” He pauses. “We didn’t know that right away, though. At least, I didn’t. Celine did. She tried to keep it from me, protect me. But something was always broken. By the time we kicked the DA out of their own body, we weren’t…we weren’t ourselves anymore. We weren’t the entity, either, and it was never Dark, but it was what made him who he was. It controlled everything.”

“If the entity chose to create Dark,” Wilford mutters, “Why didn’t it just make Dark again after he split apart?”

“I imagine it couldn’t,” Damien says, “It needed a body, for one thing. The DA’s body crumbled, from what I understand.” Host and Dr. Iplier, who both saw the immediate aftermath of the split, nod. Dr. Iplier shudders remembering that pile of ash. “Anti might have forced the entity away with him,” Damien continues, “But the entity might have chosen to go with him. It’s attracted to strife. My sister and I lost ourselves to suffering. The DA had just died, in pain and confused. Even before that, it latched onto Mark to break him, and Mark was already hateful and hurting. From what I remember of Anti, he’s a creature of hatred. He breeds chaos. The entity might have gravitated to that.”

Dr. Iplier remembers the way the aura floated over himself and Yandere, ignoring them both in favor of swirling around Anti’s arms, legs, torso. Maybe Anti has just the right brand of hate and suffering for it.

“If that’s true,” Bim murmurs, “Taking the aura from him will be even harder than we thought. It’s hard enough getting Anti out of people’s heads when they don’t want him there, but if the aura wants to be with him, it’ll be twice as difficult to pull it away.”

“There’s also the matter of getting him a new body…” Google adds, “It may be able to use Damien’s body now that he has his own, but it may only be able to hijack a dead body.”

“Oh, that’s easy enough to solve!” Wilford says amicably, pulling out his gun. “I can just grab any ol’ fellow off the streets, can’t I?”

“Please don’t,” Damien says, grimacing.

“It’s…inelegant,” Google muses, “But it could work. The entity used Damien’s appearance as a mask, the appearance and build of the DA was irrelevant.”

“I suppose it would have to be fresh, though…” Wilford hums. “Once we get the aura back and take care of Anti, I can just zip out, grab a person, and come right back!”

“That’s barbaric,” Damien mutters, a little green.

Wilford pouts, but doesn’t seem to know what to say. Dr. Iplier can’t help but feel bad for Damien: Wilford and Dark were so close, as were William and Damien, but Wilford and Damien…they’re too different. They’re from two different worlds. Damien cares for Wilford, but Wilford isn’t the man he used to be. Dr. Iplier suspects this is one of many moments that’s cementing that notion into Damien’s head. He can only imagine how it would feel to come back to the world after years of being locked away, to find that your only remaining friend has completely changed.

“But, besides,” Damien continues, recovering, “Just any person won’t do. The entity is attracted to tragedy, not just pain by itself. Killing a person who had a good life or even a normal life likely won’t be enough to attract the entity.” He sighs, puts a hand to his own chest. “There’s a possibility that my body can be used, since my old one was stolen by Mark before the entity could claim it. That might be the best plan.” He shakes his head, lowers his hand. “Of course, we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves. We still need to get the entity away from Anti, and to do that, we need to figure out where Anti is.”

“I have no idea where he kept me,” Yandere murmurs, “I mean…it was probably in the UK somewhere, but I have no idea where. My room had no windows, I had no TV or computer or radio. He might’ve let me outside when I had static in my head, but I don’t know for sure, and I can’t remember it anyway.”

“It must be bloody far from his old hideout,” Wilford grumbles, “We already know it’s at least a mile away, but it’s probably a lot more.”

“And it’d be far from the other Septics, too,” Bim points out, “Otherwise Marvin or Jackie could’ve found it and stopped him, and there’s no way Anti would leave an opening for that.”

“We might be able to monitor stuff around there,” Oliver says, thinking aloud, “But considering how none of us have been able to talk to the Septics, Anti might be interfering with the signal.”

“If that’s true, it’ll take hours to get any decent footage from the area,” Chrome counters, “And that’s assuming the footage tells us anything at all, and isn’t just a random street or something.”

“That’s the best-case scenario for why the Septics haven’t answered us, isn’t it?” MarkBop murmurs. “How likely is it that Anti’s hurt them?”

“…Very likely,” Wilford sighs, “But it’d take a lot of power to do both, at least.”

“Anti has enough power now,” Damien points out, “If the entity is a part of him willingly, then he’s easily twice as strong as he was before.”

The room is quiet for many long moments.

“Well,” Wilford says breezily, “I think that’s enough for today. We obviously have a lot to think about. You’re all dismissed.”

It’s a terrible note to end on, but Wilford has a point. A lot of questions were answered, sure, but plenty more are up in the air. The egos mumble to each other pensively as they file out. Dr. Iplier stands to take Yandere back to the clinic. But Host stands too, and it’s obvious he wants to talk.

“Hey, kid,” Dr. Iplier says to Yandere as he gets up, too, “You still feel good?”

“Yeah,” Yandere says, “Just tired.” He certainly looks it; he hasn’t been awake long but he’s trembling minutely and his eyes are only half-open.

“Ask Wil to take you back to the clinic. I’ll be there soon, I want to talk to Host for a bit.”

“Sure.” Yandere gives Dr. Iplier a quick hug, which he returns. “Hey, onii-san–!”

Dr. Iplier chuckles as Yandere dashes to Wilford, and in a few moments, the pair poof away. By now, the room is clear, the only ones left are Dr. Iplier and Host. Host wraps his arms around Dr. Iplier’s waist from behind, putting his head on Dr. Iplier’s shoulder.

“I haven’t talked to you much lately,” he murmurs into Dr. Iplier’s ear, “How are you?”

It’s true; Dr. Iplier’s been so focused on Yandere these past few days that he’s hardly seen Host at all. They’ve both been busy trying to figure out what’s happening, trying to make things better.

“G-Good,” Dr. Iplier answers, shivering a little from Host’s breath in his ear, “A lot…a lot better, now that Yan’s awake.”

“You look better,” Host says. He kisses Dr. Iplier’s neck, soft and gentle. “I know yesterday must’ve been hard for you, but Yandere also seems improved.”

