#I desperately wanted to draw Valeria that’s it

[honeyed-blossom]

Happy Valentines 🌸

I hope everyone has a lovely valentines!! 💌 sending you all my love and a million smooches 😘 please enjoy these two being all gushy and icky hehe

instead of packing for my trip like a sane person, I wrote a little something to go with the drawing if you’d like to read it 🫣

his valentine

Word count: 775

Golden rays danced through the lush foliage carelessly, illuminating the forest with an otherworldly glow. Sunbeams frolicked down the gently beaten path, inviting the boy further in. Even the shadows glided by absentmindedly, as if the world existed without a single care. How she found this place he didn’t know.

Sebastian remembered her calling it a vivarium, describing it as a sanctuary for the beasts she and Poppy rescued over the last year. There were different types of vivariums - one was a languid stretch along a coast, another was a quiet swamp, and she had four of these in total. This one was a vast meadow, scattered with caves and forests, where nifflers, puffeskins, and jabberknolls frocklicked peacefully. It was the embodiment of summer in the highlands, always sunny and temperate. It was her favorite hideaway.

He walked further into the grove, keeping his eyes out for the girl who was somehow able to send his heart into a fit of flutters and drive him insane at the same time. She would be the death of him one day, not that he’d mind.

A soft humming caught his attention, a tune he didn’t recognize. The tune was playful, whimsical even. She was in a good mood it seemed. Sebastian smiled to himself and drifted towards the sounds, careful to hide the large bouquet behind him. He travelled all over the Scottish Highlands to find an assortment of different flowers, the ones he knew she loved. Some, he had to beg Professor Garlick for, though she was more than happy to help once she found out who it was for. Roses, sunflowers, lavender, and jasmine peeked out from layers of jute and ribbons.

Sebastian stopped where the trees ended and the meadow began, hiding in the shadows as he looked for his counterpart. It took less than thirty seconds to spot her - she stood across the way in a creamy cotton dress, letting her mind wander while she watched a pair of jabberknolls glide jovially. She swayed gracefully as she hummed, with her hands clasped behind her back. Basked in sunlight, she looked ethereal. Her usual blush-toned hair now looked like honey, dripping in hues of caramel and gold. He desperately wanted to comb through her locks and leave a trail of kisses, watching as a blush crept up her cheeks.

What are you waiting for, you idiot?

This wasn’t last year, when all he could do was stare longingly at his friend and keep his feelings tightly locked up for fear of rejection. They had now been together for a few months already and Sebastian felt foolish for still being so flustered around her. It was as if any time he was around her, or even thought about her, his brain cells threatened mutiny, combusting into nothingness and leaving him utterly defenseless.

“Valeria!” Sebastian finally called out, stepping out of the shadows and into the blinding light. “There you are.”

Almost immediately, she turned around to face him, her cheeks a soft peachy blush. Her eyes practically sparkled when she saw him and he felt as though he was staring at a nebula of greens, golds, and browns. His breath hitched as a radiant smile spread across her lips.

“Sebastian! There you are,” she chirped and glided towards him. As she got close, she threw her arms around his neck into a hug. Sebastian’s right arm snaked around her waist, squeezing her into him. He watched as her nose crinkled slightly, delighted when she picked up the scents of the flowers.

He grinned and pecked her cheek. “Here, I have a present for you.” He gingerly pulled a flower from the bouquet he was hiding and gently tucked it behind her ear, along with some loose strands of pink tresses. His hand lingered, hesitating to break contact with her. Just as Sebastian started to draw back, Valeria wrapped her long fingers around his hand, pulling it back to rest against her cheek. She closed her eyes and leaned against his hand, sighing happily.

Sebastian could wait no longer. He gently cupped her cheek and leaned in, tilting his face slightly as he captured her lips with his. He’d kissed her plenty of times before but this one was different and sent his heart soaring. It was sweet like honeycrisp and warm like sunshine. Before he even knew it, he had melted into her, his arms wrapped around her frame with bouquet still in hand. He shivered as she deepened the kiss, pressing her fingers against his curly locks. Sebastian pulled her right against him, clutching her waist desperately as they kissed. And kissed.

And kissed.

[sky-is-the-limit]

Headcanons on Laswell and Valeria going down on female reader please, im going insane here!! We need more wlw content in this fandom ah

I LOVE YOU FOR THIS. Hell yeah, we need more wlw content, and as a wlw girlie, I'm here to serve<3

I wanted to write more than headcanons, if you don't mind, cause we're seriously lacking work for our hot as fuck CoD ladies.

P: Kate Laswell x F!Reader, Valeria Garza x F!Reader

CW: Cunnilingus, Vaginal fingering, Face-Sitting and some angst.

WC: 3,661 words

Kate Laswell:

It was late, the office empty except for the two of you. Kate was hunched over her desk, the weight of a critical mission bearing down on her shoulders. You, her loyal secretary, couldn't stand to see her so stressed.

In a moment of impulse, fueled by a desire to ease her burdens, you offered her a massage. You remember the tension melting away from her shoulders as your fingers worked their magic, kneading the tension from her body.

And then, in a moment of reckless abandon, you leaned in and kissed her. Time stood still as you both hesitated, the weight of what had just transpired hanging heavy in the air.

But then,without warning, she grabbed your waist with a firm grip and pushed you against the nearby wall as her lips met yours with an intensity that left you breathless.

From that moment on, Kate would call upon you in times of need, seeking solace in your embrace when the world became too much to bear.

Despite those stolen moments of shutting the world out, Kate remained distant. She would push you away, suppressing her feelings behind a façade of professionalism. It was a constant tug-of-war between desire and duty, leaving you longing for something more, knowing that it could never be.

Yet there you were, once more, sprawled out naked on the bed, the only source of illumination the gentle glow of the moon, casting a silvery path across the room.

And there she was, Kate, between your thighs, her face mere inches away from your most intimate parts. Her eyes, those captivating pools of blue, gazed up at you with an intensity that made your heart race every time. In the moonlight, her blonde hair seemed to shimmer, like liquid gold, tickling your skin with every motion.

Each time her face dipped closer, disappearing momentarily before reappearing, your breath caught in your throat. You whimpered, a high-pitched sound escaping your throat, as Kate nipped and sucked love marks into the soft flesh of your inner thighs.

Her hands were firm yet gentle, pushing your knees apart as her canines pressed into your sensitive skin. Each bite left an angry mark, to remind you that she'd be back, that she'd always come back to you.

Her mouth was warm and wet, a contrast against the cool air of the room and the moment her tongue made contact with your skin, your hands instinctively flew to her hair, grasping onto it desperately for support.

The next moment you felt Kate's lips, they were tracing a path along the crease of your thigh where it met your groin. With a nimble touch, her tongue dipped around the cleft of your outer labia, teasing and tantalizing every nerve ending.

A raunchy swipe from the bottom of your pussy sent a jolt of electricity straight through your swollen lips, culminating in a flick against your clit that left you gasping for breath.

You couldn't help the near shout of desperation that threatened to escape, stifled only by your teeth biting down on your bottom lip hard, threatening to draw blood.

With a sinful arch of your back against the pillows, your thighs widened under her bruising grasp, inviting her deeper into your throbbing heat. The audible slide of her tongue through your wetness echoed in the room, sinful and obscene.

''Ah- Kate-'' A little whimper escaped you, a hushed and whining sound that betrayed the overpowering sensation.

Those mesmerizing blue eyes remained fixed on your face, seeming to penetrate your very soul as you swore you could feel her smile against your folds.

Another chaste kiss landed on your clit and then, with a hunger that bordered on desperation, her lips formed a seal around your cunt, sucking on the throbbing bud with a relentless fervor that left you teetering on the edge of ecstasy.

Her tongue grazed your clit, dipping inside your aching hole. The brief sensation made you gasp, a sharp intake of breath as with each movement, she seemed to draw out every ounce of desire, leaving you trembling in return. Then, she traced her tongue back up, collecting the wetness on it as she delicately traced shapes on your tender flesh.

It was a struggle to keep the volume of your voice in check when Kate was swirling her tongue around your clit, sending waves of pleasure crashing through you. She drew random, nonsensical patterns across it, each movement sending you spiraling further into a whirlwind of bliss.

All the teasing from earlier had left you more sensitive than usual, every nerve ending on high alert, ready to ignite at the slightest touch.

So when you felt Kate push her digit inside you, it was like all prayers have been answered. Your walls clenched around her finger instinctively, a silent plea for more as your hips lifted off the mattress, seeking deeper penetration. With each movement, your back pressed into the mattress, offering her better access to your spongy sweet spot.

With her relentless ministrations, you found it impossible to brace yourself, your body practically vibrating like a leaf caught in a storm. You tried in vain to swallow your whimpers, but they bubbled up from deep within you, escaping in soft moans and gasps that filled the air.

It was too much, too good, that you feared you wouldn't last much longer.

"Please, Kate," The words fell from your lips in a whispered plea, barely audible amidst the heavy breaths and the pounding of your heart.

''I'm gonna miss you, sweet girl-'' She moaned against your cunt, her breath warm and wet against your sensitive flesh, as she nuzzled deeper into you.

Her tongue completed another lap, tracing a path of fire along your folds before pausing just long enough to dip into the wet heat of your body. Then, with a sudden rush of vigor, she raced back up to jab at your clit again, sending sparks of pleasure shooting through every nerve ending.

''Gonna miss this pretty pussy in my face-'' All you could manage in response was a guttural moan as she added another finger, scissoring them and stretching your walls, the movement having your juices gushing on her hand.

''You're making such a mess, darling.'' Kate spoke softly, her voice dripping with desire as she observed the evidence of slick coating her skin.

It didn't even come as a surprise when you found that moving around was completely impossible. Kate's free hand dug into your plush sides, holding you in place with a firm grip that left you utterly immobilized.

Trapped beneath her, there was nowhere to go except deeper into the throes of euphoria, and you found yourself involuntarily swiveling your hips as release drew nearer with each passing moment.

The knowledge that there was no conceivable way she could properly breathe in this position swarmed your mind, but any attempt to voice your concerns came out as nothing more than choking gasps.

Kate didn’t even make an attempt to pull up for some no doubt much-needed air, though. Instead, she maintained the persistent pressure of her tongue against your clit, relentlessly driving you closer and closer to climax.

"Kate, fuck—I'm close—" Was all you could muster and Kate obliged, responding to your urgency by sliding another digit between your sopping walls, the added pressure fulfilling her goal.

With each thrust, she curled and pushed her fingers in and out of you faster and faster while mirroring the same ministrations and pace with her tongue on your clit, and you could feel the pressure building up in your lower abdomen, tightening with each movement, threatening to burst at any moment.

Your hand gripped desperately at the sheets, your knuckles turning white with the force of your grip as the other pushed her face deeper in you.

A few more strong, staggered thrusts, and you felt that tightly wound knot in your stomach finally burst. It was as if a dam had broken, releasing your a flood of sparks that surged through your entire being.

Your walls fluttered around Kate's fingers, tensing and releasing in a rhythm of their own accord. The remainder of your body convulsed, each muscle contracting and releasing rapidly in sync with your orgasm.

It felt like an eternity as you remained in the same position, unmoving, your breath coming in ragged gasps as you tried to come down from the height of your climax.

Each moment seemed to stretch on endlessly as you savored the lingering sensations that pulsed between your thighs. Kate's soft kisses on your inner thighs were a gentle caress against your skin, soothing and tender.

Then, she laid her head on your abdomen, her gaze fixed on you with a longing that spoke volumes. It was as if she wanted to imprint every detail of your face into her memory, to hold onto during the times when she would be far away, facing danger in a foreign land.

''Do you have to go now?'' You whispered with a trembling voice, the words barely audible in the quiet of the night.

As you spoke, you stretched your hand down, almost timidly, reaching for Kate's blonde locks, your fingers brushing against the soft strands of her hair.

You couldn't bring yourself to meet her gaze, the fear of revealing the need to have her hold you in her arms was too much. It was impossible and the thought tore at your heart. So instead, you diverted your attention, focusing on regulating your breath in an attempt to steady your emotions.

"I have to be at base in an hour." Kate murmured, her voice tinged with a hint of guilt as she shifted away from your body.

You watched silently as she rose from the bed, her movements quick as she made her way to the edge and sat down. Her back was turned to you, a silent reminder of the reality of your situation, of the boundaries that existed between you.

"If-When I come back... we'll talk." Kate continued, her voice trailing off slightly as she spoke, a hint of uncertainty creeping into her tone.

She quickly corrected herself though, the weight of her words hanging heavily in the air. You could sense the tension in her voice, the unspoken understanding that each time she left for a mission, the possibility of her safe return was never guaranteed.

Your heart dropped to your stomach at the thought, a cold wave of fear washing over you. The weight of your emotions threatened to suffocate you, the need to express your feelings was unbearable. You knew the risks, losing your job, losing everything but you were already on the edge of losing your sanity. You had to try.

"Kate, I lo-" The words hung in the air, unfinished, as she cut you off abruptly.

"Don't. Please." She said sternly, her voice betraying a hint of vulnerability beneath the surface. It hurt, her rejection stinging like a fresh wound, but you couldn't blame her. She was straightforward with you from the beginning.

With a heavy sigh, she pushed herself up from the bed, her movements rigid with tension. Without another word, she made her way to the door, her back still turned to you.

"Take care." She said softly before disappearing through the doorway, the sound of the door slamming shut echoing through your apartment.

Valeria Garza:

It was a bustling night, the sounds of men pacing back and forth outside the office echoed through the walls, orders being barked out to the workers, each command adding to the cacophony of noise that flooded the mansion.

As you stood in your boss' office, facing her, a surge of jealousy rushed through you.

She had assigned someone else to meet with potential clients, a task that was rightfully yours. Yet, what stung more was the realization that she didn't seem to pay you much attention. Her focus was elsewhere, consumed by the demands of running the cartel.

There she was, Valeria, sitting at her desk with her legs crossed on the shiny table, her arms folded tightly over her chest, a smirk played on her lips.

She continued to read through the documents, seemingly oblivious to your presence or perhaps just indifferent to acknowledging you.

"Valeria! I'm talking to you!" You exclaimed, your voice rising with disrespect.

Stepping closer to her desk, you planted your palms firmly on the surface, demanding her attention. In that moment, her focus snapped back to you, her eyes meeting yours with a mixture of surprise, annoyance and something else. Something dangerous.

"Awh, cariño. Won't you look at that.." Valeria purred, her tone dripping with sarcasm yet resonating with undeniable authority as she rose from her chair.

The sound of her voice sliced through the air, sending a cold shiver down your spine. With each step she took, her presence seemed to loom larger, casting a shadow over the room. You couldn't help but feel a twinge of fear as she approached you, even as you stood your ground, determined not to back down.

"Did my girl finally grow back her tongue?" Valeria teased, her words laced with a hint of amusement and mockery as she positioned herself directly in front of you.

Her gaze bore into yours, a silent challenge as she leaned her lower back against the desk.

In a moment of carelessness, you rolled your eyes, momentarily forgetting who exactly was standing before you.

But as you glanced back at her, you witnessed a sudden shift in Valeria's demeanor. Her smirk vanished, replaced by an expression so raw and primal that almost seemed like a silent warning that you had crossed a line you never should have dared to cross.

"It's just-" Suddenly, frustration tinged your words, evident in the slight stammer that crept into your speech. Your gaze shifted away, unable to meet Valeria's eyes directly.

"It feels like you are purposely ignoring me.." You finally complained, a note of exasperation lacing your tone. With a nervous gesture, you raised one hand to pinch your shoulder, desperate to find something to do.

With one step, Valeria closed the gap until she was barely an inch away from your face, her presence enveloping you entirely. She leaned in, her lips tantalizingly close as they grazed your ear shell "Mi chica favorita se siente excluida?''

(t: my favourite girl feels left out?)

You felt a pulse between your thighs as her voice dropped even lower when she switched to her mother tongue, consuming you whole.

''Do I need to show you how important you are? Hm?'' Her lips trailed down to your neck, leaving a trail of tingling sensation in their wake as they grazed your skin.

Then with a swift movement, she grabbed your hand, bringing it up to her lips and with a reverence that bordered on worship, she pressed her lips to each knuckle, planting soft kisses.

"You don't have to-" You began to murmur, your voice trailing off as you closed your eyes, surrendering to the touch of her lips and tongue tracing torturously slow patterns on your neck.

''And leave you feeling stressed like that? Not on my watch." Valeria stated firmly and without hesitation, she tightened her grip on your wrist, pulling you behind her as she turned away.

With a determined stride, she began to lead you towards the luxurious couch positioned in the corner of her office.

It almost felt as if you were a weak-willed creature, unable to move or think for yourself, as she effortlessly maneuvered your body around. You anticipated that she would push you to lay down on the couch, but instead, she surprised you by reclining there herself.

As you stood before her, bewildered and uncertain, she met your confused expression with a glint of amusement in her eyes, her gaze holding a hint of mischief as she watched your reaction.

''Strip, ángel.'' Your boss demanded, the sweet pet name doing little to soften the command.

Your throat tightened as you gulped, sudden shyness washing over you at her directive. But as you looked into her eyes, you saw a it. A deep hunger that woke within her, filling you with a newfound confidence you didn't even know existed.

And so you followed her order, your fingers trembling slightly as you reached for the zipper of your tight dress. With a quick motion, you pulled it down, feeling the fabric cascade down your body until it pooled around your ankles, leaving you standing there exposed.

You tossed the dress to the side, your gaze briefly catching Valeria's hungry eyes as she licked her bottom lip, captivated by your every movement. With a steady hand, you trailed your fingers along the waistband of your soft panties, feeling the material slide down your legs in a tortuously slow way.

''Good, now sit on my face, amor.''

You weren't about to let this opportunity slip away. With determination coursing through you, you settled yourself onto her lap, feeling the heat radiating between your bodies.

Gently, you twisted your waist, positioning yourself so that you hovered over her fully clothed form. With a daring glance, you raised yourself up, supported by her hands firmly gripping your hips and together, you maneuvered until your lower body was dangerously near her waiting mouth.

One long, delicious lick across your folds and you melted like sugar in her hands. It wasn't just you who was affected in that moment, it was as if she too was under your spell. She would have given you the moon if you had asked for it.

With each stroke of her tongue, she exuded skill, any hint of earlier bashfulness completely eroded away. The sight of your glistening slit before her was enough to make her mouth water, and she couldn't help but salivate at the thought of devouring you whole.

A symphony of slurping sounds filled your ears, each one setting your skin ablaze as her tongue delved deeper and with each passing moment, you fought to ground your clit against the rhythmic movements of her tongue as soft cries escaped your throat.

It already felt like you might topple right over when your thighs started to quake embarrassingly fast, every nerve ending in your body vibrating with sharp pleasure. It was almost unbearably exquisite. 

The tip of her tongue insistently poked at the acutely sensitive nub for a prolonged moment, teasing it with quick flicks that encouraged yet more blood to rush and pool within your loins until you were gasping at every minute shift of her mouth.

It was only then that she pressed his tongue flat and drew tight, grinding circles against your clit and you jerked so hard you nearly lurched right off her. 

''Maybe we should do something else-''You blurted on a strained, hushed whisper as you flexed your legs and lifted yourself up out of her reach, fearing that you'd fall over.

''Don't fucking hover-'' The words were barely audible from underneath you until you yelped in surprise when you tried to lift up again but she was unrelenting.

Valeria held you right where you were as her tongue speared up into your cunt and greedily lapped up the arousal drenching your folds with quick, eager passes, from the top of your slit and straight down to your entrance, pointedly nudging your clit with every single stroke.

It made you shake so hard that your vision started to blur around the edges, heaving and groaning despite your best attempt to bite down on your lower lip and quiet yourself.

