#I have a horrendous headache since I got home from work

[jorvikzelda]

I got my weighted blanket back it is SO OVER for you guys. My health and stamina bars are literally recharging as we speak

[jadeylovesmarvelxo]

One of those Days

It's been one of those days for you and you'd love nothing more than a cuddle from your boyfriend Eddie. Except he's away on a trip with his uncle Wayne and won't be back until the next day..

Soft ,protective Eddie, shitty boss, mentions period pains and fluffy/comfort.

Dedicated to anyone who's just having one of those days. Eddie hugs for all of you 🥰

✨💕

You were so tired. It has just been one of those days and all you wanted to do was curl up in bed and not face the world for a few hours.

Work was long and tiring, you were sore and halfway through your period. It made you feel exhausted, snappy and every part of your body ached.

And you missed Eddie so much.

Eddie was away fishing with his uncle Wayne, it was something the two of them had done together since he was a young boy, Wayne loved fishing and Eddie...well it wasn't really his thing but he loved spending time with his uncle.

He had been gone since yesterday and you dearly missed him and Wayne but filled your time hanging with friends and with work and trying to keep your bad periods cramps and aches to a minimum; that had yet to happen.

There was an intense pressure in your head that had been building all day to an almighty headache. All you could think about was your bed and staying in it until Monday. The thought of indulging in some ice cream and your favourite movies was also appealing.

Today was meant to be your day off but your asshole of a boss had no one else to cover the shift and repeatedly called you until you came in to cover the hours.

As soon as you were able to you'd be looking for a new job, this kinda thing had been happening far too often and your boss still treated you pretty badly.

That could wait for a couple of days as soon as you got home later that day you barely had the energy to shower and pretty much just pulled on your comfiest pjs and climbed into bed.

You'd love to be wrapped up in Eddie's arms right now. He always had a way of making you feel better, the two of you were so in sync with each other's emotions that it was easy to know what the other needed right away.

It's with those thoughts that you fall into a deep slumber.

❤️

It's dark in your room when you wake up, your headache has dulled slightly but you're left with that groggy, gross feeling of sleeping far too long.

Wait a minute. You pause as you smell Eddie's cologne and notice that Eddie's arms are wrapped around you. You blink sleepily, thinking it's maybe this a dream. "Eds?" he smiles and kisses your forehead.

Okay so not a dream.

"Hey beautiful" he draws you closer to him and elation fills you that he's really here.

"Hi, I thought you weren't back until tomorrow" you kiss him happily and he returns eagerly, kissing you until you're both breathless.

"We finished up early and uh I kinda drove uncle Wayne crazy because I was missing you so much" you melt at his sweetness and burrow yourself in his arms.

"Are you still feeling shitty sweetheart?" He asks as he strokes your hair, you nod still burying your head into his chest and feel content to lie there for a little while.

"Mmm, work was horrendous too. Jake called me in, and wouldn't stop until I covered the shift even though I told him I was feeling awful" Eddie growls and you hear him muttering under his breath at what he'd like to do to your boss, it makes you smile.

"No you can't kick his ass babe" you giggle while trying to tell him off. It never works, he pouts and looks at you all sorrowful brown eyes and faux innocence.

"Not even a little bit? It will make you feel better" you hide your smile and shake your head.

"Not even a tiny bit. Hopper wouldn't be able to let that slide" he's still pouty but cheers up immediately, then proceeds to look offended once he notices that you're not in his arms and he makes grabby hands at you.

"Princess, I was liking that cuddle" you immediately settle back in his arms and feel content for this first time all day.

"Did you drive uncle Wayne crazy with Dio and Metallica then?" you ask and he smirks impishly at this, he's had this master plan to get Wayne to listen and possibly even like one of his favourite bands.

"He ended up liking Black Sabbath. I told you there was hope for the old man yet" he looks so proud of himself but the expression vanishes when he looks at you, instead now he looks worried.

"Okay, first things first my lovely maiden, we are having a shower and then some of uncle Wayne's delicious mac and cheese yes?"

💕✨

Exactly one hour later you're back in bed with Eddie having had the loveliest shower, Eddie had taken to washing your hair, usually you did it for him but he insisted that tonight he was looking after you.

"Gotta make sure my princess is pampered so you feel better baby"

Now you were having some delicious Mac and cheese while Eddie was telling you about the massive fish he managed to catch.

"I swear sweetheart it was half the size of me. The little shit bit my finger though and went back in the water, shit I fell in after it and almost ruined my vest, wayne thought it was hilarious"

"Poor baby" you soothe. You're perfectly happy listening to Eddie's adventures in fishing. Tucked up in his arms and paying him rapt attention.

Turns out today wasn't such a shitty day after all.

✨

[adonis-koo]

sweet nothing • 5

(In which he is most definitely sick)

↳ Description: being a guest at the Jeon Estate after a mishap of being kidnapped and dragged into your brothers affairs isn’t all that bad. Truth be told it brings you a lot closer to the mobster and owner of the estate Jeon Jungkook himself.

His two rules are simple, don’t cause trouble and don’t give him a hard time. Somehow you manage to constantly do both in the most endearing way despite being pregnant and waddling around most of the time.

↳ Pairing: Jungkook/reader, ???/reader

↳ Genre: slice of life AU, mafia!AU, pregnancy, there’s like…a little bit of a plot but not a lot, future smut? maybe? it's very domestic!

Word Count: 2k

Previous | Next

Note: I'm back AGAIN, simply because I can't get enough of these two!!! they're my life line these days tbh! i know I said there wasn't a lot of plot to this BUT....theres definitely some plot if you squint

“Are you sick?” 

Jungkook looked horrendous, it was evident he hadn’t showered yet, as his hair was somewhat oily, wild and unbrushed, his voice was raspy and the moment he greeted you good morning, it was evident he was congested. 

“I don’t get sick.” Jungkook replied, but his voice alone gave away the discomfort he was feeling, he sat at the small table attempting to eat but after two bites and the pure agony of attempting to swallow, he gave up. 

Your lips parted before closing once more, a sigh escaping you, “If only that were the case,” this had been your concern since he had come home late a few days ago, soaked to the bone and freezing cold. 

Yesterday when he had taken you out you noticed he had been sniffling, but aside from that he sounded totally find, today he looks like he had been hit with a car.

Jungkook rolled his eyes, “I have three board meetings today, a stack of paper work in my office that needs to be signed and a deal tonight at the Red Light, I can’t afford to be sick.” 

“Jungkook,” You chastised softly, “Do you even hear yourself? I don’t think anybody is gonna want to be around you when you sound like that. What are your symptoms?” 

“I’m not-”

“Yes you are!” You spoke over him, your expression shifting into anger at his stubbornness, “whether you like it or not! You’re sick. Now tell me so I can figure out whether I need Jimin to call the doctor or not.” 

Jungkook groaned as he leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms in thought before he reluctantly spoke, “My throat feels like it’s on fire. Even speaking feels like I’m swallowing a dagger.”

“And I have a massive headache,” He ushered softly, eyes closing as he rubbed his head.

Your expression softened once more, “Why don’t you go lay down? I’ll call for Jimin to get the doctor and make sure you’re alright,”

“I am alright.” Jungkook replied, puffed up at your words, one glare however shut him up.

He tiredly blinked as he sunk into his seat, “I can’t just take the day off.” 

“Then do what you can from bed.” You said with a frown, “But you’ll make others sick and yourself worse if you go out today.” 

He said nothing got a long moment before he shook his head and got out of his chair, your eyes followed him across the room until he left, somewhat surprised at his lack of argument.

Yeonjun who had been digging through a folder off to the side briefly glanced up to the closed door and then to you, “That’s a first.”

“Pardon?” You asked.

He smiled, “Jungkook letting someone boss him around. It’s a rather nice change of pace.” 

You scratched your cheek, uncertain of how to take the his words, your lack of reply only made Yeonjun continue though, “Y’know he used to..,” He cut himself off, as if realizing it wasn’t his place to meddle, “Sorry, I won’t bring it up. I’m sure neither of you want to dig up the past.”

The past…You gave a sad smile, picking at your food, “It’s alright, there’s nothing to dig up, Jungkook was a nice acquaintance back before I was pregnant, if you could even call him that. Nothing more…Yoongi is his partner, right?”

Yeonjun frowned, looking away warily before he eventually nodded, “You’ve met?”

You shook your head, “Only once, a long time ago, informally might I add.” 

“Do you want me to ring for Jimin?” Yeonjun decided to change the subject, “That way you can finish eating?”

You nodded with a grateful smile, “Yes! That would be quite helpful.” 

Jungkook looked downright annoyed as the doctor poked and prodded at him before he had finally come to a conclusion.

Turning to you as it was evident Jungkook was not in a good mood, “The good news is that it’s only a case of tonsillitis.” 

You sighed in relief before you asked, “Is there bad news?”

“It’s a bacterial infection, so we’ll need to put him on antibiotics. Lots of rest and warm, soft foods will help, he should be better in a few days at most once the antibiotics are in his system.” The doctor gave a warm smile.

“Few days?” Jungkook’s brows pinched together in annoyance.

“I’ll be sure to keep him rested.” You cut over him with a smile, “Thank you Doctor Choi.” 

“Of course Y/n, I will see you on Friday for your check up.” He gave a short bow before existing the room.

“I can’t be in bed for a few days!” Jungkook immediately piped up, though you didn’t miss the slight wince in expression at the obvious pain he was feeling.

“Doctors orders.” You gave him a sweet smile as you held your hands up.

He slumped back, glaring through his bangs at nothing in particular, “Can you at least get my laptop?” 

You let out a noise of amusement as you stood up, one hand on your stomach, the other on your dully aching back, “I didn’t realize having strep throat made your legs not work.” 

“You want me in bed or not?” 

“I’m going, I’m going.” You giggled as you waddled out of the room and into the open space of his office, digging through paperwork you made sure nothing was messed up, before finding his laptop charger and eventually finding the source as well. 

Opening the cracked door to his room however you smiled softly as the sight of him laid back down, knocked out once again, a soft snore even escaping him as you tutted, walking over you set his laptop on his nightstand before tenderly pulling his covers back over his shoulder. 

His expression looked so delicate when he was asleep, lips parted slightly and brows relaxed, tenderly you brushed your fingers through his hair before catching yourself. 

Your hand snapping back to your chest as if it had been burned, swallowing hard you shook your head, you had been thinking about the past a lot more these days. 

You couldn’t help but wonder if Jungkook did the same. 

Frowning you shook your head before you exited his room, there was no point dwelling on the what-if’s after all. 

Most of the day had gone by quietly, there was something different about the estate when Jungkook was home, even if he was sleeping away or working in his room, his energy still filled the air and brought a comforting feeling to whatever you did. 

Eventually the afternoon passed and an idea had overtaken you. 

“What are you doing?” Yeonjun paused at the door as he cocked his head to the side, brimming with curiosity. 

You turned towards Yeonjun with a grin, “You can’t tell Jungkook.”

He sighed, “I hate when you start a sentence with that.” 

You pouted, “I’m making him soup!” 

Yeonjun looked relieved, “Oh…okay, better than I anticipated, it does smell good here.” He glanced around the empty kitchen, “But the kitchen staff are already preparing supper.” 

You crossed your arms once more, “Well, that doesn’t change that I’m making him something to eat. There’s nothing like home cooking when you’re sick!”

Yeonjun held up his hands, “If it’s from you I’m sure he’ll love it….” He shuffled closer before peering over your shoulder, “Will there be extra?” 

“Are you asking for a bowl?” You grinned.

“Only if there’s extra.” 

“There’s plenty.” You replied with an excited smile, giving a little happy dance as you grabbed a set of bowls, proudly pouring your soup before handing one to Yeonjun who looked like a little kid snatching it from your hands. 

Setting the other bowl on a tray you tided it up with a nice hot ginger plum tea and a few napkins, “Tell me how it tastes! I’m gonna run this up to his room.” 

“Don’t you want some?” Yeonjun had already grabbed a spoon, slurping noodles. 

You grimaced, “Honestly the taste of chicken broth makes me wanna vomit, back when I had morning sickness the smell alone had me gagging.” 

“That’s a shame because this is honestly the best soup I’ve ever had- second actually,” Yeonjun smiled at his bowl, “Reminds me of my mom’s when I was sick as a kid.” 

You only smiled at his words before briefly glancing down at your stomach, large and round, you could only hope you’d make the best soup your baby would love one day. 

“Well nothing can beat mom’s soup, hopefully it’ll be second best for Jungkook too.” You laughed a little as you walked past Yeonjun, carefully holding the tray. 

You didn’t know much about Jungkook, truthfully, sure you had talked pre-pregnancy, but it always…you huffed, shaking your head.

This had been happening more frequently, memories of the past would surface and you’d have to shove them back down, the past was the past for a reason. You could only assume they kept coming up because well…

It was Jungkook. 

Knocking on his door you heard a scratchy ‘come in’ before opening the door. 

Jungkook was sat up in bed, looking tired as he typed away on his laptop, eyes dragging towards you before you noticed them brighten just a little. 

His eyes then dropped to the tray before he stiffened, “Why are you carrying that?” 

“I can-” You couldn’t even finish your sentence before Jungkook had already gotten out of bed, swaggering up to you before grabbing the tray. 

“Ask Yeonjun next time.” It was difficult to take his chided words serious when he was rasping this hard, a wince visible on his face as he continued, “If you drop that-” 

“How many times do I have to tell you,” You huffed, “I’m pregnant, not dying.” Your expression softened a little as a small smile tugged on your lips at the sight of his floppy bangs covering his eyes in a sulky manner, “Lay back down, I made you something to sip on. I always loved warm broth when I was younger.” 

Jungkook set the tray on his nightstand as he sat back down at the edge of the bed, staring down at the steaming bowl, his expression nonpulsed for a long moment. 

“You do like soup right?” You shuffled a little nervous at his quietness. 

“Who the fuck doesn’t like soup?” He quipped, “I just…” He glanced away, “You didn’t have to do that…” 

“Of course I did!” You replied immediately, “If I don’t then who will?” 

Jungkook parted his lips before closing them, sighing but not saying anything else as he propped his nightstand up, it extended upwards before turning towards him, he paused before taking a sip, “Well don’t just stand there.” 

You glanced around the room, not much had changed, a few chairs still against the wall, a particular spot open to the wall, opposite to a mirror on the other side of the room hanging. 

“Have you considered redecorating?” You asked as you rounded the bed, choosing to sit beside him on the empty side. 

Groaning you rested your back against the headboard as your hands dropped to your stomach. 

Jungkook shrugged beside you, “Not much reason too. I thought it looked fine.” 

He plopped the spoon in his mouth as his eyes shut. He was never a very expressive person, but there was something about that satisfied look on his face that made you smile.

“It’s alright, it's just…” You trailed off, suddenly feeling as though you weren’t as ready to have this conversation as you thought you were.

“Just what?” Jungkook’s brows furrowed. 

You forced a smile as you shook your head, “Nothing.” 

The same way you last remembered it.

You glanced at the that small open space of the wall between both the chairs, how cold it felt against your back when…

Jungkook could obviously sense the uncomfortable silence, “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“The soup.” 

A somewhat hesitant smile tugged on your lips, “Of course. I’m…” Your smile became disheartened as you stood up, “I’m gonna start preparing for bed, you should get some more rest.” 

Jungkook frowned but said nothing, though it looked like he wanted to, he only nodded. 

You left his room feeling your feet drag as you closed your eyes, this feeling was something you were used to when it came to him.

This feeling of always dancing around one another, never talking about the tension in the room, except now it was even more evident then before. 

You’d have to talk about it eventually. 

I forgot all about my tags last chapter so I apologize!

taglist: @btseverafter7 @scuzmunkie @zae007live @cynicalbitch666 @somehowukook @bartisedrew @princess-sunshyn @jungk-shook-iiee @chickpea-jimin @hoseokteardrop @guk97butterfly @givemethemaknaes16 @bxcndd

[raybyanothername]

Tagged by the awesome @mostannoyingbillioner for this and I absolutely love these!

Rules: post the first lines of your last 10 fics posted to Ao3. (Sort by date posted.) If you have less than 10 fics posted, post what you have.

-.-.-

1. The Omega Prince - House of the Dragon - Modern Royalty Omegaverse - Unrated (affectionally referred to as The Beast fic)

(currently on Chapter 12)

It was tradition for family to gather at the end of winter. Nominally, it was to commemorate the end of the Long Night centuries earlier, when Queen Daenerys I Targaryen and her nephews had defeated an army of the dead and re-established Targaryen rule in Westeros after the War of Five Kings. In reality, it was an excuse for family to gather and snipe at each other over food of questionable edibility prepared by an overworked and exhausted host.

This year, that host was Rhaenys.

2. The Snarky One - Teen Wolf - Theo-centric Post-Canon - Rated E

(currently on Chapter 21)

The graveyard shift at the hospital was bad enough, agreeing to check in at the Animal Clinic on her way home just made the night seem even longer. Hell, the sun would be up before she got to bed at this rate.

3. A Targaryen Solution - House of the Dragon - Canon Divergent Arranged Marriage AU - Rated T

(currently on Chapter 19)

It was a not-so-open secret that Targaryens could all carry children. The Faith of the Seven weren't fans of it, of course, but Targaryens were the blood of the dragon, and dragons don't care for the human concept of gender. The only thing that mattered to a dragon was blood, and fire.

That's what Viserys reminded himself of as he stood before the court and announced the betrothal. Rhaenyra had suggested Helaena, but that would not solve the issue of succession.

4. Concubine Beats King - House of the Dragon - Jace/Aegon Canon Divergent Elopement - Rated E

(currently on Chapter 22)

Dragonstone was old and her walls were filled with secrets. Helaena walked the walls of an old library. She trailed one finger over the spines.

Her mother's words echoed in her head.

*The Targaryens keep their blood pure.*

5. Quantum Quirks - Star Trek (mostly Voyager) - Post Canon Icheb/Q Slowburn - Rated T

(currently on Chapter 13)

Captain Janeway would love to say she was surprised by this turn of events. Really, she'd have even given up a coffee ration for an iota or two of shock if they were still in the Delta Quadrant (just the one ration though).