“Mm,” Dr. Iplier mumbles, “Poor kid was beside himself. He’s still not completely okay. I don’t think he ever will be unless we get Dark back.” He turns around to face Host, see his warm yet subdued expression, and drape his arms over his shoulders. “You didn’t say anything during the meeting, I’m surprised.”

“I had nothing to add,” Host says, shrugging. “I’ll have to alter the way I’ve been looking for information with these new additions.” He frowns. “But I don’t need my visions to tell me that things are going to get very complicated.”

“No kidding,” sighs Dr. Iplier, letting his head drop into Host’s shoulder. “They’re complicated now. The whole building feels so different without Dark, to say nothing of Damien and Celine being here…”

Host nods, moving a hand from Dr. Iplier’s waist to stroke his hair. He thinks for a moment.

“Damien cares deeply,” Host finally says, “He remembers pieces of all of us, and seems to value us in ways that Dark didn’t, or at least didn’t show. But he’s afraid. He’s acutely aware that he is in a building full of violent, dangerous people that only a person like Dark was able to keep in line. His fear is compounded by the fact that the most violent and dangerous person of all used to be his greatest friend.” Dr. Iplier hums in agreement.

“It’s hard,” Dr. Iplier murmurs, “Seeing someone you care about change so drastically.”

Host stiffens. Dr. Iplier lifts his head from Host’s shoulder to see Host’s tense expression.

“What happened between Damien and Wilford is…not the same,” Host says quietly.

“I know,” Dr. Iplier says, moving forward to give Host a gentle kiss.

Host kisses back, and slowly relaxes. When he pulls away, it’s only for a moment to take a breath, before he kisses Dr. Iplier as gently as Dr. Iplier did him. Well, maybe not quite as gently. He holds Dr. Iplier closer, tighter than before, and Dr. Iplier matches his slowly-increasing intensity. When they pull away again, Dr. Iplier speaks.

“Walk with me to the clinic,” he says. Host pouts, and Dr. Iplier can’t help but laugh. “I have to go back, Host, I have to look after Yan.”

“You can spare a few minutes,” Host says. “Wilford took Yandere to the clinic, correct? I’m sure he’ll stay with him a while, he’s missed him quite a bit. And besides,” He flashes a wry smile, “I’ve spent nearly a week pouring over timelines and examining every possibility. I can promise you that Yandere is safe in the clinic.”

Host has a point. If anyone would know for sure that nothing bad will happen, it’d be him. And Dr. Iplier can’t deny how much he’s missed Host. Even before he was caught up with taking care of Yandere, he was too consumed by the knowledge of Anti’s plans to enjoy Host’s company. Host may not have known the full reason why Dr. Iplier was so high-strung, but it must have been rough for him, too. Dr. Iplier’s guilt and fear hasn’t gone away, but it’s lower-level now, settled into the cracks in his heart. He knows, despite his guilt, that they both need each other for a little while.

“Isaac,” he whispers, “Are you…afraid? I’m…” He trails off.

Host takes his time in answering, stroking Dr. Iplier’s hair again as he thinks.

“No,” he finally admits. “I’m apprehensive, wary, uncertain…but I’ve not yet seen enough to fear.” He frowns. “Something is blocking my visions, more than Anti’s unpredictability. There’s a missing piece that I don’t yet have, and its absence is creating dead ends.”

Dr. Iplier’s heart thumps. Could his own lie be preventing Host from seeing the whole future? Maybe he should tell him. There’s no one Dr. Iplier trusts more, maybe he can explain himself and they can –

“Nevermind,” Host says, shaking his head. “We’ve both had enough bad news and anxiety.” He smiles again. “I’ve been missing you, Edward, and if I may, I’d like to have you to myself for a little while.”

Dr. Iplier’s heart pounds again, for a different reason. Any explanation of his lie that he might have had dies in his throat. He smiles back at Host before kissing him again.

“You may,” he whispers against Host’s lips.

Dr. Iplier can feel Host’s answering grin.

The unspoken truth is easy to forget, easy to drown under love and arousal, easy to hide under himself, under Host, under the blankets of Host’s bed, deep in the library and deeper in Dr. Iplier’s mind. The truth is ignorable, barely a thought at all when Dr. Iplier is so caught up in sensation, rough and gentle touch, loud and soft sound, harsh and unwinding release.

It’s not until afterwards, when the bruises pressed into Dr. Iplier’s hips and peppered over his neck start to sting, when he forces his loose muscles to get himself dressed again, when he lingers at the doorway to kiss Host one more time, that his lie returns to the front of his mind. It sits sour on his tongue, bittering the taste of Host in his mouth.

[gottawriteanegoortwo]

WKM Role Swap: The Séance

Prologue, Previous Chapter

-

The roles have changed, but the séance still has to go on.

Mind you... Is this the first time we've ever witnessed Celine and William have a private conversation?

-

"What do you think you’re playing at?” Celine's presence blazed before him like an inferno the moment the door was closed. “Do you think this will help you gain my favour after everything that happened?” William lifted his hat and brushed out his hair with a hollow laugh.

“You’re still the same as always, Celine. Not everything revolves around you, did you know that? Sure, I missed you as much as everyone else, but this isn’t about you. It’s not about whatever we shared long ago. There’s a likely case of homeo sapio zombifus or some 'ghost' that we need to sort out. I’m the only one with a reputable sharpshooting reputation, and also the ability to not believe whatever horseshit you want to feed everyone with -”

“William!”

“- which is why I’m the only one who can help you here. How can any of those ghosts possess someone who doesn’t believe in this? If you want to work on a plan, you need a man with years of military experience on your side.” William pulled the empty chair out, only to stop as he spotted Celine’s bag laying there. She was empty-handed when she arrived, yet here it was. It was passed to her so he could sit down. He slumped into the chair, arms loosely crossed and legs spread as Celine began setting the table. There was no ignoring the anger simmering under the surface as she lit the white candles.

“You haven’t changed at all. Mark was killed, and here you are acting like you two had another petty spat.”