Mewling helplessly, you twisted your fingers in her raven hair, making it hard to keep the volume of your voice in check when she was swirling his tongue around your clit and drawing random, nonsensical patterns across it.

You shifted your hips and tried to roll into her face to get more pressure there, but Valeria held you pretty steady.

A tingly feeling started to spread and wherever her tongue lapped, the residual feeling lingered. She teased your clit again, rubbing her tongue back and forth on the sensitive spot before moving away again as she started feeling your thighs, letting her hands roam over the fat, pinching it in between her fingers.

"Val!" Her name fell from your mouth as a desperate whimper, in a silent plea as she leaned forward to kiss your throbbing clit once more.

With your head dropped back with a hoarse moan, your brow furrowed in ecstasy as the wet squelch of her tongue pierced through your swollen, drenched folds. A hot breath sighed across the oversensitive nerves of your throbbing core as she engulfed as much of it as she could into her mouth, sucking with an insistent fervor.

Your whole body convulsed violently as the waves of pleasure crashed over you, causing you to tremble uncontrollably. Moans and various profanities spilled from your lips, carried away on the tide of bliss that consumed you.

Valeria held you on the precipice of your climax, prolonging your release for as long as possible until you were teetering on the edge, your senses overpowered completely.

You squirmed and whimpered, your body writhing with overstimulation as she skillfully navigated the fine line between pleasure and pain, pushing you to the brink and back again.

''You did good baby but we ain't done yet.'' What she did next caught you completely off guard. Without giving you a moment to catch your breath, she acted swiftly, gripping your hips firmly.

In one smooth motion, she slid you down onto her waist, the sudden movement leaving you breathless. You watched in a haze as your slick juices coated her black shirt in their path and her not caring one bit.

[justvibewithjas]

𝑫𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏

18+ minors dni

Content warning: porn barely no plot, thigh riding, nipple play, fingering, face riding

valeria garza x fem!reader

Word count: 1.4k

"If only you were mine," Valeria murmurs softly, her gaze locked with yours as she grazes your jaw with her knuckles.

"I am though." You say leaning over Valeria. "Am I not?" You add with a small smile to your lips.

Valeria's eyes widen slightly at your statement, her breath catching in her throat. She feels a surge of excitement mixed with a hint of hesitation. "Do you want to be?" she asks, her voice barely a whisper as your faces draw closer. "There are risks and challenges that come with being with someone like me. You could be used against me to push my hand. The life I lead is dangerous. Are you willing to take that leap?” She says as if trying and evidently failing to persuade you away. All that earns her is a soft smile. “I am willing to risk my life to be with you. I would die a million times if it meant my eyes would be graced by your grace and beauty,” Her voice is filled with a mix of longing and uncertainty, waiting for your response.

"I'm here aren't I?"

Valeria's hesitation fades away as she feels the sincerity in your words. A smile spreads across her face, radiating warmth and affection. "Then, mi amor, I am yours," she says, her voice filled with a mixture of joy and relief. She closes the small distance between you, your lips meeting in a tender and passionate kiss, sealing their commitment to each other. In that moment, the world around them fades away, and all that matters is the love they share.

You kiss her, perhaps as deeply and selfishly as you could. Pants coming from both your mouths as the sudden desperation sinks in. You tangle your hands in her hair. Tugging slightly at the dark brown strands. Valeria’s hands grip the back of your thighs and pull you into her lap. Valeria’s hand moves and holds the back of your head, not letting you go. A throb between her thighs at the needy sound you make as her tongue slips into your mouth.

“Nena los sento,” Valeria mumbles and nips at your bottom lip. Valeria spreads your legs open with her thigh and she rubs it against you. She grabs your hips and makes you ride her thigh. “oh chiquita que hermosa.”

“I don't know what you’re saying,” You whine.

“Good,” Valeria responds. That earns her another whine and she laughs.

You rock her hips against Valeria’s thigh. Your breath coming out in short pants and your hands landing on Valeria’s stomach to ground yourself. The seam of your jeans pressing against you every time you rock your hips.

“Good girl, doin’ so well, nena,” Valeria says. She sits up and wraps an arm around your waist and flips them over. “Let’s get these off though, you okay with that princessa?” Valeria asks as her finger hooks into your pants. Once she sees that nod of approval she pulls them down along with your underwear. She sucks in air through her teeth once she gets them fully off you. So wet already for her. Her fingers lower as she lowers herself between your thighs. Valeria’s fingers spread your folds, earning a soft gasp to fall from your lips.

“So wet princessa,” She teased. Her other hand coming up and slowly sliding her fingers over your pussy. Not enough pressure to do anything but enough to make you whine.

“Please Val please just i- can't I need you,” you whine trying to rub your hips against her hand to seek more friction.

"You know, desperation suits you,” She teases you. Oh the noise you make at her words has her biting her bottom lip and her thumb moving to rub your swollen bud.

“Mmm,” You moan softly.

“Feel good?” She asks as she leans over you. Her hot breath against your neck. She kisses your neck. Valeria’s fingers moving to rub your clit faster. She laughs as you arch towards her.

“Ohh,” A breathless moan slips out. Your head tilting back against the pillows. Mouth hanging open. Such filthy noises escaping. “Ah!” You cry out as her middle and ring finger slip into you. Slowly and gently. Valeria groans against your neck.

“Mm so tight…already clenching around my fingers.” She bites your neck. Smirking at the whimpers spilling from your kiss swollen lips. She curls her fingers aiming for that sweet spot in you. Your hands clutch at the pillow under your head. Bucking against Valeria’s hand.

“Mm f-fuckkk Val,” You drawl out.

“What's wrong princessa? Getting close?” She says as she moves her head. Her mouth landing on your nipple. You don't even know when or how she got your tank top off.

“Uh huh,” You respond as you clench around her fingers.

“Mm go ahead nena…cum f'me,” She says as her tongue swirls around your perked nipple. You moan so loudly it'd be no surprise if you got a complaint from the neighbors in the morning. Her ministrations have you clenching around her fingers hard. That familiar burn in your lower abdomen.

“Valeria!” You cry out as you gush around her fingers. She slows her pace. Working you through your orgasm. Then her fingers slide out and shes bringing them to her lips. She groans at the taste of you as she cleans her fingers of you.

She smirks and grips your face, forcing your mouth open with her thumb. Valeria leans over you and lets her spit fall from her mouth. You whine at the taste of her and then the sudden taste of yourself on your tongue.

“Swallow,” She says lowly. You comply with her request and she smiles. “Such a good girl,” She croons, her fingers pushing your hair away from your face. Sighing contentedly you lean into her touch. “Wanna be an even better good girl and eat me out princessa?” She asks as her lips meet your forehead in a soft kiss. You nod eagerly.

She pulls away and slides her pants and underwear off. Valeria straddles you. “Now no touching unless I say so, okay nena?” You don't want to nod but you do. Licking your lips in anticipation. She moves till she's hovering over your face. You whine at the sight of her. She was soaked. All that from getting you off. She pins your wrists down with her hands ensuring you'll listen.

With her sultry tone, you arched your back, the waves of pleasure her voice alone could give you. You thought she was being cruel after enforcing the "no touching rule". Especially after everything she’d just done to you.

All you have is her lower half inches from your face, her straddling your chest and your wrists pinned down to the bed.

“You don't get to touch me until I fucking say so. Do I make myself clear?” She says with that authoritative tone that made you throb. You nod again and she lowers herself down on your mouth. You whine and greedily and messily lap at her folds. She tasted so good. Your nose brushing against her clit as you slide your tongue against her earns you a loud moan.

“Mmm.” You moan against her. The vibrations leading her to rock against your face. Her grip on your wrists tightening. Angling your head up you suck on her clit. Valeria moans again for you. Alternating between gentle suckling and quick swirls has her thighs soon shaking on either side of your head. A slight pressure too as she uses them unintentionally to squeeze your head as she grinds against your face. Her hands leave your wrists and she's gripping at your hair.

She's moving faster, her orgasm obviously drawing closer. Then you thrust your tongue into her. Using it to fuck her. She moaning and gasping in pleasure. Her head tilted back as she unabashedly rides your face.

“Just…just like that…ohhh god nena,” Valeria moans. You can feel her clenching around you tongue and then she shatters. Her orgasm hitting her hard and her thighs clamping around your head. She moans loudly as she soaks your face. Eagerly lapping up her fluids as she rides out her orgasm. She collapses next to you, her chest rising and falling asleep she tries to catch her breath.

“You okay,” you ask as you roll over to your side and rub her arm.

“Mhm hmm.” She says. She looks at you and using her shirt wipes your face. “You did so well nena,” she says softly. She pulls you against her and you lay on her chest. Burying your face in the crook of her neck. She laughs softly. “Go ahead, sleep princessa.” She murmurs. You wrap your arm around her waist and she leans her head against yours.

“Night Val,” You mumble against her skin.

“Goodnight amor,” She replies and kisses your hair.

[victoryverse]

can I please have some dom valeria content w lots of degrading, brat taming, and just, filth 😕🫶🫶

Valeria smirked as she watched you squirm under her intense gaze. You were her latest conquest, a bratty sub who needed to be put in their place. And Valeria was more than happy to do the honors.

She sauntered towards you, her hips swaying with each step, her heels clicking against the floor. You couldn't help but feel a little intimidated by her, but also incredibly turned on.

'Kneel, pet,' Valeria commanded, her voice dripping with dominance. You eagerly dropped to your knees, eyes trained on her as she circled around you. 'You're just a little slut, aren't you? Aching for my touch, desperate for my approval.'

You nodded, unable to form any words as Valeria reached down to cup your chin, tilting your head up so you were forced to meet her piercing gaze.

'You're going to be a good little slut for me, aren't you?' she purred, running her thumb over your bottom lip. 'You're going to do exactly as I say, without question.'

You nodded again, feeling a rush of excitement and submission coursing through your body. Valeria's dominant energy was intoxicating, and you couldn't wait to see what she had in store for you.

'Good girl,' Valeria praised, before yanking your hair back sharply. 'But you're still a brat, and I'm going to have to tame you.'

With that, she pushed you down onto your hands and knees, her hand gripping your hair tightly as she positioned herself behind you. You could feel her heat radiating against your back, and you let out a low moan as she ran her hands over your ass.

'You're mine now,' Valeria growled, before delivering a sharp slap to your ass. 'And I'm going to fuck you until you can't even remember your own name.'

You whimpered as she pulled your panties down, her hand rubbing your wetness before she plunged two fingers inside you. She set a punishing pace, driving them in and out of you as she whispered degrading words in your ear.

'You're just a little slut, taking whatever I give you,' she hissed, her fingers curling inside you and hitting that sweet spot that made you see stars. 'You love being used, don't you? You love being my dirty little plaything.'

You could only nod in response, unable to form coherent thoughts as Valeria continued to pound into you with her fingers. She was relentless, driving you closer and closer to the edge until you were begging for release.

'Please, Valeria,' you moaned, feeling like you were about to explode.

But Valeria wasn't done with you yet. She pulled her fingers out, leaving you feeling empty and desperate, before flipping you over onto your back. Without missing a beat, she entered you with her strap-on, the size and girth of it taking your breath away.

She set a brutal pace, her hips slamming into yours as she fucked you into oblivion. And all the while, she whispered filthy words in your ear, reminding you of your place and how good it felt to be completely owned by her.

You could feel your orgasm building, and Valeria must have sensed it too because she leaned down and whispered in your ear, 'Come for me, slut. Show me how much you love being my little toy.'

With that final command, you let go, your body shaking as you came hard around her. Valeria continued to thrust into you, drawing out your orgasm until you were a quivering mess beneath her.

When she finally pulled out, you were completely spent and utterly satisfied. Valeria pulled you into her arms, kissing you deeply and whispering praises in your ear.

'You were such a good girl for me,' she cooed, stroking your hair. 'But don't forget, you're mine now. And I'm going to keep fucking you until you can't even remember your own name.'

. . .

let me know if you want a longer, more detailed version!!!!

[mychoombatheroomba]

Only You

Between the Bones (Leon x GN! Reader) - Chapter 25

Leon seeks some comfort in you.

This chapter is 𝗡𝗦𝗙𝗪 18+ only please!

(Cross-posted from Ao3)

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Chapter Index

CW: oral sex (Reader receiving), semi-public sex

Leon wasted no time. Nearly as soon as the two of you find the blind spot of the cameras, Leon’s lips were on your own, his hands on your body. Kissing desperately, and you kissed back just the same. You knew then that he didn’t want to stop at kissing. 

Neither did you. 

It had been little over a week since that first night, maybe, but those days had stretched on and on, and the two of you had been cautious. Though, now, something told you that Leon didn’t care so much about caution right now.  

You had been the one in turmoil, last time. You had been the one to let your passions push you past sense. Now, though, as you felt his lips seek out your neck, kissing just above the collar of your uniform, you found some nerves plaguing you. Because someone saw you that first time, and you’d been lucky enough that Valeria seemed content to let the two of you carry on. That didn’t make this safe. Didn’t make it smart. 

But Leon was smiling now when he hadn’t been before, and that was enough to convince you.

How easily this man could unravel you . . .

His mouth was at your throat, now, his arms around you. He’d become so strong, his embrace like iron. You could feel him holding you against him like he was afraid you’d vanish if he let go. But you weren’t going anywhere. Whatever made him feel the way he was feeling, you wanted to make it better. But you knew you couldn’t waste time, either so you started to undo his belt . . .

Only for his hands to stop you. 

You looked at him, confused, but Leon just pulled back and shook his head. “I went first last time,” he explained simply, quietly. Part of you wanted to protest that, this time, he’d been the one that had a rough day. That he was upset this time and needed relief. But you were also fully aware that when you were the one battling your own shadows, you had been the one to sink to your knees and draw whispered moans from him. 

And Leon was a lot more selfless than you were. 

So you weren’t surprised when he kissed your neck again, open-mouthed, and hot. He reached for your own belt, then, and you knew what was coming. Craved it. 

“I want to do this for you,” he whispered against your skin, and you sighed, careful to keep quiet. His voice had changed over these months, just as his body had. He sounded steadier these days. More certain. With you, though . . . you could still hear that rookie recruit’s softness. The quiet adoration he had for you. Another thing for you to fear - and another fear for you to ignore, in this moment as he looked at you through the dark. “Can I?” 

Ever the gentleman. Even when you could feel his need for you. 

So, you nodded. 

“Show me what you got, pretty boy,” you grinned, your voice low and wanting, and you loved the way he hummed softly at the nickname. You loved that you could get that reaction from him. That you got to see him like this. Only you. 

And only he got to see the way your breath hitched when he got the belt undone. Your pants open. “Let me take care of you,” he said the words like he needed to do this, or he’d crumble. Then his hand was there, pressed between your legs, moving slowly and carefully - you can tell by the way he hummed that he loves the feeling of it. The feeling of you. He mouthed at your neck, his hand continued with that pace, and you could tell that he wanted to take his time with this. That he wanted to worship you.

It’s a risk you couldn't take. 

So you pushed your hips against his hand. Back and forth. And when he didn’t take the hint, you gripped the hair at the back of his head. He swallowed back a groan as you whispered a command. 

“Faster.” 

He didn't need to be told twice, and his hand picked up the pace, his strokes coming faster, but his kisses were still gentle. Passionate. He kissed down a ways, towards your collarbone, just barely visible over the collar of the T-shirt you’re wearing. The chain of your dog tags was pinned between your skin and his lips for a moment, just as his fingers found just the right spot, and you couldn’t tell which action made you shiver more. You had to bite your lip, breathing hard through your nose as you felt the need building up in you. 

“That’s it,” you murmured, your breath hot against his hair. 

He was so caught up in what he’s doing he didn't realize you’d slid your own hand between his legs until it was pressing up against him, and then he exhaled against your skin. Your name left him in a quiet gasp, like he wanted to protest that you don’t need to do this for him.

But you did. 

You needed it as much as he did. 

And you believed in efficiency. 

So the two of you set a quick pace against each other, hands sliding over warm flesh. His lips found yours again and his kiss was perhaps the softest thing you’ve ever experienced, even with the desperation behind it. Then that kiss traveled downwards again, and you shook your head. 

“You’re greedy.” 

“I know,” he answered, and pushed your pants down a few inches. 

You couldn’t reach where you wanted from where he was now kneeling on the ground in front of you, and you got the feeling that was intentional. That he was set on making this all about you and only you. 

He trailed kisses across your hip, then down, and your mouth hung open as his mouth found where you needed him most. 

Oh god, his mouth.

His tongue. 

He’d always been good with both, but this? You’d underestimated him that first night, and since then you’d been trying to recall the exact details of that moment when his mouth met your flesh. And now . . . the memories didn’t do it justice. 

Your hand twisted in his hair, silently guiding him as you focused on not making a sound. Torn between needing this to be quick and wanting it to drag on forever. 

Leon understood the urgency, though, and his hands joined in the effort, touching everywhere his mouth couldn’t go. He licked and kissed and your heart sped up until you were sure it was going to break through your ribs. You wanted to throw your head back, to enjoy it, but you kept your eyes downward, fixed on the outline of him kneeling in front of you. There wasn’t much of a moon that night. No silver beams to bathe Leon in a soft glow as he lavished you. But you knew he was there, and that was enough. He hummed around and against you as you pulled his hair, guiding him. Whispering praises to him so soft he might not even be able to hear them. He just kept going, his lips never leaving you, his hands caressing you so gently. So lovingly. Then he sucked your tender flesh into his mouth, and you were a goner.

Staggered breaths and a voiceless moan left you, and you pressed his head further between your legs as you reached your end. Some part of you knew that you should have been keeping a lookout. Paying attention to your surroundings. But all you could see, even in the black of night, was him. 

“God, Leon,” you whispered at last, watching as he went on kissing you until it was over. 

But you had to move fast. 

So you hoisted him up carefully, hands on his arms, and pressed him against the wall again. 

“My turn.” 

It didn’t take long. 

Your touches had already worked him up, and with whatever frustrations he’d felt following his talk with the Major, he came apart when you took him in your mouth again. 

He managed to keep quiet again, but for the whispered moan he made of your name, and you felt it wash over you like a cool wave. Then, after a moment to collect yourselves, the two of you sat against the wall, side by side, staring out into the darkness. 

“You wanna tell me what happened now?” You finally asked, and Leon’s head slumped forward. 

“That would ruin the moment.” 

That was a no, then. 

Another moment of silence passed, and you knew that the two of you would have to go soon. That even being caught there together without your hands in each other’s pants wouldn’t look good. 

And yet, the two of you lingered. 

“Did you choose this?” Leon’s voice finally cut through the quiet, and you looked over at him. Your confusion didn’t last long before he elaborated. “STRATCOM. This training.” 

There was more confusion, then. A question that brought more questions. 

And then it brought a sense of horror because you realized all too soon what that question implied. 

“Yeah,” you nodded. “I did.” They’d offered a chance at revenge, and you’d taken it.

Leon wasn’t the type to want revenge, though. That wasn’t why he was here. 

“Did you?” 

Leon was quiet for a moment, and you had your answer before he even spoke it. “No.” 

You’d known. In so many ways, you’d always known. Hearing it, though, made you angry. Angry at the faceless, nameless people in power that had put Leon in the line of fire. The ones who looked at what had befallen your base, your friends, and hadn’t done enough in response. Not until Raccoon City. Not until Leon’s life and the lives of countless others had been ruined. 

“But I’m here now,” Leon resolved, because he was strong. You knew it. He wouldn’t weep for what had been taken from him. He would press on. 

“And you’re not alone.” 

Your words were so quiet, you were almost afraid he wouldn’t hear them. But he turned towards you, then, and you knew he gave you a soft smile in the night. 