Reality as it was, when she opened the door to her quarters to find Q Junior sitting on her couch, eyes already wide and ready to pout, Kathryn just sighed. She plopped herself beside her godson and rubbed her fingers into the sides of her forehead. A headache formed anyway.

6. Sloan's Rosary - Original Fiction - Modern Ghost Story - Rated T

(Completed)

We called the intersection ‘Doom and Gloom.” The streets were always busy, what with the highway being just a few blocks down. Every single building was the same shade of grey, made out of cinder block and concrete from a 90s rebuild.

A bunch of college apartment complexes lined Doom St and a bunch of fast food joints and expensive clothing boutiques ran along Gloom Ave. Perfect for your average college undergrads! We lived a few blocks away, in a two bedrooms house we’d started renting three years ago when we stopped being undergrads.

I was sitting in the passenger seat. We’d bought the old Cadillac our freshman year with money we’d been saving since before either of us got a license. Whatever color it had been before, it wasn’t anymore. The outside was a solid shade of rust that clashed horrendously with the worn blue interior. Sloan loved that. Me? All I cared about was that the radio worked. Most of the time.

7. Following the Contract - Dead Boy Detectives (DCU) - Edwin/Charles Arranged Marriage Omegaverse AU - Rated E

(One-Shot)

Charles arrives at the Paine Estate with some degree of trepidation. He's not nervous. Not afraid. That would be silly.

He's getting married, not going off to war. There's nothing to be afraid of. Nothing at all. It's not as if he's marrying someone he's never met... oh wait!

8. Not a Nebula - Star Trek - Riker Meets Q2 - Rated G

(One-Shot)

A beep from the science console is almost immediately followed by a quiet hum from the ensign. The vulcan turned his head, brow almost furrowed, "Captain. A nebula has appeared on our latest scan."

"The Archnid Nebula? I thought we had another day before it would be in scanner range?" Riker rose from his seat, glancing briefly at the conn to check their speed and current position. They were exactly where he thought they'd be.

"No, captain, it's a different one. I am not familiar with it's composition." The ensign stepped back from their console as Riker approached, giving him a chance to see the data himself.

"This is an established nebula," Riker'a forehead wrinkled. He tapped at the console. "And we have no records of it before this scan." No wonder the ensign was so effected - their lips were pursed tightly as they squinted at the console.

9. The Curse of the Welshman - Merlin - Modern AU Merlin/Arthur Slowburn - Rated T

(currently on Chapter 4)

Morgana was always late – twenty minutes, almost to the second. Arthur was well-versed in Morgana Standard Time though, so he compensated. He arrived fifteen minutes late to the restaurant so as to keep the alone time with his father as short as possible. Uther was already there, of course, his strong jaw and wrinkled brow schooled into his polite face - reserved for the House of Lords and his son.

After fifteen more minutes Arthur started to consider drowning himself in the soup the server had brought for the table. Uther had spent most of the time ranting about Arthur’s grades, because taking a double course load wasn’t enough; he also had to ace everything. How dare he get a B in the Chaucer class Uther hadn’t wanted him to take in the first place?! The nerve!

10. A Legendary Experiment - Teen Wolf - Season 5 PWP AU - Rated E

(Completed)

His vision was blurry as he blinked his eyes open again. Hayden was gone. Blinking slowly, Liam turned on his side, gasping as his arm throbbed and his head swam.

Guess that answered the question of whether he was still hooked up to the machine pumping wolfsbane directly into his bloodstream. He groaned, head lulling to the side. There were shapes, people, a few yards away, where Hayden had been strapped to a table.

Someone was shouting. Yelling. He heard his name and Liam tried to focus, tried to clear the fog. Slowly, the figures sharpened. The Dread Doctors. The metal table.

Theo.

The one who was shouting was Theo.

No pressure tags! @thiamsxbitch @mega-ringsandthings-world @moonbeeorangeheart @aadmelioraa

[pulquedeguayaba]

.

I'm so fucking tired of everything

Of this stuck loop I've been into since the pandemic started (but more with my current job since June 2021)

It's like a monotonous and neurosis inducing limbo in which I'm further stuck with the toxic cycle of depression-substance abuse-possible adhd and it's do hard to get out

Taking slow and size varying steps but it's not enough

It's becoming worse lately, I can barely tolerate the people I live with. There's nothing I wish more than to have my own place just me and my dog, and no one else, at least for quite a while (except for more animals ofc, the only ones who truly brighten a home without ever giving you bitter moments). Which is hard becos gentrification and still doable ofc but it'd be like a medium-term goal (especially cos I'm not sharing).

Also I've been more aware cos lately I'm exclusively smoking hashish (except for this weekend, and yeah, definitely putting regular consumption of weed aside for some time, for this and other [dysmorphia/dysphoria/ed] related reasons) and yeah no.

And it's kinda messy and got it sorted in my head but the people around me don't respect me (and for the most part I don't care except it shows in certain interactions that have been irritating me A LOT lately) and like don't expect anything from me but some of them are also kind of disappointed in very this passive aggressive and cunty way. And I hate it and I been hating interacting with them (which isn't that often but even the shortest interactions with most of them are enough for me to feel annoyed for a while) and I can't even complain cos they'd be like tf u on? Y u overreacting? So sensitive must be the drugs and again the scenario where everyone is allowed to be angry and call people out be assertive and be emotional except fucking me (apparently is related to the cancer Mars curse, that horrendous and useless placement)

And I just wish my domestic life wasn't this stressful and because I'm a body freak I got all my reactions and ticks in check and so my body has to find ways to let out the stress (even though I work out every day sometimes quite intensely) also this is where weed usually came in but again had been giving me headaches lately plus the binge eating and yeah the smell cos paranoia and again the cycle

I feel so trapped and I feel so stuck

And I just wish I could just one day wake up and being a workaholic and get out from here

[kigendragon]

After Wonderland

Part 3 <3

─•~❉᯽❉~•─

“Something wrong, Lisa?” 

You, it’s you, you’re what’s wrong.

It had been weeks since she returned to the C2 Organization. Although she was stuck doing petty work, probably as a bit of punishment for not bringing the Hayakawas back, as well as for her stunt to call her father. 

“No, just a headache, Dolk,” she said, sighing softly. 

Dolk’s energy had been off for a while now. She had noticed it a bit previously, but wasn’t nearly as confident in her Kigen Arts at the time. Having been in Wonderland and even managed to use her Kigen Dragon, she knew she wasn’t mistaken now.

It hadn’t bothered her nearly as much when she was returning home, furious with him and everyone else… But now that she had pushed that anger back? There was a horrendous energy coming from him. It made her skin crawl, made her want to push him away, if not more. 

“Well that’s still no good,” he said, offering a smile. 

She offered a small smile back at him, but she didn’t want to. His smile… Something wasn’t right. 

“I should probably get back to cleaning… You know they want me to make everything spotless. And I’m pretty sure that’s impossible to do at this point. I don’t even know what some of these spots are,” she told him, laughing softly. Damn that fake laugh. Ai was right, it was creepy. Fortunately, or at least hopefully, Dolk would be none the wiser. 

“So… You aren’t still upset about everything?” 

“No, I wouldn’t be back if I was still angry.” She was seething. He didn’t need to know that though. 

“Honestly I thought you wouldn’t be back because of a couple of weeks ago, Your Highness,” he said, laughing until she threw a dirty rag onto his face. 

“Shut it. And don’t call me that. It’s weird.” 

“I mean, it was only a matter of time before he did that. He was going to have to eventually, right?” Dolk stated. 

“It’s stupid either way. Just made things here more difficult by doing that. I kind of think he did it just to irritate me,” she added. She knew it wasn’t that simple, that as much as she wanted to call Igor stupid; he wasn’t. Not entirely. 

“Oh c’mon, it can’t be so bad.” 

She felt like the air was knocked out of her, and she couldn’t even show it, because he knows.

She told him everything. 

When the two had been dating, she told him what happened in that palace. The hatefulness, the abuse, the attempted manipulation. All of it. He knew. 

So why was he acting like he didn’t know about it? She thought he was just teasing at first, but now he was acting like it was actually news to him. 

“I suppose not,” she answered, keeping it short as she continued cleaning. 

“I could help you, you know?” he offered. 

Absolutely not. Hell no.

She shook her head, looking up at him. “As much as I want to take that offer, we both know that would backfire. Go on and do some more important stuff, I can handle some dirt,” she told him, continuing. 

He agreed, and left her alone, where she actually began to focus more on the energies around her now that she was on her own. 

Dolk’s stood out astronomically. She wasn’t wrong before she left, something had changed. She just didn’t realize how much back then. But this… This wasn’t natural. Come to think of it, things just felt off. It wasn’t just her personal feelings about what was going on, or about the palace. 

Something was actually throwing off the energies here. 

What the hell was this? 

When she finished for the day, she enjoyed what little time she would have to herself. She got herself onto the roof of the C2 building, a spot where she wouldn’t be seen, but could observe everything else. She sat down, and closed her eyes after a few moments, taking deep breaths as she focused. 

The energies around her, within the building, as well as just in the elements, were familiar, but skewed. It was concerning to say the least, especially how much Dolk kept standing out in all of the mess. She didn’t want to admit it, but it was starting to look like something more intentional was going on here. Something more sinister. 

She thought about it all as she returned to the palace, continuing to try and read the energies around her as she went. So much was skewed, particularly at the palace, and at C2. 

What the hell were they up to…

[bittwitchy]

i’m gonna be a thousand percent real w you guys for a min, its gonna be under a read more, and it revolves around fears and pains and scary medical things and g/ov3r/nm3nt bullshit and stuff which is uhhh destroying me mentally and physically ig ahahahhaa

so like as some ppl know, when i was leaving work late nov/early dec of 22, i fell and injured my ‘leg’, it was a few days before i turned 26 and i couldnt get a doc appt in time w a real doc, and ofc bc i was on the male parentals insurance and it was based out of texas despite US being in california, i got completely fucked over bc they didnt want ro cover shit and i had to argue with them til almost the very end of december or so just to see a nurse practitioner who didnt know wtf she was gonna do, and refused to listen to me when i said i was not going to have insurance in a week. i cannot afford any expansive anything right now and anything that i have to do needed to be done before the end of december. all she said was ‘i hope you get better then, but they will call you when they feel like it.’

its been over a year, im still not better, because i was not clocked in at the time, and was injured in the parking lot, hr already said they wont cover it. even if i was only at that location (not my home location) for them, i was not clocked in and therefore they hold no responsibility, and the parking lot had no cameras anyways. its all just word of mouth so. i got fucked there too. C/alo/ptima has been fujcing useless and wont even send me my new insurance card so i can get a new regular pcp who will refill even just my fucking inhaler because the guy they gave me refused to even refill that.

now, when ive gotten the leg scans, they cant find anything. they dont know whats wrong. ‘oh youre just fat, lose weight and you’ll be fine.’

breathing shots pain into my leg. and the pains been spreading. ive been getting a little bit of weird treatment at work despite dlat out ignoring and pushing through my pain to please people and that wasnt even enough because i still got some pretty weird ass treatment from some ppl in management despite the fact im not choosing this, and ignoring it makes everything worse.

and ive been trying to push through and ignore it and hope it heels, because the medical system isnt going to help me, neither is the company, and i live in california. i really just cant afford the medical system here anyways.

i think when i fell, it clipped a nerve into my spine, because for those unaware im that special brand of au/tistic who can tell you the exact point of origin of my pain. from tooth pain to headaches to even searing body aches, i can tell you where it starts and where it ends. but i also have a massive pain tolerance (ive had 8 root canals and local anesthesia doesnt work on me thanks to adhd, i can and have had 9 bottles injected in and nothing happened, so i just dont use it and ignore the horrendous fucking pain of your nerves being killed because i dont want to bother anyone. THAT is my pain tolerance level, and i cant tolerate this.)

the pain is spreading to both of my legs, and when i ignore it i end up toppling over. i used to be a hula dancer, professional as a kid, still for rec until i got hurt. i cant do it anymore. i can barely walk. when i force myself into events and shit that requires walking, it feels like my entire body is being crushed the next day, and during the actual day of doing but thats obvious.

i dont know how to take it anymore, nothing is helping, no one is helping me, and even people who try to help me its like the system is working for them despite refusing to work for me. i really well and truly dont know what to do about this anymore. the pain from my spine isnt only in that leg now, its in both legs and keeps creeping to my arms. im obviously not gonna get help from the company, and even talking to a lawyer its a fucking long shot that i could get anything done from them at all since the parking lot didnt have cameras. i already have eds, and this has been setting off the issues relating to it even more. i was meant to get tested for pots before i lost insurance back then, but new doctor doesnt believe women can experience pain at all, and are lying for attention if they admit to it.

breathing is fucking painful, and i dont know what to do. i can just keep doing what im doing and ignoring my pain and pushing through to please everyone because its not like the system helps, but the system is working for others and when i do what they recommend i do it not only still doesnt work for me, but i get threats from it. i dont know if its because im autistic or not, indont know why it works for others and not for me, i dont understand and when i try to get answers all people say is ‘just push through’ but im trying and its making everything worse and im breaking my body more and more by just pushing through and indont want to get kicked off of c/alo/ptima for bothering them too much by not getting answers despite my efforts because i did get threatened and incant afford $250-500 monthly fees from my state if i dont have insurance. $250 is more than i earn a week. jts not like im getting hours at work. and i really just am so fucking broken and tired and confused and done i dont know what to do and im tired of being in pain. i just want the pain to go away. i dont want to cry anymore. i dont want to be confused and scared and alone anymore. its like everythings collapsing down and i dont know what to do.

and to top it all off, the skin welts and lesions that my old doctor was so terrified of me having are back. theyre a symbolism of my white blood cell count, and last time i got them he had me get blood tests every few months because he was worried about my developing leukemia. and everytime it got too high he gave me something to try snd prevent it, and ultimately i was ‘almost there but narrowly escaped’, and i dont know how im supposed to just keep pushing and keep living and keep going it that happens too. especially when incant afford a blood test right now. i dont know what im doing or who i am anymore and its destroying every semblance of who i am that i had left, and i just want to make everyone happy but im not happy. im not happy snd im not getting help snd i feel so defeated and indont understand how other people can argue andnits fine but i do it and i get threatened or retaliated against.

indont understand how if i do whats recommended im misbehaving and being wrong but others can do what they want. its like im a kid again but instrad of being beaten im just getting fucked over medically even more snd my body gets to further destroy itself and i dont know whay the fuck left there is to do. its like everythings collapsing down on me, jm not getting the samw care or treatment others get, and i dont think im going to because i cant keep fighting a system thats going to only verbally threaten me because they wont respond to emails. i cant use recorded conversations in court here. im scared and im tired and im in constant pain and had to beg my old doctor to send an inhaler refill without my seeing him because the new one wouldnt and my lungs were giving out. i dont want to die but it feels like its heading rhat way whether i want to or not because nothing and nobody will help me and when they try they get mad at me for ‘not trying harder’ but im doijt everythint they say and more and its nothing. nothings coming crom it but my suffering. but if i say its not my fault its ‘making excuses’ and injust cant keep doing this anymore. im so tired, and im in so much pain, and indont know what to do.

[tomtenadia]

Remember Us - part 2

Double feature this week. Here we go with part 2. Rowan takes another step on the path of recovering his life.

Also, we get to meet the kids <3

------

When Aelin got home that night after her shift at the hospital, she was tired and not just from the long hours spent in OR. She was tired in her soul. Aelin had managed to keep her thoughts at bay while operating, but as soon as she was out they came back. It had been hard to fight the urge to go and see him again. He wanted space. That was clear so she just went home instead.

Once she crossed the threshold, laughter welcomed her. Her kids sounded happy.

She shed her coat and removed her shoes and followed the happy sounds.

Walking into the kitchen she found her mother cooking and Thomas helping her setting the table and little Freyja banging her plastic cutlery on her high chair. She was a shy girl but would become alive and loud when she was hungry. Just like her mum.

“Mama!” Shouted her daughter as she spotted her.

“Mum,” Thomas echoed his sister and ran to her, hugging Aelin at her knees “hi my darling, how are you?” She kneeled at his height and ruffled his blonde hair.

“Helping grandma cook.”

“Food.” Shouted Freyja who got agitated trying to get the attention of her mother. Aelin went to her daughter and lifted the wee girl in her arms “hi my love,”  and she snuggled her head against her mother’s chest.

“Hi mum,” said Aelin to Evalin. The woman stirred something in the pan and turned to her daughter “welcome back, darling.” She said and her gaze turned worried at her daughter’s tired expression.

Aelin shook her head, knowing what her mother was about to say “later,” she added. She did not want to talk about Rowan in front of the kids.

“Come on Tom, sit at the table. Dinner is ready.” On his grandma’s orders the boy climbed on his chair and started eating his meal.

Aelin joined them a moment later, all changed in house clothes and sat at her daughter’s side.

Thomas was three and had just started learning how to use a fork properly. They would cut the food for him and he would try to use the utensil. Rowan had been teaching him. A pang of sadness hit her and pushed back the tears, now it was not the time. She would feed Freyja who was only eighteen months old.

“Did you help grandma cook?”

The boy nodded while taking a bite from his fork and gave her a big smile. His green eyes lighting up with joy. Eyes just like his father’s.

“Aelin, let me feed Freyja. You have your dinner. You haven’t touched it yet.”

Aelin shook her head “I am fine. It can wait.”

Truth was… she felt nauseous and that feeling had nothing to do with being pregnant. It was fear. Terror of losing Rowan. Terror that he would never recover his memories and her kids would be left without a father and her without her soulmate. She almost lost him once. She would never forget the day she got the call from the hospital. Those horrible moments were forever etched in her memory.

Later on that night, once the kids were in bed Evalin joined her daughter on the sofa and brought her a chamomile tea.

“The kids are asleep. What’s troubling you?”

Aelin sighed and her hand went to her stomach “Rowan woke up.”

“Today?”

She nodded in confirmation and leaned her head on her mother’s shoulder “I had just left the OR when I got a page from his doctor. I went to his room and he was awake,” a loud sob broke from her lips “he does not remember me or the kids.”