“Huh, funny that. You ultimately took my side in that ‘petty spat’, didn’t you?” The empty bag was flung at William, who was quick to catch it and drop it on the ground beside his hat. “But if you really must know, I came to this party to try and make amends with Mark and try and find some sort of peace with that madman. Just because I’m used to being surrounded by death does not make me immature and dismissive to what happened. So why don’t we act like adults and get to the bottom of this?” Celine’s temper rose, only to slowly fade with a deep breath.

“You’re right. There are more important matters to deal with right now.” Calmer now, she cleansed and shuffled the tarot deck. “I just can't shake the feeling that Mark's death is the start of something much bigger. I've never been fully comfortable in this house - and I understand why, now that I'm here with my eyes fully open to the world beyond. There's an energy that made me so eager to escape the house if I was stuck here for too long...” She trailed off as the pair locked eyes. Their dates mostly consisted of trips outside the manor. How much of it was genuine romantic feelings, and how much was actually the actions of something hidden inside the walls influencing the minds of two who lived and worked there? Celine’s eyes widened in realisation. Was their entire relationship something staged by whatever lurked in the house to advance its sick plot? William pulled himself up, sitting properly on the chair as he finally gave Celine his full attention.

“Something dark, far beyond our control, is going on right under our noses. It has acted out and used us as pawns before. If we don’t reach Mark, it will happen again. Please, Colonel… Don’t joke around.”

“I won’t.”

Celine drew three cards and set them on the table. William didn’t understand the significance of them, and Celine’s explanation of their symbolism shot over his head, but he could understand that they confirmed ‘the path was clear’ (whatever that meant). William followed Celine’s breathing instructions as his thoughts slipped away. His vision grew blurry and then… Everything went black.

-

William stood in one of the empty bedrooms, his back against the closed door as he gathered his bearings after promising to hunt the 'old bag of bones'. He could hear footsteps and a voice pass by, “- we were celebrating something, but he never specified what". Frowning, William opened the door -

  Mark was standing on the stairs, addressing the group in a hollow, dramatic performance. "It's not all about the poker. It's not about me… it's about you." William glanced to the right. Mark had pointed to the stranger William met outside. The rest of Mark's speech faded out as the location morphed to the cellar.

  "A fully loaded gun? It wouldn't be you if you weren't armed to the teeth, would it?" Mark had the pistol, casually dumping the bullets onto the counter. William tried to snatch his gun back, but hesitated as he felt the bullets rattle in his pocket - the bullets he had taken out of his gun before the party ever began...

He looked up. There was a closed door in front of him. "This place is cursed!” William hesitated. He recognised the voice. But when he turned his head -

  He was looking out an upstairs window. An older man with fair hair and brown overalls stood in the garden. He was surrounded by Chef, the Detective, and the Attorney as he leaned on the handle of his shovel. “However, there is one reason. One incident. One manifestation - that will get me into that madhouse… And you had better pray to God that reason never comes to pass.”

---

William pulled himself back to his body with a heavy gasp as he lurched forward.

"Colonel? What happened? What did you see?" Celine called out. William didn't answer at first. He heaved as he gathered his bearings. Both hands tightly squeezed his knees to make sure he wasn't still dreaming. It was only when he lifted his head that Celine could see how shaken he was.

"This place is cursed." 

"I know. That's why I'm trying to-"

"No, you don't understand. This place is cursed. If we stay here, any of us, the curse will get us too. It's like you said - we're on the verge of being used as pawns." For someone who was such a firm sceptic minutes earlier, William was very set on this change of heart. "Tidy your things. We need to go. All of us."

"I'm not going anywhere. That's why I came back! There's an unseen force that needs to be dealt with."

"Whatever it is, it got Mark. Do you want to be next? Pack up. We can continue this outside."

"We are NOT going anywhere! We are NOT done! Tell me what you saw!"

"I saw people talking about how no one knows what's going on around here. George has the answers, but we need to go out to him."

"... I told you not to play around."

"I'm not. That's exactly what I saw."

"How does that give any indication of the truth? You need to go back and take this seriously! This is a matter of life and death!"

"That's what I'm TRYING to do! Why don't you BELIEVE me?!"

“What in the shit are you two yelling about?!” Abe charged in, taking in the scene before him. The Attorney trailed just behind him with worry on their face. “What is -”

“Get out! We aren’t done - Colonel!” William took advantage of the distraction to snatch his hat and put it back on. “Where do you think you’re going?!”

“Get her to pack up. We all need to get outside. Someone find Damien. I need to talk to George." William shouldered past the Attorney and stormed off.

“George? Who the hell is George?” Abe noticed the change in demeanour in both Benjamin and the Chef and quickly cornered them. “What do you two know?”

“Well…” Benjamin looked aside as he scratched his cheek. “George is the manor’s groundskeeper. But he only works weekdays. I don’t know where the Colonel would be going since he wouldn’t be here...”

“It looks like your friend here may disagree with that notion!” 

“Me?” The Chef pointed to himself with feigned innocence.

“Yeah, you.”

“I don’t know shit. I plead the fifth, man!” Chef folded his arms, intending that to be the end of that. Instead, Benjamin turned and sharply poked Chef’s arm.

“Chef, if you know something, for God’s sake spit it out!”

“Okay, alright! You’re twisting my arm.” Chef took a half-step back to give himself room away from the others. “Alright… George has been living on the grounds for years-”

“WHAT?!” Benjamin’s reaction perfectly encapsulated what everyone else was thinking.

“And you just now thought to share that information with us? How the hell did the Colonel know that if no one else did?” Abe lifted a hand in frustration at this revelation.

“Private lived in the manor when he used to work here. The two were friends, and the only one that fuckin’ hermit would talk to while working in the gardens.”

“Oh great! Wonderful! Now we might have a case of an accomplice of a murderer being right here!” Abe’s outcry was drowned out by a clap of thunder.

“For the last time, stop saying that word!” Celine snapped, storming out of the séance room.

“Look, George… He’s just a guy who tends to the grounds -”

“I don’t have time for fucking excuses! The Colonel has just run out there to find this man, and we’d best find him before anything else -"

"Can you all stop bickering and leave?" Celine interrupted sharply.