“Neither are you.”

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Chapter Index

A/N: Because they are everything.

Song choice for this chapter (and honestly for Sarge and Leon in general) is "De Selby Part 2" by Hozier, because these lads would do anything for each other, even if they won't admit it.

[sleepiexx]

Friday Nights

Valeria Garza x fem!reader

Note: It’s been a while lol, writing has been such a chore lately it’s my passion so I refuse to give up on it. I’m working on a part two to Everything is Falling Apart, but I know it’s going to take a while so here’s this short little piece to tide y’all over until I do get around to finishing, editing, and posting it

Summary: You meet an alluring woman at the club you frequent.

Warnings: alcohol, clubbing, nothing angsty tho

Word count: 1033

The music is loud, the room is bathed in a mix of colorful light and shadows from bodies tightly packed together. A buzz resounds, chatter, laughter, fun. Yeah, this is your scene alright.

You could dance the night away with your friends, and from the moment you put on the outfit which flattered all of your best features, you knew that that was exactly what you intended to do. The smell of sweat and perfume was one you knew well, and as your brow glistened you felt right at home.

The compact feeling of the dance floor could make someone feel claustrophobic, like they were being suffocated by the touching of dozens of bodies against one another. To you, the feeling was a comfort, a grounding touch that was promised at the end of every week no matter how rough. It was a feeling you could only pull yourself away from for one reason.

The effect of the shots you took hours ago began to fade and you couldn’t have that, your night is hardly over. This is what lures you away. You alert one of your friends that you are headed to the bar before slipping your way through the crowd. The bartender knows you well, you frequent and she works Friday nights so she sees you often, often enough to know that you want a little something that’s fruity but strong. She switches it up every time, just like you like. Some part of you used to have a crush on her, but you aren’t naive and you know how to spot a straight woman. A shame, really, you never find anyone cute to go home with at this place.

Maybe your confidence is intimidating, maybe your outfits are too bold, or maybe, just maybe, you have a hard time getting asked out because you spend too much time dancing to talk and you’re always, always with your girls, never alone. Save for the frequent trips you make to the bar for another round.

The bartender places your drink in front of you, and you reach into your purse in search of your wallet. Not one to keep an ongoing tab, you usually opt to pay for each drink individually, that way you don’t go too crazy on the spending. It seems this time you don’t have to worry about that, though, because a hand is placed on your shoulder, stopping you, as a smooth voice says “this one’s on me.”

You see the woman hand the bartender her card and you turn to her, having to hold yourself back from audibly gasping. She’s gorgeous, strong cheekbones and long lashes, framed by dark shoulder length hair. Not to mention her impeccable style, she wears loose black slacks and combat boots, but the main feature that has caught your attention is her shirt. A dark red satin button up, the sleeves rolled up and the buttons so generously undone, giving you a view that you struggle not to stare at. The red looks good against her warm skin tone and you can’t tell which you’d rather touch, the silky shirt, or her smooth skin.

You realize you’ve been staring entirely too long, scolding yourself for half a second before smiling and thanking the woman for the drink.

“I haven’t seen you around here before,” you say, desperate to keep the conversation going. You finally have an opportunity to flirt with a stunning woman and by god are you going to take it.

She smiles at you, eyes smug, you can tell she knows she has you hooked and a part of you really likes that idea. “I could say the same.”

You furrow your brows, trying to think if you have ever seen her before. You draw a blank, “I’m here almost every Friday.”

She hums, “I’m here Wednesdays, guess I’ll have to change up my schedule. You come here alone or?”

“With friends,” you point to your girls, “nothing takes the edge off the week quite like dancing the second the weekend starts. What’s got you coming on Wednesdays? Unconventional work schedule?”

She laughs, eyes half lidded, “something like that.”

You bat your lashes at her and she wonders if you know what power you hold with just a blink of your eyes, it prompts her to elaborate

“I own the place,” half of her is just answering your question, the other half is flat out bragging in hopes to impress you.

“Seriously?” The smirk on her face leads you to believe she’s messing with you but she nods. You want to stare slack jawed but you refrain, instead smiling wide and responding, “well then I’d better stay on your good side, it’s a nice establishment you run here.”

“A business is only as nice as the people in it,” her eyes trace your figure from bottom to top, you spot a hungry looking glint, “and, well, if you frequent then I suppose I run the nicest establishment in town.”

The line was cheesy, yet still you find your knees weak along with the feeling of blood rushing to your face.

“You uhm-“ you stumble over your words, hoping to god you don’t sound as anxious and giddy as you feel. Your intense eye contact makes up for it, ensnaring the woman before you, “you like to dance?”

Her smirk grows, shifting into something more like a smile, “I love to, you?”

“Yeah me too.” You cautiously take one of her hands, continuing to hold eye contact as you gently pull her in the direction you’d come from, “I’m y/n, by the way.”

As your feet meet the dance floor, she pulls you close, her hands meeting your hips as they’d been aching to do since she’d seen you standing there at the bar. She can dance well, you can tell before you’ve even started, her stance is impeccable and there’s not a hint of hesitation on her. You know you’ve got a full night ahead of you, and you don’t find yourself complaining, “Valeria.”

You repeat it, tasting her name on your tongue. It sounds good, so very good, “I like it.”

And there it is again, that smirk.

[guess-my-next-obsession]

Boss — Chapter 1

next chapter

pairing: javier peña x DEA!OC

summary: you’re Javi’s new boss and he’s making sure it’s not an easy job.

chapter rating: M (mature content)

warnings: language, narcos stuff, javi being a persistent flirt, mild mild mild mature content, eventual smut to come

words: 3k

a/n: please let me know if you’d like to be on the tag list for this series!

“Thank you all for being here this morning,” Javíer stood in the corner of the conference room at the Embassy in Bogota, his arms crossed over his chest as he scowled at the room. He hated meaningless shit, and this little gathering felt as meaningless as he could imagine. “We’re delighted to welcome three new agents to our operations.”

“Javi,” Javier’s partner, Agent Steve Murphy, entered the room from the back, quickly finding Javier and standing at his side. “What’s going on now?”

“They’re trying to let us know we’re replaceable by sending us the replacements.” Javier eyed the three newest faces to the office, two of them looking rather forgettable, but one stuck out immediately.

It wasn’t a common occurrence for Javier to find his fellow agents so attractive, hence why he had to go out and find his women elsewhere. But she immediately caught his eye, her dark features as warm as whiskey and the red lipstick on her Angelina Jolie-esque lips drawing every eye in the room towards them.

“Lastly,” the Ambassador turned to the woman that had Javier under a spell. Every eye in the room was focused on her, including Javier’s. Though she looked stern, there was no denying her attractiveness, and the room of lonely men around her seemed to prove that. “I want to introduce the new station deputy, Agent Hernandez. Agent, you have the floor.”

“Thank you, Ambassador.” She took over, her stomach only slightly churning with nerves as she looked across the room. Thankfully, she wasn’t coming in as some rookie, no, she’d already served her time as a freshman agent working in Mexico. She was now a boss—well, the boss. “I’m glad to be here and I look forward to touching my boots down on the streets of Medellin—“

“Medillin? She’s going to be our fucking nanny?” Steve groaned in a whisper to Javier, but Javi was completely lost in listening to her. He wasn’t sure if the sudden interest in the meeting was because he was desperate to sleep with her or because of the sheer authority and confidence she radiated in room full of stiffs, but he found himself genuinely listening to her.

“What was your name?” Javier looked over his shoulder as she called out the blonde beside him. Steve stood up straight and straightened his hair out.

“Agent Murphy.” He replied in a deep southern drawl. She nodded slightly and eyed him again before glancing over at the man next to him, his stare on her so intense she perceived it as threatening. “I won’t be your nanny, Agent Murphy. I’m going to be your boss.”

•••

“She’s a b—“

“Boss!” Javier interrupted Steve as they walked down the hall of the Embassy, Agent Hernandez suddenly turning a corner. She looked up from the report she was reading and gave them both a stern and questioning look. Javier swallowed his intimidation and gestured around at the hall. “Welcome to Bogota.”

“Thank you, Agent…?” She held out her hand and Javier reached to shake it with a charming smile, making her squint and grin at him in suspicion.

“Javier, and yours?” He lifted her knuckles to his lips but she quickly pulled her hand away, staring at him with shock. No one had ever been so bold as to flirt with her on her first day, and though she disliked his forwardness, she couldn’t deny that he did posses a certain charm.

“Your last name, I mean.” She clarified with a dry tone, watching as Javier stood up straighter, seemingly coming to terms with her rejection. “And my name is Valeria, but you can refer to me as Hernandez or boss.”

“Peña.” He responded flatly with a nod, chuckles erupting from Agent Murphy. “Boss.”

“You’re both in Medellin, correct?” She asked, unintentionally giving Javier a once-over. She could practically see the light brighten in his eyes as she eyes met his again. “Well, I’ve been appointed to take lead on your operations against Escobar. So…I look forward to working with you both.”

“Likewise, boss.” Javier nodded and watched as she walked past them, his eyes following her hips as she walked down the hall in a tight pencil skirt.

“You’re gonna get yourself fired.” Steve warned with a shake of his head, continuing in the opposite direction, Peña following closely behind.

“She likes me.” Javier faced forward and wore a proud smirk as he walked, Steve shaking his head again, this time furrowing his brows and questioning his friend. “What? I could tell!”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night, Jav.”

••• A month later—Medellin •••

“Hey, boss,” Javier tapped on Valeria’s office door with his knuckles while she packed her briefcase up for the day. Though she didn’t respond, he continued. “A few of us are going out for a drink.”

“I’m good, Peña.” She sighed and closed her briefcase, grabbing it as she began to try to leave, but Javier didn’t move. His broad shoulders remained planted in the doorway as he looked down at her, her brows lacing as she looked up at him. “Can I help you?”

“You can let loose for a night. Agents are dying everyday for this shit…what’s the point of being a survivor if you’re not living?” He asked, somehow stirring something in her resonated and made her reconsider her previous harshness. “Besides, how are we supposed to trust you in the field when we don’t even know you?”

“One drink.” She looked up into his eyes and watched as his lips curled slightly, his body moving out of the way so that she could leave. “Where are we meeting then?”

“I can just pick you up.” Valeria whipped her head around to glare at him with a warning look, watching as he put his hands up. “Agent Murphy, his wife, and myself, I mean.”

“This isn’t some double date.” She pointed her eyes at him and pressed a finger to his chest, surprised at the firmness. Javier looked more than amused at her reaction, making her turn red in the cheeks.

“Works for me, I don’t date.” He corrected, making her scoff. Anytime she thought she might have been attracted enough to do something foolish with him, he spoke. She turned around and continued walking out of the office, Peña calling out from behind her. “I’ll be at yours at 8!”

•••

The evening seemed to pass achingly slowly as Valeria got dressed up for the night. She weren’t sure what she was getting herself into— whether it was a genuine happy hour get together or simply a ploy for Peña to work his charm on her. There was a itching feeling in her chest when she thought about the latter unfolding tonight. The guy was starting to get to her, and try as she might, she couldn’t stop herself from developing a little crush.

Valeria pulled a red wrap-dress out of her closet along with a pair of black pumps that placed comfort over aesthetic, just how she liked it. Her hair was wrapped in a tight bun at the office, and when she took it down, it surprisingly held a nice shape. Having to not do her hair allowed her the extra time to put in on her makeup, doing a simple look with smoked out-brown eyeliner and a bold red lip that complimented her tan skin and made her glow.

Her heels clicked across the tile floor as she walked into the kitchen to make herself a quick drink while eight o’clock neared, but right as she reached for a glass, a knock tapped on her door. She squinted at the door as she walked to it, grabbing her gun as it sat on the kitchen table. She looked through the peephole and sighed when she saw Javier smoking on the other side.

“Peña. You’re early.” She opened the door and watched as his lips fell open and he pulled his cigarette away, his eyes growing wide as he took in her appearance. She felt her cheeks burn the longer he kept staring, making her feel a tad embarrassed. “I’m…going to be just a minute.”

She closed the door on him as he began to speak, nearly hyperventilating as she ran around her apartment, grabbing her purse and gun, the sudden realization of how good he looked trumping the earlier shyness that made her panic. He looked so good tonight in his buttoned-down shirt that fell open around his clavicle, exposing his golden skin and slight chest hair—did he always look so good?

“Sorry about that,” she breathed out as she opened the door again, turning around and locking her front door before turning back to him. Javier was at a loss for words as he walked her down the steps of her apartment and to the street, figuring she would look nice, but not that nice. He managed to clear his throat as she neared the awaiting vehicle parked on the street, noticing the lack of fellow passengers in it.

“Uh, Murphy and his wife couldn’t make it, actually…” Javier watched as she froze and turned to him with a glare, holding his hands up in defense and nodded at her. “I know, it looks bad, but I promise they cancelled on me.”

“Will there be anyone else from the office there tonight?” She asked as he opened the passenger door for her, holding it as she climbed into the Jeep before closing it shut, the window down already down. He leaned over with one arm on the roof, his face closer than it ever had been before.

“He’s my only friend at the office…so, no.” He shrugged and tapped the roof. “Do you still want to go?”

Valeria shook her head and sighed, chuckling a bit at him but mostly at herself for falling for his charm. “Well, I’m already in the car…”

“Relax, it’s just a drink between two colleagues.” He climbed into the driver’s side and started the engine, pulling off onto the road.

The warm Medillin air ran through her hair as she fixed her eyes to look at anything but the man beside her. He was a handsome guy—those big brown eyes, pouty bottom lip, even his mustache seemed sexier on him than it did on all the other men possessing one. It was a job in and of itself to not look over at him, but she was a determined woman.

Even beyond the bureaucratic red-tape that surrounded her hypothetical romance with her inferior, there was the sheer truth that it just wouldn’t work between them. He was red like fire and she was pale blue like ice. Their personalities were polar opposites, well, at least at work. To even dip her toes into the water like she was doing tonight was dangerous, yet she wondered why she couldn’t stop herself—why she couldn’t find the strength anywhere inside to tell him to turn around and drop her off.

“Tú hablas español?” His voice sounded from over the wind and radio playing a cumbia song she didn’t recognize. Valeria finally turned to look at him, her stomach flipping as she did. His jawline was sharp as he puffed on a cigarette, his eyes fixed on the road before glancing over at her.

“Uh, sí. Soy de Arizona y mi madre es de México.” She picked at her cuticles as she dropped her eyes to her lap. [Uh, yes. I’m from Arizona and my mother is from Mexico.]

“Y tú padre?” He glanced over at her, taking in her delicate profile before turning back to the road. While he initially thought this night would only end up with him taking her to bed, he was quickly beginning to feel that familiar feeling of genuinely connecting with a woman, a feeling he never was quite sure what to do with. [And your father?]

“Un gringo.” She smiled at him, watching as he released a breathy chuckle. “Y tú? De dónde eres?” [A white boy…And you? Where are you from?]

“Texas.” His reply was short, making her wonder if she’d somehow overstepped. She turned her face away from him and looked straight ahead, the streets bustling with beautiful women and what looked like sicarios. Javier sighed and drove past the bars, making her brows furrow. “It’s too packed.”

“Isn’t that the point?” She asked, watching as he continued driving. “Peña, where are we going now?”

“There’s another bar close to my apartment. No sicarios, no hookers.” He looked over at her, their eyes locking for a moment. A smile grew on his face against his will, making him chuckle. “Do you always have to look so mean?”

“When I’m being kidnapped, yes.” She shook her head, irritated at the lack of control.

“I can take you back home.” He offered with an attitude, surprised when she started to nod her head.

“Good. Take me home.” She resigned to a proud expression, her chin lifted slightly as she looked out of the window. Javier glanced at her and felt a strange pang in his heart. This wasn’t how he thought the night would go.

“Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel kidnapped or anything, I just wanted to try to get to know you—“

“Peña, perhaps you shouldn’t get to know me. Did you ever think of that?” She snapped, turning her head to look at him. “I’m your boss, there’s no need for you and I to be friends.”

“I never wanted to be your friend.” He raised an eyebrow and watched as she rolled her eyes. “I’m sorry, just…let’s have one drink. If you still can’t stand my company, so be it.”

“I still want to go back to my apartment.” She insisted, the thought of going out with the mood she was in unbearable. He nodded and flickered his eyes to hers, making her chuckle. “Not like that. We can just have a drink on my patio.”

“Do you have whiskey?” He asked, earning another soft chuckle and a nod. “Alright, then.”

She could almost feel his eyes on her backside as she stepped up the stairs in front of him, and though she was still irritated, it didn’t bother her the way she thought it would. She carefully turned the lock of her front door and opened it up, allowing him to walk in first before she entered.

Valeria set her keys in a clay bowl by her door and let her purse sit beside it on the small table. Javier turned just in time to watch you lift the hem of her flowy red dress, removing her gun from her garter holster. His breath caught in his throat at the sight of her soft looking thigh, the black of the garter sending his mind into a flurry of wicked thoughts.

“I’d say make yourself comfortable, but wouldn’t want the DEA’s most prolific whore to get the wrong idea.” She joked as she kicked off her heels and walked past him into the kitchen. Javier followed behind, his hip leaning to rest against the counter beside her as she poured two glasses of whiskey, hers being mixed with Coca Cola.

“I’m not a whore,” he corrected as he accepted his glass, making her give him a suspicious look. “I just like women.”

“Mmhm, so I’ve been warned.” She lifted herself to sit on top of the counter, the hem of her dress riding up. She pulled it down as she noticed Javier’s eyes on her thighs, clearing her throat. “They almost didn’t send me here because of you.”

“Why?” His eyes lifted and squinted at her.

“They didn’t want the new boss to be caught fooling around with any agents.” She raised an eyebrow as she took a sip of her drink, the alcohol warming her body from the inside as she swallowed it. “But then they met me and realized I’m not as stupid as I might look.”

“You don’t look stupid.” He spoke in a low voice, making her look away from his dark eyes. “Beautiful doesn’t mean stupid.”

“You think I’m beautiful?” She asked, eyes lifting to meet his. It was no longer her talking, the alcohol quickly giving her a bit more courage to speak so recklessly. Javier nodded and stepped an inch closer to her, making her chuckle. “I know I’m beautiful, Javier. What’s something I don’t know?”

“You’re intimidating.” She nodded, already aware of that fact. “And you make me nervous.”

That, she didn’t know.

“Nobody makes me nervous.” He added in a whisper, his fingertips tapping on his glass as though they were itching to touch something else.

Though she knew it was irresponsible, self-destructive, and against every rule she ever set for herself, she reached for his glass, taking it from his hand and setting it on the counter beside her. Her eyes held his in tense silence as she grabbed his hand and placed it against her breast, his lips parting as he groped the plump flesh over the dress.

“I guess they made a mistake sending me here, after all.” She breathed out as her arousal built, but it was over even faster than it started. Javier pulled his hand away and stepped back, reaching for his drink and downing it in one gulp. She felt stripped down and vulnerable with his rejection, her arms crossing over her chest as she looked down at her lap. “I’m sorry, Javier. I—“

“Shut up.” He ordered and stepped between her legs, pulling her by her neck until her red lips crashed against his. She gripped his wrists as he held her face, his mustache tickling her as he kissed her with a force and hunger that she’d never felt before. When he pulled away, he sighed, eyes lifting to meet hers. “We should be careful.”

“I have a condom,” she spoke breathlessly.

“Not like that,” he chuckled at her eagerness and shook his head, stepping back. He gave her one last look, his head shaking at the sinful nature of her body’s curves, his tongue swiping over his bottom lip. “I mean, we should take this slow…and be careful.”

“Is that the first time you’ve said that to a woman?” She laughed and sighed, her heart still pounding and the ache between her thighs still apparent. Somehow, he’d found a way to make her frustrated, even in telling her what she wanted to hear.

