#He may be getting a little impatient waiting his turn for the human

[aylish91]

Ooo, I'm SO obsessed with your nagamob au!! I keep re-reading them!! I wanna know what happens after 'Caged Bird'. Is there a possibility you could continue it?

Happy year of the Snake and thank you for the wait Anons!!! I hope this finds you lovely and well!

Feathers and Claws

~~~

The Fell’s home was not quite as lavish as the SF brothers or the Den, but the dining room was still nothing to scoff at. In the center of the room, a chandelier accented with gold shimmered with large crystalline shards. A few expensive paintings lined the walls and large ornate vases accented the windows. The table itself was about as high as a counter to accommodate the size of your hosts, the wood dark and sturdy.

Edge had once again cooked for you, or at least, graciously forced invited you down for dinner. You couldn’t tell if he actually wanted to feed you or brag about how good of a cook he was. Either way, he had ensured you were at the table every evening at exactly five.

Tonight was no different.

Despite the lingering ache behind your eyes and the brain fog from your concussion, you sat at the table on your slightly too short chair. Edge had removed his jacket and hat for the day, preferring rolled sleeves and a clear face when he cooked. It had been baffling how much less intimidating removing just those two articles made him look. He was still sharp and loud, but the lethal “edge” softened in their absence and made him seem smaller.

It was intriguing.

You had just about summoned enough energy and courage to comment on it when you nearly choked at the door slamming into the wall. It was no surprise that the culprit was a skeleton naga. What was surprising, however, was that it was a vaguely familiar blue and yellow, the white of his suit standing out against the darker colors of the room.

They wasted little time on pleasantries, slithering in and next to your side of the table with a pleasant grin.

“HELLO EDGE. IT’S BEEN A WHILE.”

Edge hissed, throwing his now bent fork onto the table. “BLUE. I WOULD SAY IT’S A PLEASURE, BUT I DON’T REMEMBER INVITING YOU.”

You cautiously watched as Blue’s grin ticked higher, the tip of his tail twitching.

“YOU DIDN’T. NOT THAT THAT MATTERS.” His eyelights flicked to you. “RUMOR HAD IT YOU HAD A LITTLE BIRD STAYING WITH YOU. I SIMPLY CAME TO COLLECT ON OUR DEAL.”

Your heart sank. You had almost forgotten your encounter with the snake back at the den. After everything, you honestly didn’t think any of it still applied. Luckily Edge seemed to share your thoughts, standing to sneer down at the other.

“YOU SO RUDELY INTERRUPTED OUR MEAL FOR THAT? WHATEVER DEAL YOU MAY HAVE MADE HAS NO MERIT HERE. THEY ARE UNDER FELL PROTECTION. LEAVE.”

The end of Blue’s tail twitched again. Outwardly, he didn’t seem too bothered by what was said, but the gleam in his eyelights and the pull at his grin unsettled you. Cocking his head, he spoke just a tad more slowly.

“I DON’T THINK YOU UNDERSTAND. DO YOU EVEN WANT TO KNOW WHAT IT WAS?”

“NO”

It went silent as the two held each other's gaze. You could almost feel the animosity growing between them. It was extremely uncomfortable to sit there and watch and you really didn't want to stick around and find out if it turned into anything else.

Unfortunately, as you attempted to excuse yourself, Blue cut you off with a flick of his wrist. Leaning forward and looking down, he gave a great put-upon sigh before straightening.

“SUCH A SHAME. I GUESS WHAT HAPPENS NEXT WON’T MATTER THEN… PAPPY!"

Edge's sockets widened, but before you could blink, 'Pappy' appeared directly behind him. Hooking his arms under your host's armpits, he Lifted, dragging Edge back from the table to secure his hold and wind around his already thrashing coils. In turn, Edge reared and pushed back as much as he could against the slightly bigger naga. It was all you could do to jump from your chair away from the thrashing monsters.

"STRETCH! THE HELL DO YOU THINK—"

“Sorry Edge. Can’t have ya gettin' in the way.”

The lazy smirk Stretch gave was anything but apologetic. In a flash, he sank his fangs into the crook of Edge's neck. There were no words for the hissed and roared shriek that left Edge's gnashing jaws from the motion as their struggle began in earnest. Wood splintered from furious clawed hands and the scraping of scales. Black and red shifted and whipped dangerously beneath honeyed yellow, puffing to grow larger.

In his rage, Edge managed to grab and lift the table, flipping it over and almost on top of you with an explosion of food and dishes. Fortunately, Blue launched from his position at the last second, smirk falling as he slammed into it hard enough to shove it back and over to pin both Edge and Stretch. Then, using his momentum, he piled on top.

Standing, he looked his struggling victim eyelight to eyelight from above.

“YOU’RE ALWAYS GETTING IN THE WAY. IT’S ONLY FAIR I RETURN THE FAVOR, EDGE. YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT WELL ENOUGH ALONE.”

Edge struggled and choked within Stretch's tightening hold, eyelights flaring like the fires of hell. “IDIOTS… I’M GOING… TO TEAR YOU BOTH APART…”

Chills ran down your spine at the strange giggle Blue released. The face he made along with it didn't seem to match. It was like that of an innocent child standing over you in the night with a knife. Blue and yellow matched that of fire in a macabre show of enjoyment, causing even Edge to still in anticipation. It made it feel as if everything stopped just for this moment as the smallest snake leaned further down into the space between them.

"I'D HARDLY THINK SO FRIEND. YOU'RE ALREADY SLIPPING~"

You had been trying to maneuver out of the room during the whole fight, but their thrashings tales and the table had been in the way. Now, you were able to use the disturbing distraction to flee. You didn't hear whatever choked reply Edge made, choosing to ignore everything but escape.

Skirting around the mass of colorful coils, you went for the door. You ran faster at the sound of an exceptionally loud his and your name frantically being called. You only had one goal in mind.

If the stars aligned, there was a chance you could get to Don Red's study before the dumpster fire behind you caught up. It was so close, only three doors down from the dining room at the end of the hall. Even if you didn't make it all the way, you were sure your screams would alert him of the danger.

It was foolproof…

If you were just a little faster.

You had made it all the way to the door, fingertips close enough to brush the fancy black engraved knob. But before you could fully grip it, a skeletal hand clamped around your mouth, pulling you back to press your front into the opposite wall.

You could feel the quickened rise and fall of your captor's chest from how firm they leaned into you; their breath warm and huffed against your ear.

"NOW… NOW. I'VE WAITED LONG ENOUGH FOR MY TURN, PRETTY BIRD. A DEAL IS A DEAL." Another hand snuck around your front to keep you close. "NO MORE GAMES… IT'S TIME TO COME HOME."

…

You wonder if Red ever heard you outside his door, or if he was even aware of anything at all...

Grand Master Post Mafia Au Master

[volturiprincess]

Hiii I saw that your requests are open! If it’s okay, can I please request a Demetri x fem!human!reader where the mate pull between them is so strong (even though they haven’t met) that she has been having dreams about him and unconsciously finds her way in Volterra (like she honestly doesn’t remember how she got to Italy in the first place, it was like a mind out of body experience for her) and goes up to Heidi (who is out looking for tourists to join the “tour”) and Y/n’s like, “Do you know where I can find Demetri Volturi?” And Heidi is like “???” Because this little human somehow knows who a Volturi guard is asking for him and desperately wants to see him?? If Dem had the ability to cry, he would be sobbing when Heidi brings his sweet mate to him🥹Awww and as soon as she sees him she knows exactly who he is and calls out to him 🥹

Also I feel like Marcus would be absolutely fascinated about how strong their bond is, and Aro would be fascinated by Y/n herself because she has to be gifted in some way with how she unconsciously found her way to Demetri with the dreams she had been having

Never Be The Same

Demetri Volturi x human fem reader Warnings: None A/N: I apologize for the very long wait, I hope this makes up for it though. Weirdly I manage to write this in 2.5 days, which is kind of fast even for me, i mostly wrote it late at night because thats when the real inspiration came through. My first finished request of the year also. But.... Enjoy💙 Word Count: 2323 (that is so satisfying)

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

“It can be you and I forever….what do you say?”

I wanted to scream out yes but he started to dissolve, he was fading away. No please come back…

I woke up from the dream with a thin layer of sweat, grabbing my bottle of water, I drowned it down. Fuck I cant believe it was a dream. It seemed so real. He’s been in my dreams for the past couple of months now, is he even a real person? He seems too perfect to exist, but everything that has happened in the dreams are so specific, and I have the same dream every night too where I see him and we just hang out and talk. It's almost like an out of body experience. 

We talk to each other just like I would in the waking world, full of conversations, it's come to a  point where I feel like I know everything there is to know about him. I get out of my bed and walk out to my little balcony in the little place I rented for the month. Volterra Italy…I don't even remember how I got here but here I am. Demetri mentioned he lives here, wondering where he is?

I let a cold breeze hit my face as I grip the beautifully crafted railing, as I thought over where to start my search for him. Such a small town and no sighting of him yet. I have only been here for a week so far but I'm already growing a bit impatient. What if he is not here?

I get ready for the day and head out for my search for him. I remember in one of my dreams that Demetri mentioned he is a tracker, he did not specify what he tracked but he said he was the best in the world. Wish I could track. I ended up wandering around the town when I found a big fountain, it's so entrancing the way the water sprouts out. I sit by it as I debate what to do next, there's not much I can do unless…

I see the most gorgeous woman to ever grace this earth at a distance, I must be in heaven because she is an angel. I get this feeling that I need to approach her, like she is the one who will give me all the answers to my questions. Maybe she will know where I can find Demetri. I walk over to her as she turns to face me, she gives me a breathtaking smile as she quickly skims me.

“Posso aiutarla?”

I take a minute to try to understand what she said but my Italian is so rusty, those years of learning Italian in High School went out the window immediately.

“Sorry my Italian is super rusty, do you speak English?”

She gave me a sheepish smile but nodded.

“Well of course, I am well educated in multiple languages, I am Heidi, how may I help you?”

Just with the way she talks is leaving me in a trance, I'm forgetting my whole purpose of why I needed to talk to her. Wait, why do I have to talk to her? Think, think, think. Oh right, Demetri!

“Do you know where I can find Demetri Volturi”

Her smile dropped and it contoured to a look of pure confusion, her head tilted slightly with her gaze turning to one of puzzled in a matter of milliseconds. Have I said something wrong? I don't like how she's looking at me now, I feel myself squirm under her gaze. 

“How do you know of him?”

“Wait, he's actually real?”

Her eyebrows furrowed now as she kept staring at me.

“He is…but your didn't answer my question cara”

“I well…would you believe me if I said I been dreaming of him?”

“Humans sure are strange beings, have you ever actually met him in person?”

“No”

“Who told you he would be here?”

“He did”

“How?”

“He told me he lives in Volterra, Italy”

“I cannot phantom how this is even possible, so you're telling me, Demetri told you where he is via dream and you never meet him but you know who he is?”

I nod, I know this sounds crazy now that she says it out loud but it is the truth, I would have to be mental to come up with such a story, maybe I am. I don't even remember how I got here to start off with.

“Is he here?”

“...Yes but he is busy currently”

“When will he be free?”

“I'm not sure, when he trains it is never known how long he will take”

“I don't mean to be rude or anything but is there a way you could get him to come here, I would like to meet him”

She still had a confused look on her beautiful face.

“I still cannot wrap my mind how a human like you knows a volturi guard and knows where we live too, what are the odds it would be Demetri?”

“What do you mean by that? Is he a bad person or something because I can tell you in my dreams he was an absolutely sweetheart, I have never meet such a sweet man in my whole life”

“Yes he is a sweetheart, I didn't mean to imply he is a bad person he's the opposite I just meant what are the odds the only guard who does not have a mate might have found them in a strange way”

“Mate?”

“You will be told about them once we figure out if you are his mate”

“And if I'm not?”

“Well lets just say you came at a bad time for the Volturi, our feeding time is soon”

I shivered slightly at the remark, feeding time? Why would that be a bad thing? Is it not just dinner or I guess it would be lunch since it is early afternoon. Or unless they are very private about their dinner time that they don't have guests? There's something off but I hope I can meet Demetri soon. I wonder how he will react. Will he know who I am? Does he have the same dreams as I? Or have our dreams been like walking dreams where he comes into mine? 

My curiosity is interrupted when Heidi mentions something that peaks my interest

“I will see if he can spare a minute or two but I will guarantee you that the possibility of that happening is low, please just wait by the fountain”

I nod as she walks away, even her walk is so entrancing, does she even have any flaws? I take my previous spot by the fountain as I wait for them. I hope the odds are in my favor and I do get to meet him. Will he be exactly like in my dreams, the way he acts and talks. I felt that sudden anxiety rise in me, what if I disappoint him in a way. He's literally the handsomest man to ever walk upon this earth, he does not belong in this world with the beauty he carries.

I felt my heart beat a bit faster the longer I waited for them to return, I have never felt so nervous before. I wanted to throw up but I tried my best to stay calm. Deep breaths…in…out…in…out. Okay that's working, I feel less stressed but my thoughts are still running wild. Seconds felt like minutes, minutes turned to hours, hours then felt like weeks. What if he is refusing to meet me or he is really busy. 

I hate how my mind suddenly thinks of all the worst case scenarios to ever exist when nothing bad has happened. Yet at that moment, my breath was hitched, the world stopped moving, nothing could be heard but footsteps who I can already assume who they belonged to. I felt an invisible force tilt my head to the side to be met with a dark clothed figure standing at the entrance of a doorway that could only be described as an entrance to a museum. He would be the statue that millions of people would travel all around the world to gaze at. It would be a blessing of a masterpiece.

Am I in one of my dreams with him in it? It certainly feels like it but my raw emotions I have right now feels true and physical. He walked over to me and I swear I saw flowers sprout at each step he took, his eyes maintained contact with mine. His eyes held so much expression that I could read each emotion he was feeling. When he stood in front of me his arm extended to pull me up and into his chest. His arms wrapped around me loosely as the desire to breathe again was nowhere, my hand went up to rest on his cheek to make sure he was physically here. 

He is here, this is no dream because if it were the minute I touched him he would have dissolved into my delusions. 

“Your real”

His smile could have brightened a whole room alone without needing actual light. 

“I certainly hope I am, I can't believe I have finally found you”

“You've been waiting for me?”

“For centuries now”

I ran the same hand that was on his cheek through his blonde locks as his eyes closed. We felt like we were in our own little bubble of paradise, everything was still and quiet which at this moment felt right. I saw his skin give a little sparkle which was strange but it made him seem more ethereal, it was made clear he is not human but to me that does not matter to me because all I want is him. 

When his eyes opened they seemed darker as they were shimmering slightly with unshed tears. He looked so precious that I had the strong desire to engulf him in a deep hug that would hide him from the world. He gave me a weak smile as he guided me to where he came from, he held me as if I were a porcelain doll. 

“I will introduce you to my masters, they would like to meet you since a certain person decided to let the whole castle know I found my mate”

“So I am your mate?”

He stopped walking to look straight into my eyes, into my soul.

“Do you not feel how we are gravitating toward one another? You are my moon as I am the ocean. I have never felt this feeling in the centuries I have been around, I finally feel complete with you here” 

Breathless he leaves me. His words are better than any love song I have ever heard, no artist can come close to being more romantic than him. Even after every dream I had of him, I would wake up with the same reaction. We eventually arrived at a room where three figures sitting in thrones were at. These must be the masters that Demetri mentioned, next to me and Demetri was a mountain of a man. I had to crane my neck at an angle to look up at him, and even then I almost couldn't see his face because his shoulder was blocking the side view of his face. 

“So she found you? This little human found you?”

“She did Master”

“And she’s truly human?”

“Yes she is, can you not see the color in her cheeks”

I kind of just stood there awkwardly as they spoke of me as if I weren't there but Demetri made me feel comfortable with the way he still had me in his arms. 

“But how did she come to find you?”

Everyone turned to look at me the same way Heidi did when I asked about Demetri, which resulted in me to squirm. The blonde one spoke up which made me almost jump out of my skin.

“Speak human”

Demetri got a bit tense but spoke up for me. What a gentleman…

“Master please, don't you see your frightening her, please don't raise your voice to my mate”

Oh my, so polite and protective. The way his voice got soft as he spoke made my heart melt. I gained confidence from how he defended me that I finally spoke up.

“I'm not sure how I ended up in Italy or how I got here but all I can say is I would have dreams about Demetri which then lead me here somehow, its difficult to explain but I just knew I had to find him even if I was not sure if he was real or not”

The third master who has not spoken in the whole time we've been here finally stood up and walked over to me and Demetri. He moved so slowly that I felt as if he walked faster he would turn to dust and vanish.

“You confound me dear one but I have never seen such a strong bond between mates. I hope with time we can figure out how this was able to happen because I am fascinated by this”

I nodded but suddenly relaxed a bit in Demetris arms. The one who seemed to be the main guy to run this whole place clapped loudly with a laugh to follow it. I wanted to cringe slightly but I felt that would be disrespectful to do so, so I bit my tongue.

“I think she might be gifted, oh the joy this brings me, our own Demetri has found his mate and she is gifted, a joyous day it is indeed”

The smile that Demetri gave me was like a sudden beam of sunlight illuminating the darkest corners of the room. I never knew he was the sunshine I needed in life, I think I'm going to love spending forever with him. 

[doveypink]

unexpected surprise [satoru gojo]

summary: satoru seeks your help in raising a child. word count: 0.7k warnings: gn!reader, established relationship, fluff/crack, dad!gojo (to megs and tsumiki). a/n: it’s my birthday! as per tradition, i like to write something for myself (as if i don’t always…). i have a longer gojo fic in the works, so take this until then!

“So what do you think?”

Satoru grins at you, his pearly white teeth blinding your eyes.

“It’s… something,” you reply, unsure of how to translate the thoughts running through your mind.

You sense Gojo’s impatience, giving him a lopsided smile when his eyes narrow. You poke his cheek—right in the dimple, which makes him smile wider—and you sigh.

“It’s a lot of responsibility to raise a kid,” you say firmly.

“I know,” he says with confidence. “Do you think I’m not responsible?”

“You have to be serious about this,” you assert, carefully stepping around his prior question. “This isn’t a joke. You can’t use your powers to save you if you fuck up. This is a little human we’re talking about.”

“I know,” he insists, whining a bit. “Come on, I wouldn’t ask you for help if I didn’t think we could do this.”

You tap your foot a few times, considering your boyfriend’s suggestion for a moment. Then, softly: “Okay.”

“Okay?”

You nod.

“Okay!” Satoru repeats with a cheer, scooping you up in his arms. You groan, but you can’t help smiling a bit. He sets you down and puts his hands on his hips. “Well, I hope you’re ready to meet him.”

Your boyfriend turns around, walking to the door of his apartment. You freeze, staring at the man with wide eyes. “Wait, what—?”

“Surprise!”

Gojo interrupts you to swing the door open. Standing outside the apartment is a little boy, no older than six years old. His scowl is partially obscured by the mess of dark hair on his head. You stare at the boy, mouth agape, while your boyfriend beams at you.

“Ta-da! Introducing… Megumi Fushiguro!” Satoru waves his arms around dramatically, presenting the child to you in the manner that a game show host announces that a player has won a new car.

Your eye twitches in irritation at Gojo, but you push it aside for the time being. You kneel down to Megumi’s height, holding out your hand and telling him your name. The boy reluctantly shakes your hand before dropping it back at his side. He seems deeply disinterested in the situation.

With a gulp, you ask, “Hey, so… How long have you been standing out here?”

“What time is it?”

You glance at your watch. “15:47.”

The boy pauses. “Two hours.”

A gasp escapes your mouth. This time, you can’t help the glare you point at Gojo. “Satoru, what is your problem?” You hiss.

“What? What did I do?” Your boyfriend asks cluelessly.

You continue to glare at him as you usher the small boy inside to sit on the couch. “Are you hungry? I’ll get you a snack,” you say quickly. Rushing to the fridge, you find a cup of applesauce and hand it to Megumi. He takes it wordlessly, tearing the lid off the container and helping himself.

Next to you, Gojo pouts. “But that’s my applesauce…”

A slow turn of your head shuts him up. You drag your boyfriend into his bedroom, hissing at the man. “You’re doing a terrible job of convincing me that you can be that boy’s legal guardian.”

“We are his guardians. This is a joint operation,” Gojo corrects you.

“I literally just agreed to this!” You shriek.

“Well… I may have told the higher-ups that you already said yes.” Your boyfriend scratches his head, casually shrugging his shoulders. “I guess it’s a good thing you did, huh?”

It takes everything in you to withhold from grabbing him by the shoulders and flinging him out the window. You take a deep breath, willing yourself to be calm, and speak.

“Satoru. I will help you raise this boy. But you have to promise you won’t pull any last-minute surprises on me again.”

“I promise,” your boyfriend grins, kissing your nose. For the briefest of moments, you feel relieved. Then he continues: “But there is one little thing I forgot to mention…”

The door to the walk-in closet swings open behind you. You yelp, jumping into Gojo’s arms. A little girl, maybe a year or so older than Megumi, nervously peeks her head out. She waves, smiling sheepishly.

Your boyfriend repeats his act from earlier, introducing the girl with a sparkling grin and a goofy voice: “Introducing… Megumi’s big sister, Tsumiki Fushiguro!”

You drag a hand down your face. Parenthood is not for the weak.

[tearueful]

Play With Fire ( Homelander x Reader)

18+ for language, female (plus size♥) reader | You walk into an elevator with Homelander...💋 [AO3 Link] Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, AO3 Link

You can only stare at Ashley’s cold dismissal. Not Ashley Barrett, of course. You’re not high up enough to get personally fired by the CEO. Her assistant is the one doing it, also Ashley. 

There were too many fucking Ashleys in this office.

Your head is buzzing and you can’t exactly focus on the words that spill out of her mouth. She has such a pleasant smile plastered on her lips. A fake, corporate smile as she tells you that as of today? You no longer work at Vought International. A job you had scraped and clawed for. Survived an unpaid internship in fucking New York City for, moonlighting as a waitress in a diner where patrons had sticky hands even for one such as you.

You stare at her, having no idea what words her placid smile makes. Something about turning your badge in at the front desk on your way out. That they’ve packed everything up at your desk already and it will show up to your house in two to four business days. An easier transition, she says. How kind.

Neatly packaging your existence away and shipping it off in the post as if it didn’t fucking matter. You blink and you’re already stalking out of the office. The dismissal had been clear. They had saved it for when you normally would be packing up for the day. Less drama. Always better to fire someone on a Friday afternoon. Not many witnesses. At least you can slink out with some scraps of your dignity. Before you realize it, you’re fast walking through the hallway to the elevator lobby. All your mind can focus on is getting in that elevator and escaping this fucked up place. That is your one goal as your insides churn with bitter anger and your brain buzzes.

Your rage is impotent, with no outlet. What could you even do? Nothing against Vought. Not with their airtight security. You knew how Vought paid everyone and anyone off to make undesirables vanish. How they mopped up the ‘accidents’ of their precious supe products. How your firing was another one of those casualties, dismissed at a whim of the Seven. You knew specifically who. That star-spangled blonde bastard. One typo led to one tantrum from the supe and you had to suffer for it.

Rage pushes your feet to move a little quicker as you spot the open elevator doors. Someone must have just exited, you see the retreating forms of a handful of people down the opposite end of the hall. Perfect, except those doors are closing and you’re too impatient to wait in the lobby a moment longer.

At the sight of the closing elevator doors, your feet pick up their pace. You can’t stay in this building a moment long, not in this hallway with the chance of spotting anyone you know who may recognize the set of your face as something amiss.. Some of them know you well enough to know that would mean something’s wrong, or they knew the bad news before you. That gives you the motivation to snap a hand out to stop those closing doors, praying it’s empty so you can take a breath alone. You need it.You deserve it. It’s the least the universe can do for you at this moment. The universe is not kind today.

The doors stop at the presence of your hand while you slip through the opening. Your regret is almost instantaneous as you step into the re-opening doors because there stood Homelander.

Fucking Homelander in his stupid suit, looking all the world like Uncle Sam shat out the perfect Boyscout. Except, you know far better. There was a monster in that human suit.

He looks ever the caged predator within the confines of the enclosed metal space, wholly uninterested in you. There’s only the briefest of glances your way before his attention is back on the elevator’s LED number display. Oh, but you hate him. Stuffed up supe, high on his own importance.

You’d seen him about the office, from a distance. A wolf among doting sheep, bleating for his attention. How did anyone dare to get close when he flashed those canines? You should flee, but the elevator doors click behind you with a finality. No, fuck it. Fuck him. You don’t care. All you care about is getting out of this shit hole and this elevator ride will be your last here. One way or another. The white hot rage is back to roiling in your gut and you feel as if you’d choke on it.

Homelander’s cold blue gaze flickers over you once more as you stew, taking you all in within an instant. Your badge and your name. Another useless Vought employee, a wriggling worm at his feet. The Hero Management Department by the logo on your badge, but he’s never noticed you. No wonder. You’re too short. Someone who could get lost in a crowd. His lips turn up in a cruel sneer. Fat, too. A pudgy, little grub. At least you’re dressed well. You need to be if you work here. Almost demure in that dress that must have cost half your pathetic paycheck. He wants to be disgusted by you, but you meet his eyes. People rarely did that. There’s fire burning in those wide eyes. A defiance he’s not used to seeing often. Especially not from something as breakable as you. It gives Homelander pause. He’s puzzled. That sort of volatile hatred was usually reserved for dear William, but you? It was almost comical seeing such a delicate thing like you sparking with it. You looked like a little firecracker about to go off and Homelander wonders what sorts of sparks you’d show.

Your expression was utterly, almost eerily calm yet he could feel the rage rolling off of you, it was a palpable taste on his tongue. An almost bitter tang that made Homelander reflexively lick his lips. That gets your attention. Previously, you’d let your eyes dart around the elevator in your unrest. Now your eyes fixate on the flick of Homelander’s tongue while the wheels within your brain begin to whirl. What is the stupidest thing you could do on your last day at Vought? Something reckless and impulsive. Suicidal even.