"You're not coming?"

"I'm not finished. I need more answers." Abe pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a heavy sigh.

"I can't keep an eye on all of you if you all insist on being so immature… Partner," the Attorney looked surprised as Abe called them over, "I need you to stay here and be my eyes. 

“Excuse me? I don’t need to be kept under surveillance, least of all under your order!” Celine’s eyes narrowed as she took in the numbers around them. “Shouldn't they be with Damien, if you're so stressed about everyone splitting up?”

“I just checked in on him, madam. He's asleep in his room with his leg propped up." While Celine was relieved her brother was resting, it also eliminated her scapegoat. She turned to the Attorney.

"Fine. You can stay. But I need to do my work first." The Attorney was doubtful, but Celine's mind was set. Why were they staying if the Colonel ordered everyone to go outside?

“C’mon. We’re wasting time.” Abe gestured for Chef to lead the way out. Celine returned to the room with the Attorney in tow. They glanced over their shoulder and caught the gaze of Abe. “We’ll be back in a few minutes, Partner. We're going to get to the bottom of this mess.”

All the Attorney could do was give a small smile as they closed the door. What else could they do? Their hands were tied.

-

Next Chapter

[finnofamerica]

Valley Fair - Kevin Gnapoor x Reader ||1||

A/n: I don’t have a summary because I wrote this impulsively after reading all the Kevin G content I could find and watching all the MathLit videos so.........Enjoy

Word Count: 1617

Date: 7.13.2019

|| Masterlist || 

 "As you know," Principal Duvall stood on the stage in the auditorium, "every year the school likes to do something nice for the Junior and Senior classes near the end of the school year." 

Off to the side, Kevin whooped and hollered, "Love you, Duvall!" 

 "Thank you, Kevin," Duvall let out a defeated sigh, "This year the overwhelming vote was for Valley Fair amusement park!" 

The crowd roared, meanwhile, Duvall tried to calm the masses. 

   KG: Hope you got a swimsuit that shows off your polynomial curves

  Y/n: Step off it, Kevin 

   KG: Girl you know you love me!

You looked at him from across the room, rolling your eyes as he shot you a wink and settled in for the rest if Duvall's 'come to Jesus' talk. 

You weren't a mathlete, but Kevin was your friend - or rather he was your friend, you weren't entirely sure he'd call you one. He had Tyler, Marwan, and Cady too. You only really knew him because he was the reason you didn't fail your math class. Who better to tutor you than one of the smarted boys at North Shore High? 

You couldn't have asked for a better tutor, really - especially after he realized that you responded better to music than math. Kevin would rap notes and processes and explanations. He would stay with you after school in the library helping you study for your tests. 

You held him in the admiration of an object you desired but couldn't have. It wasn't love. It wasn't a crush, but it was damn near the closest thing to it. Kevin Gnapoor was to you as the sky was to dreamers; ever-present but just out of your reach. 

Of course, being the head of the Radio and A/V clubs, you were branded a whole new level of loser by the Plastics. Cady was your lord and savior, taking them down from the inside all while being the nicest person you knew.

It was half a days drive to the amusement park. The school would get a hotel. The next day would be spent at the park. Then a second night in the hotel, and you would be back home by one the day after. 

Friday morning you had your go-bag packed with the essentials and some extra clothes just in case. 

"Have fun!" Your aunt gave you a thumbs up from the car as she dropped you off. 

"Thanks, aunt Jo," you set your bag on the sidewalk, "I love you! See you on Sunday." 

"Okay, Sweetie, text me or Ed okay?" 

"Yo! Y/l/n!" A voice called. 

"I gotta blast, but I will I promise!" 

You ran to the group that was waiting for you. It was just a couple of kids from your clubs and, honestly, they were mostly the same people anyway. You knew them and you were kind of friends with them. You weren't that great at socializing with people your own age. 

"I can't wait to record a report of this!" Niko beamed. She was the interviewer/reporter for the radio club, reporting to the masses the events of North Shore High. 

"Niko, this is supposed to be a fun trip! Enjoy yourself!" You exclaimed. 

"Plot twist: reporting is fun for me." She stuck her tongue out at you, making you laugh. It didn't take long for everyone to show up, despite the earliness of the morning. Your crew split up on the bus, leaving you to sit with Niko, which was fine. It's not like you were hoping one of the Power of 3 would sit with you. No, Cady sat with Marwan and Tyler sat with Kevin G himself. 

   KG: Hope you packed your swimsuit, Norbury says the hotel has a pool. 

   Y/n: I did, but you won't see me in it.

   KG: Can I see you out of it 😉? 

   Y/n: Kevin!

"Girl you gotta get some shades or something." Niko snorted when she noticed you making a face at Kevin - who only waved his phone because he wanted you to look at it. 

"Why?" You slipped your phone back in your pocket. 

"Because you got some raging heart eyes for a certain rapping mathlete." 

"I don't." You frowned. "Kevin barely even knows me." 

"I never said it was Kevin." She smirked. 

"It was implied! We all know Tyler and Marwan get their flow from Kevin." 

Niko rolled her eyes at you and pulled out her phone to watch movies for the ride. 

   KG: All right, All right, too far? 

   Y/n: actually that was usual for you, you're just embarrassing. 

   KG: did you just call THE Kevin G embarrassing? 

   Y/n: I did. 

   KG: Hey

  Y/n: What? 

   KG: I must be a math book. 

   Y/n: accurate but why? 

   KG: Bc you solve all my problems. 

   Y/n: Cheesy. I thought you had better lines than that, KG.

"Who you texting, Kevin?" Tyler leaned over, trying to peak at Kevin's phone. 

"Y/n." Kevin shrugged. Tyler hummed.

----

"Hey Marwan, wanna be my buddy?" Tyler asked after Norbury gave her buddy system talk. Marwan just shrugged and nodded. 

"Buddies?" You asked Niko. 

"Nah, I told Cady I'd be her buddy so Janis could stay with Damien. Roomies tho?" 

"Sure, roomies." You deflated. She just gave you a reassuring smile. 

"Come on, let's settle into our room then hit the pool." 