“I’ll see you at the office.” He nodded and walked out of her home, leaving her alone with her desire. She hopped off the sink and turned on the faucet, splashing her face with the coldest water Medillin had to offer, hoping it would help to cool off her arousal.

“I’ll see you at the office.” She mocked and proceeded to go through her nightly routine, ensuring everything was secure and that she was freshly showered for the morning.

As she laid her head on her pillow, she looked over at the empty spot beside her, her mind racing with fantasies of Javier laying down next to her after making her legs shake. Though he wasn’t there to make any of her fantasies come true, she closed her eyes and prayed that her dreams would suffice.

[writingoneshots]

Hey uhm first of all I just wanna say, your fics are really good!😭❤ secondly, I appreciate the amount of effort you put in to your fics so thank you so much!

How about having an argument with Zoro, Sanji, Ace and Law and f!s/o accidentally says "i hate you", what would their reaction be like?

Angst but fluff and comfort ending if u may omg agsjsvs

N e wayz, have an amazing day bub!❤🥺

Sensitive Topic

Hello softiebadbitch :) ! love this name.

I wasn't really sure how to add 4 readers into one story but I think I found a good solution. It's clear to me that you wanted to have 4 separate stories but this would have been too long for one post and you can't use one request for several posts.. sadly. Hope this fixed it - I made one general story and continued with 4 different endings. All of them are in the reader version but the 'extra girlfriends' have their specific names to not make it too complicated.

Kind of like this way of writing.. wouldn't mind more requests like this :) ! Thanks for letting me explore this new style even though it probably wasn't intended.

And thank you so much for the kind words. I really appreciate it <3 especially because I don't know if anything I write is good enough for Tumblr or literally any request. Thank you, thank you, thank you <3 !

- Ace x reader - ZoroxRey, SanjixAna, LawxValeria (if one of these names is yours.. you're welcome) - 2,774 words (but it's a 4 in 1 story) - lovey-dovey, little pain in our chest, signs of smut, still SFW, cute moments

Spending some girl-time with your closest best friends was a really rare occasion after spending years on many pirate ships. Especially bonding with female human beings was hard. But since you were dating Ace, you finally got the chance after meeting his friends. Some of them were already in a relationship with their current partners and the rest just started dating. After a successful shopping day, you spend the rest of the evening in the fanciest diner on this island and booked a whole room just for you and your better halves. The men were probably still training or doing something unimportant, but none of you cared. "Can you believe the guy from the bakery? He dared to follow us around just to carry our bags..?", Rey laughed and finished her second glass of wine. "Just please don't tell Sanji about it. He is already heartbroken because I went shopping without him.", Ana pouted and sighed a bit sad. You rolled your eyes, "Stop whining. This is the first time after eight months that we could hang out together. And we didn't have to worry about carrying something." "Plus, the guy seemed to be really into you, Ana.", Rey smirked and gave her a flirty wink. "Stop saying that! Sanji could come here any minute! You know how jealous he can get!", Ana warned Rey and glared at her. This was the worst timing ever. "Jealous? Why?! Did anyone touch you?!", Sanji's eyes were already in flames and he almost teleported himself to his girlfriend after hearing these words. The men decided to join you all on the right - or maybe wrong? - time and chose to mock the conversation. "Probably some weird girly things, we don't wanna know about.", Ace grinned and sat down right in front of you. The men sat down on the other side of the table and didn't even choose to greet them with a hug or a kiss, except for Sanji, who could barely let his fingers of Ana. You raised an eyebrow at Ace's comment, "What?" "Just kidding! You had probably something important to talk about.. like which nail color you're supposed to get next week.", Ace added and high-fived Zoro. "Or what hairstyle you should make to match your earrings!", Zoro couldn't stop laughing at his own comment. Ace turned to Law for another high five but he just glared at the topless pirate. "What? You're leaving me hanging like this?!" "Don't drag me into this.", Law turned away from him and faced Valeria, who seemed pleased by his answer. The others were not though. You were still confused by Ace's behavior but slowly understood that he tried to be as manly as possible in front of the others. Sanji sat down on his place after failing to convince Ana to have her sit on his lap. "What do you mean? An hour ago you were talking about how Valeria tried to draw her eyeliner but ended up looking like a panda!", Ace laughed and high-fived Zoro again, who seemed to feel a bit unsure about Ace's comment now. Rey looked down at her drink, already realizing how quickly the mood changed since they started making fun of all of you. Valeria was shocked. She didn't know how to respond and just shook her head, ignoring Law's desperate look on his face. "That's enough, Ace.", you talked silently and poured yourself some wine, not caring about the waiter offering to do it for you. "What.. I-", Ace froze after seeing your face. It pained him to see you being disappointed and he didn't know how that happened. "I am sorry if I have offended anyone.. we were just talking.. ", he cleared his throat and began to feel uncomfortable. He didn't see that coming. "Then maybe you should stop it", you were still not able to look up. "Stop what? Talking?" "Yes.", your eyes flashed up to him now. He didn't expect to see the anger in them. Ace has never seen that glare directed at him. It felt way too painful. "Okay, everyone. Let's calm down now and enjoy this dinner.", Sanji tried to cool down the situation and looked at the food, which didn't look good enough for his girlfriend. "Gonna be hard when you're here.", Zoro commented under his breath and was already eating his meal. "Huh?!", Sanji clenched

his teeth and tensed all his muscles to not smack Zoro for that comment. "Can you just calm down, you two?!", Ana took a deep and annoyed breath, trying to stay calm in this uncomfortable scenario. Ace couldn't stop but to look at you, ignoring him now. "Valeria-" "Don't.", she stopped Law from whatever he was trying to say. Everyone was quiet. Nobody was eating. "..anyone want some extra bread?", the waiter whispered and stood behind you, holding up a basket with fresh bread.

-----

Ace x reader When you arrived in the room of your hotel, you still didn't dare to say a word. You were still furious about his behavior, especially because this wasn't the first time he dared to say something like that. "(Y/N), I am-" "I don't want to hear it." "Please, just let me-" "I said, that I don't want to hear it.", you hit your jacket onto the bed and let go of it a few seconds after. Taking a deep breath, Ace pressed his lips together and didn't know what to say or do. You two never had a fight like this and he feared to say something wrong, which would make you leave him. "I don't want us to go to bed angry.", he whispered sadly and stepped closer to you. You just froze and closed your eyes, trying to remain calm. "You always do this.. every time you make fun of something I do. I stopped talking about my hobbies and literally anything that makes me happy and you caught a glimpse of us having fun, and immediately you chose to mock it..." Ace frowned at that and thought back to all the times he tried to have fun with you. He never understood any of your hobbies or what girls liked, which is why he tried to spend some time with you by making jokes but it never occurred to him that it was actually hurting you. "Why did you never tell me that? I didn't know that it hurt you.." "Because I shouldn't need to tell you! I hate when you try to make fun of me or other people like that! You literally took the joy of me doing my hair, trying to learn how to skateboard or even baking muffins! I hate this, I hate the fights and I hate yo-" Both of you froze right on your spots. "Oh my God..", tears were rolling down your eyes and your knees weren't able to support you any longer. You immediately went down to your knees and hid your face in your hands. "I didn't want to say this.. it slipped.. I don't hate you, Ace!" Your heart was aching at what you were about to say. Ace didn't feel any better. He sat down right next to you and watched you wiping your tears away. "I have caused this... I am sorry, (Y/N).. This will never happen again, I promise. I just wanted to be a part of something in your life.", he took a deep breath and pulled you onto his lap. "I will find another way. Just please.. don't hate me." You shook your head and hugged him tight back, hiding your face in his neck and never ever letting him go. --- Zoro x Rey Zoro came out of the shower, just a towel around his hips and water still dripping down his naked chest. This was usually a sight, which made you jump right onto him but not this time. The pirate hunter had hoped for you to fall for it because he was really bad at apologizing but he knew you had a stronger will than him. He would have fallen for it. You were already in bed, cuddled into your pillow and ignoring him professionally. "Rey.. I can feel that you're not sleeping.", Zoro approached the bed and sighed when you didn't respond. "..are you mad at me?", he whispered now carefully. You raised an eyebrow at this provocative question and pressed your lips together, trying not to give back a stupid answer. But your mouth responded faster than your brain. "No, I am super happy about today's events. We can repeat that tomorrow again, if you feel like making fun of women-things.", you added in a sarcastic tone. "So.. that's a yes?" You turned around, the pillow tight in your grip and pulled the pillow with a loud thud onto his face. When you took the pillow away, you narrowed your eyes at his provocative smirk. "Definitely, yes." "Shut up.", you sighed and were about to turn around again but he grabbed your wrist and pulled you to the other side of the bed until you were facing him. "Stop running away from your problems all the time, lady." "I really hate when you are doing this!", you tried to free your arm from his grip. "What?" "Using your strength to make me do whatever you want to!" "This is literally the reason, why you started dating me. Because I am not a weakling, who gets dragged by everyone like your stupid exes. But if you really hate it, then that means you must hate me

too, right?", he leaned forward, making sure not to miss any sort of reaction in your eyes. You looked at him surprised and didn't know what to say. After a few seconds, you shook your head and sighed a bit. "I couldn't hate you for being you. I hate the fact that you're making fun of girl-things all the time." "Alright, I'll stop then.", Zoro promised and let go of your hand. He turned around and went to the pile of washed clothes on the couch to pick out something to sleep in. Right.. I forgot how easy it can be in a relationship. You talk, promise and go on. Not believing what he just did, your brain had a thousand thoughts about what would happen during this night but it did not involve any sort of clothes. You stood up, went to him, and pulled away his towel. Zoro turned around, surprised by your decision, "Oj.. bad girl." --- Sanji x Ana After this emotional and very unusual dinner, you decided to have some tea. Sanji was still in your bedroom preparing a bath for you even though you've told him that you weren't in the mood for it. You hid in the kitchen and cooked some water, while preparing the rest. While you were looking for the honey, which he was hiding from Luffy, Sanji entered the kitchen. "Oj, what are you doing?", he approached you and immediately figured that you were making some tea. "Just something to warm myself up with a sweet taste.", you smiled a bit exhausted and felt Sanji's arms around you in an instant. "I am sorry for today.. I know that I promised you to not get triggered because of that marimo but his bare existence is to annoy me.", Sanji tried to brighten the mood and gave you a soft kiss on your head. "No, it's okay.. I am already used to it. I just wanted to have a chill day with the girls and this fight kind of ruined everything again.", you shrugged and leaned softly onto him, enjoying his muscular arms supporting you. "Oh.. so you don't hate me, right?" You laughed softly. The relationship had only just begun and Sanji had to question every move of yours. "I could never...", you looked up to him and kissed his warm lips softly, forgetting about everything that had happened in the last hour. --- Law x Valeria Law used his room ability to create a bubble surrounding the two of you. He carefully stepped closer and put his arm around your waist only to see you turn your head away from him. He tensed his jaw, trying to hide the sudden strike of pain in his chest and just decided to ignore it for now. "Shambles." You found yourself in your and Law's bedroom. After a few seconds, you just freed yourself from his arm and went straight into the bathroom, locking yourself in. Law just stood there, not knowing what to do or say. He had definitely hurt your feelings but he didn't know how to apologize for it. "Val..", he closed the distance slowly to the door and tried to listen to whatever you were doing inside. It sounded like you were throwing something away and sniffling quietly. Fuck.. "Valeria.. what are you doing?" "Cleaning.", your response was sharp. Law knew that he was a genius, who could solve the hardest puzzle on this planet or even have a detailed discussion with Robin, but even Luffy or Kid would have been able to figure out what you were doing right now. "Stop throwing away your things. I like it when you put on your make-up." "Are you sure about that? Or are you going to call me a dog or a salamander the next time you talk to others?!", you wiped away your tears and threw away the rest of the make-up, which you bought today. "Stop overreacting. I was just talking about your eyeliner the other day and you hated it too. Take out the make-up again and forget about it.", he sighed and knew that this wasn't something he should say but he also knew that it would trigger you enough to get out of the bathroom. "You know what-!", you opened the door harshly and stepped out, pointing your index finger at him. Law had a hard time hiding his cheeky smile because he already knew you well enough. "I hate what you're doing! Always talking about me behind my back! I hate

you for it!", you crossed your arms at your chest and took a deep breath, trying to control the last brain cells, which are still able to hold you back from kissing his cheeky smirk. The pirate captain raised an eyebrow at that and needed a second to choose his next words wisely. "Did you just tell me that you hate me?" "I said that I hate you for it! Not that I hate you!" "This is literally the same..", Law tilted his head a bit and couldn't quite accept that. "I hate it when you talk about me behind my back before talking to me personally. You were the first one to say 'I love you' but not directly to me.. no! You said it to Bepo first and he told me. Then you said that you preferred my soft cookies more than the brownies but again: you didn't tell me! You told Sanji! And to the newest 'Law is a wimp and can't tell his girlfriend anything personally', you told the boys that I looked like a damn panda!" "But a cute one..", Law smirked now and stepped closer, putting his hand on your cheek softly. You were just about to smack it away but Law was faster. He pushed you against a wall within a second and pressed his body against yours. His hand rested on your neck and he pressed his thumb against your chin, forcing you to look up at him. "Say it again, Valeria..", he purred your name in his dangerously sexy voice. "Say that you hate me." You frowned at his reaction and didn't really understand how this turned him on. "No, you weirdo." "Say it.", he commanded now and leaned closer to you, your lips barely touching. "Make me.", your last brain cells just said their goodbyes. A harsh sound of him pulling out his belt appeared beside you and you couldn't look away. His eyes were focused on yours as if he'd die if he'd miss anything for a second. "Don't tell Bepo.. but you're my favorite panda." "You fucking... I really hate you now.", you spoke through your teeth and tried to push him away. The most heartwarming laugh escaped Law's lips and he immediately locked his lips with yours, not giving you a chance to respond to him laughing. Law pulled your arms behind your back and tied them with his belt. "That's my girl.", he whispered in between your kiss and didn't let go of you for the rest of the night.

[tratshka]

AKDJDJANA VICTOR ISN'T EVEN DOING THIS WEDDING BECAUSE HE WANTS TO BUT HE'S JUST SO DESPERATE TO HAVE A BIT OF A GOOD DAY THAT HE'S JUST LIKE "HELLO MY GODDAUGHTER PLEASE ATTEND MY WEDDING :)" and Valeria is like "YES >:)" and reed and sue are like "NO >:(" and Victor is this (👌) close to just kidnapping her (AGAIN).

Reed: Tony please come pick up your boyfriend he's attempting to steal my children AGAIN this time to attend his wedding

Tony: I can't control Victor are you kid--whAT THE $#@& DO YOU MEAN HE'S GETTING MARRIED

Reed: TONY CALM DOWN IT'S POLITICAL—MY DAUGHTER TONY—

JAJAJjaajhs I REALLY LIKE THE COMPLICITY OF VALERIA IN VICTOR’S PLANS, and the idea of him just wanting to have one good day after all, and not fucking accomplishing it because:

 1- he is victor von doom, the karma he has to pay to the universe won't let him 

 and 

2- because his ways to accomplish it are like, a bit of a ✨QUESTIONABLEs✨

And LMAO I JUST LOVED! THE REED AND TONY INTERACTION I HAD TO DRAW IT  😭

(i can see that sue is at  this 👌 close to and just go apeshit agains victor, she is just so done with the kidnapping routine, wile Valeria is just like “oh another weekend at uncle doom’s house, well better pack my things”)

[schemingbishop]

the things that they became

so i’m finally posting my gvbb fic, which has been a hell of a ride and i’m super happy to have worked with my very talented gang!! Thanks to @grishaversebigbang for hosting!

Materialki: @hayleylmorgan @laisacordeliaart @starstrucksailor

summary:  two years after leaving Ketterdam, Captain Inej Ghafa infamous on the seas, a name that people go running from. Her life in Ketterdam is behind her, and she's found a new family in her crew, a certain Ravkan ex-first army soldier in particular. Yet when Kaz Brekker has another job he needs her for, none of that seems to matter anymore. Inej was less finished with Ketterdam than she once believed

ao3 link is here

chapter one can be found under the cut

Kara always felt most alive when she was fighting. Perhaps there was something terrible in that, but there was no denying something in her loved to hear the crash of her sword against another. Loved the dance that followed, stepping back, forwards, dodge, strike, and on it went. There was less spinning and twirling and elaborate throwing of daggers than the stories would have you believe, but there was a certain grace to it. Yet no matter how much a part of her loved fighting, loved the beautiful thrill of it, she could never bring herself to love killing. She never had and she never would. Guilt always cloaked her whenever she drove her sword through a man’s heart, or put a bullet in his brain. No matter how terrible the person, to take a life was a cruel thing.

Killing slavers, however, was a little easier to bare than killing innocents (well exactly how innocent they were Kara felt was up for debate, but that was hardly relevant). Currently, she was trying to do just that. She was not doing particularly well at it, however. The short, dark haired slaver she was fighting had cornered her in the captains cabin, and taken her sword to boot. The doors had flung shut behind him, and Kara heart leapt uncomfortably as she realized she had hit the wall. There was no where else to back away to now. She still had her guns, one gripped tightly in her hand. Her eyes trained on the long thin sword trained at her heart. It was doubtless she could kill him if she wanted, but there was also a chance he could kill her. Kara was fond of life, she was not keen to die on a rotting slaver ship at the hands of some spineless asshole and his stolen sword.

“So this is awkward,” She said with a uncomfortable smile, never taking her eyes of the sword.

“It’s not awkward,” The slaver snarled, stepping forwards and shoving the point of his sword against her chest. “Just because that bitch captain of yours thinks she owns the damn seas – ” Oh but she does own the seas, Kara thought, hastily raising the gun in her hand, Inej Ghafa doesn’t loose. He broke off and scowled at her. The sword was putting fair distance between them, so she couldn’t stab or hit him with anything to throw him off. The sword was sharp enough to already be drawing blood at her stomach, where the slaver was jabbing it. Of course it was, it was her sword. Perhaps if she could shoot his hand, he’d be forced to drop it…

It seemed she would never have to worry about it. The doors were flung open again the man with her sword scrambled backwards to avoid being hit by one of them. Kara flinched too, then tripped and fell as she too tried to step back. She had intended to shoot the slaver, but when she looked across to the desk on the other side of the room she forgot all about him. The captain of the slaver ship was tripping backwards over his own feet, and following was a girl with two shining knives. Inej. One of her knives was quickly pressed to the mans throat. She hadn’t glanced over at Kara, but she knew Inej knew she was there. Saving me again. Kara would have been impressed if it hadn’t made her feel so bloody useless.  

“You’re dead Ghafa,” The Captain hissed, trying, and failing to fight Inej. Kara snorted, at that. People said lots of things about Inej. That she was invincible, the curse upon the seas, a goddess or a saint reborn to enact her justice, they were all lies. But they did say she never lost. Once she set her sights on you, you were as good as a ghost already. That was not wrong. People were often surprised to learn Inej was just a eighteen year old girl, no one was supposed to be so formidable so young. Kara knew a little of why, a few spare details of her time in Ketterdam. The reasons Inej was so dangerous were cruel and unfair and nothing anyone deserved. Using the skills Ketterdam and the dregs gave her for good though? It was beautifully ironic.

“I wouldn’t bet on it,” Kara said before she could stop herself, and that seemed to revitalize the slaver who had stolen her sword. He had spent the last few moments staring at Inej disbelievingly. As the slaver captain looked over at the two of them, Kara picked up her gun, took off the safety and fired a shot. The slaver slumped down to the ground, and Kara looked back to Inej and the captain. He looked afraid now, no more threats. Inej’s dagger was leaving beads of blood at his throat.

