#I wasn’t sure how to depict energy weapons since I didn’t want it to just look like a gun

[riseandfallofsecunit]

Murderbot vs. Target One Round Two

[angelwings-crossbowstrings]

Whumpuary Day 15-16 & 25-26

Prompt: “You look awful.” | “I’m fine.”

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Fem!Reader

Warnings: Depictions of illness; vomiting; allusions to symptoms of stomach virus

A/N: Daryl’s human so humans with stomach bugs experience icky symptoms. There are allusions to those but nothing gross.

You were bouncing on the balls of your feet, your lip securely tucked between your teeth in anticipation. Carol chuckled behind you and patted a hand between your shoulder blades. 

“I think you’re actually vibrating, Y/N.” She laughed a little louder when you beamed at her before it softened into something a bit gentler. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone other than Judith so excited to see Daryl come back. Well, and me but that’s a given.”

“It’s been two weeks. I’ve been going out of my mind!” You made a crazy gesture with your hands and then clasped them together again and continued bouncing. 

“How does he do around all this…energy?” You went still and blinked at her, a great many questions swirling in your gaze. “No, no. It’s not a bad thing! You’re good for him. Great for him. I just wanted to make sure he’s not being a total grump and raining on your parade.”

Pursing your lips, you tilted your head. “No, not really. I mean, at first it was like he didn’t know what to do when I would do a cartwheel through the living room. He just stared a lot. But he smiled!” Daryl always smiled for you. In the beginning, it was only in private. All of it was. He was wary of you. 

You had lived in Alexandria since the beginning. Knowing now what you didn’t know then, he was justified in holding back, keeping secrets. When you had proven to be just the average person trying to survive, it was like a switch had flipped. He’d show up at your house unexpectedly. Sometimes you’d find him just sitting on the porch steps, having a cigarette. Other times, he’d actually knock and ask you to go for a walk. He even taught you how to defend yourself with and without weapons. He wouldn’t teach you to hunt though. Always said you’d scare off the game. 

Things evolved from there. It started small. Daryl wasn’t the type of man who enjoyed public displays of affection. Well, he wasn’t before you came along. He would still blush and duck his head if you kissed him in public. You were always the one to grab his hand but he never pulled away. Hugs were okay but he’d yelp (in a very manly way of course) when you’d grab or swat at his ass. 

It had been nearly two years and you couldn’t imagine life without the grumpy, quiet bowman. 

“I’m glad he found you.” Carol wrapped her arm around your shoulders, kissing the top of your head when you laid it against her. You were about to say something else when the shout came to open the gates. 

You jumped up and down, jostling the woman beside you but even as she laughed, you paid her no mind. Your eyes followed the man on the motorcycle. He rode through faster than he should have, something you always scolded him for but he’d only scoff at you. 

“You’re back!” You leapt on him, wrapping your legs around his waist, just as his boot touched the ground after dismounting the bike. “I missed you!”

“Ain’t been tha’ long.” He spoke into your shoulder. His arms held you steady but if he had let go, he would have found you securely latched to his front. 

“It’s been two weeks! That’s the equivalent of forever!” You pulled back and pouted at him, your lip jutting out further when he lowered you. “You hurt? Bring back all your parts?”

“Nah, M’good.” He answered tiredly. Your eyes narrowed when you realized how exhausted he actually looked; something off by the way he was even just standing still. 

“I think we should get you to bed and not for the fun stuff. Not yet anyway.” You stepped around him and retrieved his bag and crossbow, smacking his hand when he reached to take them from you. “I got it. Come on.” He was grumbling something about stubborn woman as he walked just beside you. 

You watched him from the corner of your eye, making certain to be discrete. Daryl would never openly show vulnerability, especially outside your home. He rarely let it be seen inside your home. At the very moment though, you weren’t sure if he realized he was doing it. His hand was clutching his stomach over his vest, fingers digging into the leather until his knuckles were white. His face was neutral but the pallor to his skin wasn’t something he could hide. 

You balanced his bag on your shoulder and opened the door for him, smiling cheerfully when he scowled at your special treatment. “Go on upstairs. You want a shower?”

“S’tha’ yer way’a tellin’ me I stink?”

“Yes, sir.” You noticed his hand had left his abdomen, but was flexing at his side. “You want something to eat? There’s some leftover venison stew that I could—”

The archer blanched, any color that was left present drained from his face while his throat visibly worked to swallow convulsively. Oh shit. Before you could even put down your burden, he dashed from your sight and into the downstairs bathroom, the sounds of his retching painful to hear. 

You placed his bag on the floor and the crossbow against the wall, walking quietly to the bathroom door. When you peeked around the doorframe, Daryl was on his knees, arms draped around the toilet seat with his forehead resting on his hands. He was no longer heaving but still spitting into the water below. 

You knew what his reaction would probably be but you couldn’t act like you didn’t care. “You okay?” The archer didn’t look up. He stretched out a leg and kicked the door shut. You had the good sense to not be in the way of the wooden barrier. 

You were expecting wounds and bruises, not stomach ailments. The medical supplies you had set up in the en-suite bathroom would remain there. You hadn’t seen much of him before he was sick and he could still have injuries that needed care. Now, you needed to add some fresh towels, clothes, and a basin of water with a cloth to put by the bed. You had some Tylenol from the infirmary, just in case he needed it for pain, not anticipating he’d probably need it for fever. 

There were a few cans of chicken noodle soup that you could drain the broth from later, but for now, until the nausea passed, you went downstairs for a few bottles of water. You doubted there was any ginger ale in the pantry but if you were able to see Carol or she came for a visit, you could ask. There was no way you were leaving him for it. 

Everything was set up, including the shower. You were hoping you could coax him in just to get him clean and comfortable. With a gentle knock on the door, you placed your forehead against it, wincing at the sounds coming from inside. Seemed like the toilet and sink were receiving his attention. 

Definitely a stomach virus, but you’d have to ask about what he’d eaten the past few days to rule out food poisoning and other gastric ailments. 

“Daryl? Are you okay?”

“Go ‘way.” The reply was gravelly and weak. 

“I’ll be in the kitchen.” You replied softly, promptly walking away from the door. He was going to be ultra embarrassed after that, so you had to handle things carefully. The last thing you or he needed was for him to try and run because he was ashamed of things he had no control over. 

You set about cleaning up the kitchen, though it barely needed it. You kept everything spotless most of the time. Daryl was always out doing physical jobs while you helped with inventory or delivered meals to the elderly residents. He didn’t need to worry about the state of your home when he was able to be there. 

It was about half an hour before you heard the toilet flush and the tap turn on. It ran for longer than usual. You assumed he was washing his hands and rinsing his mouth. His toothbrush was upstairs but you made a mental note to ask for two more to keep downstairs. 

You were leaning on the kitchen island when he finally emerged. He was drenched with sweat, his face flushed from embarrassment or fever. Maybe both. His belt was still undone but his pants were zipped and buttoned. Poor guy looked like a wreck. 

“Hey.” You called softly, earning his attention. “You look awful. Are you okay?”

He nodded, the movement jerky. “Thank christ fer indoor plumbin’.” He rasped, joining you on the other side of the island. He leaned forward and placed his forehead on the cool surface of the countertop with a sigh. 

“Did you eat anything weird while you were out?” You circled the structure to stand by him and rub his back in slow, soothing circles. 

The bowman rolled his head back and forth against the countertop. “Nah. Jus’ the regular expired canned shit we could find.” It made you sad to think that this was the norm now. Relying on food that was far past the date of recommended consumption. 

“When did you eat last?” You rubbed the back of his neck, his muscles stiff and knotted. 

“Yesterday afternoon. Wanted ta get back. Didn’ go lookin’ fer anythin’ today.”

Still could be food poisoning. You’d have to ask if anyone else was sick. “Let’s get you upstairs. Think you can shower?” Daryl straightened with a grimace before nodding. You met his gaze with a gentle smile, bringing up a hand to sweep the damp hair away from his eyes. “Come on then.” A hand on the small of his back gently urged him forward, his shuffling steps and unsteady gait giving him the appearance of a living walker. 

You trailed behind him up the stairs, braced and ready in case he lost his balance, but the ascent was successful without any tumbling. The archer was shedding clothing before even reaching the bathroom, down to his jeans and socks by the time he was standing in front of the shower. 

“Do you need me to stay?” It was a reluctant question. Daryl hated it when you hovered but he was sick and exhausted so it was an offer you had to give him. 

“Nah. M’fine.” He was unzipping his jeans when you pulled the bathroom door closed behind you. 

The shower began running moments later, so you busied yourself with grabbing your own pajamas, turning down the bed, and pulling a chair over to his side. As an afterthought, you placed the room’s small wastebasket there as well. The shower was still running when you heard the unmistakable sounds of another round of vomiting, your heart clenching at the painful noises. 

“Daryl?” You called loudly enough for him to hear through the door and over the spray of water. 

“M’…m’okay.” A low, strained answer from the other side. 

With nothing else to do, you sat down on the end of the mattress to wait for him. The toilet flushed but the shower continued for several more minutes. There was a brief silence followed by a shuffle of clothing, and the sounds of him brushing his teeth. 

When the door finally opened, he looked clean in his sweats and t-shirt but no less miserable. His hair was still damp, beads of water dripping from the ends. Even as undesirable as the situation was, it was hard not to take note of how normal he looked dressed like that. It was as if you were a couple before the end of the world, spending an evening at home in comfort and without fear. But the reality was that fear was always lingering. Always. 

“Bedtime for you, mister.” 

He couldn’t even manage to scowl at you properly, ending up with a tired frown dripping with resignation. He was slow to lower onto the bed and said nothing when you pulled the blankets over him. 

“Anything need stitched or bandaged?” You asked, brushing his hair away from his face. There was always a warmth that crept into your chest when he didn’t flinch away from your loving touches. 

“Jus’ a few bruises. Nothin’ ta worry ‘bout.” When you fixed him with a skeptical stare, he sighed. “Promise.” Daryl didn’t take that word lightly and never used it carelessly. 

“Okay, try to sleep.” You perched yourself on the chair, noticing he couldn’t be bothered to care. He turned onto his side, facing you with his legs drawn up slightly. His stomach was surely angry and cramping, muscles tired from heaving on top of feeling nauseous. There was no hesitation in your hand resting just below his knee, rubbing the area in what you hoped was a comforting gesture. 

He was asleep within moments. 

Watching him grimace and tense without waking, you let your mind build scenarios and how you would handle them. If Rick came knocking with requests of the archer, you’d kindly tell him to get bent. If Carol came over, you could get her to fetch some things for you that would help keep him comfortable while he recovered. If he continued vomiting and couldn’t keep down the water at the very least, you’d need to leave long enough to grab Denise. 

Daryl woke suddenly, lurching over the side of the bed to retch into the wastebasket you had been smart enough to grab earlier. There was nothing left but acidic bile to bring up but it sounded no less brutal. You could do nothing but keep his hair out of the way and rub his back. There was a moment of consideration. Maybe if you could alert Denise, she would have something for the nausea. 

That train of thought was interrupted by the hunter shakily pushing himself back up only to sag back against his pillow. 

“Sucks.” He mumbled, eyes closed.  “Ain’t been sick since…S’been a long time.”

You were gently rubbing his stomach which he either didn’t notice or it felt nice so he allowed it to continue. 

“It won’t last forever.” You whispered, watching as he dozed off again. 

He was still resting comfortably when the knock came on the front door downstairs. Reluctantly, you rose from the chair, taking just another second to brush Daryl’s hair away from his eyes. He mumbled something, turning his head away, but remained asleep. You wanted to be quick.You just weren’t willing to leave him alone for long. 

“Hey!” Carol greeted with that gentle smile of hers. After all she’d been through, even with her apprehension about settling there in Alexandria, she was able to keep that kindness. Especially when it came to Daryl. 

“Hey.” You said, turning to look anxiously at the stairs. 

“What’s wrong? Where’s Daryl?” When you turned back to her, the smile was gone, replaced with growing concern. 

“He’s asleep. I need a favor. He’s sick. Could you grab a few things for him? Anything he might be able to keep down.” The other woman was already nodding. “Maybe put a bug in Denise’s ear in case she has anything for nausea.”

“Is he alright? Really?” Carol was leaning closer toward the doorway. It was obvious she wanted to go to him. 

“Yeah, he’s okay for now. He hasn’t thrown up in an hour or so but when he first got back…” You trailed off, looking back at the stairs again. “Could you please do all that for me? Then maybe come upstairs and see him? I know he won’t want anyone else seeing him like this. But you and me? We don’t count.” You smiled, knowing it was true. Carol and yourself were the only people Daryl was fully comfortable relaxing around. 

“You got it. I’ll be back soon.”

“I’ll leave the door unlocked.” You watched her swiftly descend the porch steps before closing the door and nearly sprinting up the stairs. The bowman was still sound asleep when you returned to the bedroom. He still looked pale but there was no fever, no signs of dehydration just yet. 

You made yourself comfortable in the chair, drawing up one knee to rest your chin on it. You’d be his silent sentinel until he was better. 

Whether he liked it or not. 

[swordgayist]

cultural appropriation in ATLA (hinduism edition)

i’m sure there’s already a ton of posts about this, but whatever, i’m still making one idc. 