Evalin pulled her daughter closer and hugged her knowing the pain she had been feeling for the past month “Yrene had told you it might happen.”

Aelin nodded slightly “I didn’t think it could hurt that much. He had no idea who I was. He doesn’t remember our kids.” Her sobs turned into proper crying “I am so scared, mum. So, so scared.”

“I know, darling.” Evalin kissed her daughter’s head “you will have to be strong a bit longer. Does the doctor think he will regain his memory?”

Aelin gave her a small nod “but it might take time and what if he realises that he doesn’t want us in his life anymore?”

“Rowan loves you and the kids madly. The road ahead might be bumpy but he will come back.” A ragged breath escaped from Aelin. She hoped her mother was right, because if she was not she doubted she would survive loosing him a second time.

*

Rowan woke up the next morning with an horrendous headache. He had a fitful sleep and his thoughts had been stuck all night on her. Aelin. His wife. At her side two small shadows representing their kids. In his mind he had this picture of him holding someone, the smell of lemon and verbena strong around him. But he was sure it was more a feeling than an actual memory. He had woken up all of a sudden and hadn’t been able to fall asleep properly since. His body recognised the other one. 

A nurse brought breakfast and of one thing he was sure. He hated hospital food. Which led to another series of questions. What did he eat for breakfast? Was he a good cook? What was his favourite food?

Reluctantly he finished the food on his tray and decided to kill the boredom by watching tv. According to the news it was January and the meteorologist were warning all the citizens of Terrasen of a snowstorm warning.

He was so bored watching the news that he felt glad when Aelin knocked on the doorframe “Mind if I come in?”

He shook his head “is tv always this boring?”

Aelin chuckled and for a second she saw a glimpse of him. He always hated tv. The only reason they had one in the house was because she had pestered him about it “yeah. You find reading more interesting.”

He switched off the television and faced her “I am…”  he sighed “yesterday… I was overwhelmed. It was… it still is too much.”

“I know,”said Aelin trying to suppress the instinct to touch him. Not until he was okay with it.

“Tell me something about me, about my life. Us… anything.” He started, eager to know more. He needed it “do I like breakfast?”

Aelin laughed “you do, and you are a great cook. On Saturdays you always make us pancakes and let Thomas help you flip them.” She smiled at the image. Thomas on his knees on a chair beside his dad.

“You are a healthy eater so you tend to scoff enormous quantities of fruit and veggies while complaining about my crazy dietary habits.”

She was dying to show him pictures of the kids but decided against it. One step at a time. Let him become familiar with the idea of being married first.

“You are a lawyer. A kickass one at that.” His green eyes were trained on her “you and Lorcan opened your own practice. After graduation you two got a job in a fancy company but eventually got tired of dealing with rich bastards and opened a firm that deals mostly with family law but also offers legal support to us common human beings.” She had been so proud of him. The big job had left him miserable and with very little time to live. He had been stressed and after two years he had realised that the huge salary was not worth it. Lorcan had followed him and together they had started their new adventure. They had started small snd simple, but slowly as they took in more cases they had to start hiring more people and the firm had gotten bigger and successful.

“You love hiking, nature in general and winter. We are both in love with theatre and on our first date you took me to a play.”

Rowan looked at her and that tug in his chest came back for a visit.

“We have been married for seven years and you proposed at my best friend’s wedding. We were dancing and you asked me what if we were the next ones to do that? Then you went on one knee and asked me to marry you.”

He kept listening, adding some more pieces of info to what he had gathered so far. And the more Aelin spoke the more that connection he had felt the day before grew stronger.

“What type of doctor are you?”

“I am the chief of paediatric neurosurgery and I work two floors above this.”

Rowan took a deep breath and asked a question that had been burning in him since she has appeared “do you have any photos of us, of the kids?”

Aelin felt like crying and extracted her mobile phone and scrolled through her huge quantity of photos “This is Thomas. He is three.”

Rowan looked at the boy and saw a blond mop of hair just as golden as his mother’s and two striking green eyes just like his. In the photo the boy was laughing while he held him in his arms.

Aelin swiped and the image of a little girl appeared and he gasped. There was no doubt that she was his daughter. Her hair was silver as his and even her eyes were the exact copy.

“She is so much like you.” He noticed the smile appearing on Aelin’s face. While she talked about their life her face had lit up and in front of him he had the most stunning woman he had ever seen. Probably. He wasn’t sure but Aelin took his breath away.

“Are we happy? As a family?”

Aelin nodded without even thinking about it. They were, she had no doubts about it “Yes. We wanted a family, kids. It was our choice.”

Rowan nodded and wanted to believe her, needed to believe the passion and the love in her voice.

“I need time.” He said quietly, averting his gaze from hers for just a brief moment “This is a lot that I need to process. I will need time but I want to hear more.”

Aelin sobbed and grabbed her backpack and extracted another mobile phone “this is yours. It survived the crash because you used a military grade protecting cover. I just charged it. The password is 0305.” She gave him the mobile “it has photos, texts. Everything is still there, maybe it will help.”

Aelin looked at her watch and stood “I have to go, I have a surgery in two hours.”

Rowan nodded.

“You can text me if you want. My contact is under Fireheart.”

He looked at the phone and then at her “will you come back?”

Aelin took a step toward him and kissed his silver hair as she did the previous day and then nodded.

She waved at him and disappeared through the door.

He moved his attention to the phone and tried to figure out how to switch it on. Once he did it asked him a pin code and he entered the digits she had told him.

Once the phone was unlocked he was welcomed by a picture of him, Aelin and the kids on a beach. He had Freyja on his shoulders and was laughing as she patted his head. Aelin was holding Thomas potato sack style and the boy was grinning. With his fingers he traced her face and then went looking for the photo album. Before opening he hesitated. His life, his memories were there and he was scared.

There were picture of his wife. Plenty of them and she always had an amazing smile. Of one thing he was sure:Aelin took his breath away. Photos of their kids and he spotted one of what he suspected was a newborn Freyja. He held the little bundle in his arms while Thomas was at his side staring at his sister. He saw happiness, he saw joy, but most of all he saw love. Deep love that bound the four of them. Aelin had not lied. They seemed happy. He found photos of what he assumed were friends but he could not tell who they were, he hadn’t covered that part yet. Accepting the idea of a wife and kids was hard enough. He was not ready yet to add more people. The mere idea made him feel dizzy.

He was getting tired again even if it was only morning, but he pushed through and found the app with the text messages and went to look at the ones from Aelin and he read the last one she sent him go and win your case and then tonight I will show you how proud I am of my sexy lawyer.

He scrolled back through the thread and read random texts between them until he went back a few months and saw a text with a picture attached.

You are away for work and I miss you. I went for my first proper check-up and I am proud to share with you the picture of the new member of our family. The image was greyish and grainy but the message was clear: Aelin was pregnant again.

He placed the phone on his lap and closed his eyes calming the sense of panic overwhelm him.

And with his eyes closed he tried to remember.

[authorautumnbanks]

How To Tame A Sorcerer(3)

"Because you are so needy, I guess we can go back into town." Gojo huffs as he plops down onto the couch, his hand clasping his jacket as if the mere thought is exhausting.

Kagome pinches her nose and counts to ten. What she wouldn't give to have some subjugation beads right now. A grin makes its way across her face. She could totally pick up some supplies while they're out and give him the command ' shut it'. Her hands come up and cover her mouth as mirth dances throughout her body.

"Maybe we should stop at a hospital on the way," Gojo remarks. Kagome straightens herself up and glares at him. "What? You're the one laughing like a maniac."

"You- ugh!" She turns away from him and crosses her arms. "Can we just go?"

"I need to change first." He gets up and crowds her space. Kagome turns her nose up; intimidation tactics do not work on her.

"What's wrong with what you're wearing now? It should take that long to get a sleeping bag."

"Sleeping bag?" His mouth hangs agape at her shrug. "We're going furniture shopping." He rolls his eyes and walks away. "Can't believe you thought I would have you sleep in a freakin sleeping bag."

Kagome scrunches up her nose at his retreating back. That Satoru sure is a weird one. She sits down on the couch. The cushions are surprisingly soft; heck, she would be okay just crashing on the couch until she figured out a game plan. There had to be some reason as to why the well sent her to this world and not back to InuYasha. She bites down on her lip as her blood pressure rises steadily. Dear heavens, please don't let my mission be tied to that man.

"Ready to go!" Gojo calls, interrupting her darkening thoughts. Her breath hitches at the sight of him; the white button-down enhances the blueness of his eyes. They remind her of the sparkling trinkets her grandpa tried to pass off as the Shikon jewel to visitors.

"What's with the glasses?"

"The blindfold doesn't really go with this outfit. Come on, we've got a lot to cover." He extends his hand out. She starts to tell him that the blindfold doesn't go with any outfit, but the headache that will follow those words is enough to keep her mouth closed.

He directs the taxi driver to take them to Ikea—the name gives Kagome pause. If she hadn't jumped into the well, she honestly would have believed that she was still in her world. The drive there is entirely too long; being in such an enclosed space with him wreaks havoc on her senses. His legs are too long. They spread out, brushing against the bare skin of her thighs.

I should have worn jeans today; she bemoans to herself. Gojo throws his arm over the back of the seat. His fingers brush against her arm, drawing intricate patterns on her skin. He's cocky, way too flirty, and more childish than Shippo-chan.

"You're way too tense, Kagome-chan," he whispers, his breath raises the hairs on her neck.

"Do you know what personal space is?" she whispers back as if the driver really cares about their conversation.

"Funny coming from you."

Kagome closes her eyes and moves her head back with a thud. Are we there yet repeats like a mantra. For the next thirty minutes or so, Gojo continues to talk her ear off on topics ranging from the best time to eat mochi to how hard it is to get his blindfolds customized to his liking. She all but hops out of the taxi when they pull up, ignoring the driver's timid stuttering about how the car wasn't stopped yet. What she needs is fresh air and space, lots and lots of space.

"Say, Kagome-chan, what kind of bed do you want? I think a queen should fit in that room." He intertwines their hands and tugs her inside.

"I'd be fine with just a twin. I don't need that much space." She looks down at their hands; the affection he gives so freely throws her off. There's a firmness in his grip like she's going to turn tail and run. Maybe, in the beginning, she thinks, but now that she's had time to think about it; she doesn't really have any other option, but to stick close to him.

"Boring." He sticks out his tongue, making a gagging sound.

"It's not like you're going to be sleeping in it." She mutters, looking around; with all the people hustling around with their heads down, minus the few women that send her dirty looks, it really is just like home.

"And here I thought we had a thing," he starts, "went on a coffee date, I brought you home, now we're shopping for furniture. It's like we're already married." He flashes her a smile that's nothing but teeth. Her blood pressure spikes, sending jolts of purification into his palm. Gojo jerks back, his breath becomes heavy.

I shouldn't have done that.

"Gojo-san, I–"

There's a large commotion to their right. Kagome blinks, not quite sure what exactly she is looking at. The being, if it could be called that, sports eight legs, with a long-spiked tongue. It smells horrendous, like the farts that Sota always tries to pass off as coming from Buyo.

"Pr- p- price." It craws towards them, it's spiked tongue swipes back and forth, flinging saliva on to some of the beds.

Yeah, not getting that bed.

Gojo lets go of her hand and tuck his hands into his pockets. "That's a low-level curse. Is that what your demons look like?"

"Sort of. It doesn't have the same feel though." She looks up at him, his eyes are iced over, with a coolness that she hasn't seen since this morning.

"I want to see what your powers can do." He takes one hand out of his pocket and pushes her forward.

"Seriously!" she stumbles, coming face to face with the curse. It keeps repeating 'price' like a chant. "I don't even have a bow," she grumbles.

"I believe in you, Kagome-chan!" his tone is anything but reassuring.

It leaps at her, wrapping all of its ghastly limbs around her body. The smell makes her want to retch. Its three glazed over eyes focus on her own. Her chest raises slowly in an effort to bring in more oxygen.

"Please don't let it eat you!" Gojo's voice calls out.

She's not going to let it eat her. Her body hums in tune with the pulse of purification she throws out. It's blinding, and not as controlled as she would like, but considering the circumstances, it's the best she can do. Wetness hits her cheek. The curse is crying as its body slowly turns to ash. Kagome reaches out and cups its cheek as the purification spreads.

"P-price," it gargles out, mouth turned upward as tears flow freely from all three eyes.

Kagome turns to look at Gojo as she wipes her cheeks with the back of her palm. His face is blank, but his stance is rigid. "Well? Is that it?"

His face breaks out in a smile, and he claps his hands, approaching her. "Ah man, Kagome-chan, I think I'll need to sleep in your room tonight, for protection of course."

"Idiot." She mutters, heat dusting her cheeks. She reigns her powers back in, keeping them tightly coiled around her. Luckily, no one was near them. But she really doesn't want to chance another one of those things slithering out.

She doesn't notice the look Gojo gives her over the lens of his glasses.

[obx-adventures]

The Fall

Summary: Grace just moved from Figure Eight to the Cut. She never expected to run into her old friend, Kiara, and discover she lives next door to JJ Maybank.

Catch up here: Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3

——

Chapter 4

“Dude, what the hell just happened?” John B asks when he and Pope find JJ still rooted to the spot where Grace left him. JJ has been trying to decide whether or not to follow her. He knows she’ll be pissed but he also knows that she shouldn’t be walking home alone when she’s as drunk as she is.

“Fuck it. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” JJ runs in the direction that Grace left as Pope and John B call out for him.

JJ finds Grace sitting on a makeshift flower box about 10 minutes later. She had stopped walking before getting to their block, JJ’s voice echoing in her head. At the sound of his footsteps, she jumps and tries to gather her stuff to run.

“Whoa whoa whoa, it’s just me.” Grace sags in relief when she recognizes JJ’s voice. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I know you told me not to follow you but –”

He was cut off by Grace throwing herself into him and wrapping her arms around his torso. He follows her lead and holds her tightly as she starts to cry.

“I’m so sorry, JJ.” He shushes her as he rubs her back. “No, I was so horrible to you.”

“Don’t worry about it. I bring that out in people.” Grace chuckles a little into his chest and he closes his eyes in relief. “But you got to tell me what that was all about, sweetheart. I’ve been worried about you since I picked you up from work and then that thing you said about being no one’s responsibility. What happened?”

“JJ… can we talk about this tomorrow?” JJ pulls back a little to look at her face and can see how exhausted she looks. He’s seen the same look in the mirror after bad days with his dad. She’s holding on by a thread.

“Sure, sweetheart. Come on, I’ll walk you home.”

“No!” JJ’s stunned by her emphatic answer. “I can’t go home.”

“Your mom probably isn’t awake, you won’t get in trouble.” JJ forgot this is the first time that Grace has been drunk. But from what he saw yesterday, he doubts Amanda Porter will be aware enough to realize her daughter is just as drunk as her.

“It’s not that. I just… please. Please can we go somewhere else?” Now JJ understands this is a whole different issue. He’s pretty sure it has something to do with her dad but decides not to push it.

“Well we’re pretty far from the Chateau already, do you think you can walk for another 30 minutes?”

“No…” Grace chews on her lip and sways a little. JJ is positive he’s never seen someone so cute. He places his hands on her shoulders to steady her, trying to remember that she needs a friend right now, not a guy that can only think about how adorable she looks.

“Then your house it is.”

“What about yours?” JJ’s eyes widen in surprise at Grace’s suggestion.

“You would rather face my abusive, alcoholic father than your sleeping mom?”

“JJ…”

“What if I stayed with you and ran interference so you don’t see her?” Grace freezes up at the suggestion and can’t help thinking about how she fell asleep with his hand stroking her cheek. She giggles at the thought and her cheeks flush in embarrassment.

“Yea, I guess that would be ok.” She continues to giggle as she turns away from him to walk home.

“What’s so funny?” JJ caught the pink tinge in her cheeks before she turned around and is desperate to know what caused it.

Grace decided not to answer as she stumbled ahead of him. After almost tripping a few more times, JJ steps in front of her and crouches a bit so she can jump on his back. When she hesitates for a second, he looks back at her and winks. She giggles again and awkwardly jumps up for a piggy back ride.

When they get to her house, she tries to unlock her door but can’t steady herself enough to get the key in the lock. JJ takes over and leads her inside. Despite being drunk, her first instinct is to check on her mom.

Grace finds Amanda passed out with another empty bottle of alcohol next to her. JJ waits outside her mom’s room, watching her closely. As Grace’s knees buckle and a sob escapes her, JJ swoops in to pick her up and carry her to her room. He sits on her bed and holds her against his chest, rocking slowly and running his fingers through her hair.

“What happened, sweetheart?” he asks after she finally settles down.

“She lied to me for my whole life. They both did. He finally told me the truth today. But he doesn’t want me. And she’s a mess. And I feel so fucking alone.”

“What did they lie about?”

“He’s not... he’s... not... my...” Grace tries time to calm her sobs enough to talk but JJ understands. He soothes her and tells her she doesn’t need to say anything else.

“I’m so sorry, Grace.” He can’t imagine how much it hurt her to find out Paul isn’t her real father. For a moment, he isn’t sure what else to say but then he remembers their conversation in the kitchen the night before. “I know it feels like it but you aren’t alone. Remember? We can take care of each other. Ok?”

Grace gives him a watery smile and nods a little at him. She reaches her hand out and brushes his hair off his forehead. Instead of pulling her hand back, she leaves it on his cheek and is surprised when he leans into it. They stay like that for what feels like an eternity, just staring into each other’s eyes.

JJ’s phone beeps, causing them both to jump a little. Grace awkwardly moves off his lap and runs into the bathroom to clean herself up. After washing her face and brushing her teeth, she decides she can’t put off going back into her room. When she does, she finds him in the same spot as before.

“Hi...” Grace isn’t sure what else to say after whatever it was that just happened between them.

“Uh, Kie was just checking to make sure you’re ok...” Grace giggles at JJ’s awkwardness. At least she isn’t the only one thrown off kilter. “Uh, we should... umm, we should get some sleep.”