“I can give you money, or a share in profits, or the ship, or – ” Kara didn’t know why he was trying. Everybody knew you didn’t bargain with death. Inej drew the knife across his throat and he dropped back onto the desk, lifeless. She turned to Kara then, a subtle sort of smile on her face, wordlessly offering a hand. Kara looked at it resentfully for a moment, but then she sheathed her guns and took it.

“We won?” Kara asked, as she bent to pick up her sword from the dead man. It was only then that she had noticed it was remarkably quieter outside than it had been a few minutes before.

“Of course,” Inej said, pushing through the door and onto the main deck. Some part of Kara still expected bullets flying and men bleeding out and the ship a wreck. But it was never like that. The former prisoners were being carefully led across to Inej’s own ship by the rest of their crew and any remaining slavers were held a gun point. Some were even jumping ship. The Captain of the Wraith didn’t lose, the rumour carried across the sea, Kara had heard it long before she’d joined the crew. Now, two months after she had, it still amazed her. The good guys don’t always have to loose, it was a nice sentiment and a better reality.

“I suppose I should thank you,” Kara muttered, as she and Inej ventured towards Specht. He was leading the last of the slavers prisoners to the Wraith, and seemingly waiting for Inej to return.

“For saving your life?” Inej raised a brow as she glanced back at her, “I suppose you should.”

“Yeah well, thank you. I had it under control though, I would have been fine.”

“Hmm,” Inej shrugged, and before Kara could protest she was speaking to Specht. Kara didn’t make much of a conscious effort to listen, they were likely only discussing where they would dock to return the freed prisoners to wherever they came from. Kara figured she’d find out soon enough. By the look of it there were only five or six, but she wasn’t surprised. They hadn’t targeted the ship because of who they thought it was carrying. It was part of a larger game, a rich merchant turned slaver who ran a whole business of the illegal trade. He’d taken issue with Inej coming after his ships, sent some after her in return. Once they’d sunk those ships, Inej had decided to take out one of his most prized. The one they were on now. Kara would have pegged it for revenge, had she not known Inej better. It was practical, proof nothing was safe. Hunting slavers wasn’t just about playing the hero.

“Oh, and there’s a letter for you,” Specht’s words finally caught Kara’s attention, and she turned to Inej. Sure enough, he had handed her a rolled scroll of paper, tied with black string. A black crow was emblazoned on the side of the paper. The dregs, it had to be. Specht bore there tattoo, a crow and a cup, on his arm. Inej tended not to speak of her time in the dregs, or her time in Ketterdam at all. Kara couldn’t blame her. She knew a thing or two about troubled pasts, the parts of them she would rather not remember. Inej only ever spoke about the friends that she’d had there, and as far as Kara knew, none of them were still there. Besides, who was desperate enough to send letters to the middle of the ocean?

“Why would they send it to me here?” Inej voiced Kara’s thoughts aloud, and specht just shrugged.

“Some little messenger on a rowboat was sent, wouldn’t let go of the letter til it’d been put in my hand or yours,” He explained as the three of them reached the cabin of Inej’s door.

“Hell of a journey for a letter,” Kara remarked, raising an eyebrow at the scroll. Inej sighed and pocketed it, frowning a little at Kara. Kara couldn’t help but think sometimes the Captain looked at her like she was a mystery to be solved. One piece of the puzzle Inej couldn’t quite place. Inej wouldn’t have liked that, she hated a mystery she couldn’t solve.

“Thank you Specht,” She nodded in his direction, and leant back on the wooden double doors leading to her cabin. It was much nicer than the other, now dead, captains cabin, in Kara’s opinion anyway. The main body had several shelves filled with papers and books and various ornaments, a large desk and two chairs, and an inviting patterned rug. Through a door on the left hand side was a little room where Inej slept. There was something comforting about the cabin to Kara, even if it wasn’t her own. There was something comforting about the whole ship. The Wraith felt more her home than anywhere else ever had. She wondered slowly away from Inej and Spetch, leaving them to sort out whatever they were sorting out. Inej would hardly begrudge her for leaving.

Kara cast a glance to the ship across from them, Valeria and Lia were pulling away the ramp that connected the two boats. It left the remaining slavers alone at sea. An undue mercy, perhaps some would survive. It was more than they deserved, yet less than a different person might have given. She had wanted to ask Inej about the letter. She knew it was probably none of her business, but the thought kept nagging at her mind. If it’s important I’ll find out soon enough. If someone from the dregs was back and asking for anything at all it meant nothing but bad news.

Despite having never set foot in Ketterdam before, Kara had heard of the dregs. Her uncle on her mothers side had been swept up into Ketterdam’s world of gangs and Kara had grown up hearing how terrible they were. Her mother had taught her how terrible a lot of things were – if she could Kara now she’d be mortified. The weapons she carried, the company she kept, the things she’d done. At least I’m not a soldier anymore, She thought, you would have hated that the most. It was laughable to her that her kind, pacifist parents had managed to raise someone like her. You do terrible things to survive, and sometimes the terrible things become part of who you are. That was the story of everyone on this ship.

“Are you gonna help? Or are you just gonna stare at the ocean all day like you’ve never seen it before?” She heard Valeria call from behind her. The other girl was a year younger than Kara, only eighteen, and had almost been killed in the Ravkan civil war. Technically she was a deserter, but none of them saw leaving the service of a country like Ravka a dishonourable thing. Kara understood better than any of them.

“I’m coming!” Kara shouted back, realising that she hadn’t notice the boat start to move. Perhaps she had just become so accustomed to the sea it wasn’t the kind of thing she noticed anymore. But more likely thoughts of her mother had left her mind in another place entirely. Thinking of her family wasn’t exactly her favourite pastime, memories are painful when you know you can’t make anymore like them. She followed Valeria along the ships deck, pushing all thoughts of the letters and the dregs and her family to the back of her mind. Later, she decided, she would ask Inej later. Curiosity always did get the better of her in the end.

[reliicta]

Going to her parents was never easy. For too many reasons, the whole town brought back an overwhelming feeling of just being broken. As the cab rolled through the streets, everywhere she looked, the universe gave her a kick to the stomach; memories and pictures of a boy long forgotten plastered all over the damn place. God knew no mercy when it came to her, she knew that. It was evident every time she stepped foot in this town.  The playground where she and Justin spent almost every night swinging and getting lost in the existence of each other sat right on the path, bringing forth memories of wreckage that pulsated through her. She didn't know if she could keep her cool for a visit; such a short one, but already she was beginning to feel the electricity bubbling in her veins. She could almost bet that Justin wouldn't freak out if he saw one of her freak-outs; he calmed her so much she had never had one around him. Had come close, kneeling on her bedroom floor, her hands tangled in her red locks. Her body swayed back and forth, sobs cracking through her teeth, so tightly clenched her jaw screamed for release. She felt the crackle then; Justin was in front of her in seconds, his hands cradling her face, his voice soft and gentle as he whispered, 'I love you. I love you. Everything will be fine - I'm here. I love you.'

A blink brought her back to the real world. The car had stopped outside the doors of her majestic household. In the doorway stood her parents, ever eager to show the world they weren't monsters who destroyed every excellent aspect of their daughter's lives. Staring at them from inside the cab, Valeria wished she never needed to come back home. Being away, living by herself, she had grown so much as a person, and she knew that. Knew she'd almost gotten reigns on her powers, knew she had better ability to control her emotions. She wasn't the person she wanted to be, not yet, but every day she came closer. It was apparent to her now, the growth. No longer was she sitting here, ready to cry over the fact that she was back with people who didn't love her. Months ago, she would've cried the full cab ride there; screw what the driver thought. But not this time: not ever again.

"You're not dating anyone, still?"  No mother, you got rid of my boyfriend and by association, my girlfriend too. "No, mother." The young redhead leaned back into the soft cushions of the couch and closed her eyes. "You can't be saying there are no sensible young boys at your school." There is, but none with the ocean trapped in their eyes. There are girls, too, one with a pretty smile, but it's not our time, and you wouldn't like her. "I'm focusing on my work." The words are quiet, actively trying to show her disinterest in the topic. "Have you ever seen anyone since that addict you kept bringing around?" He was clean. "Yes." Here came the judgment: "Who, you didn't tell me about this boy?" Because that boy was a girl. "It didn't go anywhere." Because you destroyed it like you destroy everything, you foul woman.

Her mother's voice melted into honey in the background, nothing but elevator music to the memories sliding around on the back of her eyelids. Valeria continued to respond but didn't notice it happening. Not when she could picture, utterly real, perfectly vivid, the last time she'd been with the boy she loved. Sprawled out on his bed, the two were a tangle of limbs. She had herself draped across his lap, and he was sat up, one hand idly playing with her hair, the other holding his phone. She gazed up at his face, glorious he was. She was shocked that they had worked, shocked that he had chosen her at all. From this angle, she could see the perfect shape of his jaw. A god, that's what she saw when she looked at him. Though she would joke, he was more like Lucifer than anything. Handsome but a bad influence, and he was, though she'd never tell her mother that. But he was terrible in all the best ways - she wouldn't change him for anything. She loved him, flaws and all. And he loved her - or so she hoped - flaws and all. His face was tense, eyebrows drew close together, ocean eyes scanning his phone almost desperately. His mind was elsewhere, and she could tell. "Is everything okay?" The question was one they'd whispered to each other commonly. "No." Was the answer, short, quiet, whispered. "What's wrong?" "Don't worry about it. I'll work it out." He slowly brushed some hair from her face, and then gave her that smile that melted her brain. All teeth, perfect whites on display. "Don't worry about me." And then he disappeared.

When Valeria opened her eyes again, her mother had left. Gone to bed, she supposed, vaguely able to recall the words 'don't make too much noise' from her father moments earlier. At least she'd managed to ease her way through the first half of her visit; she remembered nothing of the conversation she had with the woman who birthed her, but she didn't care. She knew that she could jump through her mother's hoops entirely unconsciously. But now she was left sitting on the couch, looking into the kitchen. A dull light over her, a dull glow on in the kitchen. Maybe she'd make some food and go to bed.

She took her phone out instead. Scrolling through her contacts, she found the one number that never left her phone, not in the years she'd been away. Justin. She stared at it a moment, hesitating. She hadn't tried calling him in almost a year; his voicemail answered the last one. Hearing his voice was too hard at the time, and it had sent her into a spiral of depression: she didn't wash her hair for a week, skipped six classes to stay in bed and cry, ignored everyone she knew. Honestly, she didn't understand the draw she had to him.

Years had passed, and yet the ache to find him, be with him, was so clear that she could taste it every moment of her life. With every breath, her heart cried for him. She had hoped that it would stop - no one ever went through heartbreak for this long. Though she guessed the situation was unique, not everyone had their boyfriends fall off the face of the earth without warning. Not everyone thought that their mother had a play in it. Was he even still alive? She didn't know. Was he safe? She didn't know. Was he using again? She didn't know. Had her mother killed him? She wouldn't be surprised. Maybe that was the background to her emotions; perhaps it was all the unanswered questions that forced her back to the thought of him time and time again. Maybe she liked being sad.

Even when she was happiest with Selene, her mind drifted back to him, to where he was. She hated herself for it, felt like she was betraying the woman she had grown to love so deeply, by sharing her heart with a boy no longer in her life. It wasn't that she didn't love Selene because she did. She knew she did because her heart still hurt thinking about the fact they weren't together, not in this lifetime, but hopefully in the next. She was not what was best for Selene. She was not what was best for anyone. Valeria Barnes wasn't meant for anyone. Wasn't good, wasn't good enough. She was an out of control psychopath capable of snapping and injuring those around her just because her feelings got out of control. Selene dodged a bullet. Justin dodged a bullet.

Her finger slowly tapped the name, and for a moment, the world stood still. Ring, ring ring... The line was still connected, out there somewhere, his phone was alive. Out there somewhere, maybe so was he. When the ring cut out, she held her breath, lips parted, shaking. Please answer, please, just this one time, please. 'Hey, this is Justin. Sorry, I'm probably busy or something. You know what to do.' Her eyes fall shut, tears bursting to the surface. The beep sounds in her ear, and for a moment, she sits there, breathing slowly in and out into the speaker. Coming to her senses, she lowered the phone and ended the call. Stared at the screen - then called back. His voice poured into her ears, and it was like heaven, just being able to hear him again, she could hear the smile in the voice; picture it in her mind, the beautiful act that made her fall in love with him the first time.

She called him back. Again.

'Hey, this is Justin. Sorry, I'm probably busy or something. You know what to do.' "I miss you. And there's nothing I can do about that - I've tried. I love you. I can't help it, I've tried not to, it's been years, and you're still the only person I've... I've connected so deeply. I need you here, Justin, please. I need your voice. I need to know you're okay - and I... I don't have any access to you right now, and I'm so afraid." Why, why was she doing this? Torturing herself? He'd never hear this, never see this, never see her. "I just need to hear your voice," her own cracks; crumples with the sob building in her throat. "I need to know you still love me." Empty, empty words, blank voicemail, empty heart. "It's been years. Fucking years, that I haven't seen you. How do you deal with that? In a month, it'll be Christmas. All I want this year is you - but I won't get it. I love you, Justin. I love you with all of my heart, all my body, all of my everything. I miss you, and I love you, please. Please give me something."

Her hands were shaking as she lowered the phone, hit the end button. She wondered if he would ever hear it: if he were ignoring her on purpose. She wondered if his phone had just been lost somewhere, and that would be the end of that. Foolish of her to think he kept the same number all this time, foolish of her to think he'd ever hear that stupid voicemail. He was gone, and there was nothing she could do about that. Sorrow filled her until she was numb, unable to feel even her skin. Leaning forward, she rested her arms against her knees and stared at her phone. As if he would call her back that quick. As if he would ever call her back. They would've been together nine years, if the math was right, on the fourth of November. A date that would follow her to her grave, the happiest and saddest days of her life.

Her eyes lifted, landed on the expensive china cabinet that her mother viewed as a prized possession. She loved that thing more than she loved Valeria, and she knew that. Mrs. Barnes wouldn't deny it, either. Maybe if an outsider asked, but not if she did. There were few things she loved less than her daughter, which was sad to say, but it was the truth. Valeria was nothing but another way to better her reputation; that's why she had to get rid of Justin. She said it thousands of times. Her eyes dried, cheeks still wet, an infuriating rage washed through her veins. The crackling begins, like static drawing the hairs on her arms on end, on the back of her neck. She could drop dead right now, and no one would bat an eye. Not even her own parents. It wouldn't matter, it would never matter, Valeria had a bad habit of destroying all the friendships and connections she ever made with anyone. She was her mother's daughter.

The static grew, grew, grew. Cracked around her like a whip. It hurt, keeping it in. She was trying, too. Didn't want to cause a scene, but the longer she stared at her reflection, broken, crying, and the more she thought about how it didn't matter that she was this shell of a person to her mother, the less she cared about how mad she would be. Didn't care... Didn't care...

Release.

The power left her in a whoosh, and as she blinked her pretty, sad eyes, the china cabinet exploded. Glass shot across the room, scattering across the marble floor. It wasn't enough. She watched, broken, empty, as the plates shot onto the marble too, then the lightbulbs then down came the chandelier. Slowly standing from the spot on the couch, she let herself out. The door flung open with her power, bouncing, straining against the hinges. The glass in it cracked but didn't shatter. Upstairs she could hear the rustling of her parents, but she would be gone by the time they came downstairs.

[fyeahfantasticfour]

Do you have any favorite moments between Sue and her kids, especially her and Val? While I love the moments Reed shares with them I think that writers often overlook moments between the kids and Sue, usually giving her the usual things you see from Moms in media. I think they are usually not as good or focused on as Reed's are unfortunately. I would love to be proven wrong!

I genuinely don’t think that giving too little attention to Sue as a mom is a problem in canon at all. The exact opposite, really. Until very recently, most if not all of her solo storylines revolved either around her relationship with Reed or with Franklin – i.e., her roles as wife and mother. In the 1960s, there were far too many moments where Reed, Ben, and Johnny would ride off into danger and get to be heroes while Sue was left home minding the baby. That definitely started shifting in the 1970s, but I’d say that even in more recent runs there tends to be more of a focus on Sue as a wife and mom and less on her as explorer, adventurer, and CEO. There needs to be a balance between the two, and not many writers have managed to strike it. Reed receives the opposite treatment – there’s more of a focus on-panel on him as a scientist and less on him interacting with his kids, even though we know he regularly puts them to bed, reads them bedtime stories, goes to all of Franklin’s Little League games, homeschools his kids, takes them on fun family trips, took turns feeding Val when she was a baby, etc. Personally, I would like it if they switched that around in future FF books and Sue’s life outside her family got more focus — she runs Fantastic Four, Inc, and numerous charities and is the Queen of Old Atlantis, after all — and Reed as family man got more focus. He homeschools all of his kids — he spends A LOT of time with them. Arguably more than Sue does, since she’s busy running a company and financially supporting everyone. 

But there really are so many storylines, going all the way back to the 1960s, that focus on Sue as a mom.

Fantastic Four v1 #94, where Reed and Sue name Franklin after Sue’s recently deceased father:

This is really just here because I think it’s hilarious that it took Reed and Sue maybe like ten issues to come up with a name for Franklin…AFTER he was born. I mean. Guys. You had nine months to come up with a name. You couldn’t have done it BEFORE he was born? It’s not like he popped out of Sue with no warning.

And then there are forty issues or so featuring a lot of cute moments between Sue and Franklin when he was an infant and also Sue’s growing suspicion that he was not exactly unsuperpowered. 

Sue notices that Franklin might have powers before anyone else does – although Agatha repeatedly tries to throw her off the scent. Why Agatha did that, I could not tell you. Sue and Reed deserved to know the truth about their own baby, Agatha. Definitely they deserved better than finding out from Annihilus when he trigged Franklin’s powers prematurely and turned him into a living battery/solar-system-destroying bomb. Those were not fun times.

Cut for length.

Fantastic Four v1 #107, where Sue walks up to baby Franklin while invisible, planning on surprising him, and he somehow knows she’s there:

Fantastic Four v1 #111, where Franklin mysteriously knows his dad’s in trouble:

Fantastic Four v1 #134, where Sue and Franklin are abducted by Dragon Man and she gets very overprotective – this is the first time, I think, that we see Mama Bear Sue make an appearance, although later on Sue as fiercely overprotective of her kids becomes a thing:

Then there’s Fantastic Four v1 #181-187, where Franklin is kidnapped by Agatha and later Agatha’s son, Nicholas Scratch, and Sue is the one who moves heaven and earth to get him back.

It starts in Fantastic Four v1 #181 when Agatha kidnaps Franklin, and Sue unsuccessfully tries to stop her:

In Fantastic Four v1 #186, Reed and Sue track down Franklin, but Scratch takes him again, and Sue goes berserk:

Then there’s a sweet moment in Fantastic Four v1 #203, where Sue makes Franklin chocolate chip cookies, and Johnny complains that Franklin will never find a woman to equal her:

Marvel Team-Up v1 #88, where Franklin is kidnapped and Sue teams up with Spider-Man to get him back, and let’s just say she isn’t particularly happy with the kidnappers when she finds them:

Fantastic Four Annual v1 #14, where Franklin helps Agatha save his parents and uncles from Scratch and the Salem Seven:

Fantastic Four v1 #222 has some very adorable moments between Franklin and Sue where they’re playing horsey and hide-and-seek, although it all goes wrong when Franklin is possessed by Nicholas Scratch:

I’m not the only one who thinks Franklin is WAY too enthusiastic about watching his parents kiss, am I?