ATLA’s cultural appropriation, everyone knows about it, the white people don’t speak about it, and the asian and indigenous people get ignored. we know the cycle. but i wanted to come here and highlight some of the most prominent examples of ATLA abusing hinduism, as i am kinda sorta hindu (i was raised in a hindu household, i go to chinmaya mission, that kinda shit). i might forget some things so keep that in mind.

this is gonna be divided into 3 main sections, since there are different ways that they disrespect hinduism that i don’t wanna lump together.

and i’d say i know a lot about hinduism but that doesn’t make me an expert, obviously, so if other hindus have anything to add and/or correct then please do !! and if anyone else wants to share how their cultures were appropriated then please do that as well !!

so let’s get started shall we?

appropriating hinduism

1) the avatar

we’ll start with the most obvious example: the avatar itself

i know that there are parts of the avatar mythos that are taken from other cultures as well but the idea of the avatar itself is primarily from hinduism.

basically in hinduism, the term dashavatara refers to the 10 reincarnations of lord vishnu (the god of preservation), with avatar(a) meaning form or incarnation in sanskrit, and das(a) meaning ten. it was said that whenever the world was out of balance, lord vishnu would come down to earth in a certain form to restore balance. Each reincarnation is considered a different life with a different story. the avatars of lord vishnu are often considered the saviors of the world.

so basically, the central idea of the show and the actual name of the show is largely based on hinduism.

2) chakras

many different indian religions have a concept of chakras (chakra meaning wheel or circle in sanskrit), but hinduism is the one that primarily preaches the system of seven chakras, the version used in ATLA.

chakras connect the physical body to the ‘subtle’ body (referring more to the spirit and the psyche) by connecting parts of the body to aspects of the mind. the idea is that through different forms of steady meditation you can manipulate the different chakras and allow the pure flow of energy through the body.

the whole idea of chakras on ATLA is that aang has to unblock them all to let the cosmic energy flow through him so that he can go into the avatar state at will. so yeah, pretty much that whole idea was taken from hinduism.

3) terminologies

these are just a few terms that were taken from hinduism. i’m pretty sure there are more that i can’t think of right now but yeah.

“agni” kai 

i’ll be honest i don’t know where the ‘kai’ part is from, i don’t think it’s from hinduism but if it is well fuck me i guess.  ‘agni’ in hinduism is the god of fire, so the creators used it in ‘agni kai’, the name for a firebending duel.

“bumi”

this is in reference to the hindu word for ‘earth’, which is bhoomi. this is also in reference to our goddess of earth, bhoomi devi. also this doesn’t really bother me but i wonder if the creators knew that bhoomi is a name typically used for women (as are most hindi names ending in ‘i’/‘ee’).

in general, concepts like having multiple complex gods (the spirits) who are capable of good and evil and the reincarnation cycle are prominent in a lot of asian cultures, including (and arguably primarily) hinduism.

mocking hinduism

now we get into the mockery of hinduism in ATLA, because it is very much there.

1) whoever the fuck that baboon guy in the spirit world was

now what the fuck was this.

i mean i wouldn’t say this is the most egregious example of them making fun of brown people but lord why did this even need to be there? this random guy from the spirit world has an indian accent ? and is fervently chanting ‘om’ for some reason, and it’s clearly meant to be seen as comical. also portraying brown people as monkeys....... really.

2) combustion man/sparky sparky boom man

when rewatching ATLA in 2019 i actually had no idea that this was a thing, because the last time i had watched it was as a kid and i didn’t finish it.

so lord was i in for a surprise when i saw...

now... now what.

if you didn’t know, combustion man’s ‘third eye’ is designed to replicate the hindu god of destruction, lord shiva. right down to the vibhuti on his forehead (referring to the three line markings around the third eye).

in hinduism, lord shiva’s third eye is used to reduce people to ashes, though as far as i can recall, not very frequently. the primary significance of the third eye is that it represents the ability of higher spiritual thought and higher consciousness.

the ATLA writers take the ACTUAL significance of the third eye, throw it out the window, and then take its destructive abilities to make a super duper cool and dangerous new firebending technique.

and if that wasn’t bad enough, the actual person who uses this technique, and is meant to emulate a GOD who is PRAISED, is a scary, burly, half metal man who is a villain and an assassin. not to mention the design of his facial hair replicates that super duper scary “terrorist” depiction of brown people, particularly of muslims, that white people are so thoroughly terrified of for no reason. 

this is a parody of a god, and they portrayed him as this terrifying, maniacal fucking assassin who, along with p’li, the combustion bender from LOK, is constantly referred to as a “third-eyed freak”. i’ve made this analogy before and i’ll do it again, this is like making jesus into a hitman.

now onto my favorite example...

3) guru pathik

ah, this motherfucker.

i don’t really have any problems with him as a character, i mean hell, must’ve taken a fuck ton of patience to handle aang’s “why would choose cosmic energy over katara” bullshit.

but we all know it, we see it plain as day, don’t even try to deny it.

“guru” literally just means teacher or guide, so i don’t really know why pathik needed to be referred to as “guru” so distinctively from aang’s other teachers and guides, but that’s just extremely trivial compared to all the other issues with this character.

first of all what is this character design? what is he even wearing? if they’re trying to replicate the clothes of swamis and priests and stuff this is already wrong, realized people don’t dress like this. and why the fuck does he have an indian accent? and why was this indian accent done by a non indian (brian george)?

once again, the poor but extremely heavy indian accent is clearly meant to be mocking, if it wasn’t, they wouldn’t’ve gone out of their way to get a non indian person to DO an indian accent, and instead they would’ve just gotten an actual indian person to play the role. 

and oh yeah, the onion and banana juice. because hindus just eat weird shit right.

whether it’s actually weird or not, the show certainly portrays it as weird. and as far as i know no hindu actually fucking drinks onion and banana juice.

ironic because brown people can absolutely destroy white people in cooking. but i digress.

i know what you’re all waiting for. because the guru apparently didn’t have enough fun with guru pathik, so they just had to come back to him in book 3:

where do i begin.

so this is obviously john o’bryan’s super funny and hilarious depiction of pathik as a hindu god.

usually when a god has multiple arms it’s to carry an array of things, from flowers to weapons to instruments, and one hand is typically free to bless devotees (ie. goddess durga and lord vishnu respectively):

but of course white people see this as weird and so they make fun of it, hence guru pathik having multiple arms just flailing about aimlessly (save for the two that are being used to carry the aforementioned onion and banana juice).

then there’s the whole light behind pathik’s head which is usually depicted in drawings of hindu gods to show that they are celestial.

also what the fuck is he holding? is that supposed to be a veena? because this is what a veena looks like:

and i assume the reason this was added was to mock the design of goddess saraswathi, who carries a veena:

but that right there in the picture of pathik looks more like a tambura than a veena. 

and it also just kinda looks like a banjo?

but i guess the animators just searched up “long indian instrument” and slapped it on there. actually no, that’s giving them too much credit, they probably didn’t search it up at all. 

and then the actual scene is pathik singing crazily about chakras tasting good or something while playing the non-veena and it’s all supposed to be some funky crazy hallucination that aang is having due to sleep deprivation. just some crazy dream, just as crazy as talking appa and momo sparring with swords or tree-ozai coming to life.

our gurus and swamis and sadhus and generally realized people are very respected in hinduism, they’re people we look up to and honor very much. and our GODS are beings that we literally worship. and the writers just take both and make caricatures out of them for other white people to laugh at.

4) other shit

before we move to the next portion i just wanna mention there are also smaller backhanded jabs that i can’t really remember now, but one example was when zuko was all “we’ll be sure to remember that, guru goody goody”. or when a character would meditate and say “om” only when the meditation is supposed to be portrayed as comical or pointless. or in bitter work when sokka was rambling on about karma. small things like that. but moving on.

south asian representation, or lack thereof

now i finally get to the “losing” hinduism part. by this i mean the lack of actual representation there is of south asians (the region where hinduism is primarily practiced) despite the fact that hinduism plays such a big role in the show’s world design.

i think it’s safe to say that broadly the main cast consists of aang, katara, sokka, zuko, toph, azula, iroh, mai, ty lee, and suki. 

a grand total of none of these characters are south asian. the writers don’t even attempt to add any south asian main characters. 

there are characters with dark skin, like haru and jet, but a) they’re not confirmed to be south asian and don’t have any south asian features or south asian names, b) they’re side characters, so they don’t count as representation, and c) even if they were south asian and main characters, jet wouldn’t even count because he’s portrayed as a terrorist.

the ONLY truly south asian character we get is fucking guru pathik. so yeah. not representation.

i don’t get how the creators of this show rip off of hinduism (among many other south asian cultures they rip off of), mock indians, and then don’t even have the decency to HAVE a main character who is south asian.

i’ve never gotten a chance to compile all this, and this definitely isn’t all the creators have done, but i hope this was somewhat informative.

[dreamii-yume]

IF YOU WRITE FOR GENSHIN I CAN DIE HAPPY 💖💖💖

THE DARLINGS HAVE SPOKEN. You are the representative.

...Testing...the waters of Genshin Impact..._:('ཀ'」 ∠): Might as well try it on the character that gets lewd less in this fandom lol

I welcome you, Dear Darlings, a Genshin Impact Sinfic written by someone who doesn't play or know anything about the game. I'm just really hornii.

♥︎♥︎ CHONGYUN ♥︎♥︎

♥︎ WARNINGS ♥︎

Yandere | Non-Con | Unhealthy Relationships | Angst | Depictions of Violence

♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎

Darling wanted to be the best friend that Chongyun could ever have, but even someone as kind as her have their own limitations...Too bad she herself didn't know that until it was all too late.

♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎

The first time it happened, it was an accident and quite frankly...It was your fault.

You already built a fairly decent friendship with the blue-haired exorcist ever since he came up to you, inquiring about evil spirits and such. At first you thought he was just another mischievous kid trying to pull a prank on you, but it soon became apparent to you of how serious he really was. He didn't look like he's someone who can lie about something like this either, with a such straight face nonetheless.

So, you gave me him honest answers about what you know, apologizing when he looked disappointed about it. Maybe it was early at that time where you've already grown a soft spot for the exorcist, lifting his spirits up by suggesting him a place that could very well be a hive of evil spirits. After all, even if you were nothing but a mere residence of Liyue, you were still confident of your knowledge when it comes the nation's different wonders.

...But of course, every other place you've accompanied him to had the same story as the others and thus, no evil spirits were around…Or at least, no evil spirits were around by the time the two of you got there. However, borne out of that journey was a new-found friendship between you and Chongyun, so it wasn't entirely out of naught.

When a bunch of hilichurls appeared out of nowhere coming in to attack the both of you, you were left astonished as the exorcist immediately came diving onto danger himself. With such a huge and heavy weapon, he strikes down his opponents in the most elegant of movements you've ever seen. His Cryo Vision aided him within every attack, giving you a slight attraction in the process and a cool, refreshing breeze drifted against the wind. Suffice to say, you were more than impressed and thanked him whole-heartedly, unconsciously taking his hand against yours out of excitement.

Recalling back, that was the first time you've seen him actively avoiding the trigger for his condition. He retracted his hands away from you, not in rude kind of way but in a genuinely concerned manner. That's when he explained his rare constitution, about his congenital positivity and how this excessive positive yang energy he speaks of can affect him and everything else around him. He told you about what he's not allowed to have or feel; Anything that accumulates heat and strong emotions, even intense thoughts alone are flying triggers.

It was your first time hearing such a condition, so you couldn't say that you understand it very well. But if it was something that he was actively warning you about, you were willing to go with what you understand for now and respected his wishes...Looking back at it now, you wished you could've been more straight-forward and asked him to elaborate even further. Maybe then, you would've had avoided a mistake that would ultimately lead you to an undesirable future.

That future didn't happen until a few months later as you kept contact with Chongyun and often found yourself enjoying spending time with him. Having been born into a simple family yourself, you weren't exactly the adventure type of person. Fighting wasn't in your blood, and you aren't very adept with any weapons, you're embarrassed to even say that you aren't very physically active like most people your age. Adventuring with lacking skills in the great depths of Liyue Harbor, let alone in Teyvat is practically a death wish that you wouldn't want to make. You were just someone who prefers to stay inside and live your life as it is, until Chongyun came in and sparked that sense of curiosity within you.

It was selfish, but perhaps it may be because you were with someone who was chosen by one of the seven Archons, someone who holds the abilities of a protector that you feel a sense of security with. You were finally able to explore the secrets of your nation without having to fear for an ambush or death. But still, as much as it felt nice being able to do such a thing, you couldn't get over at how you were practically using Chongyun's naivety and occupation to go wherever you like. You were essentially taking advantage of his skills, and it just didn't sit right with you...It felt wrong, so you wanted to make up for it at least.

You ended up inviting him to dinner one day, in your very own lovely home to serve him food as a gift. You weren't as talented as the chefs from Wanmin Restaurant in terms of culinary, but you were well enough to put a smile on people's faces. "Ah, but surely you know how my services are free of charges? Compensation is not needed; I only do what I must." You remembered Chongyun refusing your offer at first, his humble self had strike to you as sweet and innocent, but you persisted.

"Then, think of it as a treat from a friend if you will." You kept on insisting, not allowing him to go without even considering your suggestion. A few more convincing later, Chongyun's impeccable resistance finally crumbled down and with a sigh, accepted your tempting offer.

Of course, you made sure to keep his personal body condition at mind, making sure to avoid using ingredients that could harm him physically and mentally. But at this point, you weren't aware of the full extent of what congenital positivity can offer nor realized how serious it really is. You kept obvious ingredients at bay, but naively kept the ones that looked insignificant enough to not be a trigger.

Who knew a sprinkle of grounded black pepper can lead you in such a situation?

♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎

Continue the Spice~?

I was reading @cinnamonest 's Genshin Dicc Headcanons (Chongyun's Yandere Profile in general too (OwO) ) and found myself thinking, huh...Chongyun sounds like he has a really cold dicc and thus, this NASTY was born.