He watches you with interest now that you’re daring to meet his gaze, scrutinizing this little mortal confined in the elevator with him with anger steaming off your body. Normally, Vought employees fawned over him while reeking of fear. They cowered and all but tried to tongue his taint in their need to appease him and soothe Homelander’s volatile moods. Yet here you were, looking as much like a caged animal within the confines of the elevator as he felt most of the time. 

Homelander senses the shift in you, from anger to something else. He can’t pinpoint it, not yet. Not with how the adrenaline pumps through your veins as you fix your eyes on his face, a heady perfume if there ever was one. It’s a little like prey backed into a corner, finally deciding fight over flight. Homelander doesn’t fear you or any possible outburst you could throw his way. How could he? He’s a god and you’re an ant. Still, he’s curious as to what you’ll do. Homelander can see the tension in your body, how your muscles coil before a pounce.

You weren’t quick, by any means. Homelander could have deflected you with his pinky finger, but the determination in your eyes kept him still. What were you even planning to do to him, of all people? Seeing you unleashing your anger on him would amuse the supe. Give him a valid reason to crush your fragile skull in his fist with a satisfying wet crunch. Yet, you surprised him. All that anger and vitriol boiling over shifted into something else entirely, but it still burns.  It burns so much that you need to let it out. Which you do, by pressing your lips against Homelander’s. It’s pure impulse and oh so reckless. He’s killed people for lesser slights but you don’t care. Not in that moment. You want this, maybe even need it. Need to vent out all your frustration on the man who caused all this in the first place.

So you dig your nails into the leather fabric of Homelander’s suit, having to get up on your toes to press your lips against his own. 

They’re surprisingly soft, Homelander’s lips. You hadn’t expected it. A contrast to the lack of give against his body because leaning into Homelander is like leaning into a brick wall. Unmovable. The only give is from his lips and you suspect that’s because you took the supe by surprise.

The audacity of this little bug!

Homelander’s eyes are wide, shocked even at your brazen act. Staring down at this impertinent little human daring to touch him.There’s a desperation in your act, in how your face is still twisted up in rage and confusion but softening as you stubbornly keep your lips moving against his own.

Still so curious. 

He lets you kiss him, even goes as far to settle into the kiss himself. He can’t help it. Softness was a rare thing for him to feel and you really are oh so soft against him. Pliable and willing now that you’ve settled into properly kissing him. You’re not bad at this either, knowing exactly what sort of coaxing pressure to give him while teasing Homelander into giving back more.

So he does.

Homelander hooks you in the steel grip of one hand, fingers digging into your waist and he finds you yielding. Soft and giving as your lips. He should have expected that given your size, but he finds that he likes it. He can dig his fingers in a little deeper with no fear of snapping ribs with the slightest of pressure.

Homelander is kissing you back. Fucking Homelander! You half expected to get thrown across the elevator shaft for your action, but he was almost holding you gently. Almost. This close you can feel the restrained power of him that all but hums through the supe’s body. It should frighten you, but it’s thrilling having a monster yield so readily to you of all people.

You need something to ground yourself because this can't be real! You grab for Homelander's hair, sliding your fingers through it. Idly, you muse at the softness. It wasn't gelled and hard to the touch as you expected. Leave-in conditioner, that must be it. The thought makes you smile into the kiss, tightening your hold on Homelander's hair with a playful tug to coax his mouth closer.

You don’t expect the needy moan Homelander releases against your lips at the gentle tug. Would have never expected such a sound from a man like him. You greedily swallow it up, using it to your advantage to slide your tongue over his lips. They part under the pressure and then you’re kissing Homelander deeper. This is far from an innocent, impulsive act now. He’s meeting your fire, consumed by the flames as much as you are. More so because now Homelander seems intent on devouring you as he fits his lips to yours, bruising them while his tongue slides slick over your own within your mouth. He growls. Homelander fucking growls into the kiss and you feel that tremor down to your toes, arousal a white hot flash through your system. Thus it really can’t be helped when you mold your curves into the hard lines of his body, fingernails scraping at Homelander’s scalp while you try to taste every corner of his mouth. His free hand even comes up to take an ample handful of your ass as he pulls you flush against him properly, and is that- Holy fuck.

The chime of the elevator hitting the ground floor snaps you both out of the moment. You jerk apart and even in his surprise, Homelander’s grip is loose enough for you to step away safely. You stare up at him a beat, taking in Homelander’s flushed features and how he pants.

You did that. You did that to the most powerful supe of the Seven, possibly the most powerful supe in the world. Smug satisfaction settles on your shoulders for a moment.

You can see the rage building in his eyes, disgust twisting up Homelander’s features and there’s even the glaring threat of red sparking in his gaze. Holy shit. Your heart squeezes as the smugness shifts to the instinct to survive. It’s time to flee or die.

Homelander sneers at you and you know he’s about to say something scathing to put you in your place before he obliterates you. Instead of cowering, you flash him a thousand watt smile. The sort you’ve employed on dates with hapless men to get them giving dopey grins right back to you. It works well enough.

He blinks, the red glare vanishing from his eyes. People in this tower never smile at Homelander like that. Another surprise. You exit stage left before he recovers, almost running into someone on your way out of the elevator. It’s Ashley. CEO Ashley this time, with tablet in hand.

Her gaze flicks up from the screen as she gives a little start before suspicion tinges her features. “Weren’t you fired?” She whispers the words under her breath, brushing past you before stiffening up at the sight of the supe still within the elevator. “Homelander! There you are!” She chirps out with faux cheerfulness and a dead smile. “I’ve got fantastic news on your latest numbers!” That gives you enough time to slip away, with Ashley crowding up to Homelander eagerly to stroke his ego so he’s kept calm for another day and no one dies. You certainly didn’t die. Personally, you think the supe’s mind will be occupied by other things today. You turn your badge in at security’s front desk with a self satisfied smirk.

For his part, Homelander silently steps out of the elevator with eyes fixed on your retreating frame. He doesn’t register Ashley’s yammering as she tries to tell him the good news about a ten point boost. No, Homelander’s mind is too busy contemplating what he will do to you. Little bugs like you can’t get away with taunting gods.

A wide, shark-like grin spreads Homelander's lips now that he has revenge on his mind. He snaps his attention to Ashley, voice sharp as Homelander lifts a finger in her face for silence “Ashley. That woman. Give me her name, now.”

[short-honey-badger]

Peppermint Tea

I'm baaaacckkkkk

I hope you enjoy. This may be the start of a new series, not sure yet. But I hope you all enjoy!

Pairings: Dracule Mihawk x Reader (Devil fruit user)

Update! This fic has gone through a lot of changes! so new pairing will ultimately be Mihawk x Reader x Shanks!

Summary: Mihawk wakes from his nap near what should be a deserted island. Turns out that you and your dog Hank are its sole inhabitants. One visit leads to another until your island becomes his home away from home.

Masterlist

Devil fruit user reader,

Warnings: none yet!

Dracule Mihawk wakes to the sound of screaming. He is already scowling by the time he cracks his eyes open and sits up to scan the horizon. Seems like he had drifted close to a small island while napping. His lip curls up in a sneer when he hears the screams again, and it has him standing from his perch and using a bit of haki to see what was going on.

There, being chased by a group of obvious pirates, is you. His ringed eyes narrow, and with a dramatic sigh, Mihawk directs his little boat closer to the shore and tosses the anchor over. In a flash, he stands on shore and begins making his way toward the commotion that woke him in the first place. Dracule is not a hero. he would never dream of calling himself one, but even he would not turn a blind eye to a woman in need. He wasn't a monster, after all.

The warlord swings his sword from his back and takes off, boosting himself forward with a little haki. It's laughable how easily Mihawk cuts down the pirates, these men little more than bandits with a stolen ship. However, he is caught off guard when the ground under his feet suddenly becomes cold, near freezing, and he is quick to hop away from the patch of snow that has formed under his feet.

“You ass! I was having fun!” The woman he thought he had saved snarls at him. Mihawk schools his face back into its usual unimpressed look and looks at you. She is scowling fiercely up at him, but all Dracule can see is an upset kitten.

“You should be grateful. I saved your life, you know.” He replies hauntingly and swings his sword back around to latch it to his back, “Why were they chasing you?”

You shrug at him, shifting foot to foot in impatience. You needed to get a move on. Hank was waiting for you back home. “I dunno. They showed up this morning and demanded I give them whatever I had. I told them to fuck off.” She frowns and kicks the snow that has gathered around her. “They didn't like that answer.”

“No, I would imagine not,” Mihawk agrees and looks her over. The woman wears simple clothes, just leggings and a loose tunic, and quite a few years younger than himself. He finds himself oddly concerned. Hmm. How unlike him.

“Are you alone here?” He asks, and the woman looks suspicious immediately. Her shoulder squares, and she shifts into a defensive stance. Dracule wonders if she even needed his help in the first place.

“Yeah? So what?” You demand and narrow your eyes at him. “Why don't you wear a shirt?”

Dracule blinks at her, definitely not having expected that to be her question, “I run hot.” He says and wonders why he is even entertaining this girl.

“Ha, I run cold!” She exclaims, and snow begins to fall around her as if to prove her point. Slowly, she begins to relax after realizing that this man isn't trying to attack her like the last people. She debates with herself for a moment before ultimately giving in to her baser desires. It's been so long since she's had good, human company.

“Would you like some tea?”

Mihawk opens his mouth to turn her down, but what comes out is, “What kind do you have?” He can't help but enjoy the tiny little smile you send him at his question. He is curious as to why you have yet to call him out, and questions why a warlord of the sea wanted with you and your little island.

“I grow my own, so you'll have to come see at home,” you tell him and point south, “If you aren't busy anyway?”

Truth be told, Dracule probably should get back on his boat and sail away to never see this slip of a girl and tiny island again. Go back to his lonely castle and read the hundreds of books just waiting to be cracked open. Maybe even do his job and report to the Marines about this place. But Mihawk would do none of those things. Instead, he gestured for you to lead the way and was rewarded with another one of those timid smiles.

“Hank should still be home. He's my dog,” you inform him as the two of you walk, and it doesn't take very long for your home to come into view. It's a quaint little cottage with rows of flowers and a large garden off to the side. He can see rows of drying herbs in one of the windows and even a smoke room connected to the side of the cottage. A massive hound with shaggy gray fur comes bounding up. It doesn't even bark at him and instead plops right down and starts to beg for attention.

“And this is why you aren't a guard dog, Hank,” you grumble and pat the hound on his massive head as you walk past Mihawk. Dracule eyes the dog before rolling his eyes and giving in to pat the top of his head like you had.

“You know, I know his name now, but I've yet to have the pleasure of knowing yours.” Mihawk follows after you, and a tiny smirk plays on his lips when he sees your face flush a pretty pink.

“God's, I'm sorry about that,” You laugh and run your fingers through your hair before offering the handsome man your hand and introducing yourself.

Mihawk grasps your hand, noting that you indeed do run very cold, “Dracule Mihawk,” he rumbles and waits for the inevitable panic that his name usually causes anyone he comes across.

“Huh. I like that. It suits you. Especially your eyes,” You tell him instead, and Mihawk finds that he likes You even more than he thought he would.

“Thank you,” he mutters quietly and follows you through the open door of your home. The inside is just as cozy as on the outside, and he has a hard time not immediately investigating the tall stacks of books that seem to be piled on every available surface. Most of them look worn and smudged, as if they'd been drowned in water.

“Sorry for the mess. I don't have company very often,” you murmur with a bit of wince and clear a chair for your guest.

“Nothing to apologize for, Darling,” Mihawk assures you and examines the rest of your home. It's cluttered, yes, but clean and more or less organized. He cuts his eyes toward you and smirks again at the sight of your flushed face. It seemed that you were not very used to being called any type of pet name.

You cough and rub the back of your neck, “Anyway, tea is this way,” you lead him to the kitchen where strings of dried herbs hang from the ceiling. You point at a group set away from the others and point out which is which. “The peppermint came out nicely this year, probably my favorite so far.”

“I'll have that then,” He watches as you dither around the kitchen, bringing a chipped kettle to a boil and pouring the two of you steaming cups of tea. He blows gently and then sips, humming at the pleasant coolness of the tea.

“Very nice,” he compliments and watches intently as you blush even brighter than before. Mihawk finds that he enjoys making you light up.

You quietly thank him and take a small sip of your own. He can feel your eyes on him, but Dracule doesn't particularly mind your curiosity. If earlier was any indication, then you had absolutely no idea who he was, and Mihawk would prefer to keep it that way.

“And thank you for earlier, with those men,” you speak up, and Dracule ticks a brow up at you, “I could have handled them, but definitely not as quickly as you did.”

“Mhm. You are welcome. The tea is a good enough reward,” the warlord teases, and you laugh quietly at his quip. After that, it's as if a dam broke. Conversation flowed between the two of you, and Dracule found himself hard pressed to leave when he looked outside and noticed that the sun was setting.

“Ah, I should be on my way. It is late, and I don't want to disturb you any longer,” Mihawk mentions. Truthfully, he wouldn't mind staying longer, but there were things he actually needed to attend to.

You blink and jerk your head to the window. It's near dusk and the sun paints the sky in hues of pink and purple, “Oh, I guess it is pretty late, huh,” you murmur and try to keep the disappointment out of your tone. Today has been one of the best days you've had in a very long time. You would miss Dracule Mihawk.

The warlord makes a split decision and stands, only to step close to his host and gently place a knuckle under her chin. He lifts her face, and she looks up at him with stars in her eyes when he swipes his thumb over her bottom lip, “Don't worry, Darling. You'll see me again,” he assures her softly.

You wet your lip, tongue ghosting over the pad of his thumb, “Promise?” You whisper, and Dracule gives the young woman a smile that will forever solely belong to you.

“Of course, sweet thing,” Mihawk murmurs and reluctantly pulls away. He grabs his sword and hat, fixing them to their proper places before he heads to the door, “I'll see you again.”

You watch him go, heart beating loudly in your chest as you stand to watch him out the window. When he disappears from sight, you plop back down and cover your flaming face with your hands. You couldn't wait to see him again.

@writingmysanity @kenkenmaaa @browneyedhufflepuff @foggyturtleknightangel

[waynes-multiverse]

Rehab – Epilogue

Series Summary: Thanks to Soldier Boy, the CIA was able to develop Project Bloom under the fierce leadership of Grace Mallory: a final cure to Compound V and a hopeful end to the supe epidemic three years after the explosive incident at Vought. A secret rehab facility in Upstate New York is supposed to help former heroes find their way back to humanity. The catch, though? Soldier Boy has never fucking agreed to any of this shit and is surely not happy about being powerless for the first time in his goddamn long life.

Pairing: Soldier Boy/Ben x Female!Reader

Warnings: +18, language, some crack, a bit of fluff and angst, hard decisions, a lot of goodbyes & all the feels

Word Count: 4.5k

A/N: We're here, babes! End of the road! Thank you guys so much for everything. This was a wild ride, and I'm glad I had you in my passenger's seat 💚

Feedback is my fuel 🖤

<< Chapter 8 || Main Masterlist || Series Masterlist

Epilogue: twin flame

You’re gonna be nowhere The loneliest kind of lonely It may be rough goin’ Just to do your thing’s the hardest thing to do…

“Morning.” Y/N smiles brightly as he stirs and slowly wakes. “Wakey, wakey, sunshine.”

Blue eyes flutter open and fearfully widen, his brow scrunches in confusion as he looks around and scans his environment. He tries to wiggle free of the handcuffs around his wrists, keeping him tied to the metal bed frame.

Not that it matters – he can’t leave either way.

She turns off the radio with a blissful sigh. “You know, that was one of his favorite songs. Your father’s,” she clarifies. “He sang it all the time. It was fucking annoying.”

“Why the hell can’t I move? Get me the fuck out of here,” the man in a sky-blue hospital gown demands and lifts his head off the mattress, only a few inches, attempting to get up.

Needless to say, that attempt is futile and fails miserably.

“Don’t strain yourself, John, or you might shit the bed. And I ain’t cleaning that mess… You’ve been in a coma for three weeks,” Y/N tells him with an amused smile. “Oh, and you can’t move because you’re paralyzed from the waist down. I even doubt that meager dick’s still working.”

His nostrils flare and let out a huff. “It’s Homelander, you bitch. No one calls me by that name.”

“Yeah, not anymore.” Y/N twitches her shoulders in mock apology. Her mouth curves into a Machiavellian grin. “Scared yet?”

“Where the fuck am I?” he growls through gritted teeth, upset by her blatant disrespect.

“You’re at a rehab facility for former supes. I mean, it’s discontinued. Abandoned, really. It’s just you and me,” she replies flatly and then forces a customer-service smile to her lips. “So, guess I’ll be your nurse for the day. How are we doing, you–”

Her brow furrows as she tries to remember the exact words, pensively pursing her lips.

“Wait…” She holds up a finger to stop him from interrupting her as she fishes out a crumpled piece of paper from her jeans pocket. She squints her eyes in concentration as she skims over its content.

“Ah yes!” With a smile, she clears her throat and reads from her paper. “So, how are you doing, you bootlicking… carpet-munching… cockboy?”

Homelander frowns at the insults. Y/N does too, but for a different reason as she shakes her head.

“Jesus fucking Christ, your dad’s handwriting is an atrocity,” she mutters as she tilts her head with narrowed eyes at the paper in her hands.

The blond man’s eyes narrow in both shock and confusion. “How do you know my father?”

“Oh, uhm, I’m his wife,” Y/N says and smiles complacently. “Which technically makes me your step-mommy, but let’s not go there, you–… Wait.” She peeks once more at the paper in her hands. “You cumguzzling… cowfucking… cuck fluffer.” Her brow draws up, impressed. “Huh, nice. Little alliteration going on there. Guess all those books paid off…”

“Can we skip to the part where you tell me what the fuck you’re doing here?” Homelander snaps impatiently, annoyed with the shenanigans.

“Alright, your dad sent me here to, you know… gloat,” Y/N says simply and shrugs, flashing him an easy smile. “He wanted you to know that he’s the one that put you into this damn bed. Funnily enough, he once woke up in this very room, tied to a bed. Not in a kinky way, though. Although, he probably would’ve loved that…” She chuckles fondly. “This place really changed him, but I doubt it’ll do the same for you.”

“And why the fuck isn’t he here telling me this, huh?” John asks with a challenging look. “I didn’t reckon him for a fucking coward.”

Y/N’s facade cracks a little at his words, a vicious smile tugging at her lips. “Oh, he was not a coward. He was the bravest man I’ve ever known. He was and is a fucking hero and surely getting celebrated as one.”

Y/N leans back in her chair and grabs the remote from the bedside table, switching on the TV. A news report flickers across the screen. It’s a recording from a few weeks ago, but Homelander doesn’t know that. It shows a row of celebratory parades held all over the country. A statue of Soldier Boy is being erected next to the Statue of Liberty.

Homelander finally defeated. Soldier Boy dies a hero in fierce combat. America breathes a sigh of relief.

Homelander watches the news and reads the taglines as they scroll in front of his eyes. His mouth is agape in bewilderment before Y/N switches the television off again.

“Everyone loves him… and fucking hates you. Like spit-on-your-grave hate,” she summarizes and watches his face darken. She rises from her seat and smiles down at him. “Have a nice life chained to that bed till you rot to death, you dickfaced, inbred, garbage-eating fascist.”

With a wide smirk, she then leans down and whispers into his ear, “Those were my insults, by the way.”

“Well, he’s dead, and I’m fucking alive, which means I won,” Homelander snarls from the bed with a contrivedly triumphant sneer, rattling with his handcuffs. He’s close to an explosion, she can tell.

“Yeah, you’d be telling yourself that if it makes you feel better…”

With a roll of her eyes, Y/N turns her back. As she marches out of the room, Homelander’s furious screams of agony haunt the clinic’s empty hallways, but there is no one here to hear them anymore.

Project Bloom has been disbanded. There’s only a handful of CIA nurses left, tasked to take care of Homelander until his hopefully slow and painful death. If someone decides to hold a pillow over his head at any point, she supposes she wouldn’t be that mad about it either.

Homelander is history. Soldier Boy is dead. And Ben is at rest.

Finally, Y/N can leave this godforsaken place behind her.

Y/N slides into the driver’s seat of her Prius, her head falling back as she exhales a long, exhaustive breath and rubs her temples. That damn brat gave her a fucking migraine with his whiny bitching.

“Finally,” it huffs from the backseat. “Took you long enough. How the fuck did it go?”

Y/N blinks into the rearview mirror and catches a set of expectant green eyes. Her hand drops from her temples as she chuckles.

“Your handwriting is horrible,” she says as a response and pulls out the paper, pointing at a word. “What the hell is that one?”

Ben leans forward between the seats and squints his eyes. “Mmh, pube flosser,” he supplies and frowns. “You didn’t use that one?”

Y/N sighs. “I think he’s got the gist without it.”

“Yeah, but that was a good one,” Ben mumbles and sighs disappointedly. “Did you play him the song?”

“Yes, I did. I played him the song and did everything else you wanted me to do,” she confirms patiently. “You know, you’ve got a weird knack for torture.”

“Thank you. It’s a gift.” Ben blushes and adjusts his baseball cap. “Did you sell it properly? You know, acting is a skill. The most important thing is to–”

“Ben! For the love of God, shut up or I’ll run you over with my car,” Y/N snaps. If he gives her one more acting lesson, she swears she’ll turn herself a widow.

“Fine.” Ben scoffs and rolls his eyes back. “Did he fucking buy it?”

“Yup, he surely thinks you’re dead. Like the rest of the world,” Y/N says and shoots him a smile over her shoulder.

He matches it and scratches his shaved chin, letting himself fall back into the seat. “Good. So, we’re done, right?”

“Yeah, he was the last stop on our list,” she replies quietly, her smile mixing with sadness. “How’s the arm?”

“Good, good…” He nods, his head bobbing thoughtfully as he clutches the scar on his right bicep. “Healing nicely. Finally got a real war wound. Always wanted one.”

“Okay, then… Let’s go, I guess.” With a heavy swallow, Y/N turns the ignition and starts the car.

“You know, I’d really love to kiss you now,” Ben notes, heartache swinging in his voice, and finds her eyes in the rearview mirror.

Y/N bites down on her lip and nods. “Yeah, wouldn’t that be nice…”

Three weeks ago…

A guard gestures down the hallway to the restrooms, but as soon as Y/N rounds the corner and is out of sight, she takes a turn in the opposite direction.

The good thing about a super secret government facility that’s not supposed to exist is that it only comes with the necessary manpower. There’s no abundance of guards at every corner. It’s quiet and desolate.

Moreover, no one expects a silly and weak human to cause any trouble. It surely has its advantages to be constantly underestimated.

Y/N finds the lab she’s passed on their way in, where she spied a glass fridge with vials of different colors. It’s guarded, but only by one person. It’s sloppy, honestly.

A flirty ambush, a stab to the neck with a dull pocket knife, a stolen keycard, and she’s inside. She drags the body in, too, leaving no trace of her crime behind.

Her fingers rummage through differently labeled flasks. There’s plenty of blue and yellow, but not the poisonous green she’s looking for.

“C’mon, c’mon, c’mon…” she mutters to herself as she desperately searches every drawer, every goddamn cabinet of the laboratory.

Out of breath, she stops and grips her temples, shoulders slumping as her mind spins. She wants to curse and scream, but that would draw too much attention. She knows she’s running out of time. No one takes that long to fucking pee. Decisions have to be made quickly.

She grabs a blue vial.

Rolling down her sleeves, she walks nervously back into the control room. Neither Mallory nor Edgar pays her any mind. Everyone’s eyes are glued to Soldier Boy and Homelander. Father and son. It’s biblical.

It’s as if she isn’t even there.

Her veins twitch, her blood boils. It’s tingling in her fingertips.

“Little help would be fucking appreciated!” Ben yells as he wrangles with a defunct Homelander.

Stan Edgar’s smile. So vicious. So cold. So calculating.

She knows the air in the room is about to shift. Her hands ball into fists by her side, gather their energy.

He gives his command. She screams.

“No! That wasn’t the fucking deal!”

Edgar doesn’t even look at her fully. A sideways glance is all she’s worth. “Take her out, too.”

Mallory sees it first, her eyes widening when she realizes what’s going on. It’s too late to warn anyone, however, her cries for help unheard as the acid rots her throat.

Edgar and two guards are next, metal weapons melt and mix with a puddle of human soup on the ground. Then, she goes after the one that got away.

The third guard hurries inside the prison cell, but Y/N slips through the crack of the door before it slams shut. The first gunshot goes clean through Homelander’s spine, but the second is deterred and only strikes Ben’s arm as the guard bubbles to a pond, a hot spring in the concrete.

Ben clutches his bleeding wound with a hiss before his green eyes lock with hers. They widen, and it takes him a moment to make sense of it all.

“Y/N, what–”

He takes a step forward. She takes a step back.

“Don’t come near me,” she orders him with panic blinking in her eyes like a flashing alarm. Her chest rises and falls with every anxious breath.

He holds his palms up high, surrendering. “It’s okay.”

Ben carefully walks around her and steps over the bubbling human puddle on the floor. He peeks outside the door, purses his lips, and nods in impressed satisfaction.

“Those little blobs outside–”

Y/N bobs her head at his unfinished question. “Mallory and Edgar plus two guards,” she replies.

“Nice job.” He whistles lowly and shoots her a devilish grin, taking a step closer. “Gotta say, I’ve never been more turned on by you. I’m getting fucking hard.”

“Ben!” Y/N scolds and backs away from him until she’s pressed against the wall. “I told you, don’t touch me,” she warns him again.

Ben’s smile fades as he recognizes her fear. His features soften, the jokes disappear. “Hey, it’s alright. Twenty-four hours and you’ll be fine again. Just gotta get through it.”

Y/N shakes her head, tears welling in her eyes. Ben’s brow knits in confusion, his face stern.

“What-… Why are you shaking your head?”

A tear escapes and streaks her cheek. “It won’t go away in twenty-four hours,” she chokes out. “They were out of Temp V.”

Ben’s face drops at the realization. “No, no, no… Tell me you didn’t fucking do this!” he yells.

“They were going to kill you! What was I supposed to do?” Y/N explains tearfully.

“Die, Y/N! You were supposed to let me fucking die!” Ben’s jaw tightens as anger surges through his body.

“I didn’t let you die the first time! What made you think I would let you fucking die right now, huh?” Y/N cries through gritted teeth, her hands balling into fists. “Stop trying to kill yourself. You fucking promised me!”

Licking his lips, Ben swallows. He’s quiet, running a palm over his face while his mind races a mile a minute. “Okay… alright,” he says finally, his voice significantly calmer now. “Where did you get the Compound V from?”

“There’s a lab here,” she replies in the same calm manner.

“They got more?”

“Yes.”

“Good.” Ben nods and finds her eyes. “Show me.”

Y/N presses her lips into a thin line, shaking her head once more. “No.”

His anger returns, nostrils flaring as his brow creases. “What d’you mean no?”