And Sue goes berserk when Scratch possesses Franklin, and she even threatens to kill him if he doesn’t give her baby back:

Fantastic Four v1 #245, where Franklin’s powers go haywire and he turns himself into an adult – with no memory of who he is – and Sue is the only one who recognizes him:

In Fantastic Four v1 #268, Sue miscarries Valeria, and she’s devastated – there’s actually quite a lot of focus given to Sue’s grief over the loss of her child:

Again in Fantastic Four v1 #269, working through her grief and the devastating news that she can never have another child:

Fantastic Four v1 #270, where Franklin comforts her after she destroys Reed’s lab in a burst of anger and frustration:

Again in Fantastic Four v1 #274, where she walks into the nursery that was meant for baby Valeria and collapses in grief:

Mephisto Vs… #1, where Sue takes on Mephisto after he abducts Franklin and leaves Reed a mindless vegetable:

Fantastic Four v3 #22 revolves around Sue’s relationship with a teen version of Valeria who mysteriously appeared out of the blue and is seemingly the child of Sue and Doom (she’s actually Reed’s – it’s complicated). Sue doesn’t want to accept that Valeria is her daughter, and Valeria is hurt at the rejection:

Until Val is attacked by Crusher Creel, Titania, and a mind-controlled Ben and Jen, and Sue rushes to rescue her daughter:

And then Sue finally accepts Val as her daughter:

There’s a cute moment between Sue and Val in Fantastic Four v3 #24 where they talk about Aunt Marygay, which is maybe the only time anyone has ever talked about her:

Fantastic Four v3 #54, where Sue finally successfully gives birth to Valeria, which is very difficult and extremely painful for Sue. I mean, she almost dies and Doom delivers Val…and Sue does not like Doom very much. And after reading Secret Wars I, can I just say that I’m very sad that Reed missed Val’s birth, because he wanted very desperately to be there for it (he was abducted by rogue Inhumans and JUST missed it):

Fantastic Four v1 #501-502 is GREAT – Sue tries to help Franklin work through his trauma after being thrown into Hell by Doom and tortured by demons. He refuses to talk and keeps drawing the horrible things he saw while he was in Hell, over and over:

On my list of truly awful, unforgivable things Doom has done, tossing an innocent, 6yo boy into Hell just to hurt his parents is definitely pretty far up there…although it isn’t like this is the first time he tried that. 

Fantastic Four v1 #527-532 focuses on Sue trying desperately to keep Child Protective Services from taking her kids away:

The Pulse #11, where Carol arranges a lunch between Sue and Jessica Jones, who’s about to give birth to her own superpowered child, so that Sue can give her advice and talk about what being a superhero mom is like:

In Fantastic Four v1 #558-562, we see an elderly Sue from hundreds of years in the future interacting with Val, who is the only one who realizes who she is. This is also the moment when we discover that Val inherited her father’s genius:

In Fantastic Four v1 #565, where Sue’s just the tiniest bit upset with a tentacle monster who tried to eat Val:

Dark Reign #4, Sue defending Franklin and Val from Norman Osborn:

Fantastic Four v1 #581-582, where an adult, future version of Val visits her mother to warn her and give her advice about the dark days that are fast approaching – this is right before Johnny’s death:

Fantastic Four v4 #1 – this is a cute moment, where Sue checks in on all of her sleeping kids and comforts Franklin, who’s been having prophetic nightmares:

Fantastic Four v4 #4, where Franklin has another nightmare, and Sue ends up comforting both her kids:

Fantastic Four v5 #1, where Val’s in Latveria because she’s angry at her parents, and Sue misses her:

And then she has to deal with her supergenius kids who have made a ray that turns things into chocolate:

Fantastic Four v5 #5, where all of her children are taken away by court order, which she doesn’t handle well:

Fantastic Four v5 #6 and #8, where she takes out her anger over the loss of her kids on the Avengers:

Then there’s Fantastic Four Annual v5 #1, where Sue travels to Latveria to get her little girl back and ends up fighting Doom and all of his armies for her:

But Val refuses in the end:

Until she decides to go back home in Fantastic Four v1 #642:

And there’s a very sweet story at the end of Fantastic Four v1 #645 that shows Sue comforting Franklin:

As you can see, I was not exaggerating. There are A LOT of stories about Sue being a mom. 

[bestfriendforhire]

Children of BFFH, Entry 93

 “Rona, do it.” I stated, unable to stop a frown.  This felt too much like something Mom would do, save that she wouldn’t bother warning most people.  Part of me wondered if maybe she did warn the orcs through us.  Knowing whether or not you were being moved like a puppet by her was impossible unless she told you.  Of course, I still sometimes wondered if the non-player characters from Ancient Tribes of Earth were sentient beings.  Using the game as an afterlife was very much something Mom would do for the beings that would fit-in there.

 “No problem!  You said South, right?” questioned Rona, probably dodging more debris.  The Jaggagawaroeth had started chucking chunks of the ground at her periodically.

 “Yes.  I’m sure you’ll manage to spot them before they reach Encomia Trod.” I assured her, still feeling a little guilty that I wasn’t the one being chased.  We had sent Rona because she had undead minions to help buy time, but I really should have just handled things.  Making her do all of the hard work felt wrong.

 The rest of us—excluding Layla and Crazy, who were still trying to figure out where they had spawned—hopped back on the wagons to start crossing the open, treeless stretch of land beyond the rugged, rocky gorge through which we had just traveled.  Sis changed the top halves of our screen to show Rona’s viewpoint without anyone asking.  I wondered if this tundra-like terrain was actually located somewhere in the world, or if Mom created this based off a different planet.  Despite her game’s name, I knew she wasn’t against using foreign elements.

“Are your followers going to get bored watching all of the walking we’re doing?” asked Aspy.  He was speaking to Layla about her stream.

 Few people spent so much time just traveling in Ancient Tribes of Earth, despite the world being beautiful and well-worth exploring.  Old dungeons were constantly becoming occupied with critters wanting shelter, and even traveling a few hundred feet could often lead to another warren worth investigating.  I could easily imagine that we had passed thousands of interesting locations during our journey, each with its own unique story.  How many interesting, intelligent species had we passed?  Unlocking new playable species, like the Brightborn that Valeria was playing, was always a possibility.

 “Nah.  Seeing new places is cool too, though a few less things to fight in this cave would be nice.  We haven’t found a way out yet.” complained Layla.

 “At least Crazy’s there to keep you armed.” stated Four encouragingly.  He surely had no more doubt than I did that Crazy would be able to find us.

 “True, and keep me from dying again.” she agreed.

 “Hey, we’re protecting one another!” insisted Crazy, who probably could have escaped on her own by now, but she wouldn’t abandon anyone.  Of course, she probably considered tough situations as interesting puzzles to solve, piecing together what every movement from scores of enemies into a plan.  She was so very bright.

 “Rona, to your right!” I exclaimed, catching sight of the orcs from her view.

 “Thanks!  Think they know what’s about to hit them?” she asked, her smile coming through in her words.

 “Only if they’ve started taking the warning seriously.” laughed Aid.

 I was certain everyone watched as Rona guided the Jaggagawaroeth over the orc army.  Their leader barked orders as the ground shook around them, and the warband quickly moved into a defensive circle.  As large as the remaining group was, the circle just made escape impossible when the Jaggagawaroeth’s first foot came down on them.  Rona had dove into the gorge, so the Jaggagawaroeth was digging, searching for her.  The orcs who weren’t running or frozen with fear had the bad idea of attacking, drawing the Jaggagawaroeth’s attention to them.  Hundreds of orcs died in seconds as a Rona desperately flew farther down the gorge.

 “That really should count as saving Encomia Trod an extra time.” suggested Aid with a grin.

 “Feel free to suggest that to Auntie Aaliyah.” teased Dea, knowing how long-winded that conversation would probably be.

 “Well, you didn’t actually have a quest to stop the warband.” stated Mom, who had appeared behind Dea.  Most everyone would probably assume she had wandered in unnoticed.

 “Y-You’re her!” exclaimed Layla, clearly excited.

 “Better duck.” replied Mom.

 “AH!” yelped Layla, probably responding too late.

 “Grandma, watch this!” exclaimed Crazy.

 I couldn’t resist the urge to watch.  Crazy and Layla were engaged in battle with insect-like creatures made of stone.  Crazy had thrown one giant hammer to smash one of the creatures into another while throwing another into a bug falling from the ceiling.  Before the first hammer had landed, she spawned a large pickaxe to swing into the head of a bug that had tried sneaking up behind her.  Mom made picture perfect “oohs” and “ahhs” appreciatively as Crazy and Layla continued to fight.

 When the remaining bugs were fleeing, Mom said, “I came down to tell you that you can have your lunch down here today.  Mila will be here with it shortly, but don’t make a mess!  I mean you, Messy!”

 I felt her watching me as if the sky had ripped open to reveal an eye the size of a country staring down at me.  I knew she was messing with me, but keeping calm in that moment was exceedingly difficult.  I triple checked that my magic hadn’t lashed out, and was surprised that I had managed not to ruin anything.  Beings had died before just by Mom granting their wish to have her attention.  Spirits could literally pop under the weight of her awareness if allowed to really notice it, which wasn’t anywhere near her full attention.  I sometimes imagined Mom’s full attention similar to having every atom in an infinite multiverse converging on one spot, creating an endlessly massive black hole.  Experiencing that for a miniscule fraction of a second would be deadly.

 “I know everyone is excited to keep playing as much as possible, but you’ll need to take a break after dinner this evening.  The Boss has spoken with Layla’s parents about training her to use magic, and we’d like to spend a few hours on that before she heads home, assuming you’re still interested, Layla.” explained Mom as if she didn’t already know what would happen.

 “I am!” exclaimed Layla excitedly.

 “Excellent.  In that case, I’ll force Mr. Jaggagawaroeth to have an overly convenient nap when you log out.” she stated, tapping her phone as if she was doing something important rather than looking through embarrassing pictures of me.  Mom would always be Mom.

[hellyeahheroes]

This....makes zero sense.

Marvel: Legacy in a nutshell - This makes ZERO sense. I mean, I don’t even know where to begin. This is gonna be a long read, to strap on people.

Okay, I’ll start with what appears to be the main plot. Loki sends a bunch of Ice Giants to steal something from SHIELD, they’re interrupted by Ironehart, Captain America, and Thor. The latter two of whom are still making out, which Riri doesn’t like.....I should probably mention Thor and Captain America are Jane and Sam before somebody thinks I’m queerbaiting. Anyway, after a brief fight, during which somehow Riri forgets Avengers catchphrase is Assemble because... I dunno, MCU would pull out a joke like that and it would be as cringy as it’s here. Only they would put it on Tony so it wouldn’t seem to be a jab at the new kid. How do you forget Avengers rallying cry? Anyway (times two), one giant escapes with the cargo only to be murdered by Wolverine (Logan, as in, not Old Man Logan but the Logan who was dead Logan) who takes the cargo - one of the Infinity Gems....I’m sorry, stones *cringe*. So Loki and fucking Wolverine are after Infinity Ge....Stones. Something tells me Jason Aaron might be taking over Avengers books and the team will be Jane, Riri, Sam and Logan. And maybe Robbie.

Which brings us to the B-Plot. Robbie Reyes wakes up in Cape Town, South Africa, after having weird dreams about Avengers of 1 000 000 B.C. Which included Odin, Agammoto (in human, Doctor Strange-esque form because fuck creativity and him being a monstrous giant caterpillar) and a bunch of people who should not be looking like humans because we didn’t come to our current evolutionary step at that point. Starbrand looks more like they all should. Also, inclusion of Phoenix host and Iron Fist really screws up the lore of those two. But it’s nothing compared to this atrocity:

No, this is not a Celestial. These are the Celestials

What you have is a generic giant robot who seems to be at best inspired by Celestials and equally as much by anime. Anime Celestial, if you will. And maybe I wouldn’t be harping on it so much but this year is Kirby’s 100th anniversary and Marvel just decided to go and fuck up the design of one of his most iconic creations like this and it pisses me off.

Anyway, this Celestial has been beaten and buried underground (so, Dreaming Celestial 2: Electric Bogaloo) near the place where Cape Town is today. Robbie wakes up in the city and is attacked by Star Brand, who acts INCREDIBLY out of character. Last time I checked he was a well-meaning teenager traumatized because his powers caused the death of hundreds of people. And here he rants like a maniac, tries to murder Robbie, casually burns alive two people without as much as an eyeblink and at one point forgets what his powers are and starts throwing boulders at Robbie. I mean, assuming it’s the same character, with this art he looks like someone much, much older. Then again, Robbie has his original haircut back, which is good...but he also looks like he’s tripping acid through the whole thing.

Then Robbie suddenly discovers he can use Penance Stare and for once in ever it actually works and makes Star Brand explode. And it’s not even a proper explosion that would destroy the entire area, just a small one.

And all this crap is somehow connecting with Loki.

Also in the issue:

Ponder the pointless teasing of Return to Planet Hulk we already know is happening! Stare in confusion at Sam Wilson and Steve Rogers both carrying the same shield at the same time thousands of miles away from each other! Watch Nadia and Jarvis fail to notice new character being added to founding Avengers! Because it worked so well when DC did it with Triumph in the 90′s! Scratch your head how the hell did Wakanda managed to start an interplanetary empire under everyone’s noses! Be amazed by Mike Deodato desperately trying to draw teenage Jean Grey without sexualizing her and accidentally devoting an entire panel to just her legs when he tries to censor her ass with a panel border. Behold dozens of random pages that seem like somebody going through the checklist of plot points without even trying to properly incorporate them into the story! And be fooled by last page appearance of Valeria and Franklin Richards into thinking Marvel will bring Fantastic Four back!

This book is all fucking over the place. When DC Rebrith special made me want to read more and check out these many plotlines it hinted at, it piqued my interest by focusing on very few even in those it devoted entire pages to (Legion, Blue Beetle, JSA). This book jumps around, every page being somewhere else, by somebody else, it feels like a poorly disguised previews issue. And they killed Star Brand after making him horribly out of character and by the hand of another teen hero to boot (I’m having Arena flashbacks....).

This was bad. Plain and simple, this was bad. Instead of being curious and hyped up it made me dread what seven tons of bullshit Aaron will unleash upon everything.

And fuck that godawful Anime Celestial!

- Admin

[cursewoodrecap]

Session 10: What’s Dead Is [Not] Dead

In the city of Mornheim, among skeletons, wraiths, and zombies, Clem confronts a figure from her past.

At the end of the previous session, we had just entered the vast Epitaph Library of the von Mornheim manor. According to Lady Aubrey, it had been taken over by “creepy robe fuckers,” who she’d seen sneaking around the necropolis. They certainly don’t control all the undead of the city, but they’re certainly commanding a fair few of them. The cultists had previously been working out of the catacombs, in the von Menzer family crypt, but now it looks like they’ve moved into the east wing of the manor house, along with their newest recruits - the straggling remains of the elite Kevan squadron known as the Red Hand.

 We stand at the entrance to the Epitaph Library, a huge two-story chamber of books, with a second-story balcony running along three of the four walls. It’s not just a regular rich-people library; it also contains records of all the notable graves in Mornheim and those who were interred there. In the room with us: two skeletons, impassively standing guard; a few cultists in robes who look rather spooked by our appearance; and one of Clem’s old squadmates: Private Sokolov. He’s standing at a table, leaning heavily on his halberd for support, looking pale, gaunt, and sickly.

Clem only has eyes for the ailing, weak elf, but the rest of us do a quick scan. Sokolov is the only Red Hand we can see in the room; the robe guys look Valdian. A decent Perception check of the books pulled from the shelves lets us know that it seems like the cultists are methodically looking through the books, especially those bound in black. Some sections of the library are almost entirely black; we assume those books are the epitaphs. It’s a methodical and comprehensive search.

Clem doesn’t care. Every inch of her impressive figure is tense, like a hunter preparing to strike. She softly steps closer to her former comrade. “Sokolov. Is this where you ran off to?” she spits, voice dripping with disdain.

“I made it back to camp. But the others - Rusalka led us here, after things got – well, you know. He got some of us assigned to a rear guard unit, and kept in touch with the ones he could find during the fight. After the war, we didn’t have anywhere to go. They didn’t make any place for us. You know what it was like.” He laughs humorlessly, which turns into a hacking cough. “Those of us who had no home to go back to came here. There’s money to be made for good swords, in these woods.”

Clem gets even closer, her hand on the hilt of her sword. This close, he looks...well, he looks even more godawful. He’s dying. Clem puts aside her hatred for a moment. “Sokolov...what the hell did you do to yourself?”

He keeps smiling sadly at her. “We came here with an elf knight, one of those Cursebreakers. He took us down to the tunnels. We got hit hard by ghouls. They busted through some of the thinner walls and ambushed us in the middle of a column. All I’m good for is running away, so...I did. I made noise, I led them off, so the others could escape. I wasn’t expecting it, but they came back for me. By the time they found me, the ghouls had gotten me pretty bad, though.”

The armor that hangs off his emaciated frame verifies his story. It’s badly damaged, the leather torn and the metal scarred. 

“Don’t worry about me, I’m fine. It was months ago, I don’t even feel it anymore,” he rasps. 

The cultists are watching us in stone-faced silence. “Clear off, this is private,” Sokolov snaps at them in Valdian. They step away, heading through the doors on the far end of the chamber.

“Don’t worry about them,” he tells us. “They’re helping us.”

“Helping you do what?” Clem asks suspiciously.

“They were working with ghouls. They had this leader. When Rusalka and others came back for me, they chopped through the ghouls and went after the cultists. Grigor watched our back, but he went down. Then Rusalka killed the leader – he died, and we thought the cultists might scatter and break, but they didn’t. One went over to where Grigori was dead, and he got back up and came back to us. He talked to them - made a deal. We-” - he coughs again, loud and wet – “Sarge, we helped them out with some stuff, and they’re gonna bring her back!”

Clem is absolutely stricken. “Bring – bring her back?!” she stammers. “No, that’s impossible. I saw what happened to her, there’s no coming back from that.”

“They said they just need a bit, a piece,” Sokolov insists, a feverish light in his eyes. “A couple days later - Rusalka was asking around - the Order of the Hammer took out a frost giant with a wounded leg. They threw the body in a pit and burned it. Some of us went there. We can find her bones! That’s all that they need! That and one other thing, but Rusalka says that won’t be a problem.”

Clem is frozen in place, barely able to begin processing this. Just - this can’t be. 

“No, this is – you can’t do this, this is an abomination. She died in battle, that’s what she lived for. You can’t just-”

Sokolov interrupts. “She kept us all alive! We would have died without her! We would have frozen in that damn town, arrows in our throats or worse. The least we can do is give her a second chance.”

Clem regains a bit of her composure. “She might have survived that battle if you hadn’t run,” she growls.

“That’s why we have to do this! We lived, while she died! We have to right that. That’s not justice.”

“Sokolov, listen closely,” Clem warns him. “If you have any respect for her, let her stay dead. Let the past stay buried.”

“I knew you’d be this way,” Sokolov grumbles. “Grigori, he’s better at explaining it. He should be here soon. Besides, even if I could, even if I wanted to, we can’t stop. Like I said, it’s too late now, it’s started. They’re gonna get the body, and we’re already paying the price. It’s gonna work. It has to. You’ve seen this wood! You’ve seen the rules don’t apply here!”

Clem’s hand twitches on her sword, every muscle in her body straining with tension as she resists the urge to stab the little rat.

“Sokolov,” she says urgently, putting all of her composure into one last try at reason, “whatever you’re doing, it’s not too late to stop it. There has to be some way you can prevent this abomination from going through.”

“They already went to get the body. Rusalka’s gonna get the heart - the heart of the one who wronged her. Got himself an ambassador position, up in Schotzengrad. That’s all we need.”