[trexy225]

DSD-Chapter 11: Synergy (18+)

Summary: It turns out that you and Otto work better than you could have ever imagined.

TW/CW!!

Sm*t, graphic depictions of violence, murder

This gif has nothing to do with it I found it while looking for synergy gifs and I thought it was funny because Florida.

You woke up screaming, you drew a knife and jumped out of your bed… Wait, your bed? How the hell did you get there? You looked around, your hands trembling.

“Hey,” Gwen said, you swung around, your eyes wild. You tried to get something out, but you just dropped the knife and collapsed on the bed, you were exhausted, you had no more energy. Gwen sighed as she put the knife back into your knife drawer. She decided it was probably safer to just put all your weapons away, she ended up removing several single-shot pistols, two handguns, a grenade, throwing stars, a few more knives, and a luna bar… How the hell did she carry all of that? Gwen shook her head and opened her laptop to look up how to fix a broken nose as well as concussion symptoms… You both had shit health insurance so the internet became your healthcare provider because America. 

You woke up, this time not screaming, but your body was screaming out in pain… You knew that made no sense, but you were so fucked up you couldn’t think straight.

“Heh… just like I’m not straight.” you giggled, Gwen rubbed her forehead.

“Ok, obviously you got hit in the head pretty hard… and your nose.”

You touched your nose and cried out in pain.

“Don’t touch it you dumbass! Ok, we need to get you to the ER to fix that but first, we need to wash all that blood off.” Gwen looked at your body, which still had the white dragom gangs dried blood on you.

“Gwen, Gwen, look at me, look at me.” You slurred, Gwen looked up at you.

“...hi.” 

“Ok, get into the tub.” Gwen helped you get up, you booped your nose again and you winced, everything hurt.

“Stop touching your nose!” Gwen snapped.

“I’m tryinggggg.” You sat on the toilet as Gwen turned on the bathtub, she helped clean you, you were babbling incoherently about Star Wars and WWE lore.

“And then Otis joined Alpha Acadamy but they’re not nice to him-”

“I know Hana, I watched it with you.” “I know I’m just like sorting it all out… Do you think I will be a heel or a face?” 

“...I always liked the heels, they’re much more fun, but I think I would want to see you turn into a face at some point.”

“Yaassss a redemption storyyyy!” you cried out in pain and Gwen worked faster, she dried you off and put you in a baggy t-shirt and sweatpants with some crocs, she put your hair in a messy bun and gave a nod of approval.

“Ok, let’s go, I called an uber.” Gwen grabbed her bag and led you outside, everything hurt. 

“I can’t believe I have to go to the ER… I’ve survived worse!” you complained as you got into the car.

“Hana, I want to make sure you’re ok… Eli was really shaken up when he dropped you off.”

“Wait, Eli dropped me off? Did he… did he tell you what happened?”

“Yes, he did. If Otto wasn’t there-”

“Wait, when did Otto show up?” “After you got knocked out… I think we need to get out of here before it’s too late, Hiro would never have-” “Well, Hiro’s not here, ok? And I’m a big girl, I can make my own choices… And you and I both know that it’s already too late for me… So I might as well just finish what I started.”

“...I hate that you have a good point… Even though I hate it.”

“I hate it too Gwen, but I’m getting somewhere, I know now that Hiro was working with Mr. Negative… or that Mr. Negative is involved somehow.” Gwen perked up at that “You do?”

“Yes, can you try and get anything off of that?” You asked hopefully.

“Probably…” 

The ER was surprisingly quick and easy… The bill wasn’t however.

“...I can probably do a few assassinations for other clients, that would get us back on track.” you offered, it had been a week since the accident, Eli promised that he would cover your shifts, you didn’t deserve a friend like him. You were finally feeling better and you were planning on going back tomorrow, you hated sitting still, you felt useless.

“No, no I can do double shifts at the diner-”

“Gwen, this is my fault, I can deal with it, you’ve already done so much.” You said firmly.

“You’re so stubborn,” Gwen muttered.

“Yep… We have three more weeks until Mr. Negative comes back, that should be plenty of time to prepare,” you muttered to yourself.

“You’re not dead!!!” Eli pulled you into a hug, you laughed and hugged him back.

“I’m not easy to kill, thank you for taking me home and covering my shifts.” You said.

“It was nothing, Aarons been helping as well,” he gestured to Aaron, who was cleaning his guns, and he gave a small wave.

“Thanks, Aaron!” you called out.

“No problem! Glad to see that you’re ok!” He yelled back.

“Isn’t he the sweetest?” Eli swooned, you smiled as you went to the bulletin board, you weren’t booked for any Kingpin missions, so you were hoping to do some jobs for extra cash, you snatched up several assassination requests and checked out the laundry van and an outfit, Tombstone gave you a nod and you left to carry out the missions, you made 50k… That made things a bit better, you went to the bank to cash it all in, it was owned by Fisk, so you were able to deposit large amounts of money in, and he would launder it through. As you waited in line you heard screaming outside, you turned around and ducked just in time to get out of the way of a car which crashed through the glass, the man behind you wasn’t so lucky, however, you felt bile in the back of your throat. The people you killed had it coming… You made sure of that, but seeing seemingly innocent people die… That made you sick to your stomach.

“Not again…” you heard the bank teller grumble as she got down, you stayed on the ground but were ready to spring up in case another car came hurtling towards you. And then you saw none other than Doc Ock crash through the bank, you saw a flash of red and blue and Spiderman followed close behind, you watched the two fight, although they were causing a shit ton of property damage… They were mesmerizing to watch. Otto spotted you and stopped, one of the actuators wrapped itself around Spiderman, disabling him for a moment.

“Hana?” He asked.

“Hey, Doctor! Just… you know, cashing my check-in.” You told him, you decided to try and be nicer to him, he did save your life, after all, it was the least you could do… although you didn’t like being indebted to him.

“I’m glad to see that you’re doing alright.” 

“Yes, I’m happy about that too… Thank you for saving me.”

“It was no problem at all, I found more footage, I was hoping we could meet up tonight and exchange favors?” he asked. 

You turned red and nodded, Otto smiled. 

“Awwww! Doc you never told me you had a girlfriend!” Spiderman teased.

“I’m not his girlfriend,” you said.

“Sorry, sorry my bad… But he’s helping you?” “Yeah.”

“Awww Doc has a sweet spot!” Spiderman swooned, and you laughed.

“Shut it,” Otto growled, tightening his grip.

“We’ll move this somewhere else so you can go about your day,” Spiderman said as he burst free from Otto's grip, he swung away and Otto shouted after him as he chased the superhero.

“Are you making a deposit or withdrawal?” The teller asked as if this were a common occurrence… It probably was if you thought about it. 

“Umm yes… A deposit is someone going to…” you gestured to the man.

“Yes, someone will take care of him.” she took the money.

“How often does that happen?” you asked.

“To the point where it’s easier to detach yourself from the situation instead of going insane with guilt.” The woman said.

“Oh…”

“I recommend wiring this money next time, much more efficient… and safer.” 

“I’ll do that, thank you.” You hurried out of the building and headed back, it was getting dark out, time flies when you’re assassinating random people and trying to not get hit by flying cars. 

“She seems nice, I’m happy for you Doc.” Spiderman quipped as he punched Otto in the face. “Can you please let me kill you?!” He roared, lunging for him.

“You know… There’s a soft spot in there, I just know it.” the superhero swore.

“You know-”

“...Your girlfriend’s in trouble, in an alley off Park ave, that way.” Spiderman pointed in the direction, Otto stopped fighting for a moment and looked at him quizzingly. 

“Why are you telling me this?” He asked.

“So you DO admit she’s your girlfriend!” Spiderman clapped his hands triumphantly, Otto scoffed as he threw the superhero into a building. “We’ll finish this later.” he snapped.

“Good luck Doc!” he heard his nemesis call out… He hated that kid so much.

No, we can kill him now! 

No, no it needs to be perfect.

I savor the taste of his blood against my metal-

“Jesus, I have problems…” Otto muttered as he went to help you.

You took a shortcut through an alley, a creeping sensation crept up your back… You were being followed, you turned around to see fifteen fucking men following you, you stopped and glared at them, you spotted the familiar dragon tattoos on your neck and you cursed. You heard metal clanking and smiled as Otto dropped down next to you.

“Haven’t we killed ten of these…hooligans?” Otto groaned.

“I killed eleven of them.” You corrected him, you found his vocabulary charming, if not a bit dated… but at the same time, you remembered plenty of college friends who spoke like that as well.

“When was that?” he asked.

“I got the men from the security tapes all boozed up, lured them in, and killed them,” you answered, drawing two long knives, ugh your family sword would be so cool right now… But it was back home, and ceremonial… You lost your last one, you had to get another… Your thoughts were cut off by a gunshot, one of Otto's actuators blocked it and he smiled.

“Shall we?” You grinned “We shall, launch me.” 

Otto let out a chuckle as one of the actuators swung you towards them, your knives sliced through four necks, they collapsed to the floor, you had plunged your knives in two others before they even had time to react, you drew two more knives as you twirled, one man tripped you and aimed his gun at your head, but one of ottos actuators grabbed him and hung him upside down, you slit his throat, Otto's other actuators had grabbed three other men, Otto threw them up in the air, you drew your pistol and shot them all, like shooting ducks… No, no you couldn’t think like that… then you remembered your brother's phone call, that laugh that haunted your dreams, you yelled as you turned around to shoot another man, who was running at you, you got him in the temple, a man stabbed you in the arm and you cried out in pain, you shot him through the heart and he collapsed, Otto held the remaining three in place for you, you grit your teeth, fighting back the pain, and you killed them all. You and Otto stared at the massacre… And then you laughed, you took off your jacket and wrapped it around your wound, you hissed in pain. The knife was still stuck in your arm, it hurt like hell, Otto's triumphant expression fell when he saw the injury.

“Hana…” he started.

“Oh no, no I’m fine… Did you just see what we did to those guys?” you gave a breathy laugh, you were feeling faint.

“Do you need help?” Otto asked, grabbing your non-injured arm for stability.

“I need to get back to The Underground, we have an ex-military doctor who deals with these things.” “Ok… can you walk?” “Of course, I can walk.” you started to walk into a wall, but Otto steered you towards the right direction, the two of you walked back, leaving the bloodbath behind you… Something was wrong with you… You needed therapy, but to pay for therapy you had to have money, and to get enough money you had to do the jobs that made you need therapy-

“We worked quite well together.” Otto interrupted your thoughts, you looked at him, you had always seen him under dim lighting, and although it was golden hour, you had to admit that he was quite handsome. 

“Yeah, yeah we did… It was amazing actually, like we’re both such strong fighters but I felt even stronger-”

“When I fought with you.” Otto finished, you looked at him and smiled.

“Yeah… Like that.” you wanted to talk more, but you were too lightheaded to focus on anything else besides walking. Otto held your hand as Dr. Smith took care of the stab wound, you were grateful to have him with you.

“Come back when your scar is healed so I can add it to the board… and your page.” Dr. Smith handed you some painkillers and gave you a warm smile, it was hard to believe that he fought in Vietnam. 

“I’m sorry, the board?” Otto asked, raising an eyebrow.

You gestured to the huge bulletin board, which was littered with polaroids of scars in every shape, size, and weapon. 

“It’s easier to joke about it.” You explained

“And you’re already on your third page in the scrapbook.” Dr. Smith added.

“I’m assuming that this scrapbook has photos of everyone's scars, but grouped together for each person?” Otto asked.

“Yep! Thanks again Dr. Smith.” You smiled as you left, Otto following close behind you. You swung by to look at your schedule for the night and turned red, you turned around to Otto.

“You have another lead for me? We-We’re scheduled.” 

“Yes, but I can just give it to you, you don’t need to-” “No, no I owe you enough already… Come on.” You led him to an escort room, you avoided the room that read Out of Commission. You led him into one of the rooms and put on the Do Not Disturb sign. 

“You just got stabbed Hana-” “I always get stabbed, what do you want?” you asked.

“I was hoping to…”

“Otto, just spit it out.” You said.

“Have sex, I was hoping to have sex.” Otto finally said, you smiled.

“One sec, you get ready.” you went into the bathroom to put the condom in, you caught yourself in the mirror, you were blushing furiously.

Pull yourself together! You can’t get attached, you’re here to get information, and you’re doing this so you don’t have to owe him anything. You glared at your reflection for good measure, Otto was sitting awkwardly on the bed… you smiled as you sat on his lap, facing him, you started to move your hips, Otto groaned at that motion, you already felt his hard-on… and you were already getting wet… You realized that you’ve wanted this again, you tilted Otto's chin up and pulled him into a kiss, you tasted the familiar tones of cigar smoke and whiskey… you wanted more, you felt Otto's tongue pry open your mouth and you moaned, he slowly took off your shirt and bra, you traced your fingers along his chest, you loved his “dad bod”, you realized that you always had. His rough fingers circled your tits and you drew back, gasping for air.

“Oh Otto…” you sighed, his touch felt amazing.

“What do you want my dear?” he growled.

“You… Take me Otto.” you moaned.

“Beg,” he ordered, that just made you even wetter, you looked into his eyes. “Please, fuck me, fuck me senseless,” you begged, Otto smiled and he pulled you in for another kiss, he rolled you over and took off your pants, his beard tickled you as his lips trailed down until his face was in between your legs… Not a lot of your clients had done that before, and a man had never done it… This was nice. It was amazing when his tongue met your clit, you arched your back and moaned, who was this man, and what did they do to the stammering Otto who couldn’t even ask you to fuck him minutes before? You couldn’t think about that as another wave of pleasure hit you, his tongue circled your throbbing clit, and you dug your fingers through his hair, his beard was making everything so much better, you had to stop enjoying this… but it felt so fucking good, you were about to climax until Otto drew away, smiling at you, you frowned.