Grace nods at JJ but doesn’t move from her spot leaning against the door. She’s trying to decide what to do next. She’s never been a risk taker but she’s also never felt this way about someone. As if her body is acting on it’s own accord, she moves to stand in front of JJ. He looks perplexed and nervous, two words Grace never thought she would associate with him. She gently runs one hand through his hair and places the other on his opposite cheek.

“What are you doing?” JJ’s voice is barely a whisper.

“Something I’ve wanted to do for the past 3 weeks...”

JJ stares into Grace’s eyes as he reaches up to move her hands away from his face and hair.

“Grace, you’re drunk... I think we should just lay down and get some sleep.” He releases her hands and fights to ignore the pain and embarrassment written all over her face as he stands up to walk past her.

When he gets to the bathroom, he curses himself as he splashes cold water on his face. What the hell was that? If Kie hadn’t texted him, he’s sure he would have kissed Grace. And he wanted to now when she stood in front of him. But he was able to remind himself while she was in the bathroom that she’s drunk and reeling from finding out about her dad. He knows he’s an asshole but not a big enough asshole to take advantage of her while she’s in this state. JJ pulls himself together and goes back into Grace’s room.

He finds Grace curled up into a ball on the same side of the bed she was last night. He can see her body shaking and is sure she’s crying again. But he doesn’t know what to do now.

After getting into bed, he reaches over to touch her shoulder but she flinches away from him. Fuck, did he just totally screw everything up between them?

“Do you want me to go?”

Grace shakes her head no but refuses to turn around to face him. JJ understands this is the best he can hope for. He falls asleep thinking about how he will make things right between them tomorrow.

——

Grace wakes up with a horrendous headache. She rolls over to see JJ still asleep beside her. As she looks at his peaceful face, she cringes at the memory of his rejection last night. How could she be so stupid? Why would JJ Maybank be interested in her?

She slowly gets out of bed, trying desperately not to wake him up. As she stands under the hot water in the shower, she tries to piece together what happened last night. She’s a little impressed with herself for punching Rafe but can’t believe how she acted with JJ. He probably thinks she’s pathetic. Grace is jolted out of her self-pity when she hears the door open.

“Sorry, Grace, I just really need to pee.” Grace’s whole body stiffens in rage at the sound of her mom’s voice.

“Get out!”

“I’m sorry to burst in like this but you’ve been in here for 40 minutes and I couldn’t hold it anymore.”

Grace grinds her teeth in frustration. She needs to talk to her mom but she wants to be able to see her face when she asks her for the truth. Amanda leaves the bathroom and Grace quickly finishes her shower. When she gets back to her room, JJ is still snoring. She decides to deal with one emotionally painful situation at a time and leaves him asleep to go find her mom.

“Mom, we need to talk.” Amanda is making coffee in the kitchen so Grace sits at the table to wait for her.

“Ok, what’s up?” Amanda is certain that Grace wants to talk about her drinking. She knows it’s gotten bad and Grace has had to take care of her a lot lately.

“I saw dad yesterday.” Amanda can see how angry Grace is and is worried about where this conversation is going.

“Oh? How did that go?”

“Not great, mom. He told me he’s not my biological father.” Amanda flinches at Grace’s words and that’s enough confirmation for Grace. “Why didn’t you tell me?!”

“I didn’t want to hurt you, sweetie.” Amanda reaches over to take Grace’s hand and is hurt when Grace pulls her hands away. “Plus, it doesn’t really change anything. Paul knew I was pregnant before we got married. He knew he wasn’t your father but he still signed your birth certificate. Legally, that makes him your dad. My lawyer says-”

“Shut up!” Grace yells. “I don’t give a shit about the legal crap! And it changes everything! The man I consider my dad doesn’t want anything to do with me! And he never has. All these years, I thought I had done something wrong. That it was my fault that he never spent time with me. All my life, I’ve felt like I wasn’t good enough, that I didn’t deserve his or anyone else’s love.”

“Oh sweetie, no-”

“Stop, I don’t want to hear anything you have to say. You’re just as bad as he is. I knew I had to talk to you right away this morning because you won’t be sober much longer. You’ve been drunk by noon every day since we moved here. I had to get a job to pay our rent and buy groceries so we don’t starve. I’ve always been more of the adult in our relationship but now I can’t count on you at all. And... and I can’t trust you anymore.”

“Grace, that’s not fair.” Amanda knows that everything her daughter said is true but it doesn’t make it any less painful.

Grace storms into her room, too disgusted with her mother and too hurt to talk anymore. After slamming her door, she sinks to the ground and cries into her hands. She doesn’t hear JJ walk over to her over the sound of her own sobs. When he touches her shoulder, she jumps but quickly grabs onto him like a lifeline. He sits down with her and pulls her against his chest, thankful that she’s accepting his comfort.

Twenty minutes later, Grace’s tears have dried and her breathing has returned to normal. She looks up at JJ and is reminded of what happened between them last night. She sits up and releases him.

“Thank you, JJ. And... and I want to apologize... I was really drunk last night. I didn’t... I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I hope it doesn’t change... I’m sorry.”

“No, I’m sorry. I should have explained-” Grace cuts him off before he can go on.

“You don’t need to explain. I get it.” Grace stands up and puts as much distance as she can between them, desperately trying to avoid hearing how someone else important to her doesn’t want her. “Kiara will be here any minute. I think my mom is back in her room so you should go now before she sees you.”

JJ stares at Grace but she stubbornly avoids looking at him. After a minute of awkward silence, JJ walks towards her and stops in the doorway, trying to get her to meet his gaze. Grace finally looks him in the eyes but before he can talk, he hears Kiara honk to let Grace know she’s there. As they walk outside, he stops her before she gets in the car.

“Can I walk you home after work?”

“Uh, no. I’ll ask Kiara for a ride.”

“Please, I want to talk about this.” Grace looks down at her hands and JJ can practically hear her thinking through excuses. He gently turns her face to look at him and holds eye contact. “Please.”

Grace nods and quickly gets into Kiara’s car before he can say anything else. Kiara is staring at JJ through the passenger window, clearly confused about their exchange. He walks away quickly before Kiara has a chance to say anything to make this more awkward.

“Shit...” Grace cringes at the tone in Kiara’s voice. “What the hell was that?”

Ch 5

Taglist: @agirlwholovescoffee @alexa-playafricabytoto @mendesmaybank @teamnick @laurenyee09 @prejudic3 @teaheeee @shy-1234 @rudyismymanperiod @teaparadiso @rudy-pankow

[rosekasa]

prompt 15;; person A and person B holding hands while one of them are asleep;; with marigami pls ^^

im love them

AO3

send me a ship + prompt from this list

Marinette woke up to the headache she had fallen asleep to.

She groaned, putting a hand to her forehead and finding there a wet washcloth. It may, at some point, have been cold, but all that was left was a fringe of lukewarm water gathered in the roots of her hair.

"Oh, you're awake."

Marinette stilled.

She went to use her other hand to push the cool line of the washcloth out of her eyes, then felt a tug of resistance against her fingers.

She was holding someone's hand. A smooth, soothingly cold hand, chilled in a way she wished the washcloth on her forehead still was.

Marinette stared at Kagami's deep red skirt through her semi-obscured vision until it made her head hurt even more.

She must've groaned again, because she suddenly felt something book-shaped being set on her duveted thigh, and Kagami's perfume wafting into the lower half of her face.

(Was it perfume or just how she smelt? Marinette shut her eyes, and inhaled again. This time, the warmth of skin brushed her nose and lips.)

Kagami was leaning over her, certainly. She used her nimble fingers to readjust the washcloth, her throat bared to Marinette's face. 

(Marinette would've removed the washcloth and opened her eyes if Kagami had spent a second longer leaning over her like that. Despite the headache, despite the agonising stars exploding in her eye sockets, Marinette would not have missed an opportunity to admire the shape of her sleek black shirt collar framing her throat.)

Wait, Kagami?

"Yes?" Marinette heard above her. 

Oh, she'd spoken out loud. 

Kagami had moved, now, and whether it be the sleepy fog receding from her brain or the Kagami-scented fog receding from her face, Marinette could think straight enough to move the washcloth away from her eyes and look up.

(With the hand that wasn't clasped in Kagami's, of course.)

"What're you doing here?" Marinette asked. "What time is it? Don't you have classes today?"

"It's only midday. Adrien said he didn't see you at school today and got worried, so he texted me. Mother never checks to see if I attend my classes with my tutor, and since I finished all my work last week, I thought I'd come check on you."

Marinette shut her eyes again, placing the washcloth back down. That was a lot of words in a very pretty voice and her throbbing brain was struggling to keep up. She needed a minute.

"Don't listen to Adrien so much," she managed, finally, thinking of the way he had pleaded to help her back home after they defeated the akuma last night. "He's too sweet. Worries too much."

The book-shaped object was taken off Marinette's thigh, followed by Kagami's laughter. "I know. But then I saw the clips from the akuma fight from yesterday, and thought the least I could do for the concussed superheroine of Paris was check in on her."

Marinette paused.

She paused longer. 

"I'm not concussed," she squeaked.

And then she paused again, because she wasn't too sure if that was meant to be her top priority in what Kagami had said.

(The superheroine thing. Identity. Not secret anymore. How.)

"Who's the superheroine?" she tried.

"You're a horrendous liar, Marinette."

She sighed. "Worth a shot."

At the ensuing silence, Marinette lifted the washcloth out of her eyes and looked at Kagami. She was sat there on her bed, marble-white blazer in a pile beside her and black blouse stretched across her shoulder blades while she read. The hand on her book was still and steady, as was the hand in Marinette's.

When Marinette had discovered Adrien's identity for the first time, every time she spoke to him her voice would tremble. Her hands had a chronic, Adrien-induced tremor for at least a week, and her stomach would intermittently flutter with anxiety every time they met.

Kagami seemed awfully calm. Whether that be because of her general comportment or because she figured out her identity long ago, Marinette wasn't sure.

With shaky fingers, she recovered her eyes with the washcloth. "How much of the video did you watch?" she asked.

A page of the book was turned. "Not much. I hardly have the patience to watch a three-hour livestream. I did, however, watch the akuma smash your head into the sidewalk."

Marinette jolted under the duvet, another explosion of stars searing into her eye sockets. Thinking back on it now, the only thing that had gotten her back to her feet was the endorphins singing in her blood. She had waved off Chat Noir's concern at the time, citing the fact 'it didn't even hurt', but if after casting the Miraculous Cure and detransforming Marinette still had a headache, she had probably gotten more than just a concussion.

"Your reflexes were slower than usual," Kagami observed. "Your reflexes are only that slow during late attacks. It was only seven o'clock."

"How long have you known for?" Marinette said.

Kagami ignored her. “Have you been sleeping enough?”

“No,” she replied meekly.

“No wonder. Your mother said you’d been asleep for sixteen hours.”

Sixteen hours? What did her mum think? Marinette hoped she didn’t worry her too much.

At this, she began to sit up. A new bolt of pain impaled her skull, and Marinette hissed. 

Kagami was with her in an instant, her perfume-but-maybe-not-perfume doing very little good for Marinette’s sanity. “Easy.” She didn’t help her up — simply lay her back down, arranging a few more pillows for her neck. “You still haven’t taken your painkillers.”

Marinette stopped pressing her hand into her eyes to turn her head. A plastic packet of paracetamol lay on the bed sheets beside her. 

“No water,” she croaked.

“I have some.”

And then Marinette was being pulled into Kagami’s chest, washcloth falling away from her forehead, face pressed against the vanilla and intrinsically Kagami scent of her dark blouse.

The foil side of the paracetamol packet was pressed into her palm. Blindly, Marinette popped out two pills and put them in her mouth.

Kagami pressed something against her lips. "Drink."

She drank a gulp of water, no doubt from the same bottle which Kagami had been drinking from.

The thought sent a pleasant shiver down Marinette's spine. 

"I've known for a while," Kagami said coolly, once she had carefully deposited her back into bed. "For a few weeks, at least."

Master Fu is going to kill me, she thought. Wait, I'm the Guardian, now. Never mind.

"It was when I beat that guy during a fencing match and he turned into an akuma. It was what you said to me after carrying me to safety." Kagami squeezed her hand. "When you told me to put you — well, Marinette — on speed dial in case anything like that happened again. And then I thought, how does Ladybug know I have Marinette's number? And why would she want me to have Marinette on speed dial?"

Marinette's mouth twisted. She remembered that day. She also remembered thinking she was being incredibly smart and sneaky and careful with her identity, because surely it wasn't too out-there to expect a friend to have a friend's number.

Ah. But Kagami had told Ladybug she didn't have friends. 

Okay. Maybe Marinette wasn't as smart and sneaky as she had hoped. 

"After that, it was just about putting all the other pieces together. Disappearing all the time, getting antsy whenever someone mentions Ladybug, skipping school after tough akuma attacks… plus, you and Adrien started having all those weird, covert conversations together."

Oh no, she knew Adrien's identity, too? 

"Everyone else thought we were dating," Marinette managed to say.

Kagami laughed. A thrill shook Marinette's heart.

"Well," she said, "I happen to know you have your eye on someone else."

[arvinsescape]

Take a break.

A/N: I have had a stressful week and this came to my head.

Summary: Y/N’s working herself too hard.

W/C: 1.5K

For most people quarantine meant time off work but not for you. Some people in your department were on furlough as your company expected it to become quieter, you were not one of the people they furloughed as they said you were too good at your job and they’d need you to carry on working from home. At first it wasn’t so bad and you did become quieter but for some reason this last few weeks had been horrendously busy and you spent almost all of your waking hours sat behind your laptop. The boys were concerned about how hard you were working, your everyday 9am-5pm had somehow turned into an 8am-11pm.

“Y/N? Is there any sign of this letting up?” Harrison asked after the first week as he made his breakfast and watched as you furiously typed away on your laptop with furrowed brows.

“I don’t know. We’re just busy this week, it’ll calm down next week.” You mumbled and Harrison sighed as he watched you get lost further into your work.

However, this didn’t just last a week, the work seemed to pile up no matter how hard everyone you worked with was working.

“Did you come to bed last night?” Tom asked as he made his way into the kitchen, or more like your full time office now, you’d been basically trapped in here for the last two weeks.

“Yeah.” You muttered.

“When?” He furrowed his brows as he tried to recall when you’d joined him.

“Don’t know, you were fast asleep though.” You muttered back as you furrowed your brows at your screen as Tom sighed.

“You’re working too much you know?” He mumbled as he wrapped his arms around your shoulders and kissed your cheek. You carried on as if he hadn’t done anything, typing away faster than he’d ever seen anyone type.

“I feel fine. I promise.” You said and Tom sighed again but ultimately left you to it.

After week three, you were becoming irritable and stressed and the boys were extremely worried, you’d been up since 7am and it was 9am before Tuwaine and Harry made their way into the kitchen sighing as they saw you in your usual spot.

“Y/N, are they paying you for this?” Harry asked.

“Yeah.” You grumbled back.

“Are you not tired? I didn’t hear you leave the kitchen until after midnight last night.” Tuwaine asked.

“No, I’m fine.” You said a bit more aggressively than you would have liked but you were busy.

“Have they not brought any staff back yet?” Harry asked carefully, he was worried you’d burn yourself out.

“No, not yet. Look, I’m busy.” You snapped, normally you’d feel awful but you were so wrapped up in your work at the minute that you didn’t give it a second thought.

“Tom’s worried about you.” Tuwaine tried.

“He doesn’t need to be, I’m fine.”

They decided that you weren’t in a forgiving mood and left you alone for the rest of the day as did most of the boys until Harrison came in to make lunch for everyone.

“Want anything?” He asked.

“No, I’ll get something later. I need to finish this so I can start the next one.”

“You should eat Y/N, surely you’ll be due a break?”

“In a bit.”

“Tom’s worried.”

“So everyone keeps telling me.” You groaned. “Look, he doesn’t need to be. I’m fine.”

Again, he left you to it as he silently made lunch and left you typing away. You completely forgot about the time and Tom was the next to wander into the kitchen to make food, it was dinner time.

“What do you want for dinner?” He asked.

“I don’t know, anything is fine.” You said and Tom sighed as he found something to make, he made small conversation, only really receiving grunts and grumbles in response.

“It’s nearly ready if you wanna take a break.” He tried.

“I don’t have time, I’ll just eat and work.” You said.

“That’s not a good idea.” He said in a firmer tone and you looked at him for a second before shutting your laptop so you could eat.

“Happy?” You grumbled and he took a deep breath before handing you your food, you made small take as you ate and as soon as you were done you opened your laptop.

“You finished work half an hour ago.” Tom said as he furrowed his brows and looked at his watch.

“Tom, I really need to finish this.”

“No, you don’t. I admire your work ethic but they are working you too hard and it’s not right.”

“I’m getting paid.” You snapped.

“That’s beside the point, you are literally just working, you barely sleep and you haven’t done anything fun in three weeks. You need to take a break.” He said to you.

“Tom. I am busy and you are just holding me up now. Piss off.” You snapped again as you rubbed your temples. Tom was taken aback, he knew you were stressed but you were usually better at controlling it. He made his way out of the kitchen to play games with the boys and made the decision he was going to turn all your alarms off in the morning and call in sick on your behalf, you wouldn’t be happy about it but someone needed to step in.

“Did it work?” Harry asked hopefully.

“Nope. She just got annoyed with me and told me to piss off.” Tom sighed as he took the controller.

“Maybe you should ring her boss? They surely can’t work her like this, not without any signs of it easing off.” Tuwaine said.

“I’m tempted.”

After snapping at Tom you felt horrendous, the work you were doing wasn’t going right and you were tired, so incredibly tired and you could feel a headache coming on. After another half an hour you decided that you’d had enough, you emailed your boss and told him you’d pick up again tomorrow and slammed your laptop shut.

You rubbed your temples as you tried to relieve the stress induced headache but it wasn’t working. You felt tears brim your eyes from the stress and tiredness and got up, you needed to find Tom. It was not hard to locate your boyfriend, the boys shouts coming from the living room and you made your way in. The boys tried to pretend that your presence hadn’t shocked them as you took a seat next to Tom.