Clem closes the rest of the distance between them and growls softly right into his face. “Sokolov. Where is this happening?”

“I don’t know that part.”

“Is that so. You said Grigori’s gonna return here soon?”

“He did,” says a voice from above. An elf in a Red Hand uniform steps out onto the balcony, holding a longbow. Unlike everyone else we’ve met in this building, he actually looks...completely healthy. “Sergeant.”

Clem recognizes him instantly. “Grigor. Whatever you’re doing, you have to stop this.”

He scoffs. “Why must we? Why must we not right the greatest wrong to ever face us? Our homes were destroyed. We were abandoned. The Czar has no interest in us. We served Khoshev’s purpose, and he would not look out for us. We are outcasts. In Valdia they needed our swords, but again we were abandoned. We have found a new patron, one who will do us a great service and give us a place.”

Desperation creeps into Clem’s tone. “I was...very hurt by her death, you were too, but this isn’t what she would want! She’d want us to move on, and survive! It would be the greatest disrespect to resurrect her!”

Grigor is unmoved, even smiling slightly. “Why not let her make the choice, since we can give the dead tongues?”

Clem closes her eyes briefly, takes a short breath, and makes a decision. “Shit. Well. Gregor, it was a pleasure to have served with you, but-”

Shoshana claps a hand on Clem’s shoulder, correctly sensing Impending Murder. “Grigor, you said?” she calls up to the elf looking down at us.

“Is this your business?” he asks her disdainfully.

She squints at him. “...Let’s say I consider Sergeant Haxan my business. I have a question for you. You came back, but you’re not like the others out there - you’re no shambling corpse. What makes you different?”

“Ah, them. They have not returned, only I. My body, my life, is a sign of the blessing of the bounty the Pale King will bestow upon his servants. Why fear death when you serve its master?”

“Why were you chosen?” the sorceress asks him.

“To prove to the others that the Pale King is a bountiful and generous lord. We lived every day in fear. My return proves that for us, that is not necessary. The dangers of this place – the claws, fangs and poisons – we do not need to fear them. Death...is merely an inconvenience. One way or another, the Red Hand has found a new master. We would like you to join us, Sergeant Haxan. One way or another, you will.”

Clem has officially had enough of this shit, and cleaves Sokolov in half.

Shoshana jumps back, cursing. Clem’s greatsword doesn’t make it all the way through him, but buries itself deep into his torso. “Sarge!” he gasps as he slumps to the ground, bleeding out. Grigor doesn’t seem especially perturbed, but shouts “TAKE THEM. THEY WILL BE MADE TO SERVE.” As two cultists run back in to assist and the skeletons creak to life, we roll initiative.

Sokolov is dead. Clem sprints past his body and shimmies up the ladder to the balcony.

We all burst into motion. Grigor draws his longbow, firing at Clem but missing.

Gral chucks the adamantine wrench towards Valeria, knowing she’s closer to the skeletons and they’re weak to bludgeoning. Gral heads to the ladder on the opposite side of the balcony, casting Mirror Image for defense.

A cultist runs up to Gral, pulling out a heavy bell and ringing it at him, but missing. Valeria snatches the wrench off the ground, which in her hands is a Warhammer, and starts smashing at one of the skeletons. The other skeleton corners Shoshana, preventing her from shooting at the further targets.

As the room explodes into violence, Clem, racing toward Grigor on the opposite end of the balcony, sees Sokolov’s body start to move. The blood now completely drained from his face, he props himself up with his halberd. “Damn, Sarge, what’d you have to go and do that for?” he whines, with the last of the air in his lungs. The gaping, fatal wound is still there, but he’s movin’ around. Uh oh.

Shoshana swipes at her skeleton, and the piece of her mind that belongs to the Hunt hisses, tear open your foe, feast on his organs! Oh wait, it’s a skeleton. Going for his throat doesn’t work if he doesn’t HAVE a throat. You can’t disembowel a guy if he doesn’t HAVE any bowels. This explains why she’s rolling absolutely terrible against a weenie-ass foe.

The DM grins wickedly at us. Time for Grigor’s special ability!

As Clem approaches Grigor, she sees his mouth split into massive grin, a terrible madness in his eyes. He sprints backwards, running away from her. He twists, to turn away and run – but his torso twists around unnaturally, with a horrifying snapping sound, so he is still facing her as he continues firing arrows.

Clem barely succeeds her WIS save against being frightened, but Grigor still sticks her with two arrows as he runs.

The DM lets us know that, by the way, a special thing unlocks in this zone if you are bloodied. Is it Taint? It will, in fact, be Taint.

Gral plays a minor chord and woobles, moving directly through the cultist, up the ladder and directly toward Grigor. Surprise! He’s gonna Phantasmal Force a punk cultist. The cultist is convinced that there’s a still a bunch of Mirror Image Grals attacking him.

Cultist fights the fantasy Grals, doing no actual damage. Valeria bashes her skelly. It’s nearly crunched but not fully, with 1hp left, which is massively annoying. We miss having Kaze, our tiny murderous golem from our previous campaign who’d sometimes tackle a nearly-dead foe. Shoshana, still awful in melee, is bloodied by her weenie-ass skeleton.

Sokolov stands up, very clearly undead at this point. He heads to the ladder to go help Grigor. He stops and looks at the cultist flailing at thin air. “...What are you even fighting?” “THE ORC!” shouts the frustrated mook. Sokolov sighs. “Cultists.”

Clem is gaining on Grigor, who fails to hit her even as he uses his special Archer’s Eye ability. “Really, arms? Stop fighting me on this,” he quips, as he gruesomely cracks his spine back into place.

Gral moves in and hits ‘im while he’s messing with his lumbar support. Gral will do his best to un-support his lumbar! Whatever Grigor is, he doesn’t resist Gral’s psychic damage. (He does seem to have a working mind, unlike a lot of zombies.) The poor cultist is still stuck in the fantasy Grals. Valeria nat 1s at the last skeleton. Why do we roll such garbage against skeletons?!?!?!

Shosha wastes a sorcery point rolling garbage against skeletons. Sokolov climbs the ladder and runs to intercept Gral. Clem finally closes the distance on Grigor and shows him just what a Battlemaster can do. Maneuver! Trip attack! Action surge! He’s bloodied, looking decidedly worse for wear.

Shoshana, in frustration, explodes her fucking skeleton and moves into spellcasting range. Grigor does not like being in the Clem/Gral adventurer sandwich and Withdraws, scootin’ away. He jumps off the balcony and lands on top of one of the freestanding bookshelves in a display of surprising grace.

Gral casts Dissonant Whispers on Sokolov. He fails his save, taking a bit of damage and running away from Gral. As Clem gets her AOO, Sokolov sasses her: “Stop amputating me, doc, I’m fine!”

That cultist just keeps fighting them imaginary orcs. He staggers, shouting “MY LIFE FOR THE PALE-” and falls over dead.

Valeria fiiiiinally shatters that stupid pile of bones to dust, then heads toward Grigor.

Sokolov shakes off the whispers and charges back at Gral, reaches out with withered, pale claw. He pops one of Gral duplicates. “I’m HUNGRY!” he howls in frustration. He has his blade, too, but he misses.

Clem jumps off the balcony next to Grigor, missing him as she plummets onto the top of the same bookshelf, barely managing to keep her balance. Shoshana, finally free to cast, twins a Chromatic Orb and hits both undead elves with a searing stream of acid.

Grigor nimbly hops back up onto the balcony, avoiding Clem’s AOO. He points at Shoshana, his eyes appraising. “You…will be useful.” His arrow crits her. Shosha is down, taking 3 taint. Her Strength of the Grave ability fails to save her.

Grigor looked alive when we first saw him, but the acid from Chromatic Orb is eating away at his face, exposing bone and muscle. Yet he’s still grinning widely, even as he’s inches away from falling apart. He seems to feel no pain. 

Gral slashes at Sokolov, throwing a Healing Word at Shoshana with his bonus action. “Yo, what happened?” she mumbles, coming to. “Are these arrows in me? ...Can I keep ‘em?”

Grigor smirks. “I’m gonna want them back, once you serve the Pale King.” She flips him off.

Valeria whonks Sokolov with the wrench, smiting him, which is extra damage against at undead. 22 damage on a single smite. Screamin’ Rack on a Bicycle! He’s super dead, HDYWTDT? Valeria just caves in his head with a wrench, and there is a burst of light as rose vines wrap around him. “STAY DOWN THIS TIME,” she growls.

“You’re taking the fun out of-“ He dies, exploding as the vines tear through him.

Clem continues chasing Grigor down, vaulting back onto the balcony from the bookshelf and slamming her sword down. As she cuts through him and shatters his bow with her sword, something weird happens. An odd spectral form peels itself out of Grigor’s flesh. It sort of looks like a jellyfish? But there’s a skull floating within its bell. The DM reveals it looks slightly different to each of us. Shoshana thinks the skull looks human; Clem thinks elven. Gral can clearly see orcish tusks, while Valeria sees a distinctive dragonlike skull.

It’s floating there, being a jelly. Shoshana shoots it with lightning. Lightning doesn’t seem to especially affect it – it seems resistant, and somewhat incorporeal.

The skull looks like it’s laughing. “Ah well,” it says, looking at Grigor’s ruined corpse. “Plenty of meat where that came from.” Clem AOOs it for some damage as it goes, but not enough to kill it. It blorbles away smugly, phasing away through the wall faster than we can chase.

Quiet falls over the library. Valeria rolls well on her Knowledge!Religion check and realizes what we just saw was a Dybbuk, a malevolent fiendish spirit that possesses corpses. (They teach you all about this stuff in Paladin school.) It can animate corpses Once it’s got its tendrils into a meat noggin, it knows what they knew in life, so they’re very good at impersonating people. They can alter corpses to look like they’re still alive. They’ll Detect as both undead and fiend under Divine Sense. They’re extremely skilled infiltrators – or they would be if they weren’t complete sadists, and there’s only so long they can keep up the polite façade. They’re known to be fond of twisting their possessed bodies in horrible ways to shock, terrify, and disgust people.

Sokolov mentioned that back in the tomb, Grigor died holding the line. Then, after they killed the cult leader, Grigor came back. Likely, the cult leader was a corpse possessed by the dybbuk, and when that body was killed it slipped out stealthily and immediately possessed Grigor.

They’re incorporeal and can teleport, so they’re extremely hard to lock down. Order of the Rose protocol for dybbuks is to bring in clerics to cast Dimensional Anchor. Or, once you identify the target, to hit it with overwhelming force. Lock it down and surround it with paladins before you kill the host body.

Valeria tells the rest of us us how dybbuks work. “They’re real slippery. We definitely need to kill it, but I’m not sure how to lock it down.”

By this point, we’ve all met up on the balcony where Clem is still standing, catatonically, over Grigor’s body. Shoshana leans into Clem’s shoulder in a catlike headbutt of support.

Gral heard the cultist mention a “Pale King.” “That might be like Key. That’s the Prisoner that’s affecting this place.”

Valeria goes over and examines Sokolov. He was brought back as a wight, an undead made by having its life essence drained away. They’re bog-standard undead, one of the nastier forms. We saw the transformation – he was PRIMED to come back as wight the moment he died. He was basically already a wight sitting in his skin; Clem just evicted him.

We look at the piles of books, where the cultists were sorting through records of the dead. “So, they’re clearly trying to find a SPECIFIC dead guy. Maybe that person they were trying to bring back?”

Clem has idea of their plan, but is just too emotionally shell-shocked to get into it.

Shoshana Investigates well, looking at the books they’ve kept out; there are notes with names and grave locations. The names they’ve pulled out have a bit of a pattern; they’re not looking for specific person so much as specific types of people.

The name of Dr. Reniger Reia, the necromancer we fought in the catacombs, is circled; there’s a bunch of names circled that are buried over in Gallows Hill – not average murderers, more like “this knight went mad and slaughtered an entire village” or “this wizard was found doing illegal experiments.” There’s some names of Sturmhearst engineers. 

“These are all people who are gonna be USEFUL to them,” Shoshana realizes. “This is their recruitment list!"

We snag the lists and notes, because a) useful info; and b) ha ha they’ll have to redo all their research, suck ittttttt. But what do we do next?

Valeria wants to go after the Dybbuk, but it’s only one nasty ghost in a sea of many, and now that it’s lost Grigor’s body, it’s lost its sway with the former Red Hand. It’s totally gone, anyway - it probably retreated to a safe space to regroup, the special snowflake.

We’d go after whoever’s Behind Everything, but it sounds like the Pale King is a Prisoner, and that’s waaaaaay above our weight class, even if we knew where to start.

We remember to be worried that Sokolov mentioned an ambassadorship in Schotzengrad. Nobody but Clem has much of an idea about the details, but it sure sounds like they were planning to assassinate somebody.

Well, this is all very complicated future planning. We’re gonna search rest of house, and then decide. (“Let’s split up, gang!” Gral chirps. “FUCK YOU, FRED, I WILL NOT BE YOUR DAPHNE” hisses Shoshana.)

Valeria pulls an arrow out of Shosha and gives her the Shoulder Pat Pat of Healing. Thanks, bud.

We hop on through the doors of the balcony, further into the east wing. Looks like this area of the house was more working than residential. In this hallway, there’s a bunch of offices and meeting rooms, full of desks and bookshelves for various clerks and officials. Seems like the cultists have set up camp here, too. I guess even zombie cults have bureaucracy to deal with.

We find a big map in one of the rooms and yoink it for later. Clem draws a card for our next encounter: the Heretic. (Natch.)

We hear some chanting coming from a doorway, in a language none of us recognize. Valeria gets to roll to try, but she is Not A Linguist and can’t place it. Anyway, it sounds like there’s a spooky ritual goin’ on in there, and there’s only one thing for a paladin to do about that. 

Valeria kicks down the door.

Oh, now everyone’s looking at us.

Four cultists are standing in a circle, chanting over a pool of blackish dark water, encircled by runes. Three armored skeletons stand guard over them. In the pool of water lies a dessicated corpse. 

(“Ah. They are rehydrating it. Like one of those foam dinosaurs.” “MOISTURIZE ME.” “Seriously, who is playing Bonetrousle right now???”)

Gral Banes the skellies, who retaliate with their loaded crossbows! They all miss. One swings a sword up at Valeria. It whiffs. The skeletons are disappointed, more in themselves than anything.

Clem pulls out her Warhammer (has she had a Warhammer this whole time?!) and smashy smashes a skelly into dust. Another gets an AOO on her, but Valeria gets to Sentinel it back.

The cultists, meanwhile, all pull out heavy bells. Two dongs for Clem! (HEH HEH, DONGS OF TAINT.) She saves against one heavy, thunderous ring, but takes a d12 of Taint for the other dong. Valeria suffers a similar attack.

However, the thing about being in a fun chanting circle is that everyone’s nicely grouped up for an AOE. Shoshana peeks around the corner and casually pops off a burst of energy into the center of the ritual. 4 targets, 4 failed saves. BOOM. Shatter just…shatters ‘em. The chanting ends abruptly as bone shrapnel goes flying and cultists collapse. The pool/basin also shatters, the dark water leaking out over the room. 

There’s one cultist and one skelly left, but between Valeria, Clem, and Gral, they don’t even have a chance to put up a fight.

There’s an old dead body lying in the remains of the basin. Soggy and gross. Valeria uses her Divine Sense to detect what this whole ritual was about, and the water pings her as undead - it’s not itself an undead creature, but a good Knowledge!Religion roll tells her that any bodies left in this zombie soup will animate as undead. Looks like they were specifically marinating that one big mummified body in it.

Gross. We should probably move all these bodies lyin’ in the zombie juice, before they come back to bite us in the ass, literally. Shoshana pokes one with her staff.

Gral volunteers to use his magical woobles from the enchanted lute-strings to help Clem move shit around without taking taint. Clem agrees, but takes a rattling dose of psychic damage when Gral strikes a power chord and Key-woobles the both of them.  It’s odd to watch. They can touch the cultists’ bodies, but the water just falls through them. 

“That’s kinda fucked,” Clem observes. Gral and Clem use their woobliness to drag the old corpse out of the center of the basin. Valeria takes one for the team and drags the rest of the cultists out of the zombie juice, taking a chunk of taint for getting it all over her hands.

Shoshana does a medicine check on the Mysterious Old Body the cultists were trying to raise. This is a pretty old corpse! Honestly, she’s surprised it isn’t completely skeletal. It looks like it was mummified, but she can see a strange design tattooed on one of its arms. It’s warped, since the skin is so dessicated, but it’s clearly written in Old Valdian. It’s hard to make out what it says, but there are a few legible letters and words here and there. Something about ‘guardian,’ or ‘warden?’ Whatever it is, this is old, OLD-school Way of the Woods symbolism. 

The other arm is also covered in tattoos, but these ones are in a language Shoshana doesn’t recognize. It sort of looks familiar, though? Valeria, peering over her shoulder, doesn’t speak that language but has seen it on countless old buildings. This is Old Aquilian. (Where’s Lucinius Galvan when you need him?!)

That’s weird. Those two old cultures weren’t friends??? History tells us that the Aquilians dropped a few fortresses in Valdia and then mostly fucked off, because flying legions of Aarakocra aren’t good at forests, and by all accounts, the locals were Not Happy with the occupation. 

Valeria tries to copy down the symbols on the tattoos, so we can show Lucinius later. She does an excellent job!

Gral is impressed at the excellent mummification job on this fella. Orc bards are VERY familiar with the process of mummification, as it is traditional for particularly important orcs’ bodies to be mummified after their spirits have joined the Allsoul.

(“Our mummies are magical batteries, and it’s great,” Gral’s player brags. “We’ve got one back at base camp and it’s very strong.”)

As for the rest of the room: There’s a weird skull statue thing over the basin. Underneath that there’s a frame, with a big piece of tapestry in it. The tapestry appears incomplete, like someone was working on it but never got the chance to finish. It shows a skeletal figure seated on an elaborate throne, with a shining crown resting on its skull. Only the head and shoulders of the regal figure have been finished. It’s hard to tell with the tapestry only partway woven, but it does vaguely look like something is coming down from above the figure, wrapping around it and binding it to the throne.

Well, we did tell Ser Quentin we’d give him any more tapestries we found. Loot!

Whoever was working on this was working very diligently – this is incredibly detailed. The rare artist zombie? (Discussing with the DM, The Key is the curse that’s about creativity – this painstaking work was about discipline.) So now we have the image of the Pale King. Looking at it is...very memento mori. We wrap it up, so we don’t have to look at it.

There’s also a locked chest. How conveniently loot-like! Valeria uses the ol’ Paladin Lockpick, smashin’ it wide open. It’s full of cultist robes. Who keeps their laundry in a locked chest?!

Underneath that we find the good stuff: cloth of gold vestments, about 100g worth (25g x 4 robes)! Plus, there’s 200g of coins in a purse at the bottom.

We have found the Eldritch Laundry, and the Eldritch Underwear Drawer Money Stash.

Gral investigates the room as a whole and crits. He finds an annotated map of the necropolis. (One more for Valeria’s collection!) It’s more of a series of detail maps. Certain graves are marked, as well as different factions’ areas of influence. The temple and road are marked as under the control of the Penitents; the west wing of house belongs to Lady von Mornheim. Gallows Hill is not under the cult’s control. A bunch of small individual family crypts are, including the von Menzer tomb. A few of the maps are hand drawn and fairly recent, and those show very, very deep catacombs. There’s some Aquilian symbols on one of them, which is shocking, considering the Aquilian occupation was many centuries ago.

Several specific tombs are marked. Cross referenced with the notes we lifted from the library, we confirm the tombs marked are specific individuals they want to recruit to their undead army.