She swallows thickly. “Look, if you really wanna do this, then I won’t stop you,” she says, a pleading glimmer haunting her eyes. “But you finally got a chance. You can live the normal, boring life. You can go on road trips, see Mount Rushmore… I know you want to.”

Ben swipes his tongue over his teeth and averts his gaze. He pinches the bridge of his freckled nose, and Y/N can see that she’s right.

“I’m not even sure if I want powers,” she continues after a pause. “But at least this time it was my choice. And I don’t regret it if it means I got to save you, okay?”

When Ben finally looks at her, it breaks her heart. “I don’t wanna be alone.”

Y/N gives him a sad smile. “I know… And you won’t be. I promise.”

Their attention is then temporarily drawn to a groan on the ground. Y/N’s brow furrows as she looks at Homelander’s body and notices his fingers twitching.

“Is he still alive?”

“Looks like it,” Ben replies. But as Y/N gets ready to take care of the problem, he stops her, holding out his flat palm. “Wait, wait, wait… Judging by the wound, he’s gonna be a fucking vegetable. It’s a waste of a kill.” He then grins mischievously at her. “I’ve got a better fucking idea. The other question is: how the fuck do we get outta this place… alive?”

Y/N’s mouth opens, but she doesn’t have an answer aside from a helpless shrug for him. This is as far as she has planned. Actually, she hasn’t planned any of this at all.

“I might be able to help with that,” a woman’s voice sounds behind her.

Y/N’s eyes widen as she recognizes the newcomer, her mouth parting anew in both surprise and shock. Ben, on the other hand, furrows his brow and glares at the stranger as if she had just spoken Russian.

“Who the fuck are you?” Ben prompts and then leans closer to Y/N, whispering in her ear, “Kill her.”

Y/N frowns, but her eyes are glued to the young woman in front of her, the familiarity sinking in. “I can’t,” she grits through her teeth.

“Why the fuck not?” Ben asks now loud enough for everyone to hear, including their guest.

“Because I’m the president,” the woman replies, smiling complacently. “And an old friend.”

Ben’s brow creases even more. “President of what? Cunt-town?”

“The United States, Ben,” Y/N tells him flatly. If she could kick his leg right now, she would. Leave it to her husband to get them both killed.

“Wait, a skirt is president?” Ben arches an eyebrow and mutters, “No wonder this country’s going to shit…”

“Charming,” Victoria Neuman says with a small sigh, but seemingly unbothered by the old-school views. Much like Y/N, she ignores the comment and doesn’t take offense to it. “I can see why you married him,” she adds wryly, looking at Y/N.

“Technically, she wasn’t elected. She was Vice President till President Singer died… accidentally,” Y/N explains, knowing Ben only reads the paper for the sports section and the comic strip. She swallows the thick lump in her throat, her heart thrashing wildly in her chest.

“Ah, I know what that’s code for.” Ben smirks coolly. “Bold move. I can fucking respect that.”

“Yeah, God knows some old fuck’s approval is what I’m looking for,” Neuman taunts, the sarcasm dripping from her red-painted lips.

Ben’s face drops as a bit of anger bubbles up inside of him. That bitch is lucky he’s V-free. He forces a tight-lipped smile. “I’m just saying I would’ve done the same thing, okay?”

“No offense, but you’re too much of a moron for that,” Neuman replies dryly.

Ben’s nostrils flare as he grits, “Offense fucking taken.”

“Okay!” Y/N tries to cut the tension with a nervous chuckle, pushing herself between Neuman and Ben. “How about you just tell us what we have to do to get out of this one?”

“See? She’s smart,” Neuman says and smirks at Ben. “I’ve always liked you, Y/N. You know, when Stan and Grace told me their plan of getting you two involved, I warned them. But they just wouldn’t listen. Everyone always underestimates the orphan. I should know, and so do you. Isn’t that right, Y/N?”

“Yeah, guess we’re MVP, after all, Nadia,” Y/N says and makes it a point to emphasize her real name.

Victoria just smiles in response. “So, since you took care of two problems for me, one in here and one out there, I have a proposal for you.”

“What is it?” Y/N knows she’s really out of choices. Either she agrees, or Ben and her will spend the afterlife together.

“I need a new Chief of Staff. I want you to do it. You’re smart, driven, and I know you wanna change shit around here. You wanna make a difference? This is your chance,” Neuman proposes. “You can’t take the cure again. It’s going to kill you. Trust me, we’ve done studies, and the results are not pretty.”

Y/N thinks for a few breaths. “What about Ben?”

“I guess he can live. It’s not like he’s a threat to anyone,” Neuman says and almost sounds bored. “Hell, for all I care, we can even make Soldier Boy a reformed hero for dealing with Homelander. He dies heroically in battle and quietly lives out his retirement in fucking Florida or some shit. We get him a big fucking statue. It’s good publicity.”

Y/N shares a look with Ben. “What d’you think?”

Thoughtfully, Ben clicks his tongue. He supposes it’s the best deal they can get, and declining it would probably get them nowhere, although he hates everything about it.

Swallowing, the former supe nods. “Alright, let’s fucking do this,” he agrees and states his conditions, “But for the record, I’m not moving to shit-ass Florida. I want a nice lake house in Minnesota.”

Victoria rolls her eyes. “Fine, whatever. Minnesota it is.”

“You okay? You ready?” Y/N checks as Ben has made it up the stone steps and halts in front of the big, red door.

“I don’t know. You really think this is a good idea? I’m not sure I can do this,” Ben says and insecurely eyes the entrance.

“You’ll do great, alright?” Y/N smiles encouragingly. “I believe in you.”

“I don’t wanna do this alone. What if I fuck up?” Ben asks.

Amused, Y/N chuckles. “Oh, you’re for sure gonna fuck up.”

The green-eyed man scowls. “That’s fucking reassuring. Thanks.”

“Look, this way you won’t be alone. I’ll wire you money every month and check in as much as I can, alright? You can always call me. This isn’t the end,” Y/N soothes his worries. “Maybe one day there’s a cure that’ll work, and we can be together again for real.”

She forces a weak smile to her lips, although she doesn’t believe her own words. But as long as Ben believes them, it’s enough.

“Okay.” Ben nods and takes a deep breath – in through his nose and out through his mouth. “I think I’m ready now.”

“Good.” Y/N sends him a smile. “You thought of a new name yet?”

“I’m still marinating on it,” Ben grumbles.

“Well, marinate faster. I have to introduce you.”

As they enter the orphanage, Y/N checks them in at the reception and fills out all necessary forms. Ben taps his foot nervously and scratches the back of his neck as they wait before one of Y/N’s former colleagues walks in with a little boy in hand, who’s no older than five.

Ben tries to smile but isn’t sure if it looks creepy, so he stops and opts for a more neutral expression. Y/N, however, immediately kneels down to the young boy and smiles brightly at him. It causes Ben’s heart to ache. She deserved to have all of this, but instead, she gave it all up for him.

“Hey, Benny,” she greets the boy. “You ready to meet your new adoptive parent?”

The boy scrunches his brow in careful suspicion as he eyes his future father-to-be. “I guess so,” he says. “Is that him? He looks like he drives a fucking minivan and offers candy to kids. Are you sure he’s not a pedo, Ms. Y/N?”

Ben purses his lips, biting the insides of his cheeks. The initial smile was definitely a mistake. They’re not off to a good start.

Y/N presses her lips together to muffle her snort. “Yes, Benny, I’m sure,” she replies patiently. “He’s cool, trust me.”

“Fine, whatever.” The kid rolls his eyes. “As long as he’s not fucking vegan like Ms. Teresa. They’re the worst.”

“Ugh, agreed! Do I look like a fucking plant-shitter to you?” Ben asks the boy rhetorically.

“No, you look like a fucking pedo to me,” the boy retorts.

Ben grins broadly at Y/N. “I like the kid. I think I get what you mean now. I see the resemblance.”

“Well, great. Glad you two are hitting it off… I think,” Y/N says with a crinkled brow, although a part of her is doubting her idea. Honestly, it’s wild she’s trusting him with a child. A year ago she would’ve thought that it was insane. “Alright, uh, Benny, this is, uhm–”

“Sam,” Ben proudly introduces himself with his fake name and shakes the kid’s hand. He then notices Y/N’s strange look. “What?”

“Nothing, just… you don’t really strike me as a Sam. That’s all,” she tells him in a whisper-tone, shrugging.

“Oh, really? Well, I don’t give a fuck. I love it,” Ben quips, grinning rather smugly.

“Fine.” Y/N sighs. She turns back to little Ben with a smile. “You guys ready to hit the road?”

“Where are we going?” Benny asks curiously and promptly takes Ben’s hand, dragging the older man through the doors. He’s been waiting to get out of the orphanage for a while, the excitement of finally being able to leave visible in every step he takes.

It’s a fresh start for both of them.

“Uh, Mount Rushmore,” Ben answers.

“Cool! Can we get burgers on the way there? I’m starving.”

“Sure can, kid.”

Y/N can see Ben’s initial hesitance until he eventually accepts it and eases into the situation, holding the boy’s hand tightly. He helps the kid into the car, even puts the seatbelt on, and shuts the door behind him.

Her heart twinges as she watches the two, wishing she could go with them if things were different. However, she knows the risk is too big. She would never forgive herself if she hurt either of them. She doesn’t trust herself enough yet. Maybe someday she can.

“You okay?” Ben asks as he sees the unshed tears brimming in her eyes. He’d dreaded this day for the past few weeks, hoping she’d still change her mind. He hates that this is goodbye, but he supposes he has to set her free now.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Y/N says with a forced smile, but a tear escapes and rolls down her cheek.

“C’mere.”

Y/N protests as Ben slings his arms around her and pulls her flush against him, holding her tightly. He hasn’t touched her since that night, but he doesn’t care anymore. He presses his lips against hers and tastes her one last time.

Breathlessly, Y/N withdraws and sniffles. “Are you fucking insane? I could kill you.”

Ben simply smiles at her. “Hey, if I die kissing you, then that’s a fucking great way to go out. ‘Sides, insanity is contagious,” he quips and sends her a wink. “Thank you… for everything, you know?”

“You’re welcome,” she says quietly and swallows harshly as the tears fall freely now. Not every film has a happy ending. “I guess I’ve done my job as your sponsor. You’ve been successfully rehabilitated.”

Ben snorts. “If by that you mean I’m fucking boring and responsible now then yeah, you’ve done your job.”

“You won’t be bored for long. The kid’s already trying to hotwire the car,” Y/N tells him, laughing.

“Wha–” Ben spins around and points a warning finger at the boy. “Ay! Hands in your fucking lap!”

The kid raises his palms in surrender and yells, “Hurry the fuck up!”

With a shaking head, Ben turns back to her. “Gotta watch that kid like an eagle,” he mutters. He exhales a dreaded breath and licks his lips. “So, I guess this is goodbye, huh?”

Y/N smiles softly, the corners of her mouth reaching her dimples. “Maybe.”

Little Ben gets me every time 😂 Alright, now you may yell and complain, but I love this bittersweet ending 🥲 (But of course, you're welcome to send in requests. Whether it's deleted scenes, bonus shots of a potential future, or some fun Big Ben/Little Ben drabbles)

Thank you so much for reading, for your gifs and comments! It's so appreciated! Without them, this would only be half the fun 🤍

I'll announce future plans soon. The final five of Plastic Hearts will probably be next up. Get ready 'cause it's another wild one! 🌟

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Series Tags: @nancymcl @fics-pics-andotherthings-i-like @sparkydonugh

[ethereal-writes]

An Unwanted Interruption (Ft. Lucifer and GN!MC)

Warnings: Slight romantic implications? (Lucifer has a crush on the MC if you squint)

Word count: 0.7k

A/N: I've had a bunch of Christmas/winter themed stories in my drafts for a while, I figured it was about time to polish them up and post them! This will be the first of many :D This is also somehow the second Lucifer-centric fic I've ever written. This concept had me giggling the entire time I wrote it, so I hope you enjoy it!

I think I added all the right warnings, if I should add any, please let me know!

-Ethereal ^J^

Story below, please don't claim as your own!

Lucifer had agreed to take you to the human world during the holiday season.

While Christmas in the Devildom was alright, they hadn’t begun celebrating the holiday until much more recently, when Christmas became less about religion and more about spending time with those you love.

Christmas in the Devildom didn’t have the same history and tradition that the human world did.

Which is why you were so ecstatic, even if you were only going to a mall for a few hours.

“Come on, let’s go!” You said impatiently, bouncing on your heels.

“The human world is cold this time of year, is it not?” Lucifer asked, buttoning up his jacket.

You could’ve sworn he started going even slower just to spite you.

“It’s cold, but it’s not that cold,” you emphasized, gesturing to your outfit. You two were going straight inside, and you didn’t feel like lugging a ton of winter gear around. “You know there’s heating in the mall, right?”

Lucifer rolled his eyes but finished buttoning the rest of his coat quickly. He tugged on his gloves, then turned to you. “Very well, let’s get going then.”

He wrapped an arm around your waist and tugged you a little closer. “So the both of us will be teleported,” he claimed.

He mumbled something you couldn’t be bothered to decipher -though it sounded vaguely Latin- and next thing you knew, the two of you were standing in an empty alleyway.

“Holy crap, we’re here!” You exclaimed, unable to look away from the snow glittering in the sunlight. Even as the cold wind whipped at you, you could still feel the faint traces of the sun’s warmth.

“Of course we’re here,” Lucifer scoffed. “Did you really think I’d fail?”

You rolled your eyes good-naturedly, though your mock-irritation was quickly replaced by excitement once more. “Now, come on! I know where we are! The mall is this way!”

You grabbed his hand and began leading the way through the snowy streets. If Lucifer had a problem with that, he didn’t say so.

With the enthusiastic pace you’d set, the two of you had made pretty good time, and were by the front entrance no more than ten minutes later. The first set of automatic doors opened, and the two of you stepped inside.

You sighed in relief as a wave of warm air hit you, then you turned to Lucifer. “So, what did you want to do first?”

“I don’t have a preference,” He answered, tugging off his gloves and tucking them into his pocket. “I figured that I would allow you to choose what we did today, seeing as you’re more familiar with this environment than I am.”

“Oh!” You paused a second, thinking. Lucifer always took your opinions into consideration, of course, but him having none of his own was exceptionally rare. “Well, when I’m here, I usually go to-“

You noticed a woman had approached the two of you, patiently waiting for you to finish your conversation.

“Ah…can we help you?” Lucifer asked.

She smiled, pulling a book out of her bag— Oh no.

“I was wondering if you had a moment to talk about our Lord and Savior?”

You were certain you had an expression of absolute horror on your face and couldn’t form a coherent sentence if you tried.

Thankfully, Lucifer took the reins and answered. “Oh, no thank you.” He smiled at the woman politely.

“At least take this, then?” She held the book in his direction, and he recoiled.

“I’m sorry, madam, but I can’t touch that. I may literally burst into flames.”

You brought your hand up to cover your mouth. You weren’t sure if you were absolutely mortified or about to start crying from laughter.

“What, are you a Satanist?” She asked, scowling.

“Certainly not,” Lucifer said, sounding offended at the mere suggestion. “He wishes.”

That response was enough to push you over the edge, unable to contain your laughter. This prompted strange looks from literally everyone around you, but you didn’t care.

The woman stared at you a long, long moment before she finally turned around and left, which only made you laugh harder.

Lucifer looked at you a moment. Though his lips were pressed together, you could see him cracking a smile too.

“I-I’m sorry!” You exclaimed between fits. “I- I didn’t know what to do!”

He chuckled. “That wasn’t the first time, and I’m quite certain it won’t be the last time someone approaches me about my father. I’ve gotten good at responding. You, on the other hand…” He simply smirked at you, which made you start laughing all over again.

[yanderes-galore]

I Simp for peach and bowser XD now I’m wondering how would it go if their were Yandere rivals who trying to win the reader hand in married 🤣 would their still be rivals or work together and come a poly 😝

I am such a Bowser fan so sure, lol. I need to give Peach some attention on here anyways. This is general but leans more game-based.

Yandere! Peach vs Bowser

Pairing: Romantic - Rivalry

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Manipulation, Kidnapping, Mentions of marriage, Forced marriage, Rivalry, Jealousy, Obsession, Forced relationship implied, Violence.

This is actually a pretty neat pairing.

You most likely knew Peach first and you're a "human" (?) like her.

You are close friends with the princess and her valiant heroes, Mario and Luigi.

Her obsession would be more likely to spark first as she doesn't need to kidnap you to fall for you.

You just visit her castle for chat and she can't help but fall for your voice.

Peach often plans to bake you cakes and you two are usually seen alone.

You just like to think you're best friends with the princess, completely unaware of her dark intentions when she looks at you.

You're so innocent... you don't have a clue she intends to marry you in the future.

Peach would be Manipulative, Caring, Obsessive, Delusional, Patient, Protective, yet Temperamental at times.

This is different than Bowser, who's Possessive, Impatient, Protective, Caring, Persistent, and Intimidating.

Although the two DO share the Protective and Caring trait despite their differences.

Due to them sharing this trait, when the rivalry eventually starts, they theoretically could share.

That's challenged by Bowser's impatient and possessive trait, however.

How this may start is with Peach, as said before.

The princess had fallen for you when she first met you.

You had helped the Mushroom Kingdom a few times before from other threats such as Bowser.

You didn't often fight but you did hand the two plumber brothers info you could snag.

Since then you often visited Peach, either invited or checking in to make sure she's safe.

Peach finds your care for her flattering.

You don't just care for her as a princess... you care for her as a close friend and ally.

The princess often tries to make herself look her best around you and always asks what your favorite treats are.

If you don't like cake she tries to practice making other things.

Peach is a yandere who thrives on physical contact.

Expect to be bombarded with hugs and friendly kisses on the cheek or forehead as greeting.

It's her form of getting the hint across.

Peach often bribes you to stay in her castle, using the excuse of you making her feel safe.

Peach would he manipulative due to the power she has in her kingdom.

If she did ask for your hand in marriage, there's a lot of pressure on you.

For the most part Peach is subtle with her manipulation.

She wants to make you fall for her without forcing a betrothal first.

Peach is incredibly caring to your needs.

She has wealth and a spacious castle... completely surrounded by mushroom servants loyal to her orders.

Don't you feel at home here?

She can get you whatever you wish... all the gifts and affection you could ever want....

She's patient yet delusional.

If you turned her down when she asks for your hand, she excuses it as you being shy or nervous.

It's fine if you're not ready yet...

She can wait until you are!

Although... constant/frequent rejection can make her irritated.

She may hit a breaking point if you keep ignoring her.

Lastly, Peach is protective.

For good reason, too, as soon she'll realize she's not the only one in danger...

Turns out, Bowser doesn't want Peach as his little special one now.

Which should be a relief to the princess, right?

Wrong.

That's because she learns you're his new target.

Bowser's obsession probably starts more after he kidnaps you.

Maybe he met you when you were helping Mario and Luigi one time and couldn't stop thinking about you?

The Koopa King is lonely... normally he kidnaps Peach to help with that.

But maybe his attempts with you will be different?

This could go two different ways.

Bowser kidnaps just you...or he kidnaps Peach and you by accident, which sparks his obsession.

If he kidnaps just you, it becomes very similar to the Bowser concept here.

He intends to have you help with his children and keep him company.

He is awfully impatient with waiting for you to love him.

Once he's attached he dreads the idea of letting you go or giving you up.

He's also protective, especially when Mario and Luigi show up to take you back.

Despite his intimidating strength, height, and persistent behavior... he's caring.

He truly just wants affection, and unlike Peach, you may just give it to him.

He had no idea the reason Peach didn't reciprocate was because she liked you.

Bowser isn't mad at you for stealing Peach's attention... he understands, honestly.

But now he's mad at the princess, causing the rivalry.

If you were the only one kidnapped, Peach will help Mario and Luigi to save you.

Peach's determination surprised the brothers when she asked to help get you back.

They probably don't know how obsessive she is with you.

Peach is determined to drag you back from that overgrown lizard no matter what happens.

Meanwhile, Bowser is determined to defend you and your "relationship" with his life.

He's already planned a wedding outfit for the both of you and gave flowers!

Then there's if he accidentally kidnaps you both.

This way keeping you is unintentional, but Peach desperately pleads with Bowser not to hurt you.

So he relents and allows your presence.

This is another way he can become obsessed.

Originally he thinks Peach is the one for him.

He pours all of his affection and attention into Peach, said princess ignoring it in favor of pouring hers into you.

At first, Bowser doesn't notice the attraction Peach has for you.

That is until he falls for you and notices how Peach acts around you.

How could he be so blind?

Peach loves you... but you don't love her like that...

Which means he must have a chance!

Expect fighting when they both find out they have a crush on you.

It's mostly verbal but they certainly don't get along.

Peach screams that he'll hurt you by accident!

Bowser growls that she's been so rude to him, she has Mario and Luigi, why does she need to have you?

They both want to marry you, a choice that intimidates you.

Peach promises you'll be her adored royal consort in the Mushroom Kingdom!

Everyone will love you.

Bowser claims, with a bit of an ego, that you'll be the fearsome consort of his Koopa Kingdom!

Everyone will fear you and him!

Peach wants to dress you in white with fire flowers for your wedding...

Bowser wants you in white too, but with pirahna plants for your wedding...

They fight and fight.

When Mario and Luigi eventually show up for the rescue of you and the princess, they're met with the two arguing over you.

They're confused but try to rescue you both anyways.

Even if they shared they'd still have fights over wedding plans and lack of attention.

The two royals would probably war with each other over something as simple as who you like more.

Truth is, after what you've seen, you're scared of both.

It's best you move away or hide someplace, honestly.

If you run from them who knows when they'll stop chasing you.

This rivalry could tear kingdoms apart... it's best you try to stay out of it in the end.

"Love, why do you look so scared? Bowser's the bad guy here... I'm just trying to make you happy!"

"Dear, don't look so sad... our kingdom will be the best in the land with you on my side!"

[starfall-spirit]

Read on Ao3 | Part I

Summary: In a world were designation was everything, it was bad enough being caught in the middle as a beta. Strong enough, but never at the top of the pyramid, despite bonding a dragon revered among human and dragon kind alike and channeling a signet seen once in a century.

To present as an omega behind enemy lines... well that was an entirely different sort of curse.

CW: Dub-con, Non-consensual marking, Smut in general

Part II

Xaden

“Did you have to tell him my intentions for Violet?”

“I’ve kept plenty of your secrets, boy. I won’t lie to my mate when he asks a simple question about his rider.”

“Sgaeyl—”

“Tairn and Andarna knew the risks of bonding an omega when they chose the girl. They only waited this long to tear into you because they hadn’t sensed her presentation.”

“Will you kindly remind him that she’ll be in the worst of her heat long before they reach Navarrian soil regardless?"

“Why don’t you tell him yourself?” 

Xaden scowled. He wasn’t about to touch that mental bond with a ten foot pole. Turning back to Violet, his displeasure only deepened when he noticed the smug little smile she wore. She was completely convinced her rescue team had arrived and she’d only be a few hours behind her squad mates in returning home. He wondered how long it would take her to realize the next dose of the serum cutting off her signet and mental channels had been served in her food before the first could wear off.

“Liam, make sure she doesn’t do anything stupid.” Like run through the Riorson House in nothing but his sweater. He doubted anything short of his mark on her neck would be a deterrent for the other alphas occupying the building. A day or two more and that would no longer be a problem.

“BRING THE GIRL!”

“Fuck,” he hissed. He’d never had another dragon in his head and Tairn was doing nothing to mask his fury.  “Nevermind. Just do me a favor and make sure people aren’t losing their minds out there.” Jaw clenched, he gathered the pants and underwear he’d stripped off of his omega just an hour ago. “You may see your dragons, but don’t think for a moment you’re getting on one of their backs.”

She swallowed, eyes widening slightly when he knelt to help her into her clothing. “Are you going to stare all night, or do you want to see your dragons before you’re glued to that bed for the next week?” Her nose crinkled at the reminder of her impending heat, but another deafening show of impatience from outside had her scrambling to dress. She didn’t even bother mouthing off about how he hadn’t brought her a suitable top, too concerned with reaching her dragons before all the noise turned into actual damage.

Keeping a firm hold on her arm, Xaden guided her back downstairs and out of the building where the two scaled beasts had announced themselves. It was Andarna who shot forward. Though the Scorpiontail was fully grown, her youth was shown all too clearly by her impulsive behavior. Xaden had never given any credit to the rumors a feathertail had bonded the youngest Sorrengail, but now he could see for himself it was a reality.

Tairn growled low, the sound more of a threat to him than a correction even as Andarna stopped short, a blast of hot breath breaking across his face. Protective of both females, then. “Release my rider. She will gather her armor and fly home tonight.”

Violet trembled beside him. It wasn’t out of fear. She knew and trusted these dragons, likely more than her own flesh and blood. The next time he drew a breath her soft scent was all he could gather—almost cloying in its new strength. 

“You’ll fly her home? How much time could you shave off of a seventeen hour flight, Tairn. Because I don’t think she’d make the trip and be in any form to choose an alpha you’d find more exemplary. I haven’t tried to pretend I deserve an omega, but the fact remains she was caught on Tyrrish soil. I have every right to claim her for making the mistake of crossing our borders without invitation.”

“I can make the trip just fine,” Violet spat.

Xaden ignored her protest, suppressing his smirk as she tugged the collar of his sweater away from her neck. “You made some gamble in choosing an omega as your rider. I won’t try to dig out an explanation for that. I honestly don’t care.”

“The first smart decision I’ve seen you make tonight.” 

“Tell me then, why you think this is the worst option for her? Staying in Aretia, being able to fly and fight for the right side of this war after she’s marked? Can you guarantee Navarrian leadership is going to overlook her dynamic to keep her signet active, or is she going to end up passed around to a bunch of assholes who want to knock the great Sorrengail line down a peg?”

He wasn’t about to mention he’d be sharing her with Liam. It was a better case than he’d painted with his little speech now, but it wasn’t going to help him by any means.

“You know the real war we’re fighting here, Tairn. Let her fight it too.”

“Flying will help.” Violet insisted, stubborn to the very end. “The cold air…” 

She made a soft little sound, stumbling towards Andarna when Xaden finally released her. The female coiled around her to preserve the body heat Violet was already struggling to regulate. Angry as they were with him, both dragons knew she had a better chance of gaining a purpose here than in Navarre.

Tairn growled again, eyes glowing brighter with the sunset long passed. “You will give her the antidote to whatever drug you’ve been using to block her signet and communication immediately. If you make any attempt to put her at a further disadvantage than she already is, you will learn very quickly that dismemberment doesn’t always end in loss of life. Is that clear?”

“Your terms are agreeable.”

Andarna glared as he took a cautious step closer. “Let me get her back to her nest, Andarna. It’s the best thing either of us can do for her at this stage. Please, let me prove to you that I can help her through this.” She relaxed, slowly uncoiling her tail to release Violet who thankfully only hesitated a moment to stagger back to him, despite having not heard half of the conversation. “Let’s get you inside, little one.”