"Deal."

"Are you sure about this Niko?" You tugged on the sides of your bathing suit, making sure you were covered properly. 

"Absolutely, besides you can just put shorts and a shirt on and if you decide to get in the water then bam!" She wiggled her eyebrows at you. You frowned and grabbed your hoodie, slipping it on. 

You loved your uncle for giving you some of his huge clothes from before he lost weight. The hoodie went to your knees and it was by far your favorite thing that you owned. 

"And the hoodie is back," Niko sighed, "Ready to go?"

"Yup!" You grabbed your book. Niko shook her head with a fond smile.

----

“Girl, you know the point of coming to a pool is to get into the water?" Kevin sat at the end of the deck chair you were curled up on. 

"I need to get caught up on my reading." You shrugged.  Kevin shook his head. 

"Anyway, it seems Tyler and Marwan are ditching me tomorrow and Cady already has a buddy." 

"I know, Niko ditched me for her." 

"Since we are in a unique position, wanna be my buddy?" 

"Is the square root of two a rational number?" You asked like it was obvious. 

"Uh..." he hesitated, "no." 

"Damn it, I was hoping it was." 

"So yes? You'll be my buddy?" 

"Yeah, I'll be your buddy," you laughed as he cheered. 

"I'm taking you on all the rides!" Kevin exclaimed, beaming from ear to ear. 

"Okay, okay," you pushed him away gently, mirth still on your lips, "go away." 

"You gonna go in the water?" 

"No." 

"Then nah, imma stay here boo." 

"You're making me regret my choices, KG."

----

"Remember everyone, we meet back at the main entrance at 10 PM. If you're going to be a little late text me or one of the other chaperones." Mr. Flemming went over the rules for the third time. "You must be in groups of at least two and one of you must have a working phone, though I doubt that will be a problem." 

"So what's the plan? Rides then water park or?" Kevin asked as you slid into the seat next to him. You had a bag in your lap carrying all you would need for the day. 

"No. The water park closes earlier so we should do that first, then rides to dry off." You dug through the bag making sure you had everything. 

"Sounds good." He stretched. "You ready?" 

“Heck yeah, man, I love amusement parks." 

"Think you can ride more rides than the Kevin G?" He popped his collar cockily. 

"Yes, actually," you abandoned your hoodie. The bus was already sweltering will all these sweaty teens filling it up. 

"I'll make you a deal. If you can ride a ride that I won't go on, then I'll take you to eat wherever you want when we get back to North Shore." 

"You are so on."

----

You scrutinized yourself in the mirror of that cold public restroom. You had to admit you did look good in your bathing suit, but you weren't entirely sure you were comfortable in it. 

It was now or never, you thought to yourself. You didn't give yourself the chance to chicken out as you stepped out into the heat of the day. 

"Damn girl, you've got more curves than a triple integral." Kevin whistled. Of course, he'd be waiting for you. 

"You didn't have to wait for me, Kevin. I would've found you." You kept your eyes on the ground. You didn't wanna be a creep and stare at him, as tempting as it was. 

"And let everyone else see you first? No way." He walked backward in front of you. "You actually getting in the water today?"

"Yeah, but only because I wanna ride those." You pointed to Breakers Pipeline and Plunge. "I looked them up. Those four are 65-foot free fall body slides. You stand on a platform and it drops out from understand you." 

"Oof. I think you like those slides more than me." He pressed his hand over his heart, pretending to be hurt. 

"Well-" you grinned. 

"Y/n l, don't play with a homeboy's heart like that." 

"C'mon." You laughed, leading the way to the water slides.

________________________________________________________________

Tags: OPEN

@carolinesbookworld @anon-pancake @bat-anxnymous @sparkle-heart-side-blog

[ask-the-cordium-crew]

the seers opening into the world of the unknown (A WKTC story)

warning: my grammar and punctuation aren’t the best another short story still though hope you enjoy!

Celine went to beacon with her brother damien she not only wanted to protect her older brother but to be a huntress to help others but very much like her brother she didn’t just train to be a huntress she was training to be a seer she wanted to help people connect to their loved ones if they never got a chance to say goodbye properly and to use what other abilities a seer may have to help save lives or free spirits that were unable to leave the physical world until they finish their last wills.  

Despite being one of the youngest students beacon had ever had she was a great fighter and a very smart wise young woman only being the age of 14 though something that would strike her as odd as she didn’t use a normal weapon she used only grenades themed like crystal balls she was also seen as odd due to the fact she was so young but had alot of combat experience she got along well with her team though fights would break out because of her best friend william being the loveable dork he was.

At the first year of her attending she did have a small crush on the wanna be atlas soldier but in the course of the second year she actually grew out of it and even started dating his brother instead mark and her were quite happy together this was a time when he wasn’t such a bad guy more respectful and such but one day something quite odd happened something that changed her life forever she was called in by professor ozpin to see him in his office this confused celine dearly but she went and it lead to one of the best choices in her life. 

Celine entered the room and found ozbin and his young assistant glynda goodwitch.

Ozpin smiled gently as he sipped his coffee he then stated to speak “please sit down celine don’t worry your not in trouble quite the opposite i want to help you to achieve your dream”

Celine looked at ozpin confused and sat down in the chair soon he began to explain everything he could he was someone with a great power and he wanted to give her some so she can help others however she must keep quiet about how she got this power even from her brother she can only talk about it with the branwen siblings.

“You see i know your dream to become a seer and well you have something unique about you it’s something i can’t place but i know you will do great things all i ask for in return is you personally help me incase someone who is working for me dies to help get any information they died before being able to be given”

Celine couldn’t believe what she heard this was impossible but well she liked the impossible she loved the unknown she was a seer for heaven's sake she smiled gently as her eyes flashed a bit 

“Of course professor i trust you deeply if this could help me but also help others such as yourself then i will happily be apart of this”

Ozpin has his reasons for choosing celine for this for example she was one of very few people who showed passion for this sort of thing and he knew she was strong willed and one of the smartest younger people he had ever met in his lifetime and so it was settled.