“I’m sorry for snapping, I didn’t mean to be so rude.” You sighed.

“That’s okay Y/N/N, at least you can have the evening off now.” Harrison smiled and the boys nodded.

“I’m sorry I told you to piss off, I didn’t mean it.” You turned your attention to Tom and he smiled.

“It’s okay, you’re taking a break now, that’s all that matters.”

You watched as they played and you felt your eyes getting increasingly heavy and had a hard time trying to keep them open. You stress headache was still there and you couldn’t help as you planted your forehead on your boyfriend’s bicep. He smiled down at you and kissed your head. You stayed like that for a good five minutes before you decided you needed to be closer.

You moved his arm as he was rapidly tapping buttons and awkwardly tried to move yourself under it. He laughed slightly before looking down at you.

“What are you doing?” He asked amused.

“Want a cuddle.” You mumbled.

He moved his arm so you could get underneath it better and you moved into him, planting your head on his chest as he wrapped his arms around you as best he could. You instantly inhaled his scent and sighed, feeling how warm he was. You nuzzled your head against his chest and let how tired you were take-over.

“She asleep?” Harry asked after a while.

“Yeah.” Tom mumbled as he listened to your steady breaths before carefully placing his controller down. He moved your head carefully so it was in his lap and ran his fingers through your hair.

“She looks peaceful for the first time in three weeks.” Tuwaine said as he smiled at you.

“Yeah she does.” Harrison agreed.

“I’m just glad she took a break. She deserves it.” He said as your phone buzzed, it was a text message from your boss. Tom huffed as he opened it, ready to call him with a tirade of abuse about how he shouldn’t be letting you work yourself like this. However, he smiled when he saw the message.

No problem. John’s finished that job. Thank you for all the hard work. Take the day off tomorrow.

Tom made a point of un-setting every single one of your alarms as he put your phone away and placed his fingers back in your hair, leaving you to finally get the rest you deserved.

[artificialqueens]

Galactica, Chapter 59 (Group Fic) - TheDane/Veronica

A/N: Click here if you’re looking for previous chapters (or here if you’d rather read on AO3). 💫

Last Chapter: Katya’s pregnancy test was not what she’d hoped, Violet got lucky and Courtney got pampered.

This Chapter: Avoidance, bonding, and betrayal.

***

Katya shook the plastic bag, mixing the chocolate in with her batter. It was the middle of the night, but she hadn’t been able to fall asleep, so instead of lying restless in bed, she was preparing a batch of brownies, baking one of the coping mechanisms she had learned in rehab.

Because Katya, Katya really wanted a drink.

She couldn’t believe she was probably pregnant. Sure, she and Trixie weren’t exactly the most careful, but Katya had always assumed that any potential kid of hers would get the message that she was a horrendous mom and simply leave her womb barren; choosing her body as a place to set up shop a terrible decision for everyone involved.

Except Trixie.

Katya had seen him attempt to hide it, had seen him do his best to downplay his excitement, but he had failed, his eyes bright, his face cracking into a grin whenever she was looking directly at him.

She knew she wasn’t her family, knew that she had left that world behind, but she couldn’t help but be scared if she could actually love her kid, if she could be there for it whenever it needed her, if she could give what she had lacked growing up.

Katya sighed, gently tapping her whisk against the side of her bowl.

She didn’t know how she felt, didn’t know what to do, not really, but she knew that she’d figure it out together with Trixie, having that man on her team making her feel like anything is possible.

***

If you asked Bianca to describe her best qualities, the word “nurturing” probably wouldn’t come into play at all. Smart, yes. Charming, clever, pragmatic, funny...she certainly had many things that she was proud of; it wasn’t an issue of false modesty. But the truth was, she just didn’t think of herself as a caregiver, despite spending most of her life in that role: first as the oldest child in a chaotic family, then as what often felt like being the voice of reason in her friend group, and finally being an actual surrogate parent to Adore when her sister had come into her custody as a teenager.

And she liked feeling needed.

So when Courtney showed up shivering and wet, immediately springing into action to fix the situation was just what she did automatically. It was a practical response--solve the problem at hand. And the fact that solving the problem involved taking care of Courtney, getting to pamper and spoil her, and finally curl up with her all content and soft and warm...well, that was just a side effect of being a decent human being.

She couldn’t deny how good it felt, though, to have her snuggled into an embrace all night. How cute it was that she tucked her feet under Bianca’s and gripped the front of her pajama top. And in the morning, how she couldn’t resist watching her sleep for a few minutes before gently rousing her with a kiss to the cheek.

A gorgeous little sigh slipped from her lips as her eyelids fluttered.

“Good morning, angel.”

Courtney tilted her head towards Bianca, a smile pulling on her lips, yawning and replying, “Hi…”

“Did you sleep okay? You were real tired...”

“Mmhmmm.” Courtney shifted slightly, cheeks reddening, biting her lip. “Oh god, I’m just now remembering…”

“What, baby?”

“I just...I’m sorry I was such a mess last night,” she said, embarrassment all over her face.

“Don’t be sorry.”

“But I was such a fucking baby-”

“Hey,” Bianca placed a kiss against her lips. “It’s totally fine. Everyone needs to be babied sometimes.”

“You think?”

“Absolutely. You shouldn’t feel bad for letting me take care of you.” Bianca ran a hand through her hair.

“So...who takes care of you?” Courtney asked, voice light, fingers drifting up Bianca’s arm.

“Well...I’ve got a black card.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Courtney said, shifting her weight so that she was straddling Bianca’s hips. “But I think you knew that.”

“Yeah, I did,” Bianca admitted, heart skipping a few beats as Courtney leaned forward, brushing light, soft kisses against her neck.

“Tell me what you like,” Courtney murmured as she worked open the buttons on her top. “Tell me how to take care of you.”

“I have...very simple needs,” said Bianca, and Courtney paused, waiting for instructions.

Bianca took hold of the belt on her fluffy robe, slowly pulling it loose, letting it fall open.

“I want to see you.”

Courtney shrugged the robe off her shoulders, sitting up straighter to give Bianca a better look. Bianca smiled, taking her time to enjoy her, hands dancing up her thighs, wrapping around her waist, then up to toy with those delightfully perky tits. Courtney’s eyes closed, body bearing down against Bianca’s as her chest rose and fell, hips rolling, grinding against her.

“You like that, baby?” Bianca breathed, thrusting her own hips up to meet Courtney’s, thumbs rubbing her hardened nipples.

“I...yeah, but...B…”

“What, angel?”

“I’m supposed to be...doing what you like.”

“This is what I like,” Bianca told her. “I like touching you, watching your face as you get so, so wet…”

Courtney whimpered, leaning forward to rub her clit against Bianca’s, and soon her whimpers turned to moans. Bianca felt the pulse in her own cunt getting stronger, heartbeat quickening, wanting nothing more than to taste her, to drive her to ecstasy once again.

“That’s right, baby…” Bianca said, hands moving to her ass. “Crawl forward.”

“What?” Courtney looked up, bleary-eyed.

“Forward. Come on…” Bianca guided her with a light, barely audible smack on the butt. “That’s it, good girl. Now grab the headboard. There you go…”

She took ahold of the headboard, now kneeling up in the exact position Bianca wanted. She wrapped her arms around Courtney’s thighs, supporting her weight as she began to suck wet, warm kisses up her thighs.

“Oh, god, Bianca…”

This was what Bianca lived for. The taste of her, dripping onto her tongue, the way she trembled and shook, soon barely able to support her weight, letting Bianca take all of it in her hands. She started to speak, a litany of praise, the vibrations of her voice making Courtney shudder and gasp.

“You’re so fucking delicious, angel…”

Courtney moaned, hips rolling once again, grinding against Bianca’s tongue. Finally, seeing how much she was struggling to stay upright, Bianca took pity on her and rolled her over onto her back, sucking harder and harder on her clit until her moaning turned to pitiful little whines and her muscles went slack.

Bianca backed off, kissing a gentle trail up her belly, hands sliding up over her skin, now slick with sweat. She nuzzled into her cheek, her own pajama top open, heart still hammering in her chest.

“B...I wanted to…” Courtney gulped for air. “I want to make you come.”

“What makes you think I didn’t?” Bianca asked, lips twisted into a smirk.

“Please…” Courtney placed a hand on Bianca’s cheek. “Tell me what you want. Or...or show me?”

Bianca looked down at her, so beautiful and earnest. And though it wasn’t normally how she operated, she decided in that moment to give in.

“Alright,” she said softly, and then took a deep breath before crawling to the side of the bed, sliding open the drawer of her nightstand, fingers poised in mid-air over her magic wand, hesitating. “I don’t, uh...usually have help with this.”

“No?”

“I’m more of a giver than a receiver,” she explained, and Courtney smiled, head tilting coyly.

“Generous to a fault, huh?”

“No, not exactly. I just...uh…” Bianca bit her lip. This conversation was getting dangerously close to territory that she absolutely didn’t want to discuss, and she racked her brain for something to say to change the subject.

Courtney seemed to sense that something had shifted, and she sat up a bit, propping herself against the pillows, reaching out to touch Bianca’s arm.

“B...you don’t have to if you don’t want.”

“No, I know.” She swallowed down a lump in her throat, any desire for an orgasm gone for the moment, hand pulling away from the vibrator like it was burned. “Um...you know what, let’s save it for another time.”

“Okay.” Courtney didn’t ask any more questions, simply opened up her arms, letting Bianca settle against her, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. Bianca sighed, heart slowly returning to normal as her eyes fell closed.

***

“Oh, and can you get me two cinnamon raisins please?” Sutan pointed through the glass, knowing that Raven would want something sweet with her breakfast, the bagel the lowest calorie treat he could see. Then, remembering that Raven could indulge her sweet tooth, he added, “And a black and white cookie.”

“Course sir.” Sutan smiled at the girl behind the counter, his hands finding their way back into his pockets as he waited for her to pack everything up. Violet was still at home in the apartment, hopefully sleeping and getting the rest she desperately needed, Sutan sneaking out without a problem.

It was Saturday morning, and while Sutan didn’t like to get up early, especially when it was this cold and rainy outside, he didn’t mind it too much when the occasion was Raja and Raven coming down for breakfast before Violet and Raven went off to the spa together, leaving him and his sister behind.

It suited Sutan wonderfully that he was going to be spending the day with Raja, time alone with his twin surprisingly hard to come by considering how often they saw each other.

They had planned to get all of the Christmas gifts out of the way, which Sutan was very grateful for since Raja was a much better gift giver than he was, trying to figure out what to give to someone like Fame a headache every single year.

“Here you go sir.”

“Thanks,” Sutan smiled again, taking the bags of bagels and spreads into his arms and getting ready to go back out into the dreary December morning, when he bumped into someone at the door.

“Sutan?”

“Oh,” Sutan paused, a very familiar brunette looking up at him. “Yara? Hi. What are you doing in this part of town?”

“One of my friends lives around the corner,” Yara smirked. “Don’t worry, I’m not stalking you.”

“Of course not. I assume you have better things to do with your time,” he chuckled.

Yara was one of New York's most booked and blessed freelance makeup artists, the tiny Puerto Rican wrapped up in a gigantic coat, her black hair hidden under a hat.

“It’s so good to see you, though.” Yara grinned. “I haven’t heard from you in forever.”

“Sorry, my bad,” Sutan laughed, leaning in for a hug and a proper greeting, but as Yara tried to kiss him, he quickly turned his head, her lips hitting his cheek instead.

“Oh?” Yara raised an eyebrow, pulling back, her hand on her forearm. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”

“Right.”

The question was fair, especially considering the fact that the last time they had seen each other, Sutan had fucked her in a handicap bathroom.

They had been hooking up for years, never getting together, both of them realizing from the start that they’d drive each other crazy, the kookiness Sutan adored about Yara also something he knew he could never live with.

That didn’t mean that they didn’t have chemistry, and that they couldn’t have fun getting together at parties when they happened to be single, Yara one of his favorite people to talk shit with.

“I’m seeing someone.”

“You are?” Yara looked at him like she didn’t believe him, her eyes narrowed. “Seriously?”

“Yes.” Sutan laughed. Yara wasn’t jealous, but he supposed it made sense she was suspicious, her bed one of the many he visited whenever he had loudly declared he was done with love, which had happened embarrassingly often. “I’m seeing someone.”

“Okay,” Yara smiled back, and Sutan couldn’t help but grin. “Just be careful, and maybe get it on your socials so you don’t make a girl look a fool.”

Sutan paused, realizing for the first time that what Yara said was completely true, his entire online presence not containing a single trace of VIolet.

“Huh.”

***

“Hey… Island Records is a good label, right?” Bianca picked up her coffee mug.

“It’s a great label!” Courtney exclaimed, eyes lighting up as she lowered the New York Times she was reading.

It had been a lazy morning, the two of them in bed, dozing and chatting until Bianca absolutely had to get up and let the dogs out, then wandering down to the kitchen to eat a light breakfast, each of them with a dog curled in their laps.

“Well, my friend Charlie is an exec over there, EVP of development or something, and she just sent me an invite for a holiday party on Tuesday. Wanna come? It’s a great place, very downtown, you’d love it.”

Courtney’s eyes had grown bigger and bigger as Bianca spoke, now wide as saucers, mouth hanging open.

“What?” Bianca asked.

“Charlie Hides?” she finally squeaked out.

“Yeah, you know her?”

“Of course I know her! Well...I mean, I know of her.”

“Right, exactly. I figure she’d be a good person for you to meet.”

“I don’t even know what to say,” Courtney sputtered.

“Say you’ll be my date.” Bianca moved her chair closer, taking one of Courtney’s hands and pressing a kiss to the back of her wrist.

“Of course I will!” Courtney squealed, throwing both arms around Bianca’s neck. A second later, though, she looked slightly perturbed.

“What’s the matter?”

“Well, it’s just...she’s a major producer. And I think Ivy’s a little sick of me borrowing things. I’m just trying to think of what I could wear.”

“Hmm...if only you knew someone in fashion with a dozen stylists on staff…” Bianca mused, reaching for her phone. “I’ll have someone pull things and bring them over.”

“Wait, but...it’s Saturday.”

“I know the boss, I’m pretty sure she’ll approve the OT,” Bianca said.

“I just…” Courtney placed a hand on Bianca’s, teeth worrying her bottom lip. “I don’t want to be the kind of person who summons people on their weekend. I hate being summoned on the weekend.”

This was a first for Bianca, and she couldn’t help but be amused.

“Okay, how’s this…” She read out loud as she typed, “Hey guys...got a half-day project for sometime this weekend...not required but of course you’ll get OT...Hit me up if you’re interested.”

She flipped her phone around, showing Courtney the screen, waiting for her approval. After a few moments, she nodded, satisfied.

“Okay. Thanks.” Courtney let out a sigh of relief as Bianca hit send, then perked up, excited. “So...does this mean we get to play dress-up?”

“You like dress-up, sunshine?”

“It’s my favorite game,” Courtney replied with a wink.

“Oh yeah? Want me to show you my favorite game?” Bianca shooed the dogs off their laps and then grabbed her around the waist, making her shriek and giggle.

***

“Mmh!” Raven’s eyes widened, lowering the cucumber and orange-infused water in her hand. “This is so much better than I expected!”

“Right?” Violet giggled, and Raven grinned, both of them in fluffy bathrobes, stretched out on lounge chairs. Raven had just finished her mud bath, Violet waiting for her in the quiet room after her facial, masseuses coming to pick them both up any minute. “Luckily for us, Miss Fame never does anything halfway.”

“Cheers to that,” Raven clinked their glasses together, taking another sip while she looked out on the spa, the area they were sitting in filled with plants and mist from several aromatherapy diffusers, the air scented with eucalyptus, rosemary, and a hint of grapefruit. “Thank you for bringing me.”

Raven had never minded Violet, the other woman always treating her fast and efficiently as Fame’s assistant, but in Paris, something had shifted between them, Violet going the extra mile to take care of her, which wasn’t something that happened often.

Sure, Raven always had people sniffing around her, had strangers who seemed willing to do anything for her if she paid attention to them, but Raven hated that, ass lickers and ass kissers the most boring people on earth.

It was one of the reasons she didn’t jive with the new models at Elite, and rarely ever welcomed them on board before they had proved their worth on their own.

Sometimes, the industry she was in made her feel old and ancient, but around Violet, Raven just felt comfortable.

“So,” Raven smiled, “what are you giving our darling Tantan for Christmas? I’m thinking of jewelry for Raja, but that’s also so boring, and I just know Fame is giving her something gold.”

“Promise not to tell him?” Violet stirred her drink, an adorable little frown on her face.

“Cross my heart and hope to die.”

“I have no idea.” Violet looked at Raven, honesty painted on her features.

“Oh!” Raven sat up, grinning widely. “I can help! I know he’s been looking at a new Louis Vuitton luggage set.”

“Isn’t that like three thousand dollars a piece?” Violet bit her lip.

“Either that, or a trip to Peru.” Raven shrugged. “He’s been talking about going with Karl for years.”

“Not to be ungrateful for the…” Violet paused, clearly going over her words, “Great… Suggestions. But I was thinking more along the lines of like, whiskey, a sweater, maybe a book?”

“Oh yeah.” Raven snorted, the idea of Sutan getting a book and actually reading it absolutely ridiculous. “Murni would love that for him.”

“You think?” Violet tilted her head, a warm feeling settling in Raven’s stomach. She loved that they could do this together, making fun of Sutan one of her favorite hobbies.

“Sure,” Raven grinned. “She always likes it when someone tries to clean up her ‘idiot boy.’”

Violet laughed, and Raven smiled, drinking the last of her spa water.

“How is your family feeling about you missing two major holidays in a row?”

When Raja had told her that Violet was coming with them for Christmas, the Amrull twins always driving to their moms and spending the day there, Raven had been overjoyed at the prospect of once again having someone else with them, everything so much more fun when Violet was there.

“Are they mad?”

“Umh…” Violet paused, biting her lip. “I don’t. I kinda don’t. See my family? Ever?”

“You’re don’t talk to them?”

“No.”

“Know what?” Raven reached out, putting her hand on top of Violet’s. “Me neither.”