~~~~~

Violet

Violet was less than pleased with her dragons’ recap of what had been said when their bond was silenced. Logically, it was the best course of action, but her instinct to run as far from this place as possible was still barely cutting through the mental fog of her looming heat.

“Did they truly release Rhi and Colin?”

“We crossed paths when they first took flight," Tairn told her. "They’ll be back at your assigned post by now.”

“Good.” 

She drifted towards the bed again, worrying her lip when she realized just how much of Xaden’s clothing she’d gathered in her nesting phase. “It’s natural, even if you hate the alpha arranged for you.”

Arranged. She didn’t think she’d ever heard her dragon speak so delicately. “Careful, Tairn. You almost sound concerned for my state of mind.”

He grumbled something in his own language that had Andarna tittering and Violet couldn’t help but smile. “I won’t bother requesting you maintain your shield through your heat. Ours will remain in place, but this will likely be an interesting experience for all of us.”

Violet groaned. “Just what I need. Two unwilling voyeurs.”

“In truth a human’s mating cycle is not so different from a dragon’s. Especially the younger generation. When—”

“And that’s enough of that. Thank you, Tairn.”

Even if one of her dragons was inclined to expand on that thought, Violet doubted she’d do well in listening. It was one change after the other. A volley of sensations that left her breathless and aching. Alongside the building fire under her skin there was a sharp cramping in her abdomen, slowly morphing into an incessant throbbing. A moment later her pants were soaked through.

“Fuck no.”

“Violet—”

“Get out of my head!” 

She could feel the sting of emotion from Andarna. Regretted yelling at her dearest friend the moment the words had been projected. But she’d meant it, too. Her careful control was being ripped from her in a matter of moments and the only solution was found in an alpha she wanted nothing to do with. It was all humiliating enough without being coddled through it.

She hadn’t realized she’d dropped to her knees until she was being lifted up and cradled against a warm chest, the now familiar scent of leather and mint washing over her. It was almost as soothing as the low purr Xaden offered so freely. “Into your nest, now.” She whined when her back hit the mattress and he pulled away. “I’m not going anywhere, Violet. Just gonna get you out of these pants again. You’ll be more comfortable.”

He groaned when he caught sight of the slick clinging to the fabric of her underwear. Long and low, the sound sent a shiver through her body. “Gods, Violet. By the end of this heat you won’t be able to sit straight in that damn saddle.”

Violet winced as the throbbing between her legs grew, desperate to find some sort of friction to temper it. The moment she aimed to press her thighs together, however, Xaden had his knee up between them. His chest was parallel to hers then as he leaned down to whisper in her ear. “You will not hide from me, Omega. If you need something, ask for it like a good girl.”

The fabric of his pants was rough against her skin as he applied a bit more pressure and let her roll her hips as best she could from her position on her back. “Ask me.” He reached under the sweater she wore, thumbing over her nipple. “You’re going to break for me one way or another. Why resist what you want and need, Violence?” 

She let out a frustrated growl, forcing herself to go still against his leg. “Don’t need an alpha.” Her hand was flying before she could think better of it, but her heat had already left her sluggish, and Xaden hadn’t lost his senses the same way she had. He saw the blow coming, pinning her wrists to the bed with one hand before she could think to do it again.

Then his teeth were at her neck.

He hadn’t bit her hard enough to leave a permanent mark, but the sudden pressure did what it was intended to do, reminding her of her place in all of this. Establishing his control of her in a way that couldn’t be misinterpreted. She went still beneath him, a whimper caught in her throat when his hand dropped between her legs, two fingers dragging through the hot slick there.

After a moment of teasing her that way the pressure lifted just enough for him to land three stinging swats directly over her clit. She wailed from the shock of it, still nearly frozen beneath him when he finally pulled his mouth from her neck. “Try again, Omega.” 

She swallowed. Pushed through the need, the craving that had every muscle and bone aching. The desire to feel him claim her completely. It wasn’t real. It wasn’t what she wanted when she was in control of her body and mind. “Don’t,” she rasped. Xaden leaned down to hear her better. “Don’t. Need. An. Alpha.”

He pushed off of her, leaving her to flounder in her attempt to master the desire and relief warring within her. “What are you doing?” she asked, watching wisps of shadow slither across her nest as he retreated, smoothing down his clothing. Her arms and legs were spread wide before he finished straightening his clothing. “I’ll be back in an hour. Maybe then you’ll have another answer for me.”

Her discomfort morphed all too quickly to panic. But Riorson was already out the door. She tried to breath through it, ignore the unforgiving bindings around her limbs and the smaller shadows licking across oversensitive flesh. He was likely still nearby if their security hadn’t dwindled. Might even be able to hear her through the door if he’d lingered or returned early.

It didn’t take long for Violet to realize she had no chance of winning this game. Of making it through this heat alone, even if he released her. She sobbed as a particularly brutal cramp set in, low and punishing. It felt like a consequence for her stubbornness. She hadn’t even realized she was begging until the anxiety clouding her senses was soothed by that same low purring from before. 

He’d been listening after all.

“Say it again,” he crooned, stripping his clothes and letting her add the soft cotton shirt to her nest. “Tell me what you need, Violence.” She hesitated. “Say it again, Omega.”

“I need you.” His hands ran up her legs, almost entirely wrapping around her trembling thighs. “Please, Alpha. Please.”

He shuddered, dipping his head to scrape his teeth across her scent gland. “Not so hard, was it?” Even when her bindings fell away he left the more delicate shadows to tend to her, teasing her breasts as he began to move down her body, stopping when he was level with her center and lifting her legs over his shoulders. The warmth of his breath shocked her, but he was quick to still her squirming, hands gripping her hips. “There’s a good girl. Such a sweet little mess for me.”

She wasn't sure why his words settled her so easily, but she didn't exactly have time to think on it, either. The heat of his mouth was all she knew after that. Every stroke of his tongue indulgent to himself even as they replaced that awful cramping with something softer, rapid in its growth. She reached down to card her fingers through his hair, her grip tightening when the rough pad of his thumb worked over her clit. Every muscle in her locked at the sensation. “Don’t try to hold it in,” he growled, “or it’s going to be a very difficult week for you. Come for me, Violence.”

Sobbing, she gave into the need. Shed her pride for the relief she knew she could find, no matter how she felt about Xaden Riorson as a person. There was no more talking after that, his verbal encouragement falling away to touch alone, every stroke of his fingers across her skin a bridge that let her first orgasm roll straight into a second.

“Good girl,” she heard faintly. 

“Need—” 

“I know, Violet.” 

He eased her legs down from his shoulders, stripping out of his pants before kissing a trail up her body until he could run his fingers through her hair. Twist the length of silver and brown around one fist and kiss her, the taste of her slick lingering on his tongue. Another shift and he was folding her legs to keep them spread open, dragging his length through her slit.

She sucked in a sharp breath. “Easy.” He lined up, just teasing her with the tip for a moment. “Breathe for me, love.” Resuming the stimulation to her clit, Xaden pushed into her little by little, humming his encouragement when she tried to stop or slow his steady claiming. She was panting by the time he’d fully sheathed himself. 

“You take me so well, sweet girl. Look at you.” He was moving before she could say a word to stop him, hips rolling up against hers at a languid pace she didn’t know how to match, feeling so restless. “Stop,” he murmured when she attempted to reciprocate. A pillow was shoved under her a moment later, tilting her lower body at an angle easier for Xaden to work with. “Relax, sweetheart. Stop worrying. Just take what I give you.” 

“Xaden, I can’t—” 

His next thrust was sharper, deep enough to tease her with his knot. Her fingers dug into his biceps, hard enough to bruise, but whatever pain they left behind didn’t seem to serve as any sort of deterrent. He set a firm rhythm and it broke her down faster than she cared to admit, slick coating them both, her face pressed to his neck, breathing in short puffs against his skin. And gods spare her, his scent gland was right there, close enough to drive her to insanity. Close enough to bite. 

He grunted sharply, hips jerking from their rhythm when she dared to pull him closer, lick the salt from the column of his throat. “Violet, fuck.” Whether it was a reprimand or loss of control, she wasn’t sure, but his teeth sank into her neck for the second time that evening, the shock of his marking throwing her over the edge again. “So pretty when you come for your alpha,” he crooned, tongue flicking over the broken skin. “So pretty with my mark on your neck.”

It was right there, that niggle of dread she knew she would feel now that he’d staked his claim on her. The anger, simmering beneath the inferno of her need. All of it was right there, just out of her grasp. Because now—even after three mind-numbing orgasms—the only thing she could think about was taking his knot. 

“Please, please, please, please…” She groaned, back arching. “Xaden, please.”

He groaned again, hooking one hand under her knee to force it up to her chest. “Say it again, Violet. Say my name.”

“Xaden, Xaden, Xad—” A wail left her when he finally seated himself past the knot, holding her tight until the swelling locked them together at last. The only freedom she had was her hands, some deep seated instinct to mark him forcing itself to the surface. She clenched her jaw tight, denying it, and refocusing that energy to claw down the length of his back.

No mercy. No escape. His final claiming.

He spilled inside of her with a gruff shout, dropping her leg to fist the pillows behind her as if he was afraid to mark her that way. Part of her—that little part she hated—was struck by it. Part of her wanted to wear the bruises he could leave behind. But the other part of her was going to remember just how much she hated him when the heat broke. 

Violet let it win, muffling the whimper crawling up her throat. 

“Shh, I know, love.” She didn’t realize she’d started crying until Xaden flipped them so she could lay over his chest, his knot still locked inside her. She was so damn full like this. She loved it. Loathed it. Worst of all, needed it.

She clenched around him, gasping for breath. “I don’t… I don’t want this.”

“I know,” he repeated, running his finger up and down her spine in steady strokes that did nothing to ease the heat already building low in her belly. Gods, she already needed him again. “I know it’s not fair,” he continued, slowly wrapping her hair around his fist. “I know it’s not the romance you envisioned. I know you don’t want it. But you’re done fighting it. Do you understand me, Omega?”

Violet braced against his chest, shivering. Even as she sat astride him, it was crystal clear who held all of the control in their arrangement. If it could even be called that. Entrapment might be more accurate at this point. 

She ground her teeth. “You aren’t—” But he was her alpha. Whether she’d consented or not, the man had his teeth in her neck just minutes ago. She was marked. Claimed. His to torment or pleasure at his own discretion. There was no fight here she could pick and win. “I understand.”

“Very good.” She gasped, caught off guard when Xaden started to lift her off of him. “Easy, love,” he cooed, all but manhandling her to put her down on her belly. “I think we both know you’re in no state to ride my cock at the moment.” She winced. Despite the steady need taking hold of her senses, she didn’t think she could handle another round yet. “Relax. I’m going to get you cleaned up. Then you can get some rest.” He moved to the connected bath before she could respond, returning a moment later to part her legs long enough to clean her up before drawing up one of the fluffy blankets from the border of her nest to tuck her in. The juxtaposition from his attitude about her cooperation was startling, but she dismissed the thought, sinking down further into the pillows around her.