Ozpin gave celine what she wanted over the course of a week however she had to learn her abilities on her own ozbin didn’t have much power left after the twins and the maidens so she wouldn’t be able todo much just what ozpin needed of her. 

For the rest of her time at beacon she worked secretly for ozpin only using her abilities in battle when she had no choice damien of course found out about how celine got these abilities over time but he still didn’t know about the branwens. 

Celine was a force to be reckoned with because of her new found powers in battle she not only had her grenades she could create different types of hands out of different materials each serving a different purpose outside of combat she could speak to the dead but only ONCE she could even see them she had also learned how to communicate without speaking with them and lastly if a person is mute she had the ability to speak with them using the person's thoughts she couldn’t do this on normal people only those who are mute though those who had their throat damaged do not count in this regard sadly enough. 

And this lead to her in later life to be able to keep safe from mark and to communicate with her new partner neo. 

[lj-todd]

Challenge: Oliver innocently returns Ra's selkie coat. Ra's tries to convince Oliver to human marry him now.

(So, given Ra’s heritage and the history and primary location of the League, Ra’s coat and form is that of a Mediterranean Monk Seal)Oliver found the coat in a box among Darhk’s things once the man had been defeated and, because he had actually listened to the things Ra’s told him during his brief time with the League, he knew to whom the coat belonged. A gift, Ra’s had claimed, from his mother, the only thing he had had left to remember her by.Holding the coat, sleek, butter soft and ashen grey with hints of white, Oliver had known what he was going to do even before he booked the flight.He knew what it was to lose your mother, to have nothing left of her but her belongings. He and Ra’s were far from friends, even after he had spared the man’s life, but he knew the man would appreciate the return of the coat all the same.

Oliver was greeted coolly at the gates of Nanda Parbat but the guards escorted him to Ra’s all the same.The man was surprised to see him, even voiced that, but he welcomed Oliver all the same, gesturing for the guards to leave them before inquiring as to what had brought Oliver all the way to Nanda Parbat once again.“Damien Darhk is dead,” Oliver explained, though the look on Ra’s face said the man already knew that. “And I found this among his things. I thought you might like to have it back.”Oliver drew the coat carefully from his pack, holding it out to Ra’s, who looked surprised as he slowly reached out to accept the coat. Ra’s turned the coat over in his hands, fingers running over the familiar fur, the look on his face full of surprise, wonder and gratitude. When he looked back up at Oliver he smiled.“Thank you, Mr Queen,” Ra’s said softly, still smiling. “This…This is…” He chuckled softly. “There are not words to express my gratitude properly.”“The look on your face right now says it all,” was Oliver’s honest reply because, truly, despite their differences, seeing Ra’s like that, the joy and relief, was more than enough.Oliver stayed in Nanda Parbat less than a day, staying just long enough to rest, to suffer Nyssa’s brief teasing, which abruptly stopped when she saw the coat resting on her father’s chair, before returning to Star City.A few weeks passed, the meeting with Ra’s put from his mind by his focus on his work as the Green Arrow, on recruiting new team members, so when he came home one evening to find Ra’s waiting in the loft he’d been sharing with Felicity and Thea he was quite surprised.“Ra’s,” he tried not to sound as surprised, or suspicious, as he felt finding the leader of the League of Assassins in his home.“I apologize for startling you.” Ra’s smiled softly. “I perhaps should have called or announced myself better.”“Could have,” Oliver agreed, still unsure what was going on but, given that Ra’s was dressed fairly casually rather than in his usual League gear, he relaxed a little. “Even Nyssa tends to let me know she’s coming and we’re not even married anymore.”Ra’s chuckled. “I do apologize for forcing that union,” he admitted and Oliver blinked in surprise. “More so when I learned Nyssa had already given her coat to Ta-er al-Sahfer.”Oliver blinked again, not certain what a coat had to do with things but there were still things about the League and its practices that he did not know, so he brushed it off with a shrug.“Water under the bridge.” He shrugged out of his jacket, laying it over the back of a chair. “So what prompted this visit? Has another lunatic escaped your clutches?”Ra’s chuckled again and shook his head.“I can safely say that is not the cause of my visit.”Oliver leaned back against the back of the couch, watching Ra’s, frowning slightly as he braced his hands against the couch.“Then what?”Ra’s reached in his pocket, pulling out a small jewelry box.“I thought it best we also marry in a more human tradition.”Oliver blinked owlishly as Ra’s opened the bow, revealing two beautiful, plain silver rings. Looking from the rings to Ra’s face, he tried not to sound as confused as he felt.“What?” Oliver blinked and glanced around, half expecting Nyssa to jump out laughing, maybe with Sara, Felicity and Thea as her accomplices but, as far as he could tell, he and Ra’s were alone. “What do you…” He shook his head and looked at Ra’s again. “What are you talking about?”Ra’s regarded him for a moment as though not understanding.“I thought you would also prefer to be seen by your own people as married. Have I misunderstood?”“I think I might be the one misunderstanding,” Oliver replied, shaking his head again. “Are you saying you think we’re married? And, maybe most importantly, why would you think that?”Ra’s frowned.“You returned to me my coat,” the man said as though that explained it all and Oliver eyed the coat in question curiously.“I still don’t understand.” Oliver met Ra’s gaze again. “Why would you think that makes us married?”The confusion on Ra’s face vanished as quickly as it had come and his smile returned.“I see,” the man said, though it seemed more like he was thinking aloud rather than speaking to Oliver. “You do not know the truth.”“Truth? What…”Oliver let out a strangled sound as, before his very eyes, Ra’s changed.Gone was the man and in his place a large, sleek, grey and white seal peered up at Oliver with twinkled black eyes.Oliver stared at the seal and it stared right back.Just as Oliver went to move, to speak, the door of the apartment opened and in spilled Felicity, Sara and, frustratingly, John Constantine, all babbling about something happening in downtown that required their attention. Everyone froze, staring at what was likely a bizarre sight of a seal in the middle of the apartment and a flabbergasted Oliver staring at it.John, quirky devil that he was, looked from the seal to Oliver.“What the bloody hell do you have a selkie in your flat for, mate?”“Selkie?” Oliver looked from the seal, from Ra’s, to John and back again just in time to see it change back to the man who had once declared Oliver his heir.“Bloody hell,” John hissed, spotting the jewelry box on the floor, as Sara muttered something about Oliver being stupid in a dialect of Arabic, clearly she knew things Oliver didn’t. “You returned his coat or something didn’t you?”“He did,” Ra’s answered coolly, looking John up and down carefully, calculatingly, before looking back to Oliver. “I had assumed you understood the stories I told you. I can see now I was mistaken.”Oliver blinked, remembering how Ra’s had talked about his family coming from the sea and how important seals were to them and, oh damn it all, it was right there under his nose the entire time and he’d been too stupid to see it.“Okay, okay,” Oliver shook his head, looking from Ra’s to his friends and back again. “Right now I’m assuming there is something big and terrifying threatening the city, yes?” His friends all nodded. “Alright, so we’ll deal with that but when I come back you,” he pointed at Ra’s. “And I are going to sit down and talk.”“Oliver,” Ra’s started but Oliver shook his head.“I’m not asking for a divorce,” Oliver said firmly. “Or whatever you’re people call it but there’s shit we’re going to need to talk about and I need a bit of time to wrap my head around the fact that I married the Demon’s Head by just giving back a coat.”Ra’s smiled slightly.“I may be of some assistance,” he said and, before Oliver could protest, John butted in.“Excellent,” the warlock declared, clapping his hands together. “The more help the better. Best we get a move on though before this nasty bitch tries dragging the entire city to hell.”Oliver glanced at Ra’s but knew now wasn’t the time to talk about their marriage, and that was still throwing him for a loop. Right now they had to go save his damn city. Again. Must be Wednesday.