***

BIANCA: Blondie! Sorry I can't come over today. Getting lucky, you know how it is. ;)

BIANCA: Love you, I owe you one.

“Urgh!” Fame groaned as she was put through to Bianca’s voicemail for the third time.

“Bianca. Hi. This is still Fame, calling for the third time because I refuse to accept that you cancel last minute, and I especially refuse to accept that you cancel to have sex. You might treat other people like this, but you promised. You knew we had this arranged, you agreed to come, and now I have food that’s getting cold and you’re not even taking my call to tell me to my fucking face!”

Fame hung up, wishing for a second that she still had a flip phone, the satisfaction of ending a call on a smartphone not anywhere near the same. She sighed, looking out on her kitchen island.

The counter was set with a wide variety of dishes, and Fame couldn’t help but put her thumb nail in her mouth, her other hand resting in the crook of her elbow.

The annual Christmas party at the Dam-Mikkelsen-Bertschy household was one of the most important events of the year, because everyone she loved had to attend. It was a guaranteed evening with her chosen family, which meant that everything had to be perfect, right down to the exact blend of petit fours for dessert so everyone could have their favorites, the house already fully redecorated for the Christmas season.

Fame bit down, her manicure tasting horrendous, but she didn’t know what to do. Bianca had promised to be there, had said that she’d show up and help make the decisions. She could call again, but it seemed like she had truly been cast aside, not even a lousy text ticking in from her best friend to explain why the hell some trick was so important that she’d leave Fame to fend for herself.

She was just about to give up, when she heard the kitchen door open, Patrick walking, her husband dressed in a sweater and carrying an empty cup.

“I know, I know-” Patrick held up a hand, “you’re busy, but I just need a refill and-” he paused, looking around the room. “... Where’s Bianca?”

“Something came up.” Fame tried to keep the crack out of her voice, tried not to show how upset she truly was, but it was impossible when Patrick was looking at her like that.

“Oh Fame.” Patrick walked over, putting his cup down on the counter and wrapping his arms around her. “I’m sure she’s just really busy.”

Fame didn’t answer, instead burrowing her face in his shoulder, the knowledge that she had been discarded like a boulder on her spirit.

***

Courtney twirled, the black skirt fanning out, looking over at Bianca to see what she thought, when she saw her frowning at her phone. Her heart sank a bit, asking, “Miss Fame again?”

“Yeah.”

Dan, one of the Marie Claire stylists, had responded to Bianca’s request right away, and he’d shown up at the apartment mere hours later, loaded down with a stuffed wardrobe rack and 4 bags of shoes and accessories. Courtney had been having the time of her life, trying on some of the chicest designer clothes she’d ever seen up close, much less worn, but she felt guilty that Bianca had cancelled on Miss Fame, knowing how annoyed she’d get at her own friends when they blew her off for a date.

“Maybe you should call her back?” Courtney suggested, taking a pair of shoes from Dan and slipping them on.

“I’d really rather not subject myself to this particular hissyfit.”

“Well…are you sure you want to cancel? If you leave now, you can-”

“It’s really not a big deal. She gets the same food from the same chef every year, this is all just a formality. You know, will it be the wild mushroom truffle flatbread or the mini pizzas with wild mushrooms and truffle sauce?”

“Sounds like a win win.” Courtney stepped out of her shoes and into the next pair Dan had laid out.

“Exactly. She doesn’t need me for that.”

“Okay,” Courtney said with a light chuckle, “...if you’re sure.”

“I love this, by the way,” Bianca said, gesturing to her outfit. “Put it in the yes pile and try the Balmain.”

“Why thank you, madame…” Courtney preened, spinning in a circle and taking a gorgeous sequined dress from Dan before skipping off to change, passing the ‘yes pile’ on the way, a table already laden with outfits and accessories.

***

“Katya?” Trixie tapped his knuckles against the door to the kitchen, his fiancée bent over the dining table, a pair of pliers in hand as she worked.

Katya had been avoiding him all day, and at first, Trixie had tried not to take it personally, had wanted to give Katya space, but she had been so weird at dinner, basically only talking to Pearl while barely looking at him.

“Yes?”

“I got you a kit kat,” Trixie held it up, the candy bar from the bodega really just an excuse, but he walked in anyway, putting it on the edge of the table. “What are you making?”

“Earrings.”

Katya’s crafts always looked utterly bizarre, especially when she had been at the thrift stores, and it was one of the things Trixie loved the most about her. A small pile of plastic animals had been covered in glitter, a pair of chickens now deep purple and sparkling like disco balls.

“Katya,” Trixie bit his lip, waiting for a second, unsure what to say, how to say it, and if he even had to say it. “Should we talk?”

“I-” Katya put down the crocodile she was painting, her fingers covered in blue glitter. “Well...”

He wasn’t going to deny that he was happy about the possibility of being a dad, Katya the only person he’d ever want to have kids with, but if didn’t want it at the expense of her happiness.

“It’s okay if you don’t-”

“Can we,” Katya cut him off, and Trixie quickly shut his mouth, Katya looking up at him for the first time, her blonde bangs framing her face. “Can we not talk about it until after I go to the doctor? Until I know-”

“Of course.” Trixie grabbed a chair to sit down. “Of course. Totally.”

“Okay.” Katya smiled, and while it didn’t really reach her eyes, it looked a lot more genuine than the half smiles and the stress brownies.

“I love you Katya,” Trixie scooted closer, their legs bumping together. “So much.”

[succulentsunrise]

Where the Fire Lilies Grow

Content: SFW!

It took me a while, but it’s here! The first meeting of Tani and Mereo 🥰 I hope you guys like it!

Note: I am using the manga’s timeline, where as far as I’ve understood, the Royal Knights are gathered and sent out during the same day.

Tag list: @thoughtfullyrainynightmare, @lyranova ❤️

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Chapter 5: Petunias & Peril

“So, I love you because the entire universe conspired to help me find you.” Paulo Coelho

Three days had passed since the Royal Knights Examination. Tani had headed to her parents right after it had ended, and had stayed there for the whole time. Her family had happily welcomed her. Her parents, Kinra and Gawi, were childhood sweethearts, having bonded over strong work ethics and love for gardening. Tani’s mother was never still: whether it was gardening, working, cleaning or knitting, she was always doing something with her hands. Gawi, Tani’s father, was a talkative and cheerful man out of work, and grim and quiet while mining. Helee, her younger sister, had inherited their mother’s need to be constantly doing something, but instead of gardening, she crafted things. As iron was her attribute, like it was their mother’s, she found great joy in smithing and working with metals. It had been a while since Tani had been home. There were many questions, but she avoided telling why she had come to visit. Instead, she kept in contact with her friends, having told them to forward her any letters that arrived in her name. Icree had promised to keep an eye out, and so Tani had nervously waited every day for any news.

On the third day, while Tani’s family was working, the fateful letter arrived - but it was not an invitation to the Royal Knights. It was a letter written by Icree, telling her that Fragil had been chosen. No letter had arrived for Tani. She slowly put the letter on the table, not wanting to look at it. Irrationally, it took her less than a minute to pick it up and read through it again. A sinking feeling in her stomach brought tears alongside it. Tani wiped them quickly away and got up,  desperately trying to find something to do that would stop her from thinking too much. She tried several things: cleaning, reading, looking at the letter again. Nothing worked. Eventually she wandered to the small garden that her parents kept. Determined to push her frustration and sorrow somewhere, she began picking weeds from the garden. It was simple, something she knew how to do. It allowed her to let out her frustration in peace. She just wanted to be distracted from her failure. Her powers had not impressed anyone. She had not impressed anyone. Maybe if she had had a better team - maybe if she had not needed to use all her mana - maybe she would have succeeded. Tani inhaled sharply and wiped her nose. She wanted to go and be part of the strike team, to protect Clover Kingdom. She wanted to be sure that she could tell the scared citizens that the threat would have been at least minimized in some capacity. She wanted to take action. Sitting still had never been a talent in her family. Tani picked at the flowers for quite some time before rising her head to look around her. The sun was slowly moving behind the horizon, colouring the sky in shades of red and orange. Somewhere in the streets, children were running and playing together. People passed by in peace, talking to each other. It was comforting. Tani’s tense posture relaxed a little as her gaze passed over them. Even if she wasn’t chosen, she’d stay ready to protect this place. These people. She would keep them safe. Her gaze moved to the potted petunias that were drooping. Mother had probably watered them too much again. The bright petals were beautiful, but the collection of brown leaves and stems were worrying. Tani moved her fingers over the stems, gently healing and nurturing the flower. Its dying parts were reborn with magic, restored to their previous glory. It was something her magic excelled in.

A sudden exclamation caught Tani’s attention. Rising her gaze from the flowers, she saw something move in the sky. Blinding lights had appeared all above the town, if not further, in the shape of swords. They were everywhere. For that split second, they seemed to just hang there, defying gravity. Then, they began to fall. Time seemed to stop for Tani. Her heart was caught up in her throat at the sight. People stared above them in wonder. There was no time to react. There was no time to run or become properly scared. The swords’ descent was incredibly fast. Tani could barely begin lifting her arm before the light reached her. Then - nothing. The swords above her, ready to plunge and slaughter, had stopped mere inches away from her. Slowly, almost mechanically, the light began to retract. Another glyph of magic in the sky seemed to be sucking them back in, forcing them to repeat their previous trajectories in reverse. Tani’s magic caught up finally to the motion of her arm, creating a wall of ivy where she stood, way too late to protect her if the lights hadn’t been dispersed. Her heart was beating fast - she felt like the only thing she could hear were the cries of the children and the rush of her own blood. Hastily, stumbling over her own feet, she left the ivy out there in the garden, rushing to the entrance of the house. There she grabbed her broom and hurried out, giving the sky a quick glance. The sun was still setting. If not for the commotion in the streets, the view would have been as peaceful as before. There was no sign of the swords or any other magic. Tani quickly mounted her broom and rose to the air. Her hands shook violently. She had no time to consider what had happened - she had to get back to her squad and figure out what orders they had. She needed to figure out what had happened. The wind felt good against her face, even as the broom trembled with her usually careful magic now in turmoil. The fear that had settled in the bottom of her stomach was not leaving. She did not know anyone who used light magic. She had a feeling like she had forgotten something - something important. She couldn’t remember what it was. Perhaps someone at the Azure Deer would have answers.

When Tani landed on the front courtyard of the headquarters, the sun had already fallen behind the mountains. There was an eerie light coming from beyond the horizon, paler than any sunlight. Perhaps whoever created those swords of light before was now there, fighting someone else than the kingdom. It was wishful thinking. A loud sound of breaking stone and clattering from inside the building made her twitch. Tani abandoned the broom where it was and began running inside. It sounded like there was trouble even here. Her legs felt shaky still. As she approached, she could only hear a pained scream from inside, as if someone was suffering immensely. The strange thing was - it did not stop. It was constant, grief-stricken wail. There were no breaks for breath, no sobs, nothing. The moment Tani stepped inside, it assaulted her ears with its piercing shrillness. She managed to wonder how she hadn’t heard it better in the courtyard, before another barely audible impact cut her thought short. It came from the direction of the mess hall. Tani hurried there, rising her hands over her ears. The screaming became louder and louder the closer she got. Through the door to the hall, she could see two bodies lying near a wall, crumpled to the ground. She was about to rush to their side, but the origin of the piercing noise entered her view as she stepped properly into the mess hall. In the middle of the space stood a girl with long, purple hair floating freely, out of its usual ponytail. Her soft, dark eyes were filled with disgust and contempt. Two red, tattoo-like lines were drawn from her eyes to her cheeks, as if tears. Her mouth was open in a horrendous, almost desperate scream. Blood was splattered on her face and clothes, most likely from her own injuries. All around the girl were thrown around bodies of magic knights. Only three were left standing: Francis, Icree and Luka. They were protected by a large, golden sculpture of a pheasant that had unfurled its wings to protect them. Orange and black butterflies were fluttering above them. All three of them were holding hands over their ears. Tani tried to shout to them, but her voice was drowned out. The noise was quite frankly giving her a headache and nausea. Even as she tried to take a step towards them, her vision wobbled.

“Stop it, Kliodna!”, she shouted, futilely.

The girl’s cold eyes turned to her. There was such hate in them - it made the girl not look like herself. Then, she stopped. Tani could see that she was out of breath from the shouting, her panting loud and pained in the sudden silence. Then, rather quickly, she started to advance towards Tani.

“Tani, be careful!” Francis shouted, and a wall of water appeared between her and the girl.

“Don’t!” Icree’s voice cut sharply, stress and annoyance clear in it.

The purple-haired girl opened her mouth again, the grimoire in front of her opening to another page.

“「Shockwave」,” her hoarse voice whispered with transparent malice.

Tani’s grimoire flew open in front of her, as she attempted to counter it, but she wasn’t quick enough. She could hear the scream begin again, starting to manipulate and force Francis’ water wall towards her with violent force  - and then, a swarm of monarch butterflies wrapped around her and protected her.

“「Ginkgo’s Embrace」,” Tani shouted, holding her ears.

The strong roots of the ginkgo tree wrapped around her own legs, holding her in place even as the scream created waves that threatened to send her flying. Behind the girl, the sculpted pheasant divided into two jackals. Luka’s magic was elegant as always, but he looked battered. The purple-haired girl turned her head instantly, picking up on his mana. The butterflies that had swarmed around Tani flew back to their caster, Icree, as the screaming stopped again.

“You humans,” the girl said suddenly, her voice grovely and angry. “You think you have the right to fight for survival, when you didn’t give us the chance.”

“Kliodna, what are you talking about?” Tani asked, her heart still racing from the danger she had been in. “Why are you fighting us?”

Icree did not wait for an answer. She cast another spell behind them, rising to air with large butterfly-like wings. Tani knew that this spell of hers was often used in countering other types of magic. Icree was most likely planning to try to mitigate the effects of the next scream. Luka’s jackals began running towards the girl, hunting their prey. Tani started to carefully mask her mana, hoping to be able to bind the girl without hurting her while the other two had her attention. To do so, Tani would have to catch her by surprise. If she was allowed to scream for long, the fight would turn ugly for all of them.

“I hate all of you,” the girl continued, her voice raising. “I hate you, I hate you, I HATE YOU!”

The last word turned into a loud screech again, as if she was letting out decades of hate and grief. The sculpted jackals, bouncing towards her, were shattered in an instant. Another wave of sound washed over all of them, pushing even Icree with her wings further away. Only Tani stayed near, her roots stable and enduring. It wasn’t necessarily a good thing, however. She was too close - the scream caused immediate dizziness to her, gnawing at her concentration and consciousness. As she pressed her fingers against her ears, she could see Icree force her way through the waves of sound. Small flakes of mana began falling from her wings, as Icree’s spell activated, dampening the effect of the screech. Tani acted quickly. The roots slithered from her own legs to the girl’s, climbing and twisting around her body to form a thin tree. It covered the girl completely, wrapping around her tighter than the spell usually did. Its thin, fan-like leaves moved only slightly in the newfound silence. The four of them looked at each other in brief relief.

“It’s not Kliodna,” Francis said quickly, getting up from where he had fallen. “She said so, at least. Said she was an elf.”

“We’re not sure what happened, exactly, other than that she began glowing suddenly,” Luka added, worry plastered over his face. “It wasn’t long after the advisor to the King sent us a warning.”

“A warning?” Tani asked, pressing her hand against the tree’s trunk.

She could feel the girl struggling against it. Though it had constricted whoever was in Kliodna’s body, the spell would not allow harm to come to her. Eventually, she’d break out.

“We were told to follow our captain’s instructions,” Luka continued. “The Wizard King is apparently fighting the leader of the terrorists.”

Francis moved to check on their fellow squadmates. There were several of them, flung all around the mess hall.

“It sounds like we are under attack,” Tani commented worriedly, slowly starting to move away from her tree to help Francis.

“We’ll need to knock her unconscious,” Icree declared, landing next to her. “We’ll bind her, take care of our wounded, and head to the capital. If there’s any disturbances on the way, we’ll take care of them.”

A groan followed her words, and the group turned to look at its source. Francis was helping up a brunette man to stand, his water magic swirling around their head.

“Shouldn’t we look around if anyone else nearby has been affected?” Eric asked with a pained voice.

“If you can wake up someone else still, we could divide into two groups,” Icree began, but was interrupted by Tani.

“Guys, the bind won’t hold for long.”

The sturdy tree had begun creaking and groaning as the girl was about to break free, her muffled voice starting to emerge again. A sculpted jackal appeared suddenly nearby the tree, ready to pounce.

“Don’t hurt her,” Tani pleaded quietly, but Luka shook his head.

“I can’t knock her out without a little bit of pain.”

Tani let the tree fall away and watched as the man’s nimble sculpture rammed against the girl, not giving her time to begin her magic again. The hit was strong. The young girl fell to the ground, unconscious. Luka’s jackal wrapped around her, turning into stone shackles. Kliodna looked more like herself without all that anger in her eyes. Tani felt a sting of guilt. They’d have to figure out what to do with her, but for now, they had to make sure the kingdom wasn’t in danger. Tani leaned down to examine the girl’s wounds, making sure that her life wasn’t in danger. She could see Francis also moving from person to person, checking their injuries and healing those that required it. A lot of them were still knocked out, but some were waking up due to his magic. Tani joined the efforts quickly. Most people seemed to have been hurt by the loud sounds or an impact with a wall. It would take a while to learn if Kliodna had caused lasting injuries. After everyone had been tended to, Icree, Tani and Luka left for the capital. Eric and Francis would help others to come to, as well as check the perimeter for further threats.

The flight to the capital was silent. Darkness had fallen a long time ago, and now there wasn’t even a light in the horizon. They were all tense and wary. Luka muttered something under his breath, and beautiful bird sculptures appeared to fly by him. He often used them for reconnaissance, as he could see through their eyes. They all flew to different directions, spreading across the capital. The flashes of light and mana were visible to them all, but most seemed to be already engaged by magic knights. Tani tried to seek out people that weren’t being protected yet.

“There’s a hole in the gate,” Luka said suddenly, his posture tensing.