“Get some rest, sweetheart.”

~~~~~

“You’re sure you want this?”

“Liam.”

“No offense, Xaden, but you don’t exactly share well.” 

Violet sensed a hand running though her hair. Feather light, yet somehow close enough to possessive to send a rush of pleasure through her—another base instinct she had no chance of fighting. She was practically preening under her alpha’s touch. 

She really, truly hated Xaden Riorson. 

Of course his marking of her meant she also really, truly needed him now.

“Our infantry on the border received a missive. Tauri wants proof of life regarding his prized weapon.”

“We’ll worry about that when her heat’s broken. Right now my concern is seeing her through it. Are you going to be a part of that, or not?”

There was a pause, then, “She’s got a hell of a spirit. Considering how stubborn you are, I think you’ll tear each other to pieces without someone in the middle.” 

The mattress dipped behind her and her grip around Xaden’s waist tightened on instinct even as the warm pressure of a second body secured her from rolling back. “Good morning, little omega,” Xaden crooned. “Sleep well?”

As well as she could when her heat was wrecking her sleep pattern, the ache between her thighs a constant torment. Gods she’d never been so sore. Or so needy. She shut her eyes tight, trying to breathe through the next crest of her heat. Ignore the slick coating her thighs. “Oh, sweet girl.”

Xaden started to reach down between her legs, but she jerked away, straight back into the hard wall of muscle behind her. Liam. “Please. Can’t—can’t take a knot right now. Hurts.”

Both men seemed to soften at that. Even if Xaden had taken her choice in all of this away, part of him seemed to be a decent alpha. A caretaker. “Alright, love. Something a little different, then.”

She yelped, startled when Liam started working her open from behind, whispering instruction and praise against the soft skin of her neck just above her scent gland while two thick fingers stroked her slow and deep. She just about melted into the nest. “That’s it, honey. Just lie still. Let your beta make you feel good.”

She moaned, long and low. The heat was still building, and far more rapidly than when she was still shaking the fog of sleep. Liam had told her to lie still, but— 

“Easy. You’re alright. You’re alright, honey. Just gonna help you.” His fingers curled, pressing up against her slick gland. The touch was so unexpected it threw her over the edge before any of them expected, drawing out a sharp cry. “Perfect omega, so pretty when she comes.”

“The prettiest little thing,” Xaden agreed, pushing up until his back was against the headboard, legs spread enough he could stroke his hard length as he watched Liam take care of her. “Why don’t you come up here with me, sweet girl.”

Violet managed to push up to her hands and knees with a bit of guidance from Liam as she was still a bit off kilter from her first orgasm of the day. She crawled up the bed until she was between Xaden’s knees before pushing up to meet his eyes.

“You may think the worst of me at the moment, but I have no intention of hurting you when I can help it. That said, while I won’t make you take my knot—” He brushed his thumb across her lower lip. “—I do intend on filling you up one way or another.”

Just a handful of words and a single touch from her alpha and her belly was clenching tight, that pool of heat returning. She wasn’t going to survive the week, that much she was certain of. “Alpha?”

“Relax, little one,” he cooed, cupping the back of her head with one hand. “Alpha will help you. Just show me what that pretty mouth is good for, hm?”

She swallowed hard, but let him guide her down, appreciative that he was letting her set the pace in this. She started slow, little kitten licks meant to tease. It was a strange balance, wanting to please him as her alpha and punish him as her captor. But it was one she thought she’d enjoy immensely, especially as she watched his body begin to tighten, his hand twitching where he played with her hair as he fought the temptation to push her down.

“Violet,” Liam warned from behind her. “Keep playing games and you won’t get to come either.”

She shivered at the promise, but ended her teasing then and there, wrapping her lips around the head of Xaden’s cock. His hand tightened in her hair for a moment, but it was the only sign he gave that her mouth had any affect on him. “Go on, sweetheart.” She sank down another inch  before drawing back, setting a steady rhythm until the tip hit her gag reflex. 

A bit panicked, she tried to pull off of him only for Xaden to finally establish control, holding her just shy of the point she choked. He clicked his tongue, brushing a tear from her cheek with the hand that wasn’t currently fisted in her hair. “Going to have to train that out of you, aren’t we? Teach you to open up for your alpha.”

She’d never particularly enjoyed sucking a guy off. Most of her escapades before and in the quadrant had all been quick fucks, straight down to business. Her short time as an officer, well, she was more concerned with her assignments than men. To put it simply, deep throating was far from her specialty.

But again, there was that incessant part of her desperate to please her alpha. She took a breath, leaning forward the slightest bit. “That’s it. My good girl, eager to please, hm?”

She hadn’t realized Liam had left the bed until the the mattress dipped behind her and his fingers returned to her aching core.

More more more more. 

As if he heard that silent plea he removed his hand a moment later to drag his tip through her drenched slit. Gods.

He filled her from behind in an easy slide that stole the breath from her lungs, his path aided by the copious slick she’d secreted. Violet whined again, the sharpness of the stretch lingering without the full force of her next heat wave to soften it. 

She jerked against Xaden again, nails biting into his thigh until he released her. “Wait,” she breathed. “Just…”

Liam stilled behind her, thumb sweeping across her nape in steady, soothing strokes until she all but became one with her nest. “That’s it. Good girl. Alright now?” She nodded, mumbling something just coherent enough for him to chuckle against her shoulder. “We’ll take care of you, sweetheart.” 

He kissed across the black and gold of her relic, left a scorching trail down her spine with his hands moving parallel, all the way to her waist. “Fucking perfect,” he groaned, jerking her back by the bend of her hips and thighs to realign her with Xaden’s lap. “Every inch of you.” The next thrust of his hips had her gagging around her alpha once again, but this time she was determined to prove herself capable of pleasing him. Relaxing her throat, she timed herself to Liam’s steady pace behind her, delighted when Xaden finally began to break beneath her, his breathing shifting, hips tilting up ever so slightly. 

The next punch of Liam’s hips struck something particularly sensitive and she moaned low and deep. “Fuck, Violet,” Xaden hissed. “Keep that up…”

She wasn’t going to last much longer either. Not with the way they were handling her between them, mapping her body to find every sensitive point they could. She was a fucking mess, driving straight towards the brink of her next orgasm, barely able to focus on the one task Xaden had given her. He cursed again. “Almost there, love. Want you to take every bit of it.” His hand wrapped around her throat and she shattered, clenching around Liam and finally feeling him spill inside of her. 

Xaden was the last to come. Pushing as deep as he could go, he spilled down her throat, holding her until she stopped fighting the intrusion.

The surrender. She didn’t imagine giving that control could be so freeing. He finally pulled back, lifting her chin until he was certain she swallowed the last of his seed. “Our perfect girl.”

She blinked up at him slowly, a weightlessness setting in she didn’t quite understand.

“Feel… floaty.”

Both men chuckled, Liam helping her to settle back into the bed while Xaden left them just long enough to bring some water to drink and wet rags to clean up the worst of the mess. He was quick about cleaning her up, knowing she was sensitive even before Liam took her. The only protest she gave was a little whimper her alpha quickly soothed with a kiss to the forehead before settling in on the side Liam hadn’t occupied.

“How are you feeling, love?” She hesitated, looking down. “Violet?”

“It scares me.” He cocked his head, waiting. “I don’t trust you. Not in the slightest. But I want you. Want to please you.” She glanced over her shoulder to where Liam rested, playing with the ends of her hair. “Both of you.” 

Just your basic needy omega. Pathetic.

Xaden sighed. “It’s going to take time, longer than I’d like, for you to trust us, Violet. But I marked you last night. Claimed you as my omega. I’m afraid you’re stuck with us.”

The fact that that very statement didn’t make her rage was what scared her most of all.

[lou-struck]

Operation: Stay Away Cupid Pt. 4

Obey Me! Datatables (minus Luke x Mc!)

Featuring: Simeon, Diavolo, and Barbatos

Warnings: Lap Sitting, Shoulder Rubs, Asmo using his charm (not on reader),

~ As your Valentine's Day starts to wind down you seem to be coming up with more questions than answers as you observe everyone's odd behavior.

MASTERLIST HERE

Asmodeus’s jaw is clenched as he walks through the empty hallways of RAD. His pact mark with Solomon burns brighter beneath his skin as he gets closer and closer to where the troublesome Sorcerer is hiding. 

“Ohhhh Solomon, I know you’re in hereeee.” His singsong voice echoes off of the stone floors with an alluring quality. “Come out and have a chat with me.”

He pauses and waits for the enchantment in his voice to draw the Sorcerer out. 

One way or another, Asmodeus will be getting an answer. 

Impatiently, the Avatar of Lust crosses his arms and lets out an annoyed huff. “Solomon, you better come out here right now, or I swear I’ll send my Fanclub after you, and then you’ll be sorry.” 

The threat, paired with his charmed words, is enough to have the white-haired Sorcerer poke out from behind a bookshelf; his gait has an unsteady dreaminess to it, and his fair skin is kissed by a faint blush. A tell-tale sign that Asmodeus’ power has reached him. 

If he wasn’t so frustrated with the Sorcerer, he would’ve been proud of his handiwork. After all, he hadn’t been able to charm Solomon in centuries. 

His pink lips turn upwards in a satisfied smile as he watches Solomon rub his eyes to shake away the enchantment’s effects. The Sorcerer smirks, his eyes no longer dancing with the tendrils of Asmodeus’s charm as he speaks. “Oh, Asmodeus, how was your romantic boat ride with Mc?”

“Oh, don’t act all innocent with me.” Asmo seethes, balling up his fists childishly at Solomon’s nonchalant antics. 

He cocks his head to the side. “Whatever do you mean?”

“You lied about the cupid thing and tried to ruin my date with Mc.” The demon pouts, jutting out his perfectly glossed lips.

“Me? Lie?” he says innocently, “What gave you that Idea?”

“I think I know your magic a bit better than everyone else.” he coos almost murderously, “That little feather you sent my way ruined my special kiss with them earlier.”

“I guess you caught me. It was fun while it lasted.” Solomon smiles and settles onto one of the benches, and Asmo does the same. “Tell me, is everyone aware of my little ruse?”

Asmo’s perfectly manicured finger taps his cheek in thought, “I think all my brothers are aware of the situation now.”

“I see, and if Lucifer knows, he would’ve told Lord Diavolo.” the human mutters. The twisting feeling in his gut was the first sign that maybe tricking some of the most powerful beings in the three realms wasn’t the best idea.

“Don’t forget Barbatos.” Asmo winks, sending a deep shiver down the Sorcerer’s spine. “You know how scary he can get when he’s angry. Especially when our sweet Mc is involved.”

Solomon’s mind drifts to you, the sweet human who has endured a handful of crazy dates today with all seven avatars of sin. 

“Asmodeus, may I ask you something?” he asks, a heaviness in his heart as he realizes that he forgot something extremely important when pulling off his little prank. 

“What is it?”

“I-I didn’t ruin Mc’s Valentine’s Day, have I?” He asks the question softly, with a weakness that reminds the Avatar of Lust that his Master is still human. 

The demon smiles softly, thinking back to your adorable little smiles on the boat. And the giggles he heard down the hallway when you and Beel were making your chocolate-covered strawberries. “No, they seem to be enjoying themselves today. But I’m sure that if we were to have actually had our little kiss, it would’ve been even better.”

He hasn’t ruined your day. 

Solomon’s heart can beat again. 

“Butttt, don’t think you are off the hook yet, Solomon.” Asmo smiles, grabbing the human’s hand and pulling him towards the door, his superior strength proving to be too much for the human. “Mc has a few more dates today. But now, so do you.”

Barbatos ~

Your hair is ruffled from your nap date with Belphie, but you hardly have time to fix it now. If you did, you would be late for your date with Barbatos. Your heart thrums in your chest as you get closer and closer to the place gardens, your designated meeting place with the Butler. 

The enchanted stone pathway lights up under your shoes, guiding you to a section of the gardens you have never been to before. 

The gentle sound of swaying willow branches dance in your ears as you are led through a curtain of some soft floral vines. An unexpected wind brushes your shoulders as you reach the other side and see the Butler waiting for you.

Although he doesn’t see you right away, you can’t help but notice the irritated way Barbatos curses under his breath as he scrolls through his DDD. A deep shiver runs along your spine when you come to the realization that he looks pissed.

“H-hey Barbatos,” can you say nervously, hoping that he’s not upset at you for running a bit behind schedule. But the look of genuine happiness that appears on his face when he notices you easily frees the worry from the forefront of your mind. 

“Oh, there you are, Mc,” the Butler is followed by an enchanted lantern that illuminates his elegant features with an ironically angelic glow. “I was worried you had lost your way out here, but I am glad this wasn’t the case.”

“I hope you weren’t waiting too long for me. I had a bit of a delay in getting here. “You admit bashfully. 

He places a comforting hand on the small of your back as he walks you past the entrance to the stables, much to your confusion. “don’t worry about it, I had some loose ends to tie up so it works out perfectly. “

“Is something the matter? I saw you on your DDD looking a bit frustrated,” you murmur, feeling relieved that you haven’t completely ruined his plans for the two of you.

“Nothing I can’t handle. Lucifer had just informed me about a tricky little rat roaming around the Devildom,” he says bed early. And it may just be a gut instinct of yours, but you have a feeling that he’s not talking about an actual rat. 

Does it have something to do with why everyone has been acting so odd lately?

Is there some kind of Devildom-wide hatred of the Cupid mascot?

“My dear?” he says, pulling you from your thoughts. “Although it warms my heart to see you looking so concerned on my behalf, I assure you, everything is under control. There’s no need to worry at all.”

 There is so much care in his emerald gaze it makes your knees feel like jelly beneath you. You stumble forward into Barbato’s arms, and as expected, he catches you as if you were made of the finest porcelain in the three realms. “Careful now, our date has just begun. It would be a shame for a sprained ankle to come along and ruin our time together.”

“Sorry,” you grin, enjoying the warmth of his touch. “I think I got a bit too excited.”

“Nothing to apologize for, but I have to ask. Dear, will you be warm enough?” 

“I’ll be fine. It’s not too cold out here.” you lie. Obviously he sees right through it and gently removes his uniform jacket.

“Here, this will keep you warm until we are inside. I won’t take long, I promise,” he murmurs tenderly, wrapping the garment around your shoulders. You breathe in the gentle scent of linen and rose petals gratefully as he leads you down a pathway that definitely wasn’t there moments ago.

“Inside?” You look around and only see the place’s lush greenery. “Are we going back to the palace?”

“Not quite, but I think you will enjoy this just as much.” he beams. And with a wave of his hand, two tall hedges part for you, revealing the cutest little structure behind them. A faint smoke wisps out from its chimney, and light pours out from the blown glass windows, illuminating the dark ground with rainbow prisms of light.

“What is this place?” you ask in a hushed voice.

“A place for the two of us.” he smiles, “We are the only two beings in the Devildom who are able to make it through the barrier, aside from the young master, of course.”

A grin of childlike enthusiasm spreads across your face at his words. “You got me a secret clubhouse for Valentine’s Day?”

“It appears I have.” he smiles before looking a bit self-conscious. “Is this gift to your liking?”

“Of course it is,” you answer excitedly, wrapping your arms around his lean frame. “Thank you for sharing this special place with me.”

“Anytime.” he hums, leaning into your embrace. “I hope the two of us can spend many hours hidden away behind these walls.”

“I do too,” you smile, just realizing that you haven’t given him his gift yet. “I know it’s not an enchanted clubhouse, but I got you something too.”

You hold out the perfectly wrapped parcel for him to take. “Whatever it is, I’m sure it will be wonderful,” he says eagerly. 

Even in his excitement, he still manages to unwrap the gift without ripping any of the actual paper. And when he opens the box of intricate-looking tea bombs, you swear you saw his eyes turn glassy. 

“These look amazing, what are they?” he asks, intrigued. “Some kind of tea?”

You got him something that he has never seen before. If you could pop yourself on the back without embarrassing yourself, you would. “they’re called tea bombs. All you have to do is drop one in a teapot and add hot water. They’re getting pretty popular in the human realm, so I thought you may appreciate trying something new.”

He admires the gift once more before holding out of hand or two. “thank you for such a thoughtful and considerate gift. If it’s all right with you, shall we head inside our new clubhouse so we can prepare one together?”

You nod excitedly and take his hand. “I’d be delighted.”

“Wonderful, like this little cottage, this is something I only wish to share with you.”

Simeon~

Why is it that everyone else seems to know the coolest places in the Devildom?

This question crosses your mind as you sit across from Simeon at a Greenhouse cafe, the little tea table in front of you decorated with candied flowers just waiting to be snacked on. Somehow, the warm, bright light that streams in through the enchanted glass above you looks and feels just like the sunlight you have missed so dearly.

“This place is amazing.” you say earnestly, “How did you find it?”

He blushes and somehow manages to look even more perfect than he had just a few moments ago, “I got lost one day trying to follow the directions on my DDD and ended up here. Some may call it an accident, but now, with you here across from me, I know in my heart it was fate.”

His praise warms your heart like sunlight. The angel’s sincerity and poetic way with words has you falling for him more and more every day. 

But… 

Despite his sweet words and love in his eyes, you can tell that he looks a bit nervous. His posture looks painfully rigid, and he looks around the empty cafe as if he is expecting some kind of ambush. 

Furthermore, you couldn’t help but notice how Simeon has been using every opportunity he can to touch you, The fuzzy tingling on your skin, a tell-tale sign of his angelic rejuvenating power coursing through you. Almost as if he is protecting you from something. 

Although you do not mind his constant attention and polite little touches, it troubles you to see how paranoid he is acting. 

Just like how Mammon and the others were acting at the beginning of the day. 

You’re not an idiot. And after your date with Barbatos you felt like whatever situation that was occurring behind your back had resolved itself.

Whatever was going on with them, it seemed that no one thought to tell the angel that everything was okay.

“Um, Mc, may I please hold your hand?”

“Of course, you can,” you reply, holding one of your hands out for him to take. As he does, you give him a little squeeze and send him the most reassuring look you can muster. Sure, you could try to interrogate him. But forcing him to tell you the truth doesn’t sit right with you. 

“I don’t know what’s troubling you, but I promise everything will be fine,” you say, not wanting to push him anymore on the subject. You decide now would be the best time to give him his Valentine’s Day gift. 

You reach into your bag and pull out his little gift bag. Your movements are slow, so the sound of liquid crashing against glass doesn’t give away the surprise until he opens it. 

“Is this for me?” he asks, taking the bag’s strings and setting it before him. You nod and watch as he gently removes the tissue paper and pulls out the enchanted cologne bottle you got him. The liquid inside is a potion called bottled nostalgia. It is scentless until the user recalls a fond memory or smell and sprays it on themselves. It took you weeks to find the one vendor in the devildom who makes it, but you finally managed to track her down with the help of Simeon’s number one fan, Leviathan.

The angel is silent as he reads the information card, understanding the importance of the bottle in front of him. “Mc, you must’ve put in so much effort in choosing this gift for me. Thank you. I know every time I use this, I will think of you and smile.”

“I-it was nothing,” you say, successfully flustered. 

There is a knowing look in his gaze as he gives you a soft smile. “You truly are amazing, Mc. I apologize for not giving you my full attention earlier. It’s not much, but I, too, prepared a gift for you.”

He slides a beautifully sealed envelope in front of you. Your name is penned elegantly in liquid gold on the front. Not wishing to destroy such a beautiful stamp, you fiddle with the wax seal tentatively until it gives way. 

Simeon is an amazing author, and as you pull out the letter, you realize that he had written you a letter in the same golden ink as on the front. Its beauty brings you to tears, and as you read the lines aloud, the greenhouse fills with a warm, bright light.

You shield your eyes from the source and look at him with all the love in the world. As the magic slowly fades back into the ink.

“My gift to you is the sun. You are the light of my life. It only makes sense that I can gift you something worthy of the title.”

Diavolo~ 

As you walk up the grand marble staircase of the palace, you begin to regret the simple little cardboard box in your hands decorated with glittery hearts and stickers. 

The Devildom Price has long been fascinated with human traditions, so you thought it would be fun to give him a box of cheesy Valentine's Day cards, the same ones your class would pass around this day when you were in primary school.

You made sure to fill it with lots of different human-world candies, stickers, temporary tattoos, and cute yet corny pickup lines written from your own hand. 

‘It’s not too late.’ the voice of doubt whispers into your mind. ‘You can turn back now and find something worthy of the prince.’

Your legs are shaking, and your self-consciousness gets the better of you, but just as you are about to turn and walk away from the large doors of his private quarters, the doors part, and you meet the kind, citron gaze of the Prince of Hell. 

“Mc, I’m so glad you made it.” his joyful voice declares as he looks over you. “Come in. I bet you’ve had quite the exhausting day so far.”

You nod shyly and step inside. You try to tuck the cardboard gift box you decorated behind your back, but he notices this immediately. 

“What’s that you’re holding? He asks, sitting next to you on his crushed velvet sofa. For such an intimidating Demon, his presence has such a calming effect on your nerves. 

“I-it's for you,” you murmur, holding the box out to him with both hands. “I thought you would appreciate getting a Valentine’s Day mailbox of your own today. But If you don’t like it, I ca-”

“You made this just for me?” he asks, sounding touched as he carefully removes the box from your hands as if it was about to shatter with the lightest touch. “I’ve never received a gift so thoughtfully homemade before. It’s refreshing.”

“So you like it?” you say, hope evident in your tone as he opens the box and starts to look at the little Valentine's cards you made for him.

“I love it. This is wonderful.” he laughs, peeling a lip print sticker off one of the cards and placing it on his cheek. It looks so wonderfully odd on his fine jawline that you can’t help but laugh along with him. 

“I wish I would’ve made one for you as well,” he admits. “Perhaps we should do this for everyone next year.”

“That would be so fun.” you smile, feeling a bit nostalgic at the idea of sending cheesy valentines to all your favorite guys.

“I got you a gift as well,” he smiles, removing a long black velvet jewelry case from the table in front of you. You had been so worried about your gift, you failed to notice it earlier. He opens the box and reveals a surprisingly simple pendant with a delicate silver chain and a small gemstone the color of his eyes. “I wanted you to have something you can wear every day.”

“It’s beautiful.” you smile, admiring the simple yet elegant jewelry.

“Would you like me to put it on you?” he asks hesitantly. You nod and his warm smile returns to light up the room. “Please come closer then.”

You climb up onto his lap as he secures the delicate little clasp around your neck. “This is perfect, getting to keep you close like this,” he murmurs into your ear as you relax. 

“This is nice.” you hum happily. 

“Have you had an interesting day so far?” he asks, feeling the tenseness in your shoulders. 

“That’s one word for it, you sigh, feeling at home against his broad frame.”

“Would you like to talk about it?” 

As the Prince himself gives you a shoulder massage, you spill the details of your long yet very romantic day. You also share with him the unexplained feathers, floating hearts, and shadows that freaked the others out so much on your dates.

At the end of your story, he chuckles heartily, and you turn to meet his gaze, seeing the look of guilt and amusement on his handsome features.

“You know why everyone’s been acting weird, don’t you?” you ask, knowing in your heart that you are finally getting some answers.