[cyborgmagpie]

I Dream of Colder Skies

Anti left the house, toast in his mouth and rucksack balanced on one arm until Doc corrected him.

"You'll hurt your back otherwise."

Anti took the toast out of his mouth. "Yeah, thanks da- Doc." Anti went red in the face at his slip up.

Doc smiled, "Dad is fine, I've gotta take Robbie to the dentist, see you kid."

"Yeah, bye do- dad, bye Robbie." Anti smiled, heading down the street and turning towards school. Aiming to meet Marvin and Chase along the way.

The day was rather chilly and Anti had decided to put a thick jumper on. He had debated a woolly hat for his ears but in the end decided against the idea.

"Anti!"

"Morning guys, how was the skate park Chase?" Anti quickened his pace until he was at the street corner with them and then they ambled along together.

"Alright, Bing brought his robot of a boyfriend."

"Google right? The straight A's kid who hoods himself superior?"

"The very one." Chase said, Anti muttered 'prick' and the other two snickered before Chase went on, "He spent the entire time warning us how dangerous skating is, I mean, we all worry but loosen up man."

Anti grinned, "Bet you and Bing couldn't even get him on roller blades."

"He sat doing homework and watching us."

Anti smiled, looking over at Marvin, "you alright dude?"

Marv nodded, "Yeah, thanks for yesterday."

"Yesterday? What happened?" Chase looked over and Marvin shook his head.

"Don't worry yourself."

"Marvy, come on, how long have we been friends."

"Five years, give or take."

"Have I ever been mean to you?" Chase said, Anti wasn't so sure on the wording bit Marvin rolled his eyes.

"Chase, you tease me about witchcraft and collecting flowers almost constantly."

"Okay, valid, but can anyone else identify every plant they see along with its meaning and its uses in medicine as well as its witchy purpose."

"Flattering me won't work."

"Yes it will." Chase grinned.

"Chase, stop it."

"Hyacinth, please."

"Funny how you remember the flower for forgiveness." Marvin remarks, smirking a little as they walk through the school gates. In response Chase jumps at Marvin and starts tickling him.

"Ch-a-hah-Chase, stop!" He laughs, Anti grins and hugs Marvin from behind.

"You need to cheer up you pile of dead leaves." Chase said.

"Anti, Chase!" Marvin squealed, laughing. The bell rang and Chase stopped.

"Shoot! I'm supposed to be the other side of school. Catch you later!"

And with that he was off, leaving the other two behind. Anti smiled at Marvin, "You alright now Marvy?"

"Yeah, there's a lot of yellow tulips in my dreams but I'll be good."

"Head up high Marv. I've got cookies for break." Marvin cheered and they parted ways to get to class.

Anti walked into English, sitting down in his back row seat and getting his book and pen out for the worst hour of the day. He despised English, all the words and stuff just didn't agree, analysing writing was stupid, and writing a newspaper article was stupid. All of it was annoying, Anti was just beginning to let his thoughts wonder whilst the others piled in when someone spoke at him, well, too him, but he wasn't listening the first time.

Anti looked up, "Can I help you?" He then stopped, and looked properly. The boy in front of him was beautiful, in a sort of, cold and sharp beautiful. His body and face wern't scrawny, but he did give off a feeling of being angled and having success in either business or law in future. Rather than a suit though, he was currently in a black turtleneck jumper and grey jeans, Anti had no doubt if the boy smiled it would be a blessing to his frail and gay heart.

"Is this seat taken?" The boy asked, expression remaining neutral, almost uninterested.

"As it happens, no. I'm Anti by the way. Are you new? I've never seen you around. I mean, sure, I can't know everyone, but that's besides the point."

"Yes, I moved into town a few days ago, however today is my first day in school. I'm Dark. A pleasure to meet you." Dark held his hand out for a handshake, however Anti just gave it a sort of side wards high five.

"Welcome to English, worst lesson of the day. Even the robots struggle."

"Robots?"

Anti cackled and was shot a glare by the teacher, quietening down he looked back to Dark, "Not literal ones, Google and Bing are just that perfectionist at Maths and Art and history and stuff that everyone calls 'em robots." It was sort of true, although Bing had only been given the tag after he started dating Google.

"Right."

The rest of the lesson had gone on as usual, annoying. Dark was interesting enough but he didn't talk about much unless it was required for the work. Anti sighed, he felt like Dark was important somehow, in a way that wasn't the fact he'd probably win head boy. At the end of the lesson he packed up his things and checked his timetable. History, not the worst lesson he could have.