“In the gate?” Tani repeated.

“In the castle gate. Someone has invaded the Clover Castle.”

Icree looked at him, shocked.

“Is no one else there?” she asked quickly, setting a course towards the castle.

“I only saw a glimpse. Someone is fighting next to the gate, but I couldn’t see who,” Luka answered, following her lead. “The bird got crushed.”

A sudden eeriness filled the air around them. Almost out of nowhere, a floating rock seemed to have appeared in their vision. In its face had been created house-like structures with openings, and its bottom seemed to have been fully carved out. It shone with unnatural, pale light, as it sailed far away from them. Tani saw the same uncertainty in the other two’s eyes. The amount of mana all around them was enormous.

“What is that?” she asked with a shaky voice.

Today’s events were starting to catch up with her. She had promised to protect people from this, but could they really stand up against such a widespread attack?

“I don’t--I don’t know,” Icree answered, her eyes wide. “Let’s follow it for now. Perhaps we can--perhaps--we can do something when whoever is in that thing is outside of it.”

“It’s going towards the castle. There’s more of them likely there,” Luka reminded, calling his remaining birds to him. “The mana is interfering with my spell. I can’t see properly.”

“We are Magic Knights. We must protect them.”

“We must also protect the common people!” Tani interjected, looking below them, where battles continued. “We don’t have to pick the biggest target.”

“I don’t know what to do,” Icree confessed, her hands shaking. “I’m hoping that whoever is fighting at the castle will be able to tell us where we are needed.

“We can see where we are needed: right here!” Tani argued.

All around them were destroyed buildings, fleeing citizens and bodies of magic knights. If they went down there, they could help people evacuate and protect them. However, Tani recognized that look in Icree’s eyes - she had made her decision, and there was no turning it. It wasn’t a selfless decision. Icree’s family was visiting the Vermillions, and there was a possibility they were still there.

“Look!” Icree shouted suddenly, pointing towards the moving rock.

Further away, a silvery bird was rushing towards it. No, not quite silvery. The Captain of the Silver Eagles, Nozel Silva, was known for his mercury attribute. The bird - eagle, in fact - was known for anyone who had seen him cast his magic. The three of them began to follow in silent agreement. Captain Nozel Silva had been part of the Royal Knights that had gone to strike at the base. He would know what they should do, and where their own captain was. His silver eagle was a bit faster than their brooms, but hopefully they’d be able to catch up in time.

Luck was not on their side, however. Even as the three of them rushed to catch up with the Captain of Silver Eagles, he seemed to be rushing to defend his home. When Icree, Luka and Tani finally landed, all they could see were the tailcoats of six people dividing between the three main royal houses inside the castle. Tani could recognize the Captains of Black Bulls and Green Mantis’, as well as the Vice-Captain of Coral Peacocks among them.

“We are too late,” Icree cursed.

She was tense, as if she was considering running after them. Yet, her gaze lingered in the bodies around them, moving back towards the lower parts of the mountain.

“The castle is secured, I think,” Luka said silently. “Lord Silva is certainly going to take care of anything that is inside there.”

Tani looked around them. Most of the bodies belonged to the Golden Dawn, but they all had those same red marks as Kliodna had had. Had they all been taken over as well? One body was different, set aside to rest against a wall. Her eyes widened. Red hair, matted with sticky, blackened blood, was framing a bloodied and beaten face. The white cape was tattered and torn, showing multiple wounds and bruises. Tani leaped the few steps she had to take to get to the woman’s side. Captain Mereoleona looked like she had gone through hell. Her eyes were barely open, as if held so by willpower alone, but there was no life in her empty gaze. Carefully, with shaking hands, Tani set out to examine her injuries. She had to remove the cloak from her to properly see the extent of her injuries. Luckily, someone else seemed to have healed them to some extent.

“「Ginkgo’s Embrace」,” she whispered, watching the gentle roots hug the woman’s form.

Originally, the spell had been a recovery spell. Tani had modified it into a binding spell as well with hard work. Nowadays, it doubled as both.

“Tani! Let’s go help--” Icree called out, but stopped in her tracks as she saw who Tani was taking care of.

“You go, I’ll follow you soon,” Tani replied, giving a brief smile to her teammates. “You’re descending to the city, right?”

“Yeah,” Icree confirmed, her eyes lingering on the unconscious captain. “Will she--you--be alright?”

Tani nodded.

“You just go ahead.”

A sculpted bird landed on Tani’s shoulder, and with that, Luka and Icree flew away on their brooms. She’d be able to find them with the help of the bird - or know that they were in trouble. For now, she concentrated on helping the lady in front of her to regain consciousness. This was not exactly the first meeting that she had planned. The sounds of battle from nearby made Tani twitch a little. It was clear that something huge had happened in the royal mansions. As she looked back to Lady Vermillion, she found the sharp blue eyes looking back at her. The gaze was still slightly unfocused, but it was much faster recovery than Tani had expected.

“Who are you?” the Captain’s weak voice growled.

“My name is Tani Chartreuse, 5th Class Intermediate Knight of the Azure Deer, ma’am,” Tani stated quickly, standing up straight and giving a small bow. “The roots are not to hold you down, but to boost your body’s natural regeneration.”

The Captain looked at her as if evaluating her with her blank gaze. Slowly, with every passing minute, clarity seemed to return to the woman. As she opened her mouth to speak, one of the sharp canines poked out. It was in a way adorable. Tani found a small warmth rising to her cheeks - this was not the time to be staring at someone much higher ranked than herself.

“Where are the others?” the Captain asked, adjusting her position.

“The others?”

“Royal Knights.”

“We--I saw Lord Silva enter the castle, ma’am,” Tani answered. “With him were five others--I believe Captain Sukehiro and Captain Jack, at least.”

The woman made an effort to get up, but the roots held her still. Once more, the small canine poked out, as the Captain’s brows furrowed. Tani changed her weight to another leg nervously.

“What do you know of the situation?” the Captain questioned next.

“Not much, ma’am,” she admitted uncertainly. “We were attacked by one of our own, who claimed to be an--an elf. We don’t know what it means.”

“They have been taken over, that’s it,” the Captain remarked. “You managed to defeat them?”

“Yes. They are bound back at our headquarters.”

“And?”

“And--? And we don’t know much of the situation. The Azure Deer is helping those near our headquarters and in the capital.”

“Useless,” the Captain scoffed under her breath.

“Excuse me?” Tani asked challengingly before she could control herself.

“The information is useless. Something is happening over there--”

Captain Mereoleona stopped suddenly, her gaze fixed to the castle. Tani turned to look there as well - but there was no castle to speak of. There was something dark, taking a caricature shape of the previous castle. Someone was clearly fighting between the castle and the floating rock. She heard a grunt, as the Captain once more attempted to move.

“You’ll be on the way in this fight,” Lady Mereoleona told frankly. “Go join your team and help them.”

Tani looked at the roots that still bound the lady gently.

“Your wounds--”

“Shut up.”

“Ma’am, I think I am justified in worrying for a captain that cannot break such a weak spell as mine.”

“Who said I couldn’t?” Captain Mereoleona challenged with a wicked smile, fires bursting from her body.

The tree and bark burnt in an instant, Tani’s spell disappearing from her. There was something inhumanely powerful in the woman. Her wounds were severe, and Tani’s magic was too slow to treat them this quickly. Yet she was standing, passionate fire in her eyes, ready to act.

“I can sense some elves coming this way, so you better leave, Tani Chartreuse,” the Captain of Crimson Lion Kings said with a smile. “Elves, and someone else.”

Tani shot her a quizzical look, not sure what to make of it. Still, she didn’t have her own captain to listen to, so she simply saluted to show she had understood the order. The bird on her shoulder took to the air, as she grabbed her own broom and masked her mana. The fires behind her intensified, as if a beacon to lure out the elves.

Tani could not help but feel a small joy in the Captain remembering her name, at least. Perhaps, if she was accepted to that special training of the Crimson Lion Kings, she could speak more with the fascinating Mereoleona Vermillion.

[howtowhumpyourhiccup]

High Fever

Summary: Hiccup whump. Knowing that one of their friends was born too early means that they know he's bound to get sick more easily. Even if he's less frequently ill than he used to be. But then he suffers from a high fever and something happens to him that none of the Riders have ever seen before.

Rating: General

Characters: Hiccup, Toothless, Astrid, Fishlegs, Snotlout, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Hookfang, Barf and Belch

Pairing: Hiccstrid

Words: 3 449

Author’s Notes: Wrote this because I was reminded by someone that seizures can also be caused by high fevers. I thought it would be especially fun in a Viking setting since they probably wouldn't have known what it was.

Constructive criticism is appreciated!

Enjoy!

Ao3

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Knowing that one of their friends was born too early means that they can at least understand some of Hiccup's struggles now and during his childhood growing up. They may not know everything that coming prematurely into the world can cause, but when Hiccup falls terribly ill every Winter and Devastating Winter, the Dragon Riders know that it may have something to do with that.

Though the earliest testament to his innate ability to survive the unsurvivable, they know it caused Hiccup's frequent illnesses as a child.

Someone fell ill, Hiccup was sure to get it. An epidemic came to Berk, Hiccup got it. Sometimes he seemed to catch something from Johann or one of the many seafaring travelers visiting their island even when they weren't sick themselves or even shared the boy's personal space. They don't quite know how that one works, but it happened much too often for it to be coincidental.

It is part of why Stoick kept him mostly indoors with someone to watch him or at Gobber's forge while he was growing up. It's also part of how the boy got roped into an apprenticeship as a blacksmith in the first place.

But then he grows older and those sicknesses appeared to stay away more often. His body is getting stronger every year as he gets closer to adulthood. That is, until the even colder months on Berk come around or the occasional eelpox epidemic.

With dragons, it's easier for him to separate himself from the sick. Eelpox comes to Berk? Then perhaps it is time for Hiccup to take some time away from home. Or at least away from the village. After some time, he started calling it "self-isolation".

But despite the attempts at keeping him safe, despite the strengthening his body has done over time, he still tends to fall ill. And when that happens, he doesn't just get the sniffles or a cough. He's bedridden for days. Occasionally, for longer than a week. It only took Toothless weeks after the Red Death's end to find out how susceptible his Rider is to this silent and faceless attacker.

When the Dragon Riders come to live on the Edge for a year, this is no different. It may be just a tad bit warmer here than it is on Berk, but still, an illness has made its move and forced the Lead Rider to not just confine himself to his hut for his own well-being, but has made him unable to even leave his bed.

It started with a simple cough just two days earlier and slight light-headedness. It rightfully garnered everybody's immediate attention right then. Since yesterday morning he's been stuck in bed, curling up under several layers of furs in an attempt to stay warm while a fever runs rampant throughout his system.

Fishlegs has warned him against doing that as he's risking a rise in his temperature, but he's just so cold.

Snotlout and the twins have taken over most of the patrols around Dragon's Edge. In the meantime, Fishlegs and Astrid have been staying by Hiccup's side to help him get through this illness. Toothless is there as well, but unlike the two of them, there isn't much he can do besides providing his Rider with much-needed support.

Hiccup watches his dragon as he sits by him, head on the bed in between his front paws. Toothless' gaze meets his and he purrs. He hates seeing his Rider like this, the pain in his eyes tells it all, and Hiccup can't even tell him that he's fine. That is how horrendous he feels.

Something rattles as he breathes, his head feels heavy on top of the headache he's suffering from, his throat is dry and aches so much with every swallow that he almost can't anymore. Water gives him little relief. And besides his fever, the other symptom he's suffering from the most is a heavy cough that plagues him almost constantly.

At this point, his ribs are already hurting every time the urge comes. That's how much he's been coughing. That seems to be a common occurrence. He can't just cough like normal people, he has to do it so much that he's already hurting two days later.

Fishlegs has told him before about Vikings having such coughing fits that they manage to break a rib. That is honestly the last thing he needs right now. That and the pneumonia that could come as a result.

He holds his sides as another fit tears through him and Astrid is quick to pull him upright, grabbing him by his upper arms. She hopes that will help him ease it.

Sitting up as he coughs helps a little. Astrid sits next to him and he can feel one of her hands on his upper back as she rubs it in support. Her expression can only be summed up by a combination of worry and a cringe. She shares it with both Toothless and Fishlegs, who stands ready with a jug of water and a cup.

It takes only seconds and yet it feels so much longer than that. When it finally ceases, he somehow feels even worse.

"Sorry." He apologizes as he gasps for the air he couldn't get during his coughing fit. He doesn't mean to lean onto Astrid like that, but he feels like falling over. The lack of oxygen has made his dizziness return.

"It's fine, Hiccup. Stop apologizing." Astrid tells him and Toothless rumbles in agreement with her. He's been doing that almost nonstop for the past two days.

"Here," Fishlegs offers him a cup of water, which he gratefully takes with shaky hands.

"So I was thinking," He starts and takes a seat on the edge of the bed as well. He's mindful of Hiccup's prosthetic as it lies on the floor near his feet.

"What, Fishlegs?" Hiccup asks after taking a painful gulp, grimacing after swallowing. His voice is hoarse and just barely above a whisper.

"Are you sure you want to wait until tomorrow to send a message to Berk?" He asks the query on his mind. It's been bugging him. He knows why Hiccup doesn't want to send one yet, or he has an assumption rather, but he doesn't feel comfortable with this decision.

"Yes." Hiccup sighs, not feeling up for an explanation as to why he thinks so.

"Are you? Because you were also sure that your cough two days ago "was just a little cough" and now look at you!" Sick or not, Astrid still lectures him.

"I know, I know..." Hiccup responds without much fire, immediately admitting defeat.

He has to close his eyes for a moment. All that coughing has made the pounding in his head even worse.

Really, all he wants is to sleep this sickness away.

He is tired enough. The problem is staying asleep with all those coughing fits and the headaches.

When he and the Dragon Riders first left for the Edge, what was bound to happen come Winter had completely evaded his mind. Up until the moment his first symptoms showed themselves, that is.

He doesn't like the Riders' insistence that they should alert his father, which is why he's been putting it off. It almost feels like a defeat to him. Like, his susceptibility to illnesses means he's forever independent on his father when he should be fully capable of taking care of himself.

And now he's bothering his friends with this.

Toothless already knew. He was there some weeks after the Red Death's defeat, a little while after Snoggletog, when he was bedridden for a week. What a shock that was for him. To have such an energetic Rider reduced to nothing because of the sniffles.

That was also when Stoick decided to allow Toothless to sleep inside from then on. It was a reassurance to have an extra set of eyes watching over Hiccup when he couldn't be there. Either as a Chief or when he, as a tired and troubled father, needed some shut-eye himself.

The rest of his friends were already aware that he got very sick annually, but this is the first time they're witnessing it for themselves. And since Astrid and Fishlegs have barely left his side and Snotlout and the twins willingly volunteered to organize and take care of the patrols and other chores speaks volumes of how this experience has shaken them all up.

Gods, he gazes at Astrid and feels bad for stepping in a relationship with her now.

Is this what she gets to look forward to every year? A boyfriend that falls so terribly ill that she has to drop everything just to help him through it?

Why did he have to be so selfish?

"Stop it!" Astrid scolds him and lightly smacks him with the wet cloth they're using in an attempt to cool him.

"What?" He whispers.

"You were thinking something that I don't like. I can see it on your face." She says and then proceeds to wring the cloth out over the bowl of water.

Apparently she's been wetting it again. He's so out of it that he hadn't even noticed. Fishlegs is no longer sitting on the bed either. Where has he gone? The cup, too, is missing.

"He's downstairs," Astrid answers as if she could read his mind.

"Hmm?"

"He went downstairs for more water and some willow bark." She repeats and this time with more information.

Hiccup sighs and closes his eyes for another moment. He feels so out of it all of a sudden. Different from what he's been feeling before.

And his heart is starting to pound. As if he's nervous about something. But what? And why?

Toothless croons in worry, able to tell that something different is off about his human.

"Hmm?"

The door to his hut opens just as Hiccup gives his dragon his attention and the three remaining Riders walk in. Hookfang and Barf and Belch poke their heads in to give the lead Rider their well wishes before they leave. Looking over, Hiccup raises a hand and weakly smiles.

"So how-how was it? No Hunters? Any Flyers?" He then asks the three new presences in the hut as they follow Fishlegs up the stairs.

"There's nothing to see for miles. So don't worry about that." Snotlout assures him in a surprisingly soft tone. He doesn't like to see him like this either. He's too pale and the lack of energy is unnerving.

He's so used to seeing him one way and that is the complete opposite of who he is now.

"Yeah, we got everything covered." Ruffnut backs Snotlout's answer up and Tuffnut nods.

"Hmm. Good." Bringing his right knee up, Hiccup rests his arm on it and then his head on that.

He's so tired. Tired, warm, cold, and in pain.

Moving a little bit closer, Toothless moans and nudges Hiccup's hands.

"Toothless?" He breathes, suddenly confused as to why his dragon is here.

Has he always been here?

His right hand moves to settles on his forehead. So warm. So, so warm.

"Hiccup?" Astrid lays a hand on his shoulder. The Riders have begun to talk about something, he's not a part of that conversation, when she realizes something is a little amiss.

Or rather, she didn't so much as realize as Toothless started nudging her to get her attention when his Rider seems to fall into an odd state of mind.

Slowly, too slowly, Hiccup gazes back at her and just stares. He wants to ask what's wrong, why she's staring at him like that, what all the Riders are doing here, but the ability to speak is lost to him.

Before he can regain it, he blacks out.

For the Riders and Toothless, it isn't quite as peaceful.

The dragon's effort to draw Astrid's attention draws all of their attention. They all take sudden notice of Hiccup's rather confused state of mind. He's just staring.

"Hiccup?" She calls his name and places a hand on his shoulder. And while he does glance at her, it's clear to all of them that Hiccup isn't quite in there anymore.

Is he becoming delirious? Has the fever finally taken his mind?

When he blacks out, his eyes roll into the back of his skull as he falls limp.

"Hiccup!" Astrid's quick reflexes are all that keep him from falling over. The rest of the Riders and Toothless try to as well.