He laughs and presses a kiss to your forehead. “I do, but I think it would be best if you were to hear the truth from everyone.”

You turn your head to the side and feel rather confused by his wording. 

“Everyone?”

Tagging: @enchantedforest-network, @chaoticotaku, @nicksworld0715 , @ikevampharem, @ppichippi , @rabba-vee, @alexisjustheree, @scienceisfornerds, @rustybucketofghosts, @ihatecorns, @ignorxntf00l, @sleeppykitten

[mandoriana]

The cat king and the naive duckling

sorry for my english

Edwin goes to the lake in the park where the cat king is waiting for him with two little gifts, one of them being a Forget-Me-Not flower and the other gift being a book: "Occult III – Little Deities".

"I don't understand, what's the point in giving me all those books if the only one I needed was in your possession?"

Thomas shrugged, but didn't let Edwin take the book yet.

"I like being useful, but I like it even more when it benefits me." Edwin arches his eyebrow in confusion and waits for a response from the king. The cat king rolls his eyes almost affectionately, sometimes being romantic required patience, especially if your partner was so slow in understanding. "In exchange for this particular book, you and I will spend time together, understand?" 

The ghost accepts the proposal to walk with the cat king and takes advantage of the situation to get some answers.

"Well I have to ask, tell me, do you have any information on where a 'new goddess' could be?" 

Thomas smiles with sharp teeth showing, he doesn't want to talk about it right now, but he wouldn't miss the chance to get a talk with Edwin.

"There are four distinct planes: the terrestrial plane; hell, which you already know; "paradise", which is where the "good guys" go; and Neitherland, a plane parallel to the terrestrial where incorporeal creatures inhabit. Yes, generally, where the gods take refuge when they are forgotten or have no worshipers.

"I see" Edwin nods, busy writing down everything Thomas says in his notepad, the cat king doesn't like that Edwin only has his eyes on the notebook, but he likes knowing that everything he's saying is being heard. "By any chance, have you ever been to this other plane of gods?"

The cat king laughed, his laugh high-pitched like a cat's meow.

"Oh God, no. Unlike what you can imagine, neither me nor my other 'brothers' are little gods or something, in fact, if we were, we would have already dominated humanity, after all, we are worshiped by men on the internet a lot more than any other god you may know."

"But if you and your brothers aren't minor deities or something, what exactly are you? I mean, how do you become a king or queen, what makes you so different from other cats?"

Thomas smiled, finally Edwin had stopped looking at the notebook and was now looking in his direction.

"Merit"

"What?"

"Every cat king or queen was once just a normal cat, but we are given powers and a noble title when we do something that is important. I, for example, spent two of my nine lives as a normal cat before becoming who I am now."

Edwin tilts his head in confusion, Thomas feels happy to have all the attention directed to him and continues talking.

"At the beginning of the last century I met two beautiful little girls, lovely children who took me into their home, they were rather sad at the time and I..." The king clears his throat, Edwin watches the man's features turn melancholy, "Anyway, I just didn't know why I was so sad. But I stayed with the girls, I stayed until they reached the human majority, and then I left..."

The ghost to walk and watch the king in front of him, the park was empty and there were only the two of them, but Thomas seemed to be watching something that only he could see.

"I don't understand, what important act gave you your title as king?"

"Honestly? I don't know" Edwin stares and the cat smiles, it looks like the same mischievous smile as always, but Edwin can see it's fake, the king looks dark all of a sudden, almost grumpy, Edwin can tell by the black tail that wags impatiently behind her skirt.

"If you don't know, how can you say that these are important acts that transformed you?"

Thomas from the shoulders.

"I don't know why the girls were important, but it was after them that they gained a human form, then the lost cats gathered around me, and then I gained my title, I left the big city when the war started, I moved to a village in American and never leaves there." They continued walking, Edwin lost interest in the cat story he was thinking to him so blatantly "Anyway, as I was saying, your little friend must be in Nemland, if you haven't seen her collected death and the finds department and lost people have not yet appeared to hunt the lost soul, so there is a good chance that your friend has been reborn with the help of another deity."

"Is that even possible?"

Thomas rolls his eyes, a conversation was starting to get annoying.

"Sedna was just a human girl when the gods took pity on her and revived her as a minor deity."

The realization hit Edwin. It is clear! Tragic Mick had gifted Niko with one of his prized possessions, a gift probably from his mother, Sedna. Could it be possible that, like the ancient gods, Sedna took pity on Niko?

"Oh"

Thomas stares at the ghost teen with confusion, his confusion increasing when Edwin thanks him with a smile from ear to ear.

"Well, you're welcome? I mean, I'm glad I could help."

"I need to go" The cat king intends to protest, but Edwin is faster, the ghost kisses the king's forehead and takes advantage of his surprise to take the book from Thomas' hands. "See you at the next meeting"

The cat king can't find words to say as he watches Edwin walk away.

Office

While Edwin and the cat king were talking, Charles got tired of waiting for Edwin in Crystal's room and when his friend fell asleep, Charles passes by the mirror and prepares to talk to Edwin, but doesn't find him in the office, all of which proves that his friend What was there is the envelope on the table, probably the report for Charlie the Night Nurse.

Not knowing where to go or where to begin his search for Edwin, Charles sits at the table and thinks about the changes since returning home and how Niko has affected Edwin, he reflects on how it seems things were changing despite Edwin promising that nothing would change after all the talk on the stairs of hell.

Well, Edwin didn't change much, but there were details that shouldn't have bothered Charles but did, details like Edwin was no longer receptive to casual touches between the two of them, apart from the last time they hugged, and he no longer touched Charles without reason too, it was terrible, but Charles respected his friend's space, after all maybe it was just the trauma of being dismembered manifesting itself again.

As Charles laments the physical distance between him and his friend, Edwin enters the office with a cheerful smile, a small bouquet of flowers and a faded orange book under his arm.

"Hey Edwin, where have you been, mate?"

His question scares Edwin and seems to take the other ghost out of his thoughts, with the surprise of seeing Charles Edwin hides the flowers behind him, which doesn't help to laugh at Charles' worries, after all, what did Edwin have to hide from him?

"What are these flowers..." Edwin ignores the question and passes by his friend without letting him take the bouquet.

Without looking at the other teenager, Edwin said, "I have great news" and concentrated on searching the office for a container where he could put his flowers. "I spoke with Thomas, and I found out some information about astral planes." Edwin gets a vase, or rather, gets a bottle with sand (Payment for a case with pirates in 2001). Charles wants to ask about where Edwin was and where the flowers came from, but his friend is too happy, and Charles can't ruin his excitement with questions that don't matter.

Reddam House Berkshire

The next day, Edwin and Charles meet Crystal during a class break.

"So, what, you guys think I can open a portal to, what, 'Olympus'?"

Edwin rolls his eyes at Crystal but nods.

"Of course, call Nemlândia Olympus, mix two things that have nothing to do with each other"

"Well, technicians both harbor gods, so..."

Edwin reaches out to stop Charles with a gentle touch on the shoulder, but steps back before actually pulling over.

"Let's just focus on what matters." Edwin clears his throat and doesn't notice how put off Charles seems by the lack of physical contact. "We need to make a special mixture with ectoplasm and other ingredients that will help increase your power, all we need is the next full moon, you and your psychic powers, maybe a little spiritual help from your ancestors."

Crystal doesn't seem confident about Edwin's plan.

"I don't know, I mean, I'm making progress with meditation and a little study of the books you lent me, Edwin, but I don't know if I would have enough power to open a portal to Neverland or whatever it's called."

"I know" Edwin says "You will only be a conductor of the spell, your power will be useful, but it will not depend solely on you..."

The couple turned to Edwin with confused looks, they were both feeling more vibrations before the Edwardian ghost even spoke.

"I will help increase your power."

The realization of what Edwin intended to do came to Charles.

"No"

"Charles..."

"Edwin, no"

Crystal looks between the two and finally understands why Charles was so quick to deny Edwin's plan.

"Holy shit, did you keep that thing?!"

"Obviously, we couldn't let that terrible machine fall into the wrong hands!"

"Edwin, that machine tortured you!"

Charles and Crystal look horrified at the very idea of ​​Edwin keeping the witch's torture table with him.

"Since I've never seen that in the office, I mean, I would remember seeing that thing!"

Edwin sighs, he thought it would be easier to convince Crystal to help, but it seems that neither she nor Charles were willing to listen.

"That's enough" The other two fall silent "Unless you can get more power, without my help, then Niko will remain stuck on the other side. Esther's machine hurt, yes, but it also increased the witch's power, my soul is strong, it will serve as fuel for you, Crystal, I give my permission for you to use my pain as an impetus in this spell."

Charles tries to think of something, anything that could stop his friend from hurting himself again, then he remembers the possible witch convent at the boarding school.

"Wait" Crystal and Edwin turn to Charles "Crystal what about the girls, they're from a convent or something, right? Couldn't they help if we paid or offered some help?"

Edwin turns expectantly to the only girl in the group.

Crystal shakes her head without needing to think about it.

"It was bad, Charles, but those girls aren't good, I mean, I wasn't either, but one of them already proved capable of controlling those specters..."

Charles doesn't let Crystal talk about this to Edwin, who might get upset at the mention of the wraiths of misery.

"Okay, I understand, Crystal, but let's try to think of something else, okay? Let's not resort to torture, Edwin" The Edwardian ghost nods, he didn't agree, but he was distracted by the way Charles and Crystal seemed to be hiding things from him now, it hurt him, but he didn't want to be a jealous friend so he just shut up and turned to go to the mirror.

"We have two weeks before the full moon, if I don't find something to replace my contribution to the spell, then we will continue with my plan." he said over his shoulder before disappearing through the mirror.

Charles watched his friend leave and couldn't help but feel great sadness.

"Why was he so upset, I just don't want him to get hurt!"

"Maybe it's because you're clearly keeping secrets from him?" Crystal suggests, she was tired of these two idiots being so oblivious.

"This is so hypocritical, he disappeared yesterday and refuses to tell me where he's been the whole time!?" Crystal arched her eyebrow and walked to stand face to face with her friend.

"Why do you seem so weird about Edwin going out alone yesterday? Do you think he did something stupid like trap another cat in a binding spell or..." Charles' face sours at the mention of a cat, and Crystal finally understands." Ah, so that's about it, the cat king is in town, right? I remember you saying something about him last night"

The ghost of the 80s bites his lip and frowns before muttering, "Edwin came home with flowers yesterday."

The medium opens her mouth to mock Edwin's passion for the cat king, but shuts up when she notices that Charles appears to have sucked on a lemon.

"I don't understand you man, do you have a problem with Edwin dating other guys?"

This seems to scare Charles.

"No!"

"So, what's the problem?"

The boy opens and closes his mouth without knowing how to respond, he couldn't think clearly at the moment.

The boarding school bell rings to announce the end of break and Crystal needs to leave, she turns to say goodbye to her friend, but Charles has already disappeared in the mirror.

Office

Edwin feels upset and remains silent during his search for the ingredients for the ritual. He doesn't find out much, but just watches the same paragraph for hours, trying not to pay attention to what Charles was doing.

Charles doesn't try to speak, he just stares at the flowers that Edwin placed in a vase of water and thinks about why they are there. When he realizes that Edwin wouldn't be the first to speak, Charles sits next to him on the couch and tries to get into the position they always do, but Edwin moves back to sit on the floor and continues pretending to read. Charles is upset that Edwin doesn't want to sit with him anymore and decide to talk about something, but he changes his mind and asks about the flowers.

"Ah, I got it as a gift"

Charles rolls his eyes.

"Yes, I imagine that was the case, but whose?"

"The cat king, yesterday, after I finished the Night Nurse's report, one of Thomas' subjects brought me a letter and..."

"Who the hell is Thomas?"

Edwin sighs and closes the book, finally paying attention to Charles.

"The cat king, Charles, he's Thomas, he called me for a walk in the park and gave me flowers and a book with the ritual we're going to perform, as well as being helpful with other information."

Edwin smiles as he tells how Thomas was kind to listen to his questions and how the king told him a little about his past and showed his sensitive side to Edwin.

Charles is uncomfortable with the conversation, but smiles at his friend: “Cool, mate, at least you already gave him what he wanted, right? So we won’t need to see the cat king again anytime soon.”

Edwin rolls his eyes fondly at his friend.

"Well, actually, I still have a date with him tomorrow afternoon."

"Oi!?"

"Yes, I mean, yesterday's meeting was just a walk between friends, Thomas seemed eager for our real meeting, I believe it will be a pleasant day" Edwin tries to pretend he doesn't care, but an involuntary smile appears on his face. Charles still didn't say anything, he felt uncomfortable with the idea of ​​Edwin going out with the Cat King and didn't understand why, I mean, Charles wasn't homophobic for wanting his best friend not to go out with a guy, right?

"Charles, is everything okay?"

Charles nods and forces a smile on his face.

"Sure mate, I'm happy for you"

Therapy break with lesbian aunt

After the conversation about the cat king, Edwin asks Charles to return the notebook to Jenny since they no longer needed it. Charles takes this moment to clear up his doubts while waiting for the older woman in her apartment.

Charles quickly gets bored and starts researching what it was like to be homophobic and how to be a better person, but Jenny arrives and quickly takes away Charles' notebook, recalling the virus incident to him and letting him know that it was a good thing there was no gay porn in the search tabs on your computer.

"No, I'm sorry, I swear I accidentally entered that website!"

Jenny rolls her eyes and waits for Charles to leave, but the teenage ghost continues to sit on her couch and look in her direction with wide eyes.

"God" she sighs, mentally asking herself when did her life turn into being an aunt to dead teenagers? "Okay, spill it"

“What do you do when your best friend is in a relationship with someone you definitely don’t approve of?” Jenny arches her eyebrow.

“What is it, Edwin got a boyfriend, and you decided you were going to be homophobic now, is that it?”

Charles widens his eyes, horrified: “No, of course not! I just… I just don’t like the asshole Edwin picked, I mean, the asshole just isn’t good enough for my friend, you know?”

“And who would be good enough?”

"Anyone! Literally anyone but him!”

“Okay" She rubs her face already feeling exhausted with the situation "And how about that boy with black hair? The one who paid you several visits? He seemed pretty cool…”

"No! Monty was a traitor! He was the witch’s crow, he almost killed Edwin!”

“I thought he redeemed himself by helping you…”

“Of course, he redeemed himself with me, but we wouldn’t even be in that situation if he hadn’t been blabbing about us to the witch!”

Jenny sighs and sits down in front of the dead teenager.

"Okay, and what, exactly, does it take for someone to be 'good enough' for Edwin?"

Charles thinks, entire minutes pass in complete silence before Charles gives up.

"I don't know!"

The woman throws her hands up in a plea for patience and tries again.

"Love, Charles! The only thing someone needs to be good enough for someone else is love! Have you ever stopped to think that, just maybe, Edwin really likes the guy he chose to date?"

"They're not dating!"

Jenny's patience runs out, and she rubs her face harder.

"Jesus, boy, that's not the point! I don't know why I decided to try to help, Niko was the matchmaker and not me!"

Seeing the butcher looking so stressed and still being unable to understand where she was going with that conversation, Charles says goodbye and leaves the apartment.

Office

Edwin is taking a break from his research while Charles is at Jenny's apartment, the teenage ghost is cutting his Forget-Me-Not so he can fit them into the small space in the bottle he was using as a temporary vase, the flowers were beautiful, and he was happy for having a chance to get Niko back and for Thomas being kind in helping, but feeling awkward about it, for some reason Charles seemed distant and irritated, Edwin was trying to give his friend space so he wouldn't be uncomfortable with Edwin, but Charles still didn't look happy.

With a sigh Edwin took a piece of string and tied all the flowers together without falling out of the vase, as he tied the knot he felt an irresistible desire to lean over and smell the petals, which didn't make sense since it had been decades since Even though Edwin was able to smell something, he smelled the flowers anyway. He didn't feel anything, as expected, but something certainly happened after his nose touched the flower.

To be continue…

Parte 1, Parte 2 ...

[smolghostbot]

Promptober: Strength

I said I was doing some Promptober prompts and by the gods I did a few of them so I may as well post them. This one is a super short little piece and kind of an interquel between Battle Against a True Hero and the sequel story that I swear I'm gonna post someday just you wait.

Word Count: ~500

=====

“Hey! You’re not even paying attention! Clay! Clay the Human!” Contralto called out.

Clay, who was reading a book, looked down at her, as she impatiently tapped her foot.

“What, no, I was totally paying attention. You were showing off, uh, ‘an amazing new combo’, you said.” responded Clay dryly. Contralto had showed up to his apartment earlier today, excited to show off her new skills.

“You can’t fool me… seriously, watch it! It’ll destroy any bad guys!” Contralto shouted, before she began to spin around, her needle weapons dancing through the air with surprising grace. As impressive as it may have been, the effect was mitigated to Clay by the fact that the little hero was only a few inches tall.

“Wow, that’ll definitely hurt some, uh, spiders or whatever.” deadpanned Clay. He had seen a first-hand demonstration of the little sprite’s power when they had first met and she attempted to murder him.. completely ineffectively.

“Spiders? I’m not gonna fight spiders! I’m gonna fight evil humans with it!”

“Right…” responded Clay, “Like how you defeated me?”

Contralto’s face turned red as she was reminded of her ‘fight’ with Clay. “N-no! This combo is totally stronger than that puny finishing move! I could kill you five hundred times over with this! But… but I won’t, obviously. We’re friends, after all.”

“Okay, okay. Listen, that’s, uh, a very cool combo and all, don’t get me wrong. But I thought you were, uh, not doing the whole ‘killing humans’ thing anymore?” Clay said.

“I’m not! Well, I mean, I’m not trying to exterminate all humans anymore. That goal was… too easy, yeah. But I will use my new combo to fight evil humans who try to hurt sprites! A hero has to be ready to defend the innocent, after all!”

“Right…” repeated Clay. “I guess that’s your job as a hero, after all. Just… remember what we’ve talked about, right?”

“Yeah, yeah, I know, real strength is more than attack power, you only say that every time I show you new attacks,” Contralto said dismissively, before going back to showing off her new combo.

The normally aloof Clay couldn’t help but feel a pang of worry. As much as he would never admit it, he was fond of the little sprite, and didn’t want her to get hurt. He just had to hope that she wouldn’t end up in a situation that drove her to try and fight a human. Clay had tried to instill in Contralto that sometimes the real strength was to use non-violence, in hopes of keeping her safe, but the little sprite was convinced that violence would be the answer if push came to shove. 

He only hoped that, when the situation called for it, she would do the right thing.

[psychotic-nonsense]

<< || < ||

"I was told."

'By who?'

'Eddie.'

"What are you?"

The thing just... sits there. Unblinking and still. Face still just barely compacted, like that's all it can do, the only amount of emotion it can show. Steve stares back, the burning in his eye returning for reasons he can't pinpoint. Desperation, fear, strain.

"You are still not well," the thing finally answers, slow and quiet. Restrained. Like it's forcing itself to say it.

Steve huffs out a breath, feeling stretched thin. "I just- please?" he begs. "I have to know."

It shakes its head. "You are not well," it repeats.

"Yeah, and I won't be for a while longer, especially if you don't tell me what's going on," Steve spits out, lacking in passion and volume but still standing his ground. "I'm not angry anymore, I'll listen to whatever you say, no questions, just- please."

That last sentence is what gets the thing to relax. Or, at least, for its face to go blank again. It looks off to the side, the pale shapes that are probably the equivalent to its actual eye tracing the wood of the boat. Seems to be thinking on it. Steve waits, not a little impatient.

Finally, the thing sighs, and turns back to Steve. It sets the rag down on whatever it's sitting on, and rests its hands on the edge of the boat. "Your friend," it finally says, "she had a vision of some kind, correct?"

Steve at first thinks about Robin, even glancing at her in confusion. Then the vision part clicks, and he turns back. "Nancy, our other friend, did, yes," he answers carefully.

"She told you it's contents?"

"Mmhm..." Steve's a little worried about what this might be heading towards, but he's finally getting something, so who is he to complain.

"Then you know the history of the world you call the 'Upside Down.'" Its eyes drift off from Steve's before he can nod, still so blank (Steve wonders if he should stop being so focused on that, but compared to the brief memories he has of Eddie, seeing his body, his voice, so unfeeling and monotone in comparison is just... wrong). "How the Human entered the world and took control."

Suddenly, something about the topic feels personal. Steve knows it's talking about Vecna, and nothing about its appearance or tone has changed. But Steve just has a hunch about it-

"I am the original ruler of that world. Or rather, it's spirit."

And wow holy shit he was right but that was not at all what he was expecting.

No time for a crisis or questions, though, because Steve is finally getting what he asked for. An explanation.

"I was something you humans would call a God. I controlled the world, kept the balance. I was the center of a collective mind, so my kind would never be alone, and I could keep them safe. When the Human took over, I was cast aside. Unable to die, I was forced to watch as he turned my world into his twisted vision. Turned the form I used as a body into a monster, took control of my collective and made my kind into enslaved, starving beasts. The Human drained my world of any light, turning it into the dark, stormy place you know. I took refuge in the clouds, becoming the red lightning, trying to light my world back into what it was before. I am too weak to fight the Human alone, now that he has my kind bent to his power."

Okay, this God/spirit thing may not have Eddie's nature, but it sure does have his words. And Steve may not understand most of how anything it's describing works, but this isn't the first time and it sure as hell won't be the last.

"More humans began to enter my world, and the Human would always kill them. I could not understand his anger at his own kind, or the want from other humans to keep coming back. But it gave me an opportunity. I still held some of my power. If I could find a new place to house my collective, I could regain my kind, body, and world."

Steve's starting to see where this is going, and it's turning the sight of the God/spirit thing beside him sour.

"But I am weak, only able to reach the humans when their body was weakened and their minds drifting away. I refused to enslave the same way the Human did, and wanted the original spirit present to help house my collective. But I was a stranger to them. I would always propose to help them get back home, so long as they helped me as well. Most I talked to either refused, didn't believe me, or whose minds and bodies were already gone when I could reach them."

A little less sour. A lot more hopeful.

"This was the first possible chance I had. His body was intact, kept safely within the strange structures created by the Human. His mind lingered, refusing to leave his place."

Steve sees that day again. The hardest choice he's ever had to make. Unknowingly the smartest one he ever will.

"I made my proposal, and he was the first to agree. I was unsure this would work, but he trusted me, so it did. I was barely functioning when I found you two in the woods. He recognized you, and helped me find this place."