“You taste amazing my dear.” 

“Then why the hell did you stop?” you asked.

“We’re not finished my dear… and you come when I tell you to come, do you understand?” he asked as he unbuckled his pants, you nodded. “That’s a good girl…” he growled, he lay down next to you, one of his actuators lifted you up, you let out a laugh, which turned into a gasp as it lowered you onto his hard rod, Otto let his head fall back, you started to move up and down, each motion sent a wave of pleasure over you, and you could tell that the same effect was happening on Otto. He grabbed your waist and led you through the motions, having you lean a bit more to the side, which made things so much better, he picked up the pace, and you moaned as he went in and out, in and out, and in and out again.

“Oh fuck…” you whimpered, you were getting close.

“Not yet my dear.” Otto groaned, you felt his cock twitch inside you, your thighs were starting to shake in anticipation.

“Please Otto…” you begged, Otto did one last big thrust, causing you to cry out in pleasure, he nodded and you let it all out, he did the same, you collapsed next to him, still shaking from the orgasm, you looked down and saw his cum leaking out of your pussy, you shuddered with ecstasy and got up to pee. You took the condom out and let out a whistle… there was a lot in there. You cleaned up a bit and then went back to Otto, who was still recovering on the bed, you snuggled up next to him, he wrapped his arms around you, you inhaled the scent of cigar smoke and whiskey, and smiled.

“That was…” you started.

“Incredible.” Otto finished, he kissed the nape of your neck and you sighed. 

“Can we just… stay here? I don’t want to leave this… I don’t want to leave you.” You confessed, he had grown on you, you didn’t know if it was just the mindblowing sex or genuine feelings… But you knew he cared about you, and you needed to feel safe, you hadn’t felt safe in a while, but with Otto, you finally felt safe. 

“Of course.” Otto pulled you in closer and you drifted off to sleep.

Your chances with her have increased to 70%. Flo informed Otto.

Congrats. Mo grumbled.

It seems like he should have a higher probability. Harry said.

No, she’s scared of the emotional attachment, she does not want to lose any more loved ones. Larry informed him.

“How do you know all of this?” Otto whispered to not wake you up, he was brushing his fingers through your hair gently. 

We do our research, Otto.

“...I don’t believe that I feel comfortable talking to you all about this,” Otto admitted.

Well, you can’t get rid of us.

We only want to help.

…she can help us kill Spiderman?

Yes! Yes! She can help us kill Spiderman! 

I want to hear his bones break…

And his flesh tear…

And-

“Alright, that’s enough! I understand that we all want to kill Spiderman… But please, please let me have this night with my dear Hana?” Otto pleaded.

…Fine. Flo said, the rest of the actuators fell silent, Otto let out a sigh of relief as he continued brushing his hands through your hair, he couldn’t deny it at this point… he loved you. He loved you so much, and he wasn’t going to let anything happen to you, he didn’t think he could handle it if anything did.

[tigerseye46]

A Hero Is Born (Red Shark/Sand Au)

Summary: After being dismissed by Guanyin after centuries under their teaching, Red arrived at the city to live a normal life, hiding his identity and powers. He has spent four years in the city and works at Culinary Cicada, content with how he is now. He didn’t expect his life to change one day.

A/N: Finally got this done. There are going to be rarepairs but aren’t the main focus for this chapter so I didn’t tag it. Sun Wukong’s alias is Sun Hàoyú 昊瑜 meaning “vast and limitless excellence.” Zhu Bajie’s alias is Zhu Xiùliàng 秀亮 meaning “refined light.” Sorry if these aren’t good aliases. I know Sha Wujing’s staff can’t control water, but in this au, it can. He learned how to do that after the journey. Also I want to say thank you all my anons and others who put in ideas for this au! It made it really fun! Anyway enjoy!

AO3 Link

Red would admit he didn’t care much for the legends as other people did. He had been a small part of those legends so they weren’t extraordinary to him (not that he had revealed that information to anyone). 

But Mr. Sun and Tang always loved to talk about them, especially the latter, so he listened to the elders. Today was one of those days. A special day that would change his life forever. 

“The thing you need to understand, bud, is that the old legends are never finished. While there may be no pages left to turn, there is always more. Years ago, the Spider Queen and her army attacked. No one could stop them, no one except… Sha Wujing. Using his crescent moon spade, he trapped the Spider Queen under a mountain. He made it so no one else could wield it and he trapped her forever.”

“With the battle won, Sha Wujing… disappeared and was never seen again. It is said that the spade remains there, preventing our world from being destroyed. Because of him, civilization was able to prosper into the awesome world we see today. All thanks to Sha Wujing!”

Red hummed as he leaned against the counter. “That’s cool I guess.”

Mr. Sun scoffed. “Just cool? You know how many people would love that story?”

“I’m just not that impressed by it.”

“How dare you. You always react to the stories that way. Thought that one would bring more excitement.”

“Well, I’m not your audience. You’re not putting on a play for me.”

“At least you listen anyway.”

“That I do. I do think Sha Wujing is more impressive than say the Sun Wukong or Zhu Bajie.” At least he didn’t attack him as much as the others.

Sun appeared as if he was offended by the statement. “He is impressive… I like the Monkey King better,” he muttered. “Anyway, you know the deal. One peach soup.”

“Yea, yea. You got it.” He attempted to pass the bowl but it was quickly taken away by Tang.

“Not so fast. You left out so many details, Hàoyú. No extensive details of how he defeated the Spider Queen? He’s a hero! He deserves a better explanation than that.”

With an eye roll, Hàoyú responded, “Whatever.” He made grabby hands at the bowl. “Can I have my soup now?”

“No. You’re a scholar, tell the story accurately or I might go to your rival.” Sun huffed at the mention. “I could do better, better than those stupid depictions of Sha Wujing, no one can really capture his handsomeness, huh?” He cleared his throat, the small blush on his cheeks fading away. “Anyway, Red, you have orders to take out. Get to it!”

“I was about to take my break.”

“Break? You've been taking a break all morning. How is Culinary Cicada supposed to flourish if you’re slacking off?”

He began pushing Red, rumpling the other’s lotus print shirt. He shoved takeout bags in his hands then sent him out. The human heard a slurp behind him. He spun around to see Sun had stolen the soup back. Furrowing his brows, he suggested, “How about you tell an actually good and detailed story about Sha Wujing and you keep the bowl?”

“You just love hearing about your crush. Alright, it’s a deal.”

————

Red entered an abandoned construction site, whistling a tune under their breath and focusing on their phone. He paused when he heard a voice. “It’s amazing that you’ve finally done it! Are you ready, you two?”

A nasally voice replied, “For the last time, Goliath, we’re almost done.”

“Sorry, Syntax! I’m just so excited!”

“You can’t blame uncle Goliath’s excitement, dad.”

“Hmph. Well, try to hold it in for a bit longer.”

The demon hid behind some rocks. He spotted three spiders and a human surrounding a mountain.

One spider towered over the group, he fiddled with his fingers nervously, indicating that despite being the giant, he was probably the most gentle one out there.

Another had his hands behind his back, tapping his feet impatiently.

The third was tinkering with an invention, a device strapped to his back. The human was beside the third, he had a purple bandanna with two green marks, almost like eyes, wrapped around his forehead and a black coat with white fur.

“Because of you two, we can lift Sha Wujing’s spade!”

Red moved higher up and looked at the glowing object. The duck beside him quacked out of surprise. What was a duck doing here? Whatever. It wasn’t important.

“Sha Wujing’s spade,” he whispered.

“The spider clan will be restored!” Goliath’s shoulders briefly bounced up in surprise. “Huh?”

Huntsman was on top of the mountain and started reaching for the weapon. “Huntsman,” Syntax yelled. “Don’t do that!”

“Whatever, nerd.” He gripped it and instantly got zapped by it which sent him crashing into a wall.

Syntax stood over him. “Idiot. This is the hundredth time you’ve tried this. You think you would have learned your lesson by now. We’ve clarified that he made it so only someone worthy would wield it.”

“Which is why we have this.” The human gestured to the power glove. “Don’t worry. I’ve got this.”

“Hmph, brat.”

“Go ahead, Xiaotian.” Syntax pulled Huntsman up, their cheeks becoming green for the slightest second before they focused on the kid.

Xiaotian strolled up to the weapon and pulled on it with the glove. Sparks danced until he was able to rip it off. He held it high in the air and shouted in triumph, “Look at what I did!” Goliath and Syntax applauded him while Huntsman huffed.

“I could have done it,” he mumbled.

Xiaotian went back up to his family with a smile and waited a second before asking, “Wait, why isn’t anything happening? Are you three sure this is the right mountain?”

Syntax scoffed. “No, Xiaotian, I think it’s the other one.”

The mountain rumbled and cracked in the center. The Spider Queen destroyed it and crawled out with a cackle. “I’ve returned! The queen is back!”

Red’s eyes widened. Oh no. The queen was free. What should he do?

The duck pecked his hands as he was pondering. “Hey!” He attempted to shoo the duck away. “Shoo! It’s rude to peck at people’s hands!”

The four bowed to her with heads hung low, the human placed the crescent moon spade aside. “My queen,” Huntsman started. “We’re glad to have you free.”

“My clan,” she cried. “Wait, where are the rest of you?”

“I’m sorry. We’re some of the few spiders left.”

The Queen’s fist clenched, her happy tone at being freed slipped away. “I see. It’s all Sha Wujing’s fault. Now introductions are in order for the new members.”

“Well, there’s me, Huntsman. Then there’s Goliath and…”

“I can introduce myself, brute. I’m Syntax, my lady, and this is my son, Qi Xiaotian.”

If Red wasn’t so focused on the situation, he would have thought, Son? Those two look nothing alike.

“Son?” Her majesty questioned.

“Yes, he is my biological son. I wasn’t born a spider but I would say those details are for another time.”

“Alright. How did you all manage to free me?”

The human stepped forward with a spring in his step. “I did it, my queen! I managed to harness its power to make it our-” Her majesty loomed with a glare. Xiaotian nervously chuckled. “Our power,” he finished.

With a scoff, the queen congratulated him reluctantly, “Good job… for a human.”

Ignoring the human comment, he beamed. “Thank you! Now, we, the Spider clan, can rule the world!”

The duck continued to peck at the demon. The demon flapped a hand to get rid of the sting while the bird focused on the other one and made him fall right onto Qi Xiaotian.

Red held up the bag of food. “Hey… did someone order food?”

Huntsman and Syntax stared at Goliath. “What? I didn’t order anything.”

Xiaotian shoved him. “Get off me, dumbass! You ruined my moment!”

Spider Queen focused on the intruder. “Well, well, we’ll, an eavesdropper has fallen into our midst. It’s a shame to crush such a tiny, insignificant thing like you as my first act but, oh, what can you do?” She was about to crush them when she was interrupted.

“Wait, my queen.”

Ugh, the human. She rubbed her face. “Yes?”

“You don’t have to waste your energy. I’ll handle it! Allow me to prove myself!”

“Fine. Go ahead.”

Red muttered, “Maybe I can go now.”

“You’re fortunate, grocery boy. It’s not every day someone is crushed by the Spider Clan! You should consider yourself-”

The demon’s ears picked up a sound, his gaze drifted to the staff. “Sha Wujing’s staff,” a voice whispered.

Xiaotian growled, “You’re not listening! I, Qi Xiaotian, will not be disrespected! You’re toast!”

The human attempted to punch him with the glove but he blocked it… blocked it with the crescent moon staff. Fuck. “How did you?”

How did he? He could have used his fire to block it. Why didn’t he? Well, his identity was a secret and he barely used his fire since he became Guanyin’s disciple so that was understandable. But to grab the staff, what was he thinking?

“That’s scientifically impossible,” Syntax said.

“I don’t understand what’s happening but I don’t care. That’s ours!”

“I was supposed to be on my break! Dang it, Mr. Tang!” The weapon activated and whacked the human and the spiders (save the queen) away.

“This can’t be,” her majesty muttered in disbelief.

“That was not what I expected.”

Huntsman hissed, “That doesn’t belong to you. Give it to us!”

“Ummmm… no?” Then suddenly he was launched into the air by the weapon. “AHHHHHH!”

“He can’t leave with the damn thing!”

“I was trapped under a mountain and suddenly, a thief takes it!”

Xiaotian bowed. “Allow me, your majesty. I won’t fail again.”

“Fine! Go!”

The human grabbed his technological staff and made off in his motorcycle to give chase.

-------

Red took in deep breaths to calm himself down as he landed on the ground. Xiaojiao snapped a picture of herself with her sword and motorcycle outfit. During the picture, she used her magic to create sparkles. “Nailed it!” She pocketed her phone and put the sword away.

“Xiaojiao!”

“That was a cool game of tag! You looked like you were having fun! I wanted to join in too!”

“I almost died.”

“But you didn’t! We should go to the arcade! Invite your new friend!”

“He was trying to kill me.”

Her face turned dark. “Where does he live? I’ll handle him.”

“Red Son! Where are you?” Tang stormed up to them. He showed his phone to reveal a zero-star rating. “I got a zero-star rating because of you. Would you like to explain yourself?”

“I think what happened is-”

Xiaojiao giggled. “Congrats, Tang! It’s better than nothing!”

“No, it isn’t! You know you would be in trouble if this happened to my magic shop, missy. Now, Red, you’re-” Tang searched around. “Where did he go?”

Red slipped past him. “Mr. Sun!”

“Hey! Come back here!”