Anti walked out of the class and Down the one way system, feeling someone's eyes on him and eventually turning.

"Are you following me?"

"No, I'm heading to music."

Anti bit his tongue, History and Music were in the same direction from English. "Right."

"Is there a problem?"

Anti checked for teachers before heading the wrong way through a one way system, using it as a shortcut. "No. None at all."

“That’s a one way system.” Dark commented, still following Anti through it regardless.

“Only if you get caught.”

Dark, to Anti's surprise, chuckled, "An interesting way of viewing the world."

"Yeah, Marvy calls it chaotic neutral."

"Interesting talking to you, see you later." And with that he turned and headed up a set of stairs to his lesson, Anti continued on, before turning right into a classroom, working his way to his seat and sitting down, setting up his books.

"You're late Anti."

"Sorry I'm late miss."

Miss Gibbs just rolled her eyes and started to teach, she was a good teacher in principle, but her general morals were 'don't share answers unless I say as you won't have friends in the exam' and 'If you fail you need to revise more as I have given you all the material'. She had a rather booming voice but overall was approachable and told stories about her family.

"Anti, what's the date of the treaty of Versailles?"

"June nineteen twenty? I think? You mean when it was signed right?"

"Learn to whisper." Google butted in, Chase gave him a glare.

---

Dark had only just come back to town, he barely remembered what it was like from when he moved away with his parents six years ago. No one seemed to remember him either. His older siblings hadn't come back with him, they had instead opted to stay in the same college and just rent an apartment. Meaning they had job searched. Dark had barely spent a week without them but he missed Damien's reassurances and positivity, he missed Celene's sarcastic wit and her gossip. He had received a text from Damien asking if he was okay and he had replied that he would adapt. He had to.

Dark didn't have many friends when he used to live here, the only one who really was his friend was Wil, and he was sure Wil would have grown since they last met, possibly lost his love of the colour pink, or his daring energy, or his lack of fear of Dark's temper.

Dark sat down in music. The desks were organized in rows, one at the edge of the classroom, two facing inwards at the middle, then one at the other side. The chairs were two to a keyboard. Dark looked over to the piano the teacher sat by. Sure, it wasn't a traditional one, it was still electronic, but at least it had peddles, and a more polished look about it.

Dark listened as their teacher- a women called Mrs Davenport- spoke, listing off the names on the register.

"Wilford Barnum?"

"Here." Darks head snapped around at the name, and as sure as the steady spinning of the earth and its eventual demise, there sat a boy, he had certainly lost most of the baby face since Dark last saw him- and gained pink hair so it seemed, but his cheeks were still plump and the glint was still in his eyes.

It was his Wil.

Dark looked towards the front, listening to the teacher, eventually she handed out some basic music sheets to practice on the keyboards, Dark stood up to speak to Mrs Davenport, noticing Wilford also stand. Perhaps his headphones were broken.

"Miss, as much as I appreciate the keyboards I would very much like to use the piano in the corner and whil-"

"Dark, was it?"

He was taken aback from being interrupted, he was defiantly doing as Celene said to when he so desired a favour, which was to 'lay it on thickly, and use some of your vocabulary. Adults love a smart and pristine boy like you Dark, you'll be able to talk into or out of whatever.' However it seems he may have to try again.

"Yes and I-"

"I don't see how you should get to and no one else should, unless you really are some musical genius, in which case come back in five years and I will eat my words."

Dark grit his teeth and went to straighten up, before stopping himself, smoothing his hair back and taking a breath. Jumping slightly at a hand on his shoulder.

"Miss, I really do think you should give this one the benefit of the doubt. He's been playing since five."

Dark looked over at Wilford, his manor of speaking was odd, and the way he held himself. Mostly the way he moved his jaw to speak. He saw Wil looking over him the same, until both their eyes set upon the confirmation they were after. Small, heart shaped, rose gold coloured lockets.

"Surely I can sit with him and Joe can partner up with my partner ey Miss?"

Mrs Davenport seemed to mull it over, a little too facially for Darks liking, before nodding. Wil slid his Hand from one shoulder to the other, before leading Dark by the hand to the piano.

"Shall I pull myself up a chair?"

"You always were a curt little shit. The stool is big enough for both of us Dark." Wil pointed out.

"You were always good at being a little shit. If I remember you once ate too much sugar and accidentally knocked over two photo frames, and your so called adventures got you in enough trouble as it was." Dark sat down on the stool, leaving space for Wil as he too sat down.

"I was lucky to have you. How have you been Dark?"

"Not too bad, although I miss the twins. They didn't move back with us. . . I remember first moving there and how much I missed you." Dark mentioned. Glancing over and watching Wil's features go soft.

"Yeah, I missed you too. You know, I really wanted to send a letter but didn't get the concept of needing the address."

Dark nodded. Wilford's warmth at his side. . . back at his side, . . it was comforting and felt like he remembered. He had fretted about this ever since it had been announced they were moving back. But here they were, Dark and Wil.

"You're going to have to lean back if I intend to reach the other keys."

"You only need one scale Dark, don't be greedy." Wilford leant back regardless.

Dark smiled and started to play.

"If I'm not wrong this is bohemian rhapsody, not the emmerdale theme."

"I'm allowed to play as I wish." Dark stated back. And that he did.

The lesson went on as such with Wil challenging Dark to play increasingly difficult and odd tunes before they actually bothered with the work set. To which it seemed Dark was able to add more complexities than necessary whilst Wil cursed the need to play and form of keyboard or piano when he himself played the saxophone.

Dark eventually found himself sat at a lunch table with Wil and two others, Bim and Arthur. Arthur seems the overdramatic type in terms of everything, but then again so is Bim. Bim looked like someone who would end up going far and being famed for his smile. Arthur, well, he would get himself somewhere creative, for better or worse.

Dark surveyed the hall, spotting Anti sat with a boy with long pastel green hair and one wearing a cap. Wil nudged him a few moments later.

((So, this is in two parts because apparently Tumblr has a limit on paragraphs or 'text blocks' which isn't fun when I do way too much dialogue))