Its voice tapers out, letting the moments prior speak for it. They stare at each other again, Steve unable to keep his face from falling into the pitiful desperation he's felt since waking up.

"So... that means you're, like- the original hive mind?"

"Yes."

"And... Eddie, is he-"

It nods. "Alive, yes."

Pain be damned, Steve can't help it. His control crumbles to pieces, uninjured hand coming up to cover his mouth. His face compresses, eyes shut tight to keep the tears contained. Guilt and confusion and fear and worry and relief falling from his eyes.

Eddie is alive, Eddie is alive, Eddie is alive, Eddie is alive...

"And... c-can he..." Steve's voice shudders, struggling to take in a solid breath. "Can he hear me?"

The vaguely guilty expression comes back as it shakes its head. "No. He would need to be in control for that. My presence keeps the injuries away, and if he were to have control, they would affect the body again." Well, that explains the glowing scars. "He cannot hear or see, but I can talk to him for you."

Steve has dreamed and feared for a chance like this. Every single hour of every day within every week that has passed since Eddie last spoke to him, since he found Dustin cradling Eddie's body, since he covered the body in blankets in Eddie's trailer in the Upside Down. Yet faced with the option, Steve is hit with so many possibilities, so many things to say and messages from their friends to relay, that he stumbles.

"Well- I- maybe..." Steve pauses, lets his brain fumble for the words. "Could you just- tell him I miss him? We all do? And-and that I'm... sorry. God, I'm so fucking sorry..."

He says that last one in a barely there whisper, partially to himself as the weight of everything crashes over him again. Not only did they lose against Vecna - lost Eddie and half of Hawkins and basically Max too - but they hardly did anything, everything just getting so much worse. And the fact that even the original ruler of the world that's been tormenting them hasn't even done any of this, has suffered just as much as them, losing its people and world and body, that its only saving grace was Eddie, that Eddie's mind lingered after his death for reasons Steve can only assume was him waiting for help...

He chokes a little on his breath.

The God/spirit thing doesn't say anything, and when Steve looks up from where his eyes had drifted away, it's just staring at the edge of the boat. The strange part is how its eyes have changed, the pale part in the center glowing brighter. Sort of reminds Steve of that look you get when you're zoned out, in your own head. Which actually makes a lot of sense in this case.

It's silent for a moment before it starts speaking again. "Eddie says, quote, 'I'm glad to hear you're okay, Steve. Thanks for the save.'" Though its voice is still monotone, knowing it's at least Eddie's words being said to him makes the relief spike again, makes him jittery. Steve lets out a stuttering, involuntary laugh.

"'I miss you guys too. Like, a lot. And you have nothing to be sorry for, I'm the one who should be apologizing.'" It goes to take in a breath, and it shudders on the way. Its eyebrows furrow again, not in guilt, but in confusion. It keeps going, but it looks like breathing is becoming hard for it.

"'I broke off from the plan, I wanted to s-stop running.'" Now it's stuttering. The words and visibly growing confusion make Steve more alert, and he sits up a little straighter.

"'I just had t-to keep D-Dus-Dustin safe, and-'" It's starting to look borderline scared now, eyes still just as faraway but moving to look at its hands, which have begun shaking. "'I n-needed to keep the... the bats away from y-you, and-and...'"

It goes to blink, and Steve sees the reflection of the glowing scars shine on the tears suddenly falling from its eyes. It cautiously brings up a hand, gently touching the wetness on its cheek and staring at the streaks it leaves behind. It goes to talk again, but all that comes out are tiny whimpers, which just scares it more.

Then it clicks. The spirit of the Upside Down may be in control of Eddie's body, but nothing could take control of his heart. This is Eddie leaking through the cracks, his true feelings breaking through the barrier of monotone and unfeeling, too strong to be contained. And the spirit - probably unaware of human emotion, based on its reaction - is left in its wake.

Cautiously, Steve reaches out to take the hand it's still staring at. Its eyes immediately snap up to meet his, fear to concern. Its eyes are still a bit brighter, and for some reason it feels like Steve's looking straight through them to Eddie.

"Is it okay if... I hug you?" he asks carefully. "I think you could use one." Who he's referring to there is beyond him, but either way, it's true.

It just looks a little more confused, trying to respond yet held back by the whimpers. So it just shakily nods instead.

Still careful with how he moves, Steve reaches up with his free hand to rest on its shoulder. Then, letting go of the hand he didn't realize was holding his so tightly, he pulls the body into his, wrapping his arms around its neck.

The spirit stiffens up at first, its breath hitching in a tiny squeak and hands staying firmly away from contact. Steve just squeezes tighter, the soreness in his eye and jaw fighting the involuntary movement of Steve's face twisting in grief.

"It's okay, Eds..." Steve whispers. He shuts his eyes, holds the body closer. "Let it happen. It's okay."

It shudders out a few more tentative breaths. Steve feels its shaking arms slowly lose steam, inching down to meet Steve's back. Feels its tensed spine loosen, chin gently resting on Steve's shoulder. Its arms finally wrap around Steve's middle, run across his spine, and that's what gets it to break. Eddie's heart overpowers the mind, and he begins to cry.

The moment the first sob comes out, Eddie's arms squeeze hard, clutching onto Steve to keep himself from falling over. Steve feels him sag into his chest, hiding his cries in Steve's torn clothes. Tears come to Steve's eyes as well, weak to Eddie's sharp hitches of breath and the muffled cries that he can feel punch out of Eddie's chest. Steve squeezes back, fights the aches that persist in his face, and holds Eddie through it.

It takes a few minutes - maybe longer, Steve kind of lost track - but eventually, Eddie's cries die down, and his breathing evens out. His tense arms gently loosen their hold, and his body sags just a tiny bit further in relief. Steve doesn't try to let go yet, though, not until Eddie's hands slowly slide up to his shoulders and squeeze once. He takes it as a sign and pulls away carefully, keeping a hand on Eddie's shoulder.

Eddie's rubbing his eyes when Steve lets go, and as he blinks the tears away, Steve watches the glowing white center dull back down, watches Eddie fade away from the helm. The spirit, back in control, wipes at the remaining face mess with its sleeve, taking deep breaths to get itself right again.

Steve doesn't expect it's crackled, "End quote." to actually make him laugh in such a time, but laugh he does. Hard enough to push a few more tears out and hide the pain in his face beneath the elation. He carefully wipes his face dry, turning back to the, once again, blank-faced spirit, whispering a soft, "Thank you."

The spirit nods, and Steve thinks he sees the tiniest hint of a smile as it does. "Thank you, too. I wasn't expecting something like... that to happen."

Steve huffs out another laugh. "Neither did I," he admits, looking away as a wave of shame suddenly passes through him. "Sorry, about all that. It was the only thing I could think of to calm you down."

He sees the spirit shake its head in his peripheral, urging him to face it again. "Do not apologize. It worked as you intended." It's eyes briefly divert from Steve's, before it cautiously reaches out a hand to rest over Steve's on the edge of the boat. "If it soothes you, I sense that Eddie could feel it as well."

Steve's heart flounders, relief surging so strongly that he can't help the smile no matter how his jaw aches. Looks right into the spirit's eyes and takes the faint glow at the center as a little bit of Eddie always shining through. "Good to know."

[howtowhumpyourhiccup]

Price

Chapter 23 - The Tip Of The Iceberg

Summary: Set during RttE, based on the episode "Gold Rush." The entire point was for Hiccup to get Berk's Gold back. Well, he's far from his goal now.

Warnings: Pregnancy

Rating: Explicit

Dead Dove: Yes

Words: 1 005

Fandom: How to Train Your Dragon

Characters: Hiccup, Toothless, Hookfang, Snotlout, Barf & Belch, Meatlug, Stormfly

Whumpee: Hiccup

Whumper: Viggo, Ryker

Pairing: Rycup, Vigcup, Hiccstrid

Author’s Notes: Almost forgot to post this today. 😐 In my defense, today has been very busy.

Enjoy!

-XOXOX-

That was it. Just that one evening and afterwards he didn’t feel sick again. But even then, Stoick stayed by his side the entire night just to make sure. Not to difficult as both him and Gobber have set up camp at the clubhouse for the time being, which is the building nearest to Hiccup’s hut. Well, the nearest besides Astrid’s hut.

Meanwhile, Dagur has taken up residence in Snotlout’s and his sister stays with her. Their stay since joining the Dragon Riders has been long enough that there would be no point in sleeping in tents, yet likely not long enough to build them homes of their own. There was no way for them to know how long it would take for them to find Hiccup, though ten weeks certainly wasn’t ideal. They refused to take up residence in his hut, figuring he would need his space and they were right.

Hiccup didn’t do well with overbearing people before Viggo, he’s certainly not going to handle them well now and these are uncertain times.

However, when morning comes, it doesn’t mean that he doesn’t look like he has been sick. He’s still pale, there’s a trembling to him and he feels cold. But all of that lasts until the morning passed. His appetite, on the other hand, hasn’t come back at all and now he can no longer stand the smell of food. It’s a trigger, the spicier, the worse the trigger.

The Dragon Riders decide he needs a little pick-me-up and what better way to cheer his mood than dragons?

Viggo may have accomplished a lot, they doubt he managed to even scratch his love for dragons.

He still isn’t flying, Toothless has been walking around without his saddle or even his tailfin as he follows Hiccup everywhere he goes. In the rare event that they do see them, that is. And no one can quite tell if the Night Fury has tried and failed or if he’s waiting for the right moment to return him to the sky. But what Toothless can do, is to drag him out of bed, out of his hut and towards the stables. There, the other dragons seem to take over. The second he catches sight of them and they of him, Hiccup works without thinking.

“Hey guys,” he smiles and he embraces each of the dragons, who leave their human partners to surround him. If the humans got to see so little of him, they got see almost nothing of him.

Hookfang scolds him for exactly that, blowing smoke at him while Barf’s head is in his arms and Belch rubs his cheek up and down his back.

Hiccup coughs. “I know, I know, Hookfang. I’ve been really unfair to you guys.”

He says it so softly, with such a loving smile that it almost makes the him they’ve been seeing for the past two weeks and a half vanish from their minds entirely. Astrid elbows Snotlout and points with her thumb out of the stables, figuring they could give them a moment to reunite properly. As she walks out, Fishlegs, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Heather, Dagur, and Snotlout follow.

At the entrance, hand on a post, Snotlout lingers for a moment to look back. Hookfang has somehow wormed his snout back into Hiccup’s arms and he purrs. Meatlug and Stormfly impatiently wait for their turn while Toothless sits on the sidelines completely.

“I’ll make it up to you guys, I promise,” his best human friend tells his best dragon friend, who makes a noise that tells them both that he’s going to hold him to that.

Snotlout is just about to move on, smiling, when he hears something troubling.

“Hey, uh, not to make things awkward, but… You- you guys still like me, right?” Hiccup asks, Hookfang’s chin in his hands. The Nightmare looks up to him, confusion only he and the other Riders can read visible on his features.

He blows more smoke, whatever could he mean?

“Dragons, they… They don’t like me anymore,” Hiccup tries to laugh it off. He shrugs and tries to laugh, but his discomfort is painfully obvious and Snotlout can’t help but stare. What the Hel does he mean?

“An-and I’m worried that, uh, that the other Dragon Riders know more than they’re- than- than they’re letting on. But, you guys know and that- and that didn’t change the way you guys see me, right? You know everything. About them, about me, and… you know.” From his angle, with Hiccup surrounded by the dragons as they listen in closely, he can’t see him place a hand on his belly.

Snotlout certainly tries to get a closer look, eyes squinting, trying not to get noticed as he leans in closer.

Stormfly chirps, confirming that they do know something. Human scents change when something inside of them does, same as dragons.

But Hiccup continues despite her answer.

“An-an-anyway, you still know me, you know that I would never ever hurt any of you. Right?” He won’t be getting any verbal responses spoken in the human tongue, not even from Snotlout. Though he is just about to stop inside, when Meatlug nuzzles Hiccup with her big sweet head and he hugs her. Stormfly places her head on his back, cooing, and Hookfang’s chin on his head. Leaving Barf and Belch to struggle to find a part of him to cuddle, too, and Toothless to sits out of the circle, just happy to watch.

They stay like this and this moment lasts, it’s doing Hiccup some good to be surrounded by all of the first dragons he ever bonded with and feel their love, even though they can smell the things that have happened to him. He’s still theirs and the Grimborns rubbing their scent all over him and putting their baby in him hasn’t changed that.

But something inside of Snotlout changes as he walks over to the other Riders and realizes that they haven’t even begun to scrape the tip of this iceberg.

[io-lu-art]

just a looong ramble analysing and rethinking Rey's character and turning whatever conclusions I get to into my headcanon without changing any plot points in TFA because I don't have the energy for that....

First things first. With everything I write here and publish on my blog from now on I refuse to believe that TROS ever existed. Everyone is free to have their personal opinions as long as they don't harass or hate on anyone, and this is mine. Almost every choice in that movie has left me scarred, even up til now, 4 years after its release. I thought I can ignore it, like any other healthy human being, but - oh boy, I cannot. If you are interested in reading another ramble on that, here's the post.

Since I am writing my own take on what could happen after TLJ (you may call it a fanfiction, I'm gonna call it a fanscript since that's gonna be its format), this post serves the purpose of getting my head clear around what's the deal with Rey, analysing, and lying down a solid foundation for my WIP. The story I'm writing has barely reached the end of Act I (out of III) at the moment I am composing this commentary, and I constantly notice that I get stuck with Rey's character every time I have to think about her for different reasons I will address down below.

I will make some rewrites as I see fit and necessary along the way for her character to make sense to me. All rewrites are in Tumblr's

chat style

This post will be linked to my AO3 fancifction as a reference for people to understand how I treat her character as soon as that one will be finished... *clears her throat* ...ANYWAY-

Let's have a look at Rey, shall we?

Rey's introduction.

When we first meet Rey, there is already a lot we get to learn about her. She's a scavenger. On a pretty much deserted desert planet. Water and food are scarce. She gathers parts during the day to sell them in exchange for food rations.

She has no friends, no family. She's lonely. And has been for quite a while. And yet, though hard, it looks like a pretty peaceful and stable life. If it were significantly different, we would have gotten introduction scenes of her battling some gangs or other scavengers for parts or something. But instead we were provided with beautiful, peaceful cinematography and John Williams' incredible score.

She manages. She manages because she has to and has never known to do otherwise. This on its own is already a very solid introduction. And it becomes even more powerful as we are provided with additional context later on, as she tells BB-8 that she's waiting for her family.

We know who she is, what she does and what she wants. No more questions, right?

Well, this is where it gets confusing, at least for me: there's one shot in Rey's introduction which always leaves me puzzled about her actual wants. It's the moment she puts on the rebel pilot helmet.

Maybe I am reading too much into it, but it feels like it kinda wants to draw parallels to Luke Skywalker in ANH? What exactly is the purpose of this shot? Is she putting on the helmet just for fun? Is it to show that she is still a kid inside? She seems to enjoy herself. Is it to show us that she maybe wants to be a pilot...? The gesture on its own is too little information to imply that, let alone that she already is a very skilled one, so probably no. Then, is it, perhaps, to show us that she dreams of more? Like Luke, who wanted to get off the planet that is "farthest away from the bright center of the universe"?

The interpretations, especially when looking at it in context to the rest of the movie could go on and on and on.

Quick detour.

The reason it works so well with Luke's character is because from the very beginning, with everything he does and says, it is perfectly clear that he doesn't want to stay on Tatooine. It's his only want when we first meet him.

Luke has friends who tell him about the galaxy. He seeks adventure.

And he's very impatient about it.

Everything he says basically SCREAMS how much he hates it there.

Now back to Rey.

Am I expecting Rey to show the same interest in getting off Jakku with the same attitude and level of energy as Luke, should that have been what TFA was going for? No, of course not. They are (supposed to be) two different characters after all. But I do believe that, given the setup, that helmet scene leaves too much room for confusing and unnecessary interpretation. (More so because I am trying my best to avoid nostalgia bait wherever I can.)

I am not denying the fact that she wouldn't have heard about the wider galaxy, that she wouldn't wonder about what it would feel like, being out there. People travel. And with people traveling, so do stories. So if you want to hint at that, do it subtly, all the while keeping the focus on her biggest want.

I might really just be reading too much into it, but still, in my humble opinion, a way to solve this confusion is cutting out her interaction with the pilot helmet completely. Let me demonstrate.

Inside her home we already see this self-made rebel pilot puppet. Just like the puppet lying around, instead of having her pick it up and putting it on,

the helmet remains part of the environment, stuck in the sand. There could even be a close-up on it as Rey puts down her empty plate next to it when she has finished eating if you really want to show it. She then rests her arms on her knees and looks up into the sky, following the ship that has just departed from the far outpost into the high atmosphere until it disappears. Waiting.

What is achieved by changing the interaction with the helmet is that it keeps her wants just as clear as Luke's. Luke wants adventure. She wants her family back. Period.

...I rewatched this scene after writing these paragraphs and yes, I admit, in the end it happens so fast that one could probably just let it pass and interpret it as Rey being very bored and using it as entertainment to wait out the days. But even if it were just that, the effects this little tweak would have on the following scenes is quite interesting to look at nonetheless.

The tweak I am going with from now on: Having her not actively wonder about possible adventures at all. She doesn't believe those stories to actually be true, because she's never allowed herself to. She's never allowed herself to actually want to ever leave Jakku.

What would it mean for her characterisation? It would make her slightly more serious and grounded. And the movie (except for the helmet scene) actually already treats her that way. Notice how she, while fixing BB-8's antenna, takes a moment to look at him before asking:

She's never seen such a droid before. At least not in such good condition. So, of course, she's curious. But when BB-8 says it's classified, she only laughs about it. "Classified? Really? Me too. Big secret," as if to say, haha, yeah, right. She rejects that possibility. And she doesn't bother asking any further, because when she is confronted with the choice to go and explore, she is reminded of her promise to herself, which is that she will wait for her family until they return.

Now, here is where I insert some very subtle "rewriting". When Rey first meets Finn, she is suspicious of him...

...and should actually remain suspicious,

instead of admiring him and falling into this, let's call it, "excited, fangirly smile"...

She doesn't know him. She has no reason to trust him. Instead, the tone of this line should be one that reflects her emotions as it slowly gets to her that those stories she's been hearing about might actually have some truth to them, that there might actually be a wider world out there. So make her be gradually interested.

Huh. This man I just forcefully hit to the ground, a Resistance fighter, knows about BB-8 and his classified information. What are the odds of that?

"So you're with the Resistance?" Rey asks suspiciously, looking down at the man.

The man stands up, brushes the sand and dust off his jacket and answers, "Obviously. Yes, I am. I am with the Resistance."

Rey frowns, "I've never met a Resistance fighter before," scanning him with her eyes. Why would there be any on Jakku? Nothing ever happens here.

"Oh, this is what we look like, some of us. Others look different."

Rey cannot help a little smile at his strange attitude. She looks back to where BB-8 rolled off to. Puzzled, she tells him, "BB-8 says he's on a secret mission. He has to get back to your base..." Even hearing herself pronounce that out loud feels so surreal to her. None of this makes any sense. Why-

"Apparently he has a map that leads to Luke Skywalker and everyone's after it."

What? "Luke Skywalker?" she asks, confounded.

CUT TO ACTION.

Whether she wants it or not, the plot forces her into the stories she's been hearing of. You don't want to believe they are real? They're real, all right. She has no choice but to run and get along. And later, she does get more and more interested, specifically when she meets Han Solo, the legend himself. Her whole beliefs turn upside down. It's exciting and she embraces it. Why? She's made a promise to BB-8 that she will get him home, and those things kinda come hand in hand.

Rey's physicality.

Rey is very fast to jump into action. She doesn't think twice about what she's doing. She just acts. Because that's how she's learned to survive all this time on her own. When she but hears BB-8 struggling in the distant sand dunes the first time they meet, she immediately reacts and goes to help (which also shows how compassionate she is towards people - and droids - in need of help).

And she's incredibly stubborn about it. If I may even word it like this: it's something she carries with pride.

So she's a good fighter. And I have but one request: DO. NOT. FORGET. THAT. HER. FIGHTING. STYLE. IS. ROUGH. AND. DIRTY. AND. HAS. NO. TECHNIQUE. WHATSOEVER. WHILE. THE. STORY. PROGRESSES. OK? Ok. What else? Ah, yes. Piloting. I don't know which of the two aspects has brought more uproar in the SW community, with the addition of the Force to these 2 points making people call her a Mary Sue, her being overpowered and so on. Let's have a look at that.

Rey's piloting skills.

She obviously knows her way around the Falcon. And it's plausible. "This ship hasn't flown in years!" It's been there for quite a while. Maybe she has had the opportunity to sneak onto it once. What about her flying skills? Well, that takeoff definitely had me worried. At this point I am even amazed this ship is still all in one piece. Which has me thinking... just a thought...

While trying to get those TIEs off their tail, Rey damages a visibly big part of the Falcon's exterior. "Ups," she comments, hastily checking the controls. Ok... The ship still flies. All good.

"What was that?" Finn calls from the gunner position, seriously worried for their lives.

"Nothing to worry about!" Rey quickly shouts back. All in all, the flight is messy as hell, and the Falcon needs some heavy repairs. But they still manage to get out.

"Nice shooting!"

"That was some flying! How did you do that?"

"Thanks! I don't know! I've flown some ships, but I've never left the planet."

(This is me reacting to their dialogue in the new context:) Yeah, guys, good work! You've almost destroyed the Falcon in the process, but you're alive, so I guess it's fiiiiiine.

What am I going for here? Adding to their level of expectations, which are... pretty low, and hopefully Rey's likability.

And then, later, Han is horrified of the state his ship is in, "Who did that?" Rey doesn't answer his question, but instead immediately offers her help, "I can fix that for you," feeling a bit ashamed of handling the ship of a legend this carelessly. And Han is... well, Han about it.

When would the Falcon get those repairs, you might ask? Eh, *hand gesture* there's plenty of time on D'Quar for that while they discuss how to blow up the third Deathst- *clears her throat* Starkiller Base. And obviously it's not gonna be Rey doing those repairs.

This addition tones down her abilities, puts more focus on her skills as a scavenger and makes her more relatable. I'd also argue that it puts more weight to her decision to eventually decline Han's offer to join the crew because of her wants. You see, once immersed into the real thing, the stories becoming true, meeting the legends, she becomes genuinely curious. She asks questions. Why did Luke leave? What fight? She gets incredibly excited when Han offers her a job. And yet, despite all, she still wants to go back.

Nevertheless, Rey displays pretty amazing piloting skills under those stressful circumstances on Jakku. After all, flying the Falcon is....

Her instincts are implacable. One might even say that she*