Ignoring him, the demon ran into the shop. “Mr. Sun!”

Hàoyú was in the middle of his bowl. “Yea?”

“So, remember the story you told me this morning? About the Spider Queen?”

Tang and Mei followed him. “Red, we weren’t done talking.”

“Yea, that’s great, Mr. Tang.”

Sun sipped his soup, completely disinterested. “Yea? What about her?”

Red got close to his face. “She’s back! Sha Wujing’s staff was removed! We have to find him! He has to save-”

Sun pushed him back and held his bowl protectively. “You’re getting spit in my soup. Calm down. Who knew that would be the story you get wrapped up in? Relax, it’s just a story.”

“It’s not just a story.” He showed the spade. Hàoyú pursed his lips, contemplating the possibility or holding back from saying something snarky, Red wasn’t sure.

“Wow, Red, you found a stick!”

“No! It belongs to Sha Wujing!” The three burst into laughter. Red growled, his fists briefly flamed but no one noticed except him. “Listen to me! The Spider Queen is out there. I’ll prove this belongs to Sha Wujing.”

Sun raised a brow. “Okay. How?”

“Ummm…” The spade wobbled, it grew then stabbed part of the wall, causing a crack before shortening.

Sun gasped and he was about to get a closer look when Tang pushed him away. Tang grabbed the arm holding the spade and hoisted it up towards the sky. His eyes twinkled. “Sha Wujing’s spade! I knew it! His awesome weapon that he used to seal evil! Wait… why do you have it? And where is the queen now?”

“She’s at a fashion store,” Mei responded.

“What?!”

“I hope this isn’t one of your puppy videos, young lady.”

“There’s always time for a puppy video, Tangy, but no. Look at what’s trending. Hashtag Spider Queen!” She showed a video of the Spider Queen robbing a fashion store with Qi Xiaotian. The queen used some device to absorb a one-of-a-kind item.

Tang panicked when the video ended. “Okay! We have to do something! Get in the truck!” He shoved them in the truck while they shouted out of surprise.

The group yelped as Tang drove like a madman through the streets. They were squished in the car, Red rasped out, “This is a little uncomfortable.”

“Tang! Can you slow down? You’re going to kill us,” Mr. Sun told him. He couldn’t die but he knew it would be unfortunate if the group got into a crash.

“Yea. We need to get to Sha Wujing without getting injured in a crash.”

“Guys! The Spider Queen moved downtown! She’s destroying the mall!”

“We need to get to Sha Wujing fast. The only problem is we have no idea how to get there.”

“Ugh, you’re right. How do we get there? Do we just keep driving?” Tang asked in a frantic tone.

Mr. Sun replied, “Well, if you would have let me talk before you pushed us in here. I know someone who could get us there!”

“Really?”

“Yep! An old friend of mine. The greatest, excellent, glorious Zhu Xiùliàng. Now drive there, Tang!”

“Drive where?”

“Uhhhh… oh, yea, you need directions.”

-------

The group watched kids climb on the tall pig like a jungle gym while others were in the corner conversing or doing other activities. Wukong had a big grin on his face at the scene.

Xiùliàng chuckled and cautioned, “Careful, little ones.” He gently put them down, they frowned and he reassured them, “You can play later. Grandpa has to talk to these people first.” They reluctantly agreed and began breaking away to do their own things.

Sun blushed as the light hit Xiùliàng in a way that illuminated his beauty. Tang whispered to him with a smirk, “Oh, now I know why you brought us here.”

Xiaojiao teased, “Wow, Mr. Sun. We have to save the world and here you are trying to pick up a guy. I see you.” Sun shot them both a glare.

The pig didn’t hear them, he instead focused on beaming at the kids as they walked away. A hand was placed on his hips and he turned to the group with a “Sorry about that. That’s a lot to take in.”

“It most certainly is, old friend. I was hoping something like this wouldn’t happen,” he muttered.

“I was hopin’ that too,” Xiùliàng muttered back. A child with black hair tied up in braids and a blue headband with a flower ran up to the pig with a drawing in hand. “What is it, Yǎshuǐ?” He picked her up so she rested on her arm.

“I made you a drawing, grandpa!” She waved it in front of the pig’s face then looked towards the group. Her eyes briefly widened in surprise before she gave a wave. “Hi, yéyé!”

“Hi, hon,” he greeted.

“Oooo, yéyé. Didn’t know you had grandkids with him,” he teased. “Why didn’t you invite me to your wedding and why didn’t the paparazzi cover it?”

“Shut up, Tang. It’s for respect, you know that.”

“Mhmm…”

Red shook his head. “Disregarding Mr. Sun’s love life,” he murmured. “Mr. Zhu, we need your help to find Sha Wujing.”

Xiaojiao got on her knees, bringing her friend down with her and pleaded, “Yea, we could really use your help.”

Red sighed. “Please help us. The fate of the world is at stake.”

“Alright,” he answered. “Really?”

“Of course. Anything for Sun.” The two cheered. “I’ll just drop these kids off then we’ll go.”

“WOOOOO!”

------

Tang hummed as he walked along the path, trying to contain his excitement. “See, this isn’t that bad,” he said then a trap sprung out of nowhere. “Eep! Never mind! Stupid Sun, stupid Zhu, why did we let them stay behind?”

“Because you said they could.”

“Careful, Tangy. I wonder why Sha Wujing chose to live here.”

“I don’t know. Good thing it isn’t Sun Wukong’s home or we would have to go pass the Flaming Mountains. They actually had to borrow my m- Princess Iron Fan’s fan to-”

A cackle came out of nowhere. Syntax appeared. “If it isn’t you three.” Syntax used the glove to pound at the ground, sending it up.

“Hey! Be careful, kids!”

“I’ll be taking that spade.”

Red held the weapon up. “This is Sha Wujing’s. You are not taking it.”

“You’re just a bunch of broken metal, can’t even make anything useful.” “What? Oh, whatever.” He charged at the spider who caught the spade with glove.

He was launched and heard the distant cry of “RED” as he blacked out.

------

The demon woke up on Sha Wujing’s mountain. “I’m… I’m here?” He stood up and started walking. He spotted a house and peeked inside but found no one so he continued onwards. There was a handmade statue of Tripitaka and Sha Wujing. “Wow.”

The sound of a twig snapping caught his attention. He saw the very person he was looking for glancing at him with a frown. “Huh?” Then the figure ran off.

He followed quickly and reached a river, a single fish. “A fish?” The fish jumped out of the water, a blue light surrounded it. “Ack!” The older demon appeared. “Sha Wujing?”

“It’s been a long time, Red Son or should I say, Red Boy?”

“You know it’s me?”

“You literally just switched the Boy to Son. No shit. Surprise your little friends haven’t figured it out yet.”

“Yea, I haven’t told them yet.”

“I know. Anyway, where’s my spade?”

“Oh… ummm… I’m sorry! I lost it. I was trying to bring it to you and-”

Wujing laughed. “I know. I’ve been watching you.”

“What?” He flashed back to some of the animals he saw. “That was you?”

“Yep. I need something of you, kid. I need you to be my successor.”

“What? Are you sure? Has your brain short circuited?”

“No,” he replied annoyed. “My brain is fine. You’re going to be my successor. Look you came all this way and were fine.”

“Because I’m a demon!”

“Regardless of that, you still made your way here and you’re experienced in fighting. Be a hero.”

“What about the Spider Queen?”

“What about the Spider Queen? Take it as a trial or a warmup.”

“But I-” He sighed, he was hoping he could lead a normal life but he supposed he had no other choice especially since the elder had no intent on helping. The elder was changed, certainly different from the demon who was considered more calm and rational.

Sha Wujing grunted. “What are one of those bullshit quotes I can give you? Oh, right. Believe in yourself and you’ll be fine. The spade was taken from you! Get it back!”

“Alright!” He zoomed off.

Wujing whispered, “Hope this makes you happy, master.”

-------

Xiaojiao was about to use her powers when Red Son crash landed. Red dusted himself off.

“Kid,” Tang yelled.

“Red,” Xiaojiao shouted. “You’re alive! We saw you blast off! We thought something happened to you! Where did you get the jet? You crashed it already! Did you find Sha Wujing?”

“Yep!”

Tang questioned as he looked around frantically, “Where is he?”

“He said it’s up to me, to all of us.” Sun and Zhu exchanged glances.

“What?”

“That’s anticlimactic.”

“How are we meant to fight that?” Sun motioned to the Spider Queen’s humongous form.

“We believe in ourselves. You clean the streets while I stop her… somehow.”

“The jet would have been useful.” She kicked the broken pieces and a speed bike was revealed.

“That works.”

“You can do it, pal!”

Red drove off and approached the queen. “If isn’t the thief trying to ruin my big moment.”  She attempted to squish him when he dodged with the bike.

“Where is it? Where is it?” He squinted at the device the queen had been using to absorb objects, the spade rested in the middle. “Here goes nothing.” He ran into it.

Xiùliàng covered the group. “I’ve won! The clan has been restored!” She stumbled. “Huh?” Red emerged with the weapon. “Sha Wujing?”

“Nope. Just Red.” Red punched her. Spider Queen tried to blast them, they dodged with taunts, “Nice try! You missed! Almost!” They pushed her down with the spade then used it to cut half of a building. “Here we go!”

As he was about to trap her, the Queen roared, “I won’t let this happen again!” She destroyed it, the younger demon was sent backwards. “Sorry, doll. Good luck trying to trap me again. I AM THE QUEEN!” Red’s gaze shot towards a body of water. “You might have that idiot’s staff but you are not Sha Wujing!”

“No, I’m not. I’m Red, his successor!” He lifted the spade up, water swirled around it and he sent it to attack the queen. “It’s time for your reign of terror to end!”

The queen gasped and her powers waned, she turned back to her normal form. “That’s impossible!”

“Nothing is impossible if you believe.” Xiaotian raged, “This isn’t over! You wouldn’t be so mighty with your precious powers, sand boy! Come fight me!”

Red was about to do when a web entangled him. The three spiders showed themselves. “Nice try. We know when to leave the party. We’ll see you,” Huntsman said. Syntax threw a smoke bomb and they disappeared.

The group cut Red free. “You can’t run when I’m about to win! Hmph.”

His friend hugged him. “You kicked SQ’s butt! Without us the city would be toast.”

“I couldn’t have done it on my own.”

Xiùliàng hugged them. “You did.”

“You’re the new Sha Wujing now I guess.”

“I’m proud of you, Red,” Tang said. He was proud of his kid but he couldn’t understand why Sha Wujing had chosen to hand his weapon to a random kid. He’ll think about it later. “I’m really proud.”

“What do we do now?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Red perked up. “Yea! We could bring justice to the world! Go after bad guys!”

Sun suggested, “Or we could eat.”

“Let’s go with that.”

The group discussed their recent adventure while Sha Wujing watched from a building. He frowned, shifted to a duck and flew off.

[aiorevelations]

A Number, Not a Name: Chapter 13

We hope you all enjoy. We have a few more chapters coming tonight! ; - )

Present-day:

Scarlett stood in the ballroom of Dalmar’s house directing where the delivery men should hang some paintings Dalmar had ordered specially for the gala that evening.

“Where should we place this piece ma'am?” One of the delivery men asked as he held a portrait of Tigran Hakobyan, a famous Krudian general.

“Place the portrait on the right side of the fireplace.” She pointed in its direction.

“So is everything set for tonight.” She heard a male voice come from behind her.

Scarlett turned toward Dalmar. “Nearly done Dalmar. The works by Sargayan were just delivered.” 

“Excellent. I want everything to be perfect for tonight.”

“And it will be.” Scarlett stepped closer towards him. “I must say I have never felt such a great feeling of anticipation for anything before. To know that we are on the eve of a new Krudia, a different world. You can’t help but feel the excitement in the air.”

“I must confess that after all the time, energy, and resources I have put into this project, I find it hard to believe that I am so close to accomplishing my goal.”

“I’m just grateful to be by your side and to have played a small part in making your goal a reality. Your tuxedo is tailored, pressed, and ready for this evening. I laid it out on your bed.”

“Very good. I best get ready for the gala. See you later this evening.” Dalmar began walking to his bedroom.

“Of course.” As she saw Dalmar leave the room Scarlett smirked to herself. All the pieces of her plan were falling into place; it was just a matter of letting things naturally run their course. That was until it was time for her to interfere with that course. 

As Dalmar slipped on his shawl lapel tuxedo jacket he wasn’t even the slightest bit aware of the tiny voice-activated recorder carefully placed in the left pocket of his suit.

…..

Jason stood in front of the mirror in his hotel room, adjusting his bow tie. Once he was finished he picked up the diamond cufflinks he’d placed on a table by the dresser and attached them to the cuffs of his white dress shirt. He then slipped on his notch lapel tuxedo jacket and did up the front bottoms. He glanced down and up at his reflection, checking his entire outfit, and took a deep breath. Jason wasn’t one to be nervous but even he would admit that the thought of attending a Gala with a wanted criminal was jarring. He knew that the success of his and Tasha’s mission depended on the outcome of this evening. They needed to get the necessary information tonight, otherwise, most likely his first field mission would be a failure. After all the time he had waited to prove himself as an agent on the field, he was going to do whatever it took to make sure that didn’t happen. 

He heard a knock at his room door and walked over to open the door. He opened it and saw Tasha. Jason was taken aback by how gorgeous she looked. She was wearing a dark blue off-the-shoulder gown. The dress had a draped ruffle cascading down the left side. All over the gown was embellished and embroidered with sequins. Her shoes were dark blue suede pumps. Her hair was pulled back and twisted in a crown braid. She also wore a pair of diamond halo earrings and held a navy clutch. He always thought she was breathtakingly beautiful but her evening attire seemed to accentuate her stunning features even more. 