She lowers him gently down on the bed and that's when something happens that none of them have ever seen or experienced before.

He just starts to convulse. Body rigid, fists and jaw clenched, somehow uncontrollable jerky movements suddenly plague him and nobody is quite sure what they're looking at.

"Hiccup!"

"What's that?! What's happening?!" Tuffnut shouts while the rest steps back in fright. They just freeze and stand there, unable to comprehend just what this is.

"Oh Thor, oh Thor!" Fishlegs yelps in a panic, staring at the scene, as they all are. Snotlout pushes him forward, wanting him to do something about it.

It's Astrid who makes a move, jumping into action and doing the only thing that comes to mind and that is to try and restrain him.

Toothless rears back in alarm, up on his hind legs. His head snaps from one direction to the next as he stares at his Rider from his head to his toes and back.

He lets out a terrible cry, looking for help with the other humans present.

"I-I don't know either, Toothless!" Astrid shouts, still pinning him down. Snotlout then attempts to dive into the fray to help her out, but is stopped by Fishlegs.

"What're you doing?!" He shouts.

"I don't think that'll help," Fishlegs says, sharing what he thinks might help.

"So we're just going to let him hurt himself?!" Snotlout loudly protests. He finds the other's words an outrage.

"Fishlegs!" Even Astrid seems to disagree, struggling to hold Hiccup still.

"Well, we have to do something!" Ruffnut cries out and Toothless, too, lets his protest be known.

They can't just sit there and watch Hiccup suffer!

"Trust me, please!" Fishlegs pulls Astrid away, to which he receives an elbow to a breast. She tends to communicate her feelings through violence and so she makes it quite clear that she doesn't appreciate his interrupting. She is going to help her boyfriend! Thor be damned!

So he lets her restrain Hiccup again, her grip bruising. Toothless has resorted to pacing around the loft while he pants quickly and shallowly. He's restless and in a frenzy.

He hates this. He hates being unable to help his Rider. He hates whatever it is that he's doing and whatever that's causing it.

It takes a full minute filled with fear, panic, terror, but eventually, the overly exaggerated tremors stop and all that are left are twitches and his shaky breathing.

The Riders and Toothless wait in tense silence. Either expecting a new fit of these terrible tremors or to find that they have ended for the time being.

Another minute passes and then another and gradually Astrid feels safe enough to carefully let go. Her fingertips have left bruises on his wrists, but she will feel bad about them later. What matters now is what just happened. She wipes at his mouth. She doesn't know why these convulsions got him to foam at the mouth, but it did.

"Fishlegs, what was that?!" She turns to ask him, her anger over his interruption has faded, but he doesn't know what to tell her.

He vaguely remembers Gothi telling him something about these convulsions happening during high fevers, but he also remembers her not knowing what causes them. Sometimes people get them after a head injury and sometimes they just... have them. Often. For seemingly no reason!

"I don't know." So that is the only answer Fishlegs can give her and Astrid turns her confused and worried expression back down at Hiccup.

Whimpering, Toothless carefully dares himself to come closer and sniffs Hiccup's face, which grimaces as he comes to.

"Hiccup?!" Everyone present who's capable of speech calls him by his name.

When he opens his eyes, blinking and sighing deeply, Hiccup finds the Riders kneeling in a circle around him, all looking down at him.

"What's... What happened to my wrists?" He wants to ask what's wrong, why everyone is staring at him like that, but then the bruises around his wrists catch his attention when he wants to bring his hands up to rub in his face.

"That's my doing," Astrid admits guiltily. She grabs them, her thumbs caressing them kindly.

"Wha- Why?" He asks, completely confused and rightfully so.

The Dragon Riders present look amongst themselves. They quickly figure out that, since he passed out right before the fit, he probably has no memory of the event.

"Doesn't matter right now. How're you feeling?" So Snotlout asks. They can explain everything to him later.

"Somehow even worse than I did before I blacked out. Or... I think I blacked out? I don't remember lying down." Though he wants answers, Hiccup lets it slide for now.

The Riders take another look at each other. So that proves the theory that he has no memory of what happened.

Hiccup takes a deep breath, blinking slowly. Seemingly out of the blue, he's also so much more tired than he was just minutes earlier. What happened after he blacked out?

"Tired?" Astrid asks and scoots closer. Hiccup nods, close to falling asleep. His eyes are already closing again. Perhaps for the last time tonight.

"Than you should sleep. That'll-that'll be good for you." Fishlegs states, stuttering a little as if something has shaken him up. Ruffnut and Tuffnut are suspiciously quietly as well, standing off to the side and watching.

Hiccup only hums in response and Toothless tells him good night with a purr. There is a slight curl on the corners of his lips, but they quickly leave as he falls into a deep, dreamless slumber. He dozes off quite a bit faster, too.

His breathing evens out and the six others sit back, suddenly exhausted as well.

It's silent for a good few minutes as all of them simply try to comprehend what they'd just witnessed.

"He's asleep," Fishlegs states the obvious, Toothless rumbles in response. It is a good thing. Sleep is good. Sleep is healing.

"So what do we do now?" Snotlou tasks, wondering if this means a sudden change to how Hiccup originally wanted to deal with the situation.

"We have to send a message to Berk. Tell Stoick what happened to his son and to bring Gothi here." Astrid says and Snotlout is already getting back up on his feet. Doesn't matter how weak his legs feel, he has to find a Terrible Terror willing to help. Sharpshot should be around here somewhere, he'll probably hurry for his human friend.

Meanwhile, the twins follow him down the stairs to find paper and something to write with.

"Hey, Astrid-"

"I'm sorry, Fishlegs." Astrid suddenly says, causing the young man to glance at her in confusion.

"You were just trying to help and I reacted very poorly. I was so panicked, I-... I shouldn't have reacted like that." She apologizes, feeling terrible for the way she has treated her friend.

"Uhm, it's okay... But I actually wanted to say that we should ask Stoick if Hiccup has had these fits before." Fishlegs reacts, to which Astrid nods.

"Yeah, that-that sounds like a good idea." She says and comes to sit on the floor, her back against the bed. Fishlegs' hands land on Toothless' head, who croons appreciatively.

The Night Fury could probably answer their question on whether they've happened in the past three years or not, but not before Hiccup's fifteenth birthday.

But by his reaction alone, Fishlegs can at least determine that Toothless has never seen Hiccup like this before either. Not in the three years they've known each other.

Snotlout and the twins return quickly and while Astrid gets back to cooling Hiccup's forehead, Fishlegs writes a letter to Berk.

This is an experience that will not be leaving their consciousness for a long while to come and for the rest of Hiccup's recovery, they fear another fit such as this.

But it doesn't happen again. And come next Winter, it doesn't happen. And then the next. The cause remains unknown and that provides them with no comfort. Every time Hiccup falls sick, that awful night comes back to the front of their minds and they can only hope that it doesn't happen again.

[jungkookiebus]

Magic Trick | kth

Genre: nonidol!au, supernatural!au (ah! spoopy!), smut, some fluff Pairing: dokkaebi!Taehyung x reader Word Count: 2.5k Warnings: cunnilingus, vaginal sex, very brief mention of abusive ex Summary: Taehyung is a dokkaebi, or goblin, and he’s been waiting for you for almost a thousand years. Up until this moment, he wasn’t sure when he would find you, but when he does, he’s not letting you go.  Author’s note: If anyone here as seen Guardian: The Great and Lonely God then you’ll know what I mean when I say “goblin”. His character is based off Korean folklore. There are a few moments where you’ll be reading the reader’s feelings and Taehyung’s to kind of put you in the moment. Figured I’d write this little oneshot since it’s October :)

Why were you here, again? The question bounced around your head as the horrendous music selection pierced through your skull and settled deep within, nursing a headache. You had agreed to come to your “friend’s” house party because you were new at your job and desperate to fit in. You learned quickly, however, that this was not your cup of tea. Parties had never really been your thing to begin with. You had to admit that your co-worker knew how to throw a party…if you were into them. He had even hired a bartender for the night. And that’s where you were, standing at the built in bar and taking shot after shot hoping that it would make you forget why you came here. The bartender quirked his eyebrow as you asked for your fourth shot but didn’t ask as he sat it in front of you. Turning briefly to grab your phone from your bag, you turned back to discover the shot was gone.

“Hey!” you shouted over the absolute ”banger” now pulsing in your ears. You gestured in front of you in question towards the empty space.

“I put it right there.”

“Just give me another one,” you said while shoving money into his tip jar.

Behind you, someone went crashing through a glass table. You turned to see several large men trying to get their friend off the floor. You rolled your eyes as you reached back for your shot only to be met with air.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” you said as yet another shot went missing.

The air to your right seemed to shimmer for a second as if a heatwave were approaching. Maybe the shots were stronger than you had previously thought.

“Wanna see a magic trick?” someone asked beside you.

A tall, stunning specimen of a man stood tall beside you. He shook his dark hair out of his equally dark eyes as he looked down at you with mirth dancing around in his dark irises. A grin broke out across his face as your eyes met his.

“Excuse me?” You scrunched up your face as you looked at him, trying to figure out if you knew him from somewhere. You hadn’t seen him around the office, that you were sure of. You’d remember someone that good looking.

“Do. You. Want. To. See. A. Magic. Trick?” he punctuated.

“I’m not stupid, I heard you the first time. Why would you want to show me a magic trick?”

He shrugged nonchalantly. “Why not?”

“Fine,” you huffed.

He rolled up the sleeves of his black button down and your eyes quickly took in his toned arms and the veins that coursed upwards like rivers on a map. Quickly, he snapped his fingers and before you as if out of thin air appeared a shot. Not even a second later, he snapped once more, and a small blue flame lit atop the alcohol.

“I must be more drunk that I thought.”

He laughed. “I doubt that.”

“How’d you do it then?”

A flick of his wrist and he had an empty shot glass in his hand, turning it upside down and atop the other to extinguish the flame.

“It’s a secret.”

You figured trying to get it out of him was null, so you grabbed the shot and downed it.

“What’s your name?” he asked, leaning against the bar.

“_____. Yours?”

“Kim Taehyung.”

“I’ve never seen you around the office.”

He smiled again; mischief plastered across his face. “I don’t work with you.”

“A friend then?”

“Hardly.”

“An enigma then.”

He pointed at you knowingly. “Got it.”

“How’d you know about this party?”

He shrugged again as he turned, elbows on the bar, and gazed out across the room. His brows furrowed as he seemed to spot something or someone. He stood straight, concern painting his features.

“Stay here,” he said. His voice was on edge and it made the hair on the back of your neck stand on end.

You spun on the spot to see him walking with purpose, the crowd of people parting for him as if he commanded the room, and straight up to a person you couldn’t see. He was talking heatedly to someone. He was raising his arms angrily and you watched as he stuck his finger into the chest of the other person. It was when he turned to point at you that you saw who he was so angry with. Your abusive ex, with whom you had a restraining order on, was staring at Taehyung with blatant shock and anger. You felt all the blood drain from your face as your stomach sank and your heart thudded painfully in your chest. How did he find you here? You hadn’t had to worry about him in so long and you were almost at the point where you felt as if you didn’t have to worry, but all of that had been ruined in a matter of seconds. Any alcohol in your system was quickly burned out with fear as you grabbed your bag and headed in the opposite direction and wanted to be anywhere but here. You pushed through people, not easily getting around as Taehyung seemed to be able to do. Strange faces turned to look at you as hot tears fell down your face. Embarrassment and fear raced through your body hotly and this was the last feeling you wanted to have around your co-workers. You were halfway out the door when your wrist was gripped tightly, and you were jerked back inside the house. Abject horror settled deep into your bones as you knew this was it. He had finally caught up to you and this would be the end of your life as you knew it. You were forced to turn around only to be met with Taehyung once more.

“Where are you going?”

You wiped your face with the back of your hand as you sniffled.

“I want to go home.”

“Stay.”

“It’s not safe.”

“It is now. Don’t worry.”

“What?”

“You don’t have to worry about him.”

You looked up through your wet lashes and examined his face. He looked concerned, but impassive. He had a no-nonsense air about him, and you knew he wasn’t lying.

“How did you know?”

“Hm?”

“How did you know? About him?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

The air around you seemed to shimmer once more and all at once you were relaxed, having forgotten about the whole thing. He held your hand in his and smiled down at you, reassuring and almost…loving.

“Do you want to go upstairs?”

His pull on you was strong and your blood seemed to sing the longer you were around him. You felt high as he looked at you expectantly.

“Yes,” you breathed.

He tugged at your hand again, crowd parting, as he led you to the stairs. He traversed the house as if he lived there, but you knew better. He led you to an obvious guest room with its mundane decorations and lack of personal items. Closing the door behind the both of you, he turned to stand close to you, almost chest to chest.

“Don’t be afraid,” he whispered.

“Should I be?” You were almost in a trance.

He laughed lightly as he skimmed the back of his hand down your cheek. You shivered at his touch.

“What are you doing to me?” You felt a sexual pull to him, but at the same time alarm bells were going off in your head. He cooed as he brushed his thumb underneath your eye.

“I’m here to protect you.”

He leaned down slowly until his lips were barely on your cheek. Your skin tingled as if it had been asleep and just woken up.

“You called for me, remember?” His lips came down fully in a single kiss against your skin.

Called for him? You couldn’t, for the life of you, remember asking for anyone’s help, but right now you knew you didn’t want him to leave.

“Do you wanna see another magic trick?” he whispered in your ear.

You heard him snap his fingers once more and your body flushed with goosebumps as cold air washed across you. Harsh realization hit you and you looked down to see the both of you were stark naked.

“How-,” you began before he silenced you with a kiss. His hand tangled into your hair as he pulled you flush against his body. Warmth encompassed you in its honey thick sweetness and seemed to flow outwards from you. Every bit of apprehension you had before seemed to slip out of the room along with the cold.

“You’re mine,” he muttered against your lips.

A rush of desire swept through every vein, muscle, and pore in your body so intensely that you could barely stand the feeling. You reciprocated the kiss with as much fervor and he moaned into your mouth. He all but carried you to the bed where you fell back against the soft blankets. He kissed and sucked at the skin on your neck until your skin seemed to dance with red waves.

“I’ve waited so long…,”

You didn’t question him. Now was not the time. You stored his statement away for another time. Right now, his mouth was travelling downwards and this was something you did not want to miss. He held both of your hands, entwining his fingers with yours as he kissed the place just above your clit, then just to the side, the inside of your thigh, and back again until he had you squirming. You felt his hot breath against you, and you writhed and ground your hips down in an attempt to feel something. What seemed like forever passed before ran his tongue up your slit until he wrapped those perfect lips around your clit. Both of your grips tightened on one another as he sucked it into his mouth before running the tip of his tongue along it in such a way that had your vision clouding. Your thighs began to tremble, and your toes caught the blanket as they curled. His name fell from your lips and you heard him sigh; your voice was music to his ears. It wasn’t long before he was throwing you into an orgasm so intense that your muscles seemed to be protesting at the weight of it. The taste of you hit his tongue and the release of a thousand years’ worth of waiting lifted from his shoulders. You were heaven and hell rolled into one and he had you within his grasp. His grip on your hands loosened as he softly kissed his way back up your body. Gently, he kissed around the marks left on your neck before enveloping your mouth with is. He was slow and determined to feel every bit of you you had to offer. He had, after all, waited almost a millennia to get to you.

You felt as if you were floating and for all you knew, you probably were. He had shown you the impossible several times tonight, but you still couldn’t wrap your mind around it. Your thought process was even more skewed after the mind blowing orgasm and all you could think about was how right this felt. Your blood seemed to sing once more as if it had finally met its match; magnets clung together so strongly that they were impossible to pull apart. His lips were still on yours when he seemed to glide inside of you. He filled you so fully and so perfectly that you broke the kiss as your head fell back. His left hand was on the back of your neck, holding you close, while his other held your thigh up against him. His mouth open against your collarbone as he tested the first few thrusts out slowly.

Taehyung had never felt love until now. He had lived an honorable life when he was…normal, alive in flesh and blood alone, but had been struck down early; doomed to roam the earth for all eternity until he found you. The moment he was within a hundred miles of you he had felt you. The pull was so strong that panic almost rose in his chest at the thought of not actually finding you. Then there you were, in front of him, beautiful and strong and just as he had imagined. Hundreds of years of mental torture and anguish had led to this and right now it all seemed worth it. Your velvet walls enveloped him so perfectly that he wasn’t sure where he ended, and you began. Your moans flowed like music into his ears and he made it his purpose to make you feel as good as possible. He held you close, and he continued to thrust deeply, hitting all the spots he knew would bring you closer to the edge. His pelvis rubbed against your clit and he rotated his hips as he quickened his pace. Sweat beaded on his skin and slipped onto yours. Your soft hair tangled in his fingers as he gripped the roots, pulling with each thrust, but you seemed not to notice as you were lost in your own pleasure.

“So long…,” he whispered once more. “Finally.”

In that moment you felt as if you were absorbing what he was feeling. He was something that you had been waiting for but had not known why or that you even were until now. Your heart seemed to stutter in your chest as your pleasure mounted. Taehyung continued to whisper admirations and his need for you as his thrusts became deeper, more pointed. You held your breath at the impending dam that was about to break. With a rush, your second orgasm shot out like a shockwave and Taehyung moaned just as loudly as you, both feeling as if you had completed some ritual that brought you closer together. He came within the next couple of thrusts and collapsed on top of you. Overwhelmed was an understatement to describe what each of you were feeling in those next few moments.

He sat up then, looking down at you. Where once mischief had danced behind those brown eyes only something akin to love could be found there.

“You have no idea how long I’ve waited for you.”

“I-,” you began, “I kind of feel the same way…though I’m not sure why.”

“I’ll be happy to tell over tea.”

“You’re not human, are you?”

His eyes widened with surprise. “Well…I was, I still am…it’s hard to explain.”

“From what it sounds like, you have all the time in the world.”

He thought back, in that moment, to all the other moments that led to this. Hundreds of years of heartache and loss; never getting too close to anyone out of fear. Never before had his heart responded to anyone on this level. The legend was true and possibly he could be normal again. But for now, he had you.

“And from now on, you are my world.”