She just isn't aware of it yet. It is not until some scenes with Han and the rathtars later that we get the first hint.

The Force.

Now I might be wrong, but I have a theory, which is that the piloting performance under high pressure on Jakku might have been it. The Awakening.

The Force calls to Rey through Luke's lightsaber. And she listens to it, not knowing what will follow. She experiences the Force vision, and is horrified.

"That lightsaber was Luke's, and his father's before him, and now, it calls to you!"

"I have to get back to Jakku." Again.

Even when Maz tells her, "You already know the truth. Whomever your waiting for on Jakku, they are never coming back,"

she still refuses to believe that.

Tears run down her cheeks

and she shakes her head. No.

"But there's someone who still could."

Rey frowns. What is Maz implying there? "Luke?" she asks and realises what it's leading up to, and doesn't like it. Her emotions are a mess. She gulps back and keeps shaking her head as Maz speaks.

"The belonging you seek is not behind you. It is ahead. I am no Jedi, but I know the Force. [...] The light. Feel it. [...] The lightsaber. Take it."

Rey doesn't want to hear of it. Any of it.

"I am never touching that thing again!"

Rey just witnessed complete horror. She is in denial. Keep in mind her clear wants from the beginning of the movie. Ideally her want for her parents to come back should be replaced by the character fulfilling her needs at the end of her arc. But we're not nearly there yet. What Maz tells her about the Force completely contradicts Rey's experiences. She cannot just accept the truth. And how does she handle it? She runs away. She's terrified.

She wants to go back to the way things were before any of this mess started. But the plot doesn't let her run away that easily. It knows she has to face her fears, one being her fear of the Force and one the fear of perhaps never making it back to Jakku ever again.

It forces her further into these situations, making it impossible for her to get out of them. She's trapped. Literally and figuratively. And fighting her way out won't work this time, the one ability she always relied on to save herself. It's her darkest moment. And if that were not enough, Kylo Ren, this stranger, this man inside that mask, the man from her vision, shoves all her insecurities right into her face.

"And Han Solo." Rey jolts up. Either out of fear of possibly betraying Han and slipping, giving away a location, or out of rage that Kylo has gone too far into her personal space. Either way, this rage gives her some strength to oppose him. "You feel like he's the father you never had. He would have disappointed you."

"Get out of my head!" He backs away for his own reasons, not wanting to think any more of his father, but still holds onto her mind. Rey does all she can to withstand him, and the longer she does, the more time it gives her to understand what is going on.

And Kylo senses it. What he's trying to do here is not working. Concern washes over his face, which makes him lose control over the situation. The connection opens, inviting Rey to tap into his mind. She's inside his head. Now she understands. She understands she can use this power on him, too. So she does.

And there it is. She's strong with the Force.

And that's intentional. Why? For reasons we discover in TLJ and numerous other fanfictions. (TROS? w-what's that-)

She has found a way out of the situation. Now, has she ever heard of Jedi mind tricks? Maybe? But remember what she just discovered: She just tapped into Kylo's mind. So she tries that again on the stormtrooper. Because when she knows how to act, she just does. She's always been confident in her physical abilities and skills. Why would she have to treat this new power any different? And luckily it works, after 3 tries.

And that's fine. Let's move on. Kylo kills Han. Explosions.

Notice this. Even though she knows she now has these new powers, the same powers Kylo has, she still draws her blaster at him after calling him a monster. She acts on emotion and choses the quick, familiar way.

I actually like to believe that Rey really doesn't know what the Force is and how it works, at all. How would she? Yes, Maz did tell her about it, but how do Force-powers manifest in people? She's never seen anyone use it before, upon meeting Kylo Ren. So in every scene she does use it, she just copies Kylo. That's the only reference she has. Remember how proud she is of her physical abilities. And she is so naive that she just goes and tries it for herself, without thinking of whether it will work out or not. And it works out for her. Because, again, she is strong in the Force.

It's true that her flaw, her naivety, is not really addressed in TFA. It never really backlashes on her. And, to be completely honest, I have no idea how to make room for that without some heavier rewrites yet. But maybe it's not necessary. TLJ takes care of that. TFA just introduces us to Rey as a character after all.

Now, is the force-summoned lightsaber making her overpowered? If you interpret it as "Kylo couldn't get that thing out the snow but Rey could," then yes, yes it is. BUT, if you see it as "while Rey is observing the fight, she sees Kylo trying to summon it, so she copies him, the way she copied him with the mind-tapping, and reaches for it the moment Kylo conveniently gets it out of the snow for her," I don't think it is, though I do agree that in order for the second version to be true, the scene happens too fast with too little shots to explain it. *OP takes a breath* So, here is what I suggest:

Kylo reaches out for the lightsaber. SHOT of the lightsaber in the snow, fidgeting slightly. BACK TO Kylo, pulling anew. BACK TO the lightsaber. It gets free. CUT. Another shot of it flying through the air towards the camera.

SHOT on Rey witnessing that - she is already on her feet again - and immediately reaching for it as well, outstretching her arm towards it.

SHOT of Kylo as he feels the momentum of his pull shift and dodges out of the way. The lightsaber flies past him, into Rey's hand.

Rey has always been fast to react to action. So it would make sense for her to be able to do that. Ok. Now to the fight itself.

*sighs* I don't even know where to start. ...One thing's for sure. Kylo at this point is pretty much destroyed emotionally from having killed his father, but he's still big and strong and aggressive in his movements. Rey, on the other hand, kinda seamlessly knows how to handle a lightsaber, which... is definitely not believable at all.

Let's step back for a moment. Why do we have this fight? Rey needs to get Finn and herself out of there and Kylo is pretty much in the way, so she wants to eliminate the problem. And what does Kylo want? Sure, he is interested in Rey and her raw powers which eventually adds up to them being equals in the Force, so he doesn't want to kill her...

But he also wants that lightsaber, doesn't he?

(God, I am looking at this fight to find any clues and I'm just sitting here, elbows on the table, resting my head in my hands, massaging my temples, wondering, "why the hell are there so many cuts in that fight scene?") (I am no expert in fight choreography, so bare with me as I try to make this work.)

Rey is the one who draws first at him.

She has never wielded a lightsaber before, but knows how to handle a staff... so she treats the lightsaber like a staff within its limitations.

Because remember, HER. STYLE. OF. FIGHTING. IS. ROUGH. AND. DIRTY. AND. HAS. NO. TECHNIQUE. WHATSOEVER. So, pretend we have some well thought out choreography in this part.

Kylo blocks her with ease. Rey is frustrated. The lightsaber feels heavy and difficult to handle. It doesn't take long for Kylo to

get her cornered at the edge of the newly formed cliff.

"You need a teacher! I could show you the ways of the Force!" he exclaims.

Rey considers, out of breath, "The Force?" Rey takes a moment as her mind connects the dots. So that's what these new powers are? Kylo watches her, waits for her to make a move. No time for pondering about the Force any more. Rey moves. Kylo LETS her duck and free herself from his block. She runs, backs away from the crater. He follows her. He outstretches his arm. Rey is stuck. She's literally petrified. Again. Kylo draws nearer. He twirls his saber, now holding it backwards (you know, Ahsoka style). "No," she hisses through her teeth, struggling. Heavy breaths. She closes her eyes. When he almost touches her hand holding the lightsaber, "No!" she RESISTS his force-cage and GOES FREE.

Because, you see, even though Maz told her to "close her eyes" and "feel the light", Rey has never done that before, and when under stress, I do believe she would rather choose a quick, familiar way to get out of the situation. The only thing she knows how to do with the Force at this point is to copy or resist Kylo. She wouldn't know how to to draw power from the Force, yet. She'll have plenty of time to learn that from Luke later, should she survive this fight, so we better continue.

Kylo stumbles back as she draws at him. Rey goes for a swing to hit from above, which Kylo manages to block last second, bringing his lighsaber up from behind his back. As their lightsabers are crossed again he quickly reaches for her right hand, which is holding Luke's saber, with his left hand and moves it aside to his right towards the ground, using his crossguard for more momentum to force her down. He steps his left foot accordingly to keep himself stable. Rey cries out from the unexpected movement. They are kinda back to back. His left shoulder against her right one. The position is uncomfortable. He squeezes Rey's wrist. Rey cries out in pain. Then, she realises how close they are.

Time for some close combat, ladies and gentlemen.

She gives in and lets go of the lightsaber, lets it fall to the ground. Kylo releases her to reach for the fallen lightsaber. But before he can pick it up, Rey KICKS his left hand away with her right heel and PUNCHES his JAW with her right elbow from below. Kylo's head rocks back. He stumbles backwards from the harsh impact, causing him to turn his back to her in order to catch himself. Rey summons Luke's lightsaber back into her left hand, and ignites it. When Kylo turns back to his opponent, left and unprotected side first, Rey is ready to stab him in his left shoulder.

Kylo stumbles back some more, she brings her hands together for another strike leftwards, he barely blocks it, he stumbles back some more, it leaves his posture open, Rey strikes again, rightwards, lower this time, wounding his leg, he falls to his knee, leaving Rey the final blow to provide him with his scar.

The reason I started writing this entire ramble in the first place is a conversation I had with my friend which brought up the fact that Rey should be able to beat Kylo by using her rough, unpredictable moves. Shout out to my friend who, bless her, is willing to listen to and survives every one of my sw rants and who pointed this out in the first place!

Is this a good fightscene now? I have no idea. I hope so? I do have it very clear in my head now though, so I might go and have some fun storyboarding it in the nearest future.

You know the rest. The ground splits, she runs to Finn, Chewie picks them up. . . .

There are some more moments which I believe need some tweaks, like the meeting with Leia, which is just so unfair to Chewie, really, but if I go on and on about this, I would end up changing the entire movie, which I do not have the strength for atm. This ramble was supposed to be about Rey and her alone, so I am done here.

I guess in the end Rey does realise her needs and is able to let her wants aside for a bit longer and focus her hope on actually helping the Resistance and get Luke. Hope that, with finding Luke, she will get to understand these new powers. I do feel like the movie could have provided us with a more emotionally rich reactive scene to the fight and her abilities, and generally just more of those, but then, what am I expecting from a JJ Abrams film? We have Rian for that.

My conclusion? I'm bad with conclusions and summaries, so here you have it, my take on Rey by only adding to the existing dialogue, changing some attitudes here and there, adding a scene, and changing the fight sequence at the end and how she treats the Force.

I do have a clearer understanding of her character now, which was the entire purpose of this ramble, so I guess, mission accomplished. Congratulations on having made it till the end. It was a long ride. I did consider splitting this beast into 2 parts, but while writing this, at one point I just decided to fully commit to it.

You are totally free to, of course, agree with me and stay tuned for my WIP fanscript or disagree, never read through this thing ever again, ignore it and leave it to die on Tumblr's graveyard.

Before you ask, because I also considered doing that just for the sake of having fun with GIFs on Tumblr (all text gifs are taken from YARN btw), I will not do a post like this on TLJ, since I have no problems with Rey's character there at all. Props to Rian Johnson at this point, for managing to make sense of her with what TFA gave us.

[mj-iza-writer]

SP Special Containment part 7.

If you are new to this story or need an update please use the hashtag SP Special Containment. I can't believe how many parts have come from this. -MJ

A few days passed.

Aramais paced the floor of his room.

"Come on Andy", he sighed impatiently, 'what did the freaken Director want now', he made himself sick thinking.

Finally the door buzzed and Andy came in with the chair.

"Took you long enough", Aramais sighed.

"Sorry, we were watching the smackdown you three did", Andy locked the chair into place and watched as Aramais sat down, "it's the best thing I've watched in a while."

"Great, glad it was entertaining", Aramais sighed as he watched the straps get tightened.

Andy grabbed the slippers and water bottle, "do you want these?"

Aramais nodded.

"Two things I can always rely on, your feet are always cold, and you like your water bottle", Andy put the slippers on Aramais, and tucked the water into their lab jacket.

"I like the slippers, I've never had slippers before. It was either combat boots or bare feet", Aramais grinned, "they make great weapons as well."

"I know", Andy sighed sarcastically as they pushed the wheel chair out.

"Are we going to a different area?", Aramais looked down the hall they had fought in.

"Yes, we are going to the Director's office", Andy stopped the chair by the elevator.

Aramais looked at the elevator doors, "is there a different way to get to the office? I'm not a big fan of elevators, and I know my survival mode will be triggered."

"Yes of course", Andy rushed to push Aramais away from the elevator.

They started down a hall, "thankyou for letting me know. It's just a bit more of a walk, but I'm sure you'll enjoy seeing more of the organization."

"I was fairly certain you didn't want to be alone with me while I did that", Aramais grinned.

"Is there any reason why you don't like elevators? Did they do something to you during your training?", Andy questioned, "I hope you don't mind me asking."

"I'm not a fan of confined spaces. They would lock me into tight areas to try to desensitize me, but that training only made me worse", Aramais frowned as they thought back, "that's why I never got moved up to trainer because I had a weakness."

"That makes me wonder if your room is okay. Is it to small for you?", Andy worried.

"At first, yes, but when I started feeling safe here, it became more comfortable for me", Aramais looked around some of the halls, "elevators are definitely a no for me though."

"Noted, I'll make sure that it's documented in your notes that you don't go into elevators or tight areas", Andy turned down the final hall.

"You're late", the Director stood outside of his office.

"Sorry, I got him late. We were also learning something new, he doesn't like elevators or tight spaces, and it could put him in survival mode", Andy pushed Aramais past the Director and into the office.

Caretaker and McGee were waiting.

"Oh is there a party?", Aramais joked.

"No", the Director sighed, "but I'm sure Caretaker has cookies somewhere on his person."

"Nope, Whumpee took them", Caretaker grinned.

"Is Whumpee okay?", Aramais looked at Caretaker, "and Jaimie?"

"Whumpee is still a little weak, that took a lot of energy out of them. They are also more timid again, but we're working them out of it", Caretaker smiled, "I overheard that about the elevator, that's quite interesting."

Aramais nodded, "my one weakness they couldn't break", he looked at Mcgee.

"Jaimie is fine, we are working on a plan to get her more exercise. Shockingly, she quite enjoyed getting some action the other day", Mcgee grinned.

"That sounds like her, she was always more active", Aramais sighed, then looked at the Director, "so what am I here for?"

We wanted to get your thoughts on something", the Director sat at his desk, "something to do with the three of you, and if it works, it may help the other holding facilities that have human weapons."

"Okay", Aramais listened.

"One big issue that we've found is none of you enjoy showering. At first it was fine, but your health is being impacted by the lack of hygiene", the Director explained, "from what Whumpee has explained, water was used as a punishment, now none of you want to get anywhere near the showers."

"Yes I hated when my trainers took me into the showers to clean me off. I always told myself I wouldn't do that to someone if I became a trainer", Aramais sighed as he remembered more, "it was harsh."

"Several injuries have been reported from attempts to bathe the human weapons. Plus Whumpee went into survival mode when they got to close", the Director looked down at some papers, "do you have any thoughts on how we could get around this. We hoped to figure it out, and maybe help the other facilities if we could."

Andy sighed, "we hoped we may use your rank to our advantage. You almost seem like a leader for Jaimie and Whumpee. If you could help us in any way it would be beneficial."

"We also realized that keeping you three separated may not have been a good idea. We did that because we weren't sure how you three would be together", Caretaker leaned up, "we think maybe it would be beneficial for you three to be together more."

"I wouldn't rely on that, for the other sights at least. Yes, Jaimie, Whumpee, and I get along well, but there are some of us who can't stand each other and will fight it out", Aramais grinned, "I don't know how much help I will be, but I can try. On one condition."

"What are you thinking?", the Director frowned.

"Is Mitch still here?"

"He is, but you are not allowed to be near him", the Director sighed.

"I won't do anything, I just want to pay an old friend a visit before they get killed or whatever gets done with them", Aramais grinned, "poke a little fun, thank him for throwing me against the wall."

"I can't okay that, I'm sorry", the Director sighed.

"I guess you get to keep smelling us human weapons then", Aramais leaned back against the chair, "I'm not helping."

"Even if it's to help Jaimie and Whumpee", Caretaker frowned.

"I never offered to help. This was something you all planned and threw at me. It will take work and discomfort for me so I can help them", Aramais glared, "I am happy to help them, but I deserve to have some fun along the way."

A collective sigh was heard in the room.

Aramais grinned, "like I said, I won't hurt Mitch, at least not physically. I want to talk to him. I will help if that wish is granted."

They all looked at the Director who gave a displeased expression.

"You're a real piece of work you know that", the Director finally sighed.

"Funny, my trainer said the same thing", Aramais grinned, "have we got a deal?"

"You get five minutes. Two guards go in the room with you. If you do anything, you get two tranquilizers", the Director frowned, "no physical harm. You go right back into your wheelchair after. Am I clear?"

"Crystal clear, I accept your rules", Aramais grinned, "I'll help with Jaimie and Whumpee the best I can. Can I get a few days to think of the best approach for this?"

"I can't believe you agreed to that proposal", Mcgee looked at the Director then at Aramais.

"Trust me, I didn't want to, but I'm desperate", the Director rubbed their temples, "the things I have okayed for the human weapons unit these last few weeks.... I'm not proud of it."

Aramais was pushed to the door of Mitch's holding cell.

Two guards stood on either side of Aramais while the straps were undone.

Quickly the guards grabbed Aramais and lifted him, then they were buzzed into the room.

Mitch sat strapped to a wheelchair. Moving was completely restricted. Even his head was fully strapped in.

"You're a sight for sore eyes", Aramais grinned as the guards released their grip.

"Great, here to gloat?", Mitch side eyed until Aramais stood in front of him.

"I considered it, but no. Only a few weeks ago, I sat in a holding cell like this, just like you are right now. I was considered dangerous, and many people were scared to come near me. I was scared, I didn't know what was happening, but I kept a straight face, just like I was trained", Aramais leaned against the wall, "I'm sure I know how you're feeling right now, you don't have to keep that tough exterior with me."

Mitch rolled his eyes, "and."

"I was given a chance, I was told if I could behave I could earn things like rewards. I was given a caregiver who was patient with me and respected me", Aramais continued, "maybe you could try to get this..."

"Don't even. You're a traitor. All of you are traitors to our trainers who gave us a reason to live", Mitch argued.

"Mitch", Aramais sighed.

"I wanted Whumpee to be a perfect weapon. I did everything my trainer did to me, I wanted to make sure they were ready for anything a battle could throw at them, like I am. I know my methods seemed brutal, but I survived my trainers, I figured Whumpee would too. I did it so they wouldn't die in battle."

"I'm sorry you had trainers like that", Aramais sighed, "but what the facility did to us wasn't humane."

"I will die for that facility, I will be loyal until the end", Mitch yelled.

The guards jumped and aimed their guns at Mitch.

"He's fine", Aramais looked at the guards, "he's completely restrained, and if he does break free, I'll take him."

"Aramais you have two minutes", the Director came over the radio.

Aramais sighed, "okay."

"If you came in here to turn me to your side you're wasting your time", Mitch studied Aramais.

"There are no sides. We are a danger to this world, and we need to be kept from it. The people here take care of us and help us", Aramais chuckled, "my caregiver didn't even get mad at me when I threw a slipper at his head."

Aramais noticed Mitch's lips and reached for a water jug that was left on the table.

"Here your lips are cracking, you must be parched", Aramais lifted the cup, "Andy can I get more water please, it's empty."

Andy turned quickly then realized they weren't in Aramais's monitor room where everything was ready.

"Just a second Aramais, I need to get some water they aren't stocked like I am", Andy talked into the radio.

"I'll get the water", Caretaker turned, "there's a vending machine down the hall."

"Makes me wonder why it's not stocked already", the Director looked at the guards, "and why he is parched to the point his lips are noticeably chapped. We better be doing our jobs and caring for him. Regardless of who he is, we are required to give adequate care to him."

"I'll take care of him until he is removed from the facility", Andy stated, "I'm sure Aramais won't mind sharing me for a few days."

Caretaker came back with the water bottle.

"I'll take it in, Aramais is mine", Andy took the water, "thankyou."

Andy went to the door and was buzzed in.

"This is my caregiver Andy", Aramais handed the water bottle over.

The guards started to approach Aramais, "five minutes is up."

"I'd be happier if Aramais stayed in here with me", Andy poured the water into the jug.

"That's fine", the Director came over the radio, "do to the circumstances I will permit the human weapon to stay with Andy."

The guards stepped back.

"I will be your caregiver as well until you are transferred", Andy looked at Mitch, "the guards don't seem to be doing that great a job with you."

"Hmph", Mitch grunted, "you can say that again."

Aramais watched as Andy held the water for Mitch to drink.

"It's amazing, you are so close to two dangerous highly trained human weapons, yet you don't shake", Mitch grunted, "quite brave."

"I know I've earned Aramais's respect, I know he will protect me just like he did the other day", Andy smiled at Aramais, "I'm not scared of you either."

Andy looked closer at Mitch's head, "Whumpee did a number on you I see."

"I'm well aware", Mitch sighed.

"For right now I'll be taking care of you", Andy repeated, "do you have any request that you'd like?"

"I'd like to be free so I could kill everyone", Mitch laughed.

"I was actually leaning more towards snacks, anything you might like to eat", Andy frowned, "I'm not undoing your restraints, that I can promise you."

The Director followed Andy and Aramais to Aramais's room.

"You do realize he can't stay here, not with Whumpee here", the Director sighed as they talked, "I know you were trying to save him, and he may get a chance still, but it won't be here. Our unit is still small, and I don't have any caregivers that could handle him. I respect you for trying to save him though."

"I was honestly going to poke fun at him, you know, but when I saw him there. I remembered how I felt being restrained like that when I first got here", Aramais looked down some of the halls, "it was scary, and I didn't know what to expect. Do you know what will happen to him?"

"I actually do not", the Director frowned, "I have no idea what they did to the others. I do know everyone who came out was examined and sent to a holding sight if they were considered safe enough. You were questionable when you first came here, which is why you were restrained for so long, I didn't have anyone brave enough to help you. Thankfully Andy stepped up, and I'm thankful you also stepped up to help me with Mitch", the Director looked at Andy, "let's have Cass help you, I want two caregivers present when dealing with Mitch and a guard to stay in the room as well. No restraints are to be removed. Am I clear?"

"Yes sir", Andy nodded.

"As promised, I will help with Whumpee and Jaimie", Aramais smiled, "can I have a few days to plan."

"Yes, I will offer whatever you need as well for this", the Director nodded, "I know you have your own traumas to deal with, so don't push yourself."

P.s thankyou so much for reading my story. I was wondering, if you've been following this story, do you have a favorite character yet? -Mj

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