As Tasha looked at Jason standing in front of her she couldn’t help but think about how good he looked. He was wearing a black notch lapel tuxedo suit, emerald-cut white diamond octagon cufflinks, and black Oxford dress shoes. From the time they met she thought he was very handsome but now, standing there in his suit, she found him even more good-looking. Though of course, she’d never admit it. 

“Melinda, hey” 

“I thought I’d stop by, see if you were almost ready,” Tasha said as she entered the room.

“Funny, I was just about to go over to your place and make sure you were at least out of the shower” he teased.

“Well,” Tasha glanced down at her outfit “I’m not wearing a bathrobe” she playfully replied.

“No, you definitely aren't,”  Jason smiled, causing Tasha to smile as well. 

“Speaking of the shower, let’s go in there.”

“The…shower?” he asked, an expression of confusion on his face.

“The bathroom actually, just for a moment.”

“Okay.” he responded, still confused by Tasha’s statement. Jason followed Tasha into the bathroom. After they entered she quickly turned on the shower.

“I thought you already had one of these.” Jason joked.

“We need to talk.” Tasha responded, a serious look in her eyes

“Oh and to talk you need the shower on?”

“Unless you want to be covered with bugs.”

“Bugs?” Jason repeated, still confused. After a second it dawned on him what Tasha meant. “Oh bugs, right. Too bad I forgot to pack my insect repellent.” 

Tasha kiddingly rolled her eyes and gave a slight smile. “As I was trying to say, I know technically you’ve been undercover already since we’ve met Dalmar and secured the deal. But tonight is going to be—“

“Hard. Difficult. Demanding.” Jason crossed his arms.

“Let’s just say not a walk in the park.” Jason nodded his head. Tasha continued, “in my experience at these events, where you have to remain undercover for a long period of time, new agents tend to slip up or lose focus. We already have a good deal of intel on Dalmar. From what we’ve seen, with his massive base of followers and speech about radical change, I suspect he’s planning on staging a coup.”

“Either that or win power first by legitimate means and then seize control of the entire country.”

“The how doesn’t matter, we just have to ensure that he doesn’t take over this country. And the only way to do that is to find out where the weapons are located. As of now the only way we have of learning this information is from Dalmar directly.”

“And who knows if we’ll see him again before Wednesday, when the weapons are supposed to be delivered.”

“Exactly, which makes tonight our only shot at getting the information we need, which means that you and I have to bring our ‘A’ game.”

“Understood.” 

“Good.” Tasha smiled and turned off the shower. She then remembered something. “Oh, sorry I almost forgot but would you give me a hand with this necklace? For some reason, I can’t get it to clasp.” She held the sapphire bar drop necklace out to him that she’d been holding for the past few minutes. 

“Sure.” He took the necklace from her and clasped it around her neck.

“Thanks.”

“It sure is a beautiful necklace,” Jason remarked.

“Thank you. It belonged to my grandmother.”

“Well, it looks wonderful on you. You look great by the way.”

“Thanks. Though I’ve worn this dress to a million other parties.” Tasha laughed. “You don’t look too bad yourself.”

“Why thank you. I try my best.”  Jason gave a boyish grin.

“Just don’t let it go to your head.” 

“Okey-dokey.” They both smiled again. 

“We’d best get downstairs. The last thing we need is to be late.” Tasha began to head for the door.

“Right behind you.”

…..

The older man reached for the microphone that was placed in the car and spoke into it. "This is White Falcon. The targets have just left The Chardell.”

Red Sparrow’s voice echoed in response through the car speaker system. “Affirmative. Do not take action. Stay in your current position until further notice.”

“Understood.”

…..

As Tasha and Jason made their way to Dalmar’s house they each noted the drastic change in scenery. The vehicle traveled through the sprawling city, a large grassy plain dotted by small farms and villages, and up a windy road on Mt. Karanaj. Finally, the BMW pulled up in front of a mansion which was located about halfway up the mountain in the middle of a forest. The house was four stories tall with a basement as well. The house was in the style of a modern mountain home as parts of its walls were made of redwoods with the other large sections being made out of stone as well as cutouts and windows of glass. It also had sloped and flat rooflines, timber and steel details, and a massive porch and deck situated in the front of the house.

A doorman walked up to the car and opened the right passenger door. Tasha and Jason each said “Thank you” to the gentleman as they exited the BMW and headed for the entrance to the house. They entered through the arched doorway into the entryway and were greeted with a crowd of people gathered in the house, the women dressed in the finest designer dresses and jewelry and the men wearing their best tuxedos.

The inside of Dalmar’s home was even more elaborate than the outside. It had high vaulted ceilings, redwood beams that stretched from one end of the room to the other, ornate gold and onyx carvings in the walls, murals, and paintings from world-renown artists hung on the walls. The floors were made of the finest marble and numerous crystal chandeliers hung throughout the mansion. 

Almost as soon as they entered the home Tasha and Jason were greeted by Tarek.

“Melinda, Edward. Welcome.”

“Hello Tarek” Tasha responded.

“It’s good to see you again,” Jason added.

“Dalmar’s been anticipating your arrival. I’ll take you to him.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Jason replied. Tarek led Tasha and Jason through the crowd to a gold-plated bifurcated staircase. They walked up a couple of flights of stairs and arrived at the second floor of the house. Tarek led them down a hall past several rooms and into a grand ballroom. The ceiling was adorned with frescoes that depicted famous moments in history. The walls and ceilings were overlaid with gold trimmings and carvings. A marble stone fireplace was in the center of the room and three gold and Swarovski clear crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling. The three of them made their way over to Dalmar who was standing by the fireplace, holding a glass of champagne in his hand. Tarek withdrew himself and headed downstairs to greet more arriving guests.

“Mr. Delucas, Ms. Tylerson” Dalmar greeted them.

“Dalmar”  Jason acknowledged him.

“It’s a pleasure to see you again Dalmar,” Tasha added.

“Davit. You can call me Davit” he smiled.

“Only if you call Melinda.”

“For you my dear, that I can do.” He outstretched his arms “So what do you think of the place?” 

“It’s amazing…Davit. Certainly one of the most elaborate and beautiful homes I’ve ever seen.”

“A man that can do this well for himself…it shows even more that we partnered with the right guy.”

Dalmar smirked and took a sip of his champagne. “Who am I to argue with that?”

Jason sensed an opportunity and spoke. “Speaking of our partnership. Melinda and I have been giving our deal a great amount of thought and we feel since we’ve supplied you with firepower we are entitled to be given some more information.”

“Information?” Dalmar furrowed his brow.

“Yes,” Tasha responded. “You’ve kept your plans for this operation rather close to the vest. Overall strategy. Location or locations of your armaments. We’re not in the habit of partnering in operations we know close to nothing about.”

“Trust me, for the sake of our success I can’t divulge much. My secrecy has been the only way I’ve gotten this far. What I will say is that you will be handsomely compensated. Whatever money you want. Whatever position you want. It will be yours” Dalmar took another swig from his glass.

“What do you mean by position?” Tasha pressed for more details. “A high position in society? To be honest we had our eye on a little more than that.” 

Dalmar chuckled to himself. “I must say Melinda you are quite—”

“Determined? Resolute?”

“Very persistent.”

“It’s how I’ve survived in this business as long as I have.”

“That I can respect. Likewise, I think you and your associate can understand my hesitancy to disclose sensitive information.”

Before either Tasha or Jason could respond Adrian came up to Dalmar and whispered in his ear. Dalmar whispered something to Adrian in reply and then turned back toward Tasha and Jason.

“If you’ll excuse me for a moment there is an urgent matter I must attend to.”

“Of course,” Tasha replied. Dalmar exited the ballroom with Adrian by his side, leaving Tasha and Jason alone. Tasha slightly shook her head and sighed. “I should have known a man like Dalmar would try as far as possible to keep things close to his vest.”

“At least you tried.”

“Thankfully, we have the rest of the evening. Though I have a feeling it’s going to be a very long one.”

“I’m going to go get some sparkling water to drink. Do you want any?” 

“No, thanks. I’m fine.”

“Okay, then. I’ll be right back.” Jason made his way out of the ballroom and down to the first floor of the house. He walked through several rooms trying to find the bar. He then heard a voice from behind him. “Lost?” He turned to see Scarlett.

“Is it that obvious?” Jason laughed.

“Don’t feel bad it happens all the time to first-time guests. It is a pretty big house.”

“I was just looking for the bar.”

“Walk to the entryway, pass the staircase and go all the way to the back of the house, turn left and you’ll find it next to the kitchen.”

“Thanks, Ms…”

“Scarlett is fine.”

“Thanks, Scarlett.”

“Of course.”

Jason then left, followed Scarlett’s directions, and arrived at the bar. As he waited in line to get his drink something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. Through a window in the back of the room, he spotted two of Dalmar’s security guards, talking to each other in hushed tones. Jason walked closer to the window to get a better look, careful not to draw any attention to himself. He saw the two guards talk for a few more moments before they started heading towards the woods. As they walked they stopped every so often to look back towards the mansion, He assumed to make sure no one was following them. Jason stood there going over in his mind what he should do. 

Tasha said we should get the info from Dalmar but so far he’s been nothing but…cagey. It’s not like we have a guarantee he’ll give us the necessary info. This could be our only opportunity to get the intel we need. I could also prove myself to Tasha, to Donovan, to the Agency. Show them I actually have what it takes as an agent. The last thing I want is my first mission to be a failure. Sure, it’s a bit risky, but this is a great opportunity. Who knows it might be our only chance of getting the information we need. 

Jason saw the two men walk farther and farther away in the distance and knew it was now or never. Pushing all remaining doubts out of his mind, Jason glanced around the room to make sure no one had noticed him watching the two guards. No one had. Jason quickly exited the room and walked back to the entryway. He discreetly slipped through the crowd and made his way outside. 

…..

Tasha leaned against the railing of the wooden deck, taking in the majestic view of the mountainside and night sky all around. The views reminded her of the times she and her parents used to go camping in the woods together when she was a little girl. They’d all snuggle up by the fire, tell scary stories, and roast marshmallows. At night she and her parents would lie on the ground and gaze at all the stars. Tasha would point out to them and name all the constellations and stars she knew, which was a significant amount. Her parents would laugh and joke that she spent all the time they stargazed talking her head off. Tasha smiled to herself as she thought of the memory. Suddenly, she saw two men walking in the distance near the edge of the woods. She then spotted another man sneaking behind them. Tasha recognized the outfit the first men were wearing as the uniform Dalmar’s security wore. The other man wasn’t wearing a uniform, rather a tuxedo. Tasha soon realized the man was Jason.

“Enjoying the view,” Dalmar remarked. Startled, Tasha quickly turned around and saw Dalmar standing on the deck. “Sorry I didn’t mean to startle you.”

Tasha forced a smile. “No, it’s all right.” Dalmar walked closer to her. “The views here are…stunning,” she said as she looked over the landscape.

“Yes, they certainly are,” Dalmar replied, though Tasha noticed that he wasn't looking at the view but at her. 

“In the ballroom, I couldn’t help but admire the portrait of Tigran Hakobyan above the fireplace. It truly was a lovely piece of art.”

“General Hakobyan huh? So you know your Krudian History.”

“Some, though I’d be the first to admit that I’m no expert.” 

“That portrait is actually part of a collection by the famous Krudian artist Garine Sargayan that depicts famous Krudian generals and leaders. I just acquired the collection for tonight.”

“I would love it if you could show me the other portraits. You could tell me more about the men and women depicted. Their lives and conquests. I’ve always been fascinated by history. Besides I have no doubt that one day we’ll be adding your portrait to that collection.”

“I think I can manage that.” He offered her his arm. Tasha took it and the two of them began making their way back inside the ballroom.

As Tasha and Dalmar walked through the doorway she quickly glanced behind her and saw Jason disappear in the distance. She was relieved Dalmar hadn’t spotted him while on the balcony yet she still had an uneasy feeling she couldn’t shake. All she could do now was stick to her plan and hope for the best, though she expected the worst.

[undertalethingems]

Fic: Bark at the Moon

Oh boy, the time’s finally come that I feel like I can start posting this--introducing Bark at the Moon, my next major fic. It started as a challenge to myself--I’ve had trouble enjoying how the classic Gaster Blaster AU is often executed, even though I usually like settings where the characters can turn into... well, monsters. I already had a gaster blaster AU with Unexpected Guests, but could I write the AU as it’s usually depicted...?

15 chapters later--and at least six more planned--I think the answer is yes. It likely features many of the tropes you’ll be familiar with... but, I hope I’ve brought something new to it as well. Mainly, I hope you’ll like it regardless ^^

Anyway, on with the story, right?

Bark at the Moon: Prologue

Next>

Or read on my Ao3>

Rating, Setting: Gen, Pre-canon

Warnings: Body horror? Maybe? Please let me know--if it’s any consolation, the content in question is all in one paragraph here in the prologue, and then hardly in the fic ever again.

Summary: Papyrus was well on his way to joining the Royal Guard. Was. Now, he’s not sure he can rejoin society--if only for the sake of his brother. Because he doesn’t want to remind him of anything.

He doesn’t want to remind him of what they can become.

The snow lay crisp and pristine in the clearing, wholly undisturbed after a solid night of frigid winds and blinding sleet that had eventually become a dense layer of snow. Papyrus inhaled deeply, air rushing through his nasals as he steeled himself for a full day of puzzle construction and maintenance. Somewhere under this crystalline blanket was a brand-new tile puzzle designed by none other than the wonderful Dr. Alphys, and it was his duty to ensure it was up and running should a human finally come through.

At least the snow would show any footprints had one passed through overnight and evaded the night guard. He stared at the unbroken plane of white and tried to imagine what a human’s footprints would look like; humans were built a lot like skeletons, right? So they probably had similar feet and left similar footprints—all he had to do was look for prints like his own and he could track the human through the entire Underground if he so desired! He would finally, really prove himself worthy by figuring this out so quickly. Of course, none but the Great Papyrus could work out such a logical deduction!

“A LOGICAL DEDUCTION. BUT FOR OUR PURPOSES... YOUR OTHER FORM IS MORE USEFUL. CHANGE.”

White filled his vision. White, white, white snow, white, blank, blank white walls. He could see nothing else, feel nothing but a steely grip latch into his soul and tug it open. A jolt of something—not quite pain, but unpleasant all the same—shocked down his spine, and he shuddered. It had been so long since he'd felt this--and it was overwhelming.

It drowned out all thought as it washed over him, vibrating through his bones; he shut his eyes and sank into the rush. He'd completely forgotten what this was like. Even if he could have, there was no point resisting it now, and really, the terrible snap of power humming through him was preferable to watching what came with it.

But he could still feel it. Long bones stretched, sutures separated and rewove themselves along new lines. Neural crests grew and sharpened into spikes, and even his spine lengthened until his low, toothy skull rested atop a long s-curved neck, and a whiplike tail lashed behind him. When it was all over, his bones had been completely remodeled from dentary to tailtip--the skeleton monster was nigh unrecognizable. A chimerical mix of mammalian and reptilian features, his new appearance had more in common with a mythical creature than anything alive or long extinct.

The first sensation that crashed into his reeling mind was scent--sharp, heady pine, damp, crisp snow--the dry, earthy scent of his own bones. He tried opening his eyes, bright orange irises igniting in his orbits--but his vision still swam, and took what felt like far too long to clear. When it finally passed, he rose, swayed on limbs both alien and familiar to him, and tried shaking the lingering dizziness from his skull. It persisted stubbornly, but he was just as stubborn if not more so and waited for the ache and lingering buzz of power to fade. At last the haze fell away, and he settled into the form he now bore as though he had never worn another with a sigh.

In a way this was true. Exchanging a smaller, friendlier shape for a long, spiky, intimidating one was something he’d always been able to do. He liked being friendly far more, knew deep in his soul that for as naturally as he bore it, this form didn’t suit him. It had been ages—it felt like another lifetime—since he’d last taken it, for good reason. He snorted, already over this, and called the power back.

It didn't listen. He tried again, focusing on the energy that made up his soul, but it persisted as though nothing was different. Sitting in the snow, he tried thinking back--obviously he'd done this before, so he knew how to change. It just... wasn't... coming to him right now. That was okay, there were lots of things he didn't remember! That didn't mean he'd totally forgotten them, as his nightmares liked to remind him. He just needed to focus. He squeezed his eyes shut, and...

Nothing came to him. He tried again, wracking his memories for a clue, but all he found were dark corners he wasn't about to poke into. Until he remembered or rediscovered how to change back... he was stuck like this. His heart sank--no, no, that wouldn't do, he couldn't give up so soon! He tried calling on his magic again, pulling and straining at it until he felt frazzled. He couldn't let this stop him! He just had to--stop being this. Because while he didn't remember much about why he was like this, he remembered enough to know that no one could ever know about it or see him in this form.

Especially not his brother.

Papyrus sighed, a long hiss gusting from between sharpened teeth. There were no human footprints and he'd gone and done this to himself. He looked down, flexing one clawed hand, then the other. It was funny, really… he would leave very strange, extremely non-humanlike tracks like this. If, of course, he left any to find. Working quickly, he swept the snow from the tile puzzle, scraping away or burying any evidence of his transformation with hands, feet, and tail. Then, he picked up the shredded remains of his clothing, took one look back in the direction of Snowdin, and took a running leap into the forest as far as he could. He'd made his decision.

He wouldn’t come back until he’d remembered how to stop being a weapon.

[novantinuum]

Contact (ch. 1/4)

Fandom: Steven Universe

Rating: T (TW: depiction of vomiting, this first chapter is pretty whump-esque)

Words: 3.0K~

Summary: The first (and with any luck, only) time it happens, he’s almost 16.

So this fic is Steven and Amethyst centric, set during the 2 year time skip. It’s also kinda in conversation with An Indirect Kiss, and explores the idea of what could happen to a hybrid with a cracked gem. Do note the warnings above. The first chapter is the only one that’s especially whumpy. It will be exactly 4 parts.

AO3 link can be found in the reblogs! Support there or here (via reblogs) is very much appreciated! <3

____

Chapter 1: The Mission

The first (and with any luck, only) time it happens, he’s almost 16.

His birthday’s only half a week out. Exciting as always, or at least it would be in other circumstances. Unfortunately, the Diamonds are breathing down his neck for him to celebrate his sweet sixteen (not that they understand what that is) on Homeworld. Even unfortunatelier, (is that a word?? He has a gut feeling Connie would tell him no, but oh well), the last time he saw Blue Diamond face-to-face, she mentioned wanting to personally throw a huge planet-wide ball in his honor.

And yeah, maybe he’s a little selfish for spurning their desire to spend more time with him, but truth be told, the center of attention is the last place he wants to be right now. He’s already spent so much time in their company over the past year, being carted around from planet to planet, formerly introduced in front of thousands of Gems on those outer colony worlds, tirelessly working to spread the news of the empire’s dissolution day in and day out. He’s tired. He misses his friends. He craves the privacy of his home, where he’s not constantly flanked by the volunteer guard when he so much as moves to fetch a midnight snack. More than anything, he needs familiarity. He wants to celebrate his birthday on Earth— like he always has— guilt-free.

Which is why it sucks that Blue didn’t take his gentle turn-down well.

“Seriously, and then she made you cry again?!” Amethyst spits out, kicking a rock as they tromp through the dense woods. “I thought you said she was getting better with that!”

“She is,” he says, and ducks to clear a low branch. “This is the first time she’s done it in like, five months. Growth isn’t always linear, y’know? And I get it, I do. They just wanna spend time with me, wanna learn more about all the human stuff that makes me who I am. That’s fine! I just...”

Steven sighs softly and pauses to lean against a sturdy tree trunk, puffy moss coating its entire diameter. The blistering summer heat coaxes droplets of sweat from his brow, which roll across cheekbones and towards his jaw. (And in the wake of this, he can’t help but be reminded of that bizarrely foreign feeling, of crying tears that aren’t his own, without consent, without resolve...)

“Wish it didn’t happen right before your birthday?” she tentatively completes, tone softer.

He shrugs, expression guarded.

Her lips purse as she regards him, and she goes silent. For a split second he wonders if maybe she heard something stalking around nearby— perhaps one of the straggling corrupted Gems they‘re trying to track down today? But no, more than likely, she’s probably lost in thought. That’s not uncommon for her, outside the heat of the moment. Even though she has the reputation of being the most impulsive of the four of them, there’s a clear deliberateness about her nature that often goes unstated. Her actions and words may be blunt, but when it really matters she does stack a lot of intent behind them.

Heh. She’s the mature one, alright.

“What did you tell her? Specifically?” she asks after a brief pause, peering at him with a careful eye.

He squints, grasping to remember the fine details of what he said. “Just... that I normally spend my birthday with all of you here on Earth, and after all the nonstop planet touring kinda, maybe wanted to take some time alone?”

Amethyst nods, giving a sharp bark of laughter at this.

“Hah! Then don’t worry about it, m’dude! Sounds to me like you stood your ground and spoke your mind. Don’t be guilty about that for even a second.”

“But- it’s not like her wanting me to spend time with them is wrong, so by turning her down, wasn’t I being kinda ru—“

His rapidly spiraling thoughts are cut off at the root by a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

“Okay, listen,” she says in that unmistakable ‘Serious Amethyst’ voice of hers, which of course means that she’s— well... that she‘s absolutely 100% being serious. “One thing ya’ gotta learn is that some people are just super tiring to deal with 24/7. It’s not wrong to set boundaries with them. All this junk? With Blue D? Far as I’m concerned, you handled it perfectly! And if she wants to cry about it, then that’s her problem.” Smiling, she reaches over to playfully muss his hair. “I’m super proud of you, ‘kay?”

He responds with a weak grin. Inwardly he still has his doubts, but he knows all too well that trying to argue against her when she’s in ‘Serious Amethyst’ mode is like standing on the shore trying to single handedly hold back the tides of the sea. Even a powerful terraforming Gem like Lapis would eventually be worn down by the ocean’s ceaseless tenacity. It’s best, then, to keep one’s objection silent.

So he’ll just stew in guilt quietly, no problem. Absolutely no problem here, no siree!

Before he can let that stew churn in the pot any longer however, a tree crashes to the forest floor with a colossal rumble nearby. A cluster of unsettled birds shoot into the sky from the boughs. Ground shaking under the unrest, the two of them dart to cling upon anything they can— bark covered trunks, each other— for balance. Thankfully it’s over in a few seconds, the local ecosystem quickly rebounding to its usual chittering atmosphere. But there’s now a lingering unease hanging like a curtain over this forest, a physical aura of dread, and despite his best efforts it’s one he can’t manage to ignore. He lets out a still breath. The back of his neck prickles. Geeze, just how big is this corrupted Gem they’re after?

Instinctively, he summons his shield, brings it in front of his torso. Pearl’s training echoing like a catchy earworm in his mind, he steps one foot back to widen his stance. Truth be told, with all of his political service on Homeworld it’s been a while (easily half a year!) since he’s actually used his shield in active combat— but he’s sure muscle memory will carry him through. It’s fine. He’ll be fine. It’s gotta be like riding a bicycle, right?

“You see something?” she whispers, lowering on her haunches. Her fingers twitch with anticipation at her side.

His brow furrows tight, eyes skittering through the visible tree line. “Not yet, but...”

Then, in a resolute answer to the question of the hairs raised at the nape of his neck, a skinny blur of steely blue and moss green suddenly swipes down from the branches at breakneck speed. He jerks his shield over his head in a flash.

Clang. Perfect timing.

(The force of the collision against reinforced hard light sends vibrations up his arms.)

Meanwhile, Amethyst yelps, only barely ducking from the spiked tail in time. She somersaults forward and immediately summons her whip as she regains her footing. In one fluid motion she snaps it at the rapidly moving blur. He grins at the sight.

Contact!

The corrupted Gem— her body long and willowy, able to skitter between limbs and leaves with zero effort whatsoever— screeches at the assault. All four of her beady eyes hone in on the pair of them.

They square up for battle, standing back to back.

“Here we go,” Amethyst says, flicking her wrist to switch the weapon’s tri-ended tip into its spiked counterpart. “Keep me covered. Whatever you do, don’t take your eyes off the trees.”

With a mighty yell, she moves to attack again. However, the creature anticipates it this time... and dodges.

Once. Twice. Thrice...

Every single lash she tries to land fares the same, with the Gem perfectly zig-zagging out of range at the last second. Even when Steven hurls his shield in coordination with her offensive strikes. Even when the quartz brings out a second whip to the party. It’s like trying to desperately keep hold of a wet bar of soap. The very moment you think you have it secure in your grasp, it slips away once more. Weird... he swears that thing is predicting their every move. What kind of Gem is she? A sapphire, maybe? Surely there had to have been a few other sapphires on Earth at the time of corruption. They’re a rare sort, but it’s certainly not impossible. Not at all.

They’ll know when they poof her, of course. No sense fixating on it in the heat of battle.

In the corner of his eye he catches that barbed tail swing from above, vying to surprise them from their blind spot, and summons his bubble around them. Its surface ripples upon impact, but holds strong. His fellow battle partner follows the creature’s erratic movements rapturously as she recovers.

“Tell me when,” he huffs for breath, watching the Gem circle around them and slash at the surrounding trees in a vain attempt at intimidation.

“Drop on three,” she says. “Your call.”

“Okay...”

Steven steels his nerves, inhaling deep, and focusing on the reliable hum of hard light running from his core outwards. Just relax. It’s all training. All stuff you’ve done a million times before. You’ve got this.

Working off the emerging rhythm of the creature’s strikes, he begins his count.

“One—“

Amethyst’s fists clench tighter.

“Two...”

The creature’s tail slams against the bubble and rebounds once again.

“Three!” he shouts, and throws his arms out, popping the bubble in a startling explosion of glittering pink.

The Gem howls. She’s thrown against a cluster of trees by the force of his magic’s kickback. Amethyst throws all of her energy into her spin-dash, and surges towards her with all the strength of a typhoon.

He summons two shields in turn, working light on his feet as he hurls them full force one after the other, desperately hoping to poof this poor creature as quickly and painlessly as he can manage. She’s strong, though. Incredibly strong— which gives more credence to his theory of this Gem being aristocratic in origin. Before Era 3, Homeworld used to endow the most ‘important’ Gems with greater durability. If she were a corrupted quartz or ruby, both easily poofed Gems, they’d have finished the fight by now.

“Hey!” Amethyst calls as she continues on the offensive, finally looping the Gem’s torso. “All this?” She gives a mighty battle cry, and swings her slender, scaly body over her head. Screeching, the corruption crashes headfirst into the dirt a good twenty feet away. “Is starting to get way too annoying. Ya’ wanna let Smoky take this one?”

Steven gives a playful laugh, averting his normally watchful gaze from the creature for a split second to face her. “You bet I do!”

And that’s when what should have been an incredibly straightforward mission goes very, very wrong.

All because he forgot to be careful. For one tiny, should’ve-been-insignificant moment.

He’s reaching out for a high five, fingers splayed outwards. His gem glows, the two of them so intrinsically in sync by now that he’s already anticipating their fusion.

But his hand never finds its match.

Instead, the end of the corrupted Gem’s mace-like tail swings back around and slams into his gut with the force of a freight train, knocking the wind clear out of him.

Contact.

Following momentum, his body spins a good hundred feet away from Amethyst before she can ever try to catch him with her whip... and he crashes headfirst into a startlingly solid tree trunk. He falls to the forest floor like nothing more than an abandoned rag doll.

“Steven!!” she shrieks from afar.

Ears ringing. Head pounding. Heart throbbing. Veins pumped full of static.

(Inhale.)

H-he- surely he‘s not—!

(Just inhale!)

Black feathers the edges of his vision, looming like a reaper. It’s wrong. It’s real, but it’s all so distant, so wrong. Stubbornly, he gasps for breath. Refusing to let himself go unconscious. Not here, not now. But it’s so tempting, gosh is it tempting. His whole body feels numb and battered, his whole body feels...

There’s a twisting in his gut. His eyes shoot wide.

Oh...

The sensation (again, wrong, sickly and wrong) rises in his throat faster than he can identify it by name, and it’s then that he’s thrown back into sobering reality. Arms quivering to hold up his weight, he pushes his upper body up off the dirt just before he retches. Once, twice, three times- all on quick succession. Ugh. So much for breakfast. His muscles ache as he desperately attempts to recover, attempts to shift his view away from the appalling sight of his own vomit. Everything is woozy, blurred, spinning around him. His- oh stars, his head is suddenly as heavy as lead...! Where’s Amethyst?? Why do his arms and legs feel all tingly and faint? Why can he only barely lift himself up? He gives a keening cry as a pulsing throb of static shoots in staccato bolts like lightning from his very core, his center, h-his— he can’t think, he can’t think, he can’t—

Breathing ragged, he collapses onto his side and rides through the spasms, his every muscle jerking against his command. His cheek sags against the ground once the fit reaches its end.

He lays there in a daze for a good long while, letting his vision grow unfocused and blurred in his exhaustion. From his creased brow, sweat drips in the sweltering August heat, staining the soil below. Conflict rages on in the distant background—  Amethyst running solo?— yet he can’t keep track of the action by sound alone. It’s... too much sensory input. More than he can handle, by a long shot. Every bit of his universe now is faint and weak and pain pain pain pain pain, but he manages to shift his arm just enough to slip his hand under his shirt, blindly grasping for his gem... working off a terrible, horrifying hunch.

Shaking fingers find their way to warm crystal, tracing the outer edges, and then—

He traces a deep gouge, running diagonal clear across the center facet.

Cracked.

And with that realization, any remnant of calm he had left flies straight out the window. Another spike of static rips through his body (fuzzy images of Amethyst, 100% hard light body glitching out and unable to hold its shape, pervade his mind) as he makes rapid shallow gasps for air and seizes, trying in vain not to think too hard about what’s physically happening to him.

(I’m cracked I’m cracked I’m cracked I’m—)

“Steven!” Amethyst shouts, diving to his side in an instant. “I’m here, I’m here, I’m so sorry, it wasn’t safe, an’ I knew I had to bubble her before I- ‘fore I could—“

His wide eyed fear silences her even faster than his words. “H- Amethyst,” he rasps, voice hoarse. He blinks as tears begin to slip from between his lashes.

Near indistinguishable blurs of purple and black are his only metric for her movement now. He’s rolled onto his back. A hand moves under his head, stabilizing it.

“Whoa, dude, you’re like, pale as milk! What’s wrong? Did you get hurt?? Can’t you heal it?”

He somehow manages to push coherent words through his warbling cries. “I, I- I dunno, I’m c- cracked, I’m—“

“Wait, wait, wait, you’re WHAT?”

Giving no thought to courtesy in light of the situation, she yanks his shirt up to see for herself.

He hears her inhale as her fingers delicately brush against the gouge marring the center facet of his gem. It’s sharp, sympathetic. The kind of reaction only a Gem who’s lived this horror could offer him. Ever so slight, her hand recoils upon the no-doubt triggering sight. He— stars, he doesn’t wanna... doesn’t want to have to make her remember that, remember that awful time she herself got cracked, but here he is, so clumsy, s-so useless, an—

His chest trembles with every pitiful, bubbling gasp as he succumbs to the terror of the situation and begins to openly sob. Hot, fat tears pour in rivulets down his cheeks, but he knows instinctively there‘s no magic within them. Not today. Not when h-he’s... when he’s like this.

What’s even gonna happen to him now? How’s he gonna— Deep breath. This time, he feels it coming. Every muscle in his body contracts on automatic as that awful, awful static tears through his nerves like an arc of electric current.

It hurts it hurts it hurts ithurtshurtshurtshurtshurtshurts—

Amethyst does her best to lightly hold him as he seizes, cradling his head to ensure no more damage is done. When he stills this time the fight’s practically draining from his body. The boughs of the trees above him pirouette like dancers. Oh stars, everything’s... so... woozy...

“Aw, geeze,” she mutters, and reaches to her gem to pull out an object, thin and rectangular, too blurry in his view for him to make out with much detail. “I, uh... listen. I’m gonna call up Pearl, and we’re gonna fix you up, okay?? We’re gonna take you to the fountain, an’ then...” Her words (reassurance, but for who?) grow thick as her glance flicks downward at his stomach again. “An’ then you’re gonna be fine...”

“B-b-but... I don’t think— I can’t walk,” he blubbers.

“Then I’ll carry you.”

“Am- hnng- Amethyst—“

“Shh-shh, don’t talk, bud. Save your energy.”

“I- I’m so scared,” he blurts.

And it’s so true. Because everything is becoming so blurry and indistinguishable, and the more his body seizes the more fractured he feels, and he’s so close to closing his eyes and drifting off now, he’s sure he is, he’s gotta be—

“Steven,” she says, voice firm yet soft. “Steven, common’, look at me.”

Serious Amethyst. He recognizes the tone. No arguing now.

So slowly but surely— knowing there’s no sense in fighting back oceans when he can barely stay afloat amidst the shallows of this river— his weary, tear stained eyes meet with hers. They’re blown wide with fear, with genuine concern, but between the swirls of black and indigo blue stirs a deeper courage: the unwavering gaze of someone who will have his back to the end of the line.

Amethyst clasps her palm against his shoulder, solid and reassuring.

“Whatever it takes, I promise you... I’m gonna get you there.”

[lifblogs]

Angstpril 2021: Day 29 - Going Dark

Beyond

read on ao3 3188 words graphic depictions of violence, major character death, blood, injury, whump, sith!ahsoka, post-mortis arc, anakin turns to the dark side

“To eliminate the threat, act swiftly, we must.”

“That threat is my Padawan!” Anakin snarled at the Council.

Obi-Wan, who stood beside him during this report, gave him a warning glare. Anakin wanted to shoot him a nasty look back, or even pull him aside and ask him where his emotions about this were.

But he was dragged from any such thoughts by Mace Windu: “Was your Padawan,” he clarified in his sonorous voice.

“This isn’t fair,” Anakin argued. “What happened on Mortis—it must’ve changed her, or—”

“What happened on Mortis poses a threat to all the Jedi.”

Anakin took a step forward, hands clenching into fists, bristling with rage. Obi-Wan put a hand on his shoulder. It was nearly enough for Anakin to lash out, but when he met his former master’s gaze, he calmed. Obi-Wan nudged at him through the Force, a reassurance, and a plea to let him handle it.

Anakin let him come forward.

“With all due respect,” Obi-Wan began, taking his hand from Anakin’s shoulder so he could clasp it with his other behind his back, “I was on Mortis. I’m aware of what happened, and I do not believe that this was Ahsoka’s choice.”

“Further insight on Mortis, have you?” Yoda questioned.

“Well, for one,” Obi-Wan responded, “I know what the Son can do.”

“And what exactly can he do?” Plo Koon asked.

Anakin wasn’t sure he knew what was going on anymore in this conversation. What was Obi-Wan talking about? When he tried reaching out to him through the Force, all he felt were hard shields like zersium ore.

“Anakin, would you mind if I speak with the rest of the Council alone?”

Anakin threw his hands out, exasperated. “What? But, Master—”

“I will speak with the Council alone.”

Scowling, Anakin began to trudge out of the grand room, anger radiating outward from him and tinging all he touched in a heated darkness. The shadows cast by the setting sun over Coruscant darkened, following him out.

Suddenly, he was being grabbed. He didn’t bother turning to the person holding him. He didn’t need to, as Obi-Wan murmured lightly in his ear, “I’m sorry, but this is the best way to help Ahsoka.”

“She’s not your Padawan,” he muttered, shaking himself free of Obi-Wan’s grip.

With that, he left, taking his anger with him.

Oh, Ahsoka.

~~~

“Sir, I hope you don’t mind me asking, but what is it that we’re doing here?” Rex questioned, as Ahsoka led him further into the harsh, decaying sentient-made landscape of the Works.

He had a hand close to one of his pistols, watching the side streets and alleys. A few of the scum that lived down there eyed them, but Ahsoka just ignored all of them. He wasn’t sure why his commander had taken him here, but he was supposed to follow her orders, so here he was.

Kriff, he didn’t like the Works. Creeped him out.

Bunch of rundown buildings, and low-lifes. And despite the state of many of the buildings, they were still running, meaning that the industrial sites belched toxic fumes into the air. Should’ve thought to bring his helmet.

The erratic clanging of the machinery tried to urge on his heart, beat it into a panic, but he held steady.

“It’s where we’re supposed to be,” Ahsoka answered, voice… off somehow.

“Commander Tano, are you alright?” he asked, reaching out for her.

Before he could touch her shoulder and turn her to him to get a better look at her face (she was wearing her robe with her hood up), she reached out and grabbed his wrist.

“Come,” she ordered.

“I don’t like this,” he muttered.

None of this felt right. And for some reason his comms weren’t working. Ahsoka seemed to be missing hers entirely.

Maybe I should…

No, no. She’s your commanding officer. A Jedi. You do as she says.

So Rex followed, and Ahsoka continued walking, seeming confident, knowing that he had to do just that.

~~~

Anakin left the Temple in a rush, robe on, and hood up. Thankfully, since the 501st was currently off of active duty, no one questioned his motives, and he didn’t see any of the 212th. Thank Force. One of them—at least, certainly Cody—would’ve stepped in to see what was going on. Then word would bet back to Obi-Wan, and then the Council.

He’d have none of that. It was better this way.

So he stuck to the shadows.

He tried reaching out to Ahsoka through the Force, and surprisingly, she hadn’t blocked herself off from him.

Good thing I didn’t really work on teaching her that, he thought, as he followed her Force signature.

While getting his robe, and departing, he’d tried tracking her through the comms, but it had led back to her room, and he knew she wasn’t there. So she’d left them. But why? To make matters worse, her Force signature headed south, to the Works.

Ahsoka, what are you doing?

~~~

Ahsoka knew where to lead Captain Rex. She wasn’t sure how she knew, but she’d just developed a… sense for it, a longing, something that told her where she had to go. They’d gotten back from Mortis about a rotation ago, and that’s when this place had started calling out to her. The energy was different than what she was used to, darker, it seemed, but more… friendly. At least, it was to her.

It didn’t even cross her mind that it would feel volatile to the other Jedi in the Order. This was right. It had to be.

And she knew what she had to do there. She’d been shocked upon seeing the clones again. They were different than she realized. They all had something in them, something that sang out to her just like the Works did. And she needed to activate it.

Maybe there was a code phrase of some sort, but she didn’t have time to figure that out. She needed Rex on her side now. Surely with him following her she’d soon have the 501st.

Of course, then there was the problem of eliminating Anakin. But she was sure he was following her. She’d had visions of this moment. He’d follow her to the Works, and after she turned Rex to her side, they’d duel. Ultimately, Ahsoka would be the victor, killing Anakin where he stood.

So she didn’t try to hide her tracks. The Council was plotting against her—she could feel it—but by the time they caught up to her, it would be too late.

Ahsoka led Rex to the LiMerge Power building, and…

Ah, yes. This was the right place.

Ruined battle droids lay all about, slashed up, or shot, possibly, as if blaster bolts had been deflected back at them.

“Uh… Where are we?” Rex asked, voice somewhat unsteady.

“A Sith training ground,” Ahsoka answered.

Rex drew his weapons.

“Commander, perhaps we should contact General Skywalker.”

“General Skywalker is on his way,” she told him.

She followed the pulsing in the Force that was like a beating heart, and it led her deep into the building. Rex was hesitant, careful, but he still came.

“So are we hunting a Sith?”

“Something like that.”

“Commander—”

Ahsoka whirled on him, and snarled, “Don’t question me. Am I your commanding officer or not?”

That was when a battle droid that must not have been destroyed started firing at them.

“Take cover!”

Rex dodged behind a rusted column, but Ahsoka faced the droid head-on. She rolled to avoid a blast, and then came up on one knee, lightsaber out to deflect.

The blast missed the droid the first few times. Rex managed to hit it in the arm, but it just kept coming closer. Ahsoka jumped up, and kicked it, twirled, and then slashed it diagonally across. The move also destroyed its weapon.

“Are you alright?” Rex asked her as it clattered to the ground in pieces.

“Just fine.”

She turned to him, and she realized her robe had fallen off during the quick fight. Rex, despite all his programming and training, let out a startled yelp, and jumped back from her. Pistols pointed right at her.

Ahsoka rolled her eyes. She really wished