What time of day is it, anyway? Looking out the windows, we realize it’s afternoon; we need to get back to town by nightfall to avoid the undead horde.

Guess it’s back to the catacombs for us, then.

Shoshana draws a card: The Dead. Fancy that, in a place like this!

As we cautiously creep through the tunnels back the way we came, we can hear some slinking and crawling sounds. Things are moving in the dark.

(”What’s your marching order?” 

“Valeria first, Clem in the back, casters in the middle. 

“We are a sandwich, in which the slices of bread are very bad at sneaking.”

“And I, the noble turkey!” -Gral)

Guess what: it’s time to fight Gilly Ghoul and the Graveyard Gang.

Two horrible, loathsome creatures sprint out from the darkness. One of them reaches for Valeria with its grisly claws, which drag harmlessly against her shield. From the back, two more spring out to attack Clem. All of these ghouls have rusted manacles on their arms, dragging broken chains.

(”Chain chain chaaaiiiin, chain of ghouls...”)

Clem can see the distinctive abrasions around the attacking ghoul’s neck that indicate this person was killed by hanging. You can tell by the broken hyoid bone! Must be a body from up on Gallows Hill.

Gral Banes ‘em all. It works great; the undead are not known for their charisma. There is a horrible stench radiating off one of the attackers lunging at Clem and Gral. Clem’s worked in a field hospital, and Gral’s worked with burials, so this is nothing new for them – they both save against the Stank of a Criminal. 

Shoshana leans out from behind Valeria and casts Burning Hands on the two ghouls in front. Clem is very glad she didn’t take the fire giant tragic backstory, as the hallway fills with the smell of burning flesh.

Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice. Valeria follows up the fire with a blast of her icy breath weapon. They’re not looking too hot. (Which, yeah, ‘cause she just froze them.)

A ghoul tries to paralyze Shoshana, but Shadow Sorcerers don’t get paralyzed by paltry ghouls! On the other end of the party, the third ghoul and their leader (who we realize is a whole-ass ghast) attack Gral, looking for the softer, tastier targets. He’s paralyzed. “Ow, my trick knee!”

A few more slashes and spells. Valeria forks a ghoul (back) to death, and the other two are on their last legs. Looking terrified, the one in front loses its nerve and runs for it, its chains clanking as it skitters off into the darkness.

The ghast, seeing her minion flee, hisses “USELESS.” She shoves the last ghoul into Clem’s face and makes a break for it. The ghoul panic-attacks Clem, who takes some damage and resists paralysis, but there’s still a ghoul on her face. With the skill of a surgeon, Gral manages to hook the ghoul off her with his sickle, a process the ghoul does not survive. We can sort of hear the ghast vanishing into the distance, if we want to give chase. We don’t.

One more card! Gral draws The Spirit. 

“Um, excuse me,” says the ghostly voice of Dr. Leonard Wendell, from Gral’s pocket. “Did I gather correctly that you’re intending to venture back out into this space?”

“We might take a short rest, but, yeah.”

“I see. Well, far be it from be to be a freeloader. I believe I’ve worked out a way to lend assistance! You see, I am a ghost. BUT I AM ALSO A MAN OF SCIENCE. Specifically, of medicine. These tunnels are full of spectral foes that may prove resistant to physical weapons. Growing up, I had a joke about always wanting to dissect a ghost – I guess you had to be there, for it to be funny – it was a whole thing, back then. My point: when I was corporeal, I could dissect a corpse! Now, I believe I can dissect a ghost. If the holder of my scalpel would be willing to work with me slightly, I think I could give a few pointers!

Basically, as a bonus action, the holder of the Scalpel of Dr. Wendell can make a medicine check to activate his magic against that foe. On a success, it makes the weapon attack magical, negating ghosts’ resistance to physical damage. Additionally, once a day, the wielder can add poison damage to their attack.

(”HELLO. I AM DR WENDEL. I AM HERE TO PERFORM YOUR VIBE CHECK.”)

Clem adds “knife ghost” to her inventory, as she’s the physical fighter most in need of some magic, and proficient in medicine checks.

Dr. Wendell continues trying to help. “Additionally, I might be able to provide some assistance as party medic. How do you all feel about leeches?”

“...Negatively.”

“Perhaps it would be medically negligent for me to practice on the living, as my techniques are much outdated. I must study the latest techniques if I am to practice! Did we ever figure out how to cure that thing, with the worms?”

(Somewhat understandably, this fella hasn’t exactly kept up with his Continuing Ed requirements. That medical license is waaaay expired.)

The DM asks us to draw juuuust one more card. The deck gives us The Path, and concurs the DM should stop throwing random bullshit at us, because it’s super late and we all wanna go to bed.

We find our way back to Mornheim before the sun goes down. From the looks of things, Lady Aubrey did not go out on any missions today. We find her helping with repairs on the wall. 

“Oh hey, you survived,” she notes, mildly surprised. I mean, we’re pretty beat up.

 We’re pretty beat up.

We talked to them.

“You...talked to them. What, they were just willing to chat?”

“Yeah! And then they shot me,” Shoshana deadpans, showing off her arrow wounds.

“Okay, yeah, that sounds about right.”

Gral pipes up. “We disrupted a ritual, and discovered one of of their leaders is a digi– a dibi- um...” 

Shoshana saves him: “Dybbuk,” she says, saving the rest of the party from having to try to pronounce Yiddish words.

We tell her all about the dybbuk, and the ritual. Also, we got this neat map! They’re collecting corpses specifically to recruit undead with skills they need, and this map has marked which ones, along with detailing exactly which areas of Mornheim the cult controls.

“And we took it, so they don’t have their map or their research anymore. Ha ha, suck itttttt,” Shoshana gloats.

Aubrey grins. “I like this chick,” she tells Mercedes.

She looks over the map. “Yeah, this matches up with what I’ve seen. There’s my mom…” (Aubrey clearly DOES NOT want to talk about her mom, or how we nearly ran into her. Given her propensity to break glasses on people’s faces, we respect that.)

We give her some of the spoils of looting her house. Valeria gives her the bottle of wine from the cellar. “

“Ah, Chateau d’Somethin’,” Aubrey observes with satisfaction. “A good vintage: fermented. My favorite.”

Shoshana gives her 100g of the money we found, which she appreciates more seriously. “Wow, yeah, this is a big deal. Think I’ll schedule a trip out of town – with this, I can get some medicine for the doctor, and some other stuff too if I play my cards right. Thanks. Honestly, I was not expecting you to bring back anything.”

She’s pretty happy to hear that we busted four of the cultists, as well as Sokolov, and especially Grigor. “The archer’s dead? Good. That bastard made it real difficult to operate on the surface. He was the one partially scaring off the Penitents, though, so they might be a bit more active now. Y’know, as much as they talk about suffering, I’ve noticed they’re weirdly protective of their priests.”

“‘Priests’ includes your cousin Leah, right?”

“She calls herself a Redeemer now, but yeah. I’ve seen her sticking in the back, popping off spells, but she always takes a couple of big burly guys with her.”

Have we got anything else for her? Oh yeah, the millenia-old body, in the ritual we blew up. Might as well ask her about that.

“Nobody knows how old the catacombs are, or how deep they go,” Aubrey tells us thoughtfully. “According to legend, Mornheim was a graveyard long before the days of the Aquilian occupation. The first cathedral here was supposedly a stone circle built by ancient druids. I always assumed it was propaganda for the necropolis, you know? Mornheim: give us money and we’ll take your corpse.”

We wonder if there’s something under Mornheim, other than its enormous volume of corpses and apples, that they’re looking for.

She looks at the hand-drawn maps of the deepest tunnels. “It’s all fun and games running around the catacombs as kid when you don’t wanna do your chores, but you stay on the upper levels. Not even Skelbjor has been this deep - not that he’s gone in the catacombs much in the last couple of decades; he’s gotten too big. We used to have a couple of catacomb guides, but I don’t think any of them survived. There was this one real old guide, but the last time I saw her she was….well…running away into darkness as I tried to call out her name. I don’t know if she was undead, I didn’t get a good look at her. She had a hood up - it gets drafty down there. Didn’t look healthy, but none of us do anymore.”

That tracks. The cultists looked sick and weak, and Sokolov was near death even before Clem stuck a sword in him. The DM lets us know that Aubrey basically has a feat that allows her to resist Pale King taint, but even she looks pretty drawn.

Clem speaks up. “One more thing. I don’t know your messaging capabilities, but it is imperative you get a message to Ambassador Khoshev in Schotzengrad – I believe the cultists intend to make an attempt on his life.”

Aubrey doesn’t seem too hopeful. “We don’t have any kind of regular message service - things are pretty isolated here. Okay, that’s not entirely true. There’s definitely one person in Mornheim who can cast Sending.”

“…It’s Leah, isn’t it.”

“Yuuuup. I know, because when she has spare spell slots, she bothers me with it.”

We’re not gonna try our luck with the Penitents. If we need to get a message out, we’re mobile enough to leave Mornheim on our own and find a messenger.

So where do we go from here? We could go check out the von Menzer crypt, but it seems like we have all the info we need on what happened there. We could try going into the super-deep catacombs to investigate what the cultists might be looking for, but we don’t know what kind of mega-undead may wander the deeps. Clem would really like to get that message to the ambassador, since assassination warnings are kinda time-sensitive.

Valeria, meanwhile, is curious about the water purification spell scroll that we found in the wizard lab. The people of Mornheim are only gonna get sicker - this might also be time sensitive, if we’re gonna prevent as many deaths as possible. Valeria’s gonna Save the Town!!! And Be a Hero!!! (She hasn’t thought to, like, tell Aubrey - the whole vision is for her to stride in and Rescue Everyone.)

Shoshana, though, is the practical herbalist, and the one who can actually read the damn thing. There’s a long list of spell components that require a ton of preparation, and they’re all distinctly druidic. Holy water and magic swords, Valeria could get, but this is all rare and potent medicinal herbs. Some of it can be adapted to be more Paladin-like, but most of this is gonna be a serious fetch quest. The herbs required are native to the Greatwood, but we definitely ain’t gonna find enough of them, or of high enough quality, in the sickly Tim Burton hellscape of Mornheim.

Shoshana’s herbalism proficiency tells her that you can’t just walk into any old woods and find this stuff - they all come from different and specific environments. The sorceress is proficient enough to find the stuff in the wild, but only if she was in the right area to begin with.

She goes and asks the Doctor if she has any leads on sources for this stuff.

“The best herbs I get come from the valley, about a day or two’s travel from here. It’s also where we get most of our food. Feivel brings preserved stuff, but produce, wheat, flour? We cart it in Bad Herzfeld. Follow the river north - not the one that flows into town; you can find it on a map. Word is, they’ve got herbs galore up there. Everything grows well in Bad Herzfeld.”

Shoshana squints suspiciously. “Do the plants come alive at night and try to eat you?”

“What. No. I mean, this forest is weird enough, but that’s an oddly specific scenario?”

We decide on a course of action: we will leave Mornheim in the morning, heading toward Bad Herzfeld. Hopefully as we reach a less-isolated town, we’ll find a way to send a message to the Ambassador.

The DM breaks in. “Permission to ignore travel times to make a cool scene?” Yes, absolutely, we are all 100% in for that.

As we’re stopping in to let Aubrey know our plans, there’s a banging at the door. “There you are!” cries an exhausted, familiar voice.

It’s Flynn Fairgold, looking absolutely awful, panting and ragged. “Found you. Finally. ...You need to go to Herzfeld.” With that last wave of effort, consciousness deserts him, and he sags into the burly arms of his sister. Fiona waves hello with a tight-lipped smile.

We all demand to know what happened. Fiona signs at us, as clearly as she can with an armful of swashbuckler. We get the impression that some stuff happened with the trolls, and then they rode as fast as they could to get here, and...no, none of us know sign language, we’re absolutely lost.

We make an educated guess: “Did it have to do with creepy-ass fungus?”

She nods.

“Do you want to come with us to Herzfeld?”

She looks at her brother, clearly conflicted. Valeria heads right on over and Lays On Hands, saving just enough that she’ll be able to Cure a Disease if she needs to.

Flynn blinks up at her, coming back to us. “Kyr Argent! Thank you! I dub you the Healing Knight – no, that’s bad, we’ll - we’ll work on something.”

“Uh, Kyr Argent is fine, but what’s so urgent in Bad Hersfeld?”

“That farmer, the suspicious one. We caught up with his sons on the river, shortly before they made contact with troll family. One of them was human - the other merely looked it. He was some sort of strange mushroom creature – he could pass as human, from a distance, with a hood on, maybe. He hit me with these strange spores.”

Flynn coughs – we can see discoloration on his tongue and down into his throat. Valeria immediately spends the rest of her Lay on Hands to Cure a Disease. It helps; he looks a lot less exhausted, and the discoloration in his mouth reduces. We can tell he’s definitely not cured, though; this is something beyond Valeria’s capabilities.

“We knew you were here,” Flynn explains, regaining his breath. “My sister insisted on riding through the night to get to you. She knew you were the closest people who had any chance of being able to help me.”

“What happened to the fungus guys?”

“We caught up with them and finished them off. We checked in with the troll couple and their son – they’re fine, they were grateful, but it wasn’t the first time they’d heard of Herzfeld. They’d heard something from other trolls headed there. Word had come down about a troll moot being held up at Herzfeld in the valley. If there’s something there that can corrupt trolls…”

As the only Valdian in the party, Shoshana’s heard of troll moots, but they’re more of a legend than anything. A gathering of trolls? That only happens once in many generations.

“I don’t know how many will respond,” Flynn tells us. “A troll moot is not a common thing, but. Even three trolls affected by this fungus would be too many.”

“You’re NOT WRONG there,” Valeria gripes.

Looking at her, Flynn seems to remember something. “Oh! One more thing! The human brother had this, he attacked me with it.”

Out of his travel pouch, he pulls out a dagger. Not just any dagger. This one is very finely crafted and instantly recognizable. The pommel is shaped like a delicate rose, and detailed vine-like chains wrap around handle. We all understand the symbolism, but Valeria knows exactly what this is: the ceremonial sidearm of an officer of the Order of the Rose.

“Where did you get this?!” she demands.

“As I said, one of the sons had it on him. I don’t know where he could have gotten it. But I recognized it from some books – I figured you’d want to know.”

Valeria immediately casts Detect Magic. The knife itself is faintly magic, as she expected - simple paladin-type things, such as being eternally sharp and glowing in the presence of fiends. But there’s a very faint sense of some sort of other magic – something dark and sickly. It’s not the taint that suffuses Mornheim; this is something different.

“It was covered in spores when we recovered it, with all kinds of stuff growing on it. We took the liberty to sterilize it before we traveled with it. That is, my sister made a fire and we chucked it in. If it was what we believed it to be, we knew the blade would remain unharmed.”

“…thank you,” Valeria murmurs quietly, distracted. As she turns it over and over, something catches the firelight. There’s a name inscribed delicately along blade: Marius. The name of her mentor, who we know hasn’t been seen since the disastrous Crusade to Valdshart.

Well, our path looks clear. Next stop: Bad Herzfeld.

Flynn and Fiona are willing to go with us; Flynn’s still looking sickly, so it might be a risk for him. We decide that leaving him in Mornheim is definitely not gonna help him get better, though, so he’s coming with us for at least the first part of the journey.

We all roll against our accumulated taint, and all save.

The DM has us draw four cards to determine our journey. We draw: The Folk, The Curse, The Scales, and The Pale King.

The DM gets real excited, which is dangerous. We haven’t picked a red card before. We’re about to meet something nasty.

But for now, we rest uneasily behind the fortified walls in the city of the dead.

[valeriaxgarza]

  chagrin mirrored itself in eyes of hickory in tandem to a roll towards the heavens. callousness began to feast on restless bones, striking her with puissant force beneath the sugar of her skin. nadia realized that there wasn’t much her mother could do without implicating herself—the sustainable boxes that sat in her father’s office would cause the de la funte family to fall to their demise. it would be easy for her to feign innocence, acting as if she knew naught about the wicked scandals that were bound to make headlines resulting in mother dearest’s inevitable downfall. there nadia would stand, relishing in her victories. she jarred precipitously, rousing herself out of blissful reveries, a dreamy sigh escaping sugar spun lips. she felt her mother tense at valeria’s words and nadia felt the need to escape from the vigor of her incessant fury so they could receive a second to breathe. nadia stood with fortitude, lacing manicured fingertips within the interstices of valeria’s, desperately hauling her along afore her mother could get another word out. nadia respired, relief flooding her senses as they towered over buffet table, delicately adorned with crystals and white roses—her mother’s favorite. ❝have whatever you’d like. especially the alcohol. can’t let all of the expensive shit go to waste, can we?❞   delectable fragrances wafted from the table as she inhaled, childlike in her grandeur. sweets had never been a prospect, especially because her mother forbid it, but she was too unbothered to care. she was desperate to experience what she never had the chance to—a delicious sugar high. real toe-curling gaiety that knew no bounds. merriment that would rupture, that would ascend organically from the deepest pits of her stomach. a feeling she had dangled in front of her like bait many times prior, only to have it plucked from arms reach. ❝is she your pet now? seems like she never fucking leaves your side.❞ all happiness began to ebb and fade as a familiar voice infiltrated her ears. nadia exhaled, throwing a fleeting glance towards adam, eyes narrowed into serpentine slits. she retrieved the tongs, silently choosing from the array of dulcet treats, lashes kissing the tops of her cheeks. ❝come on, babe. don’t be like that, it was a joke. forgive me?❞ she rolled her shoulders, averting her gaze towards adam. ❝fine. apologize to tiny. maybe then, i’ll grace you with my presence again. depends.❞ incredulity cloaked his features until he realized her words were sincere. ❝wow, uh…okay. valeria, i’m an ass. it was a joke, really. sorry.❞ a sly smirk quirked at the ends of supple lips as she shifted in her spot, maneuvering her frame to face valeria, eagerly awaiting her response.

  nadia’s fingers filled the gaps between valeria’s. she hummed merrily, trotting behind her like a trained pet. ❝ where are we going? ❞ she chirped, practically skipping. she’d been able to toss foul insinuations at nadia’s mother with zero consequence, and she considered that a success. ❝ oh. ❞ delight flurried in the pit of her stomach. her fingers hovered above flutes of fine champagne and delectable treats, eyes wide. she plucked a glass, bubbling with elixir, in one hand and a teeming pink macaroon in the other. her lips wrapped around the succulent sugar, indulging in the taste. her eyes grew immense. ❝ this is the best thing i’ve ever tasted and i’m not even being dramatic, ❞ she digressed, wiping crumbs from the corners of her mouth. val washed it down with a mouthful of champagne, turning around, only for the merriment fizzing in her chest to be doused with thick tar. adam approached, a SNIDE remark ripe upon his tongue. she grumpily took another bite of the macaroon, averting her eyes. nadia castigated him, forcing him to apologise. val held her breath. she stared at him, long lashes fanning around deep - auric orbs. and he really did it. perhaps he was in a better mood today - or perhaps he was just as afraid of losing nadia as the next sensical man. she mulled him over, turning the thought of him upside down, inside out in her head. all the while patiently nibbling upon the pink cushion wedged between her fingertips, drawing out the long pause. she swallowed the last bite, felt it settle in her stomach, then looked up at him brightly. ❝ it’s fine! ❞ val grinned, gulping down an entire flute of champagne in one go. she picked up another. ❝ i’m over it now. and i want to have fun today. this seems like fun, all of it. and the alcohol is all free! did you know that? you can just have it. ❞ she paused, glancing over his shoulder, spying a mop of curly raven hair bobbing among the crowd. ❝ nadia, did you invite dylan? i don’t want to see him yet. i want to spend time with you. ❞ she weaved her fingers between nadia’s, swinging their hands to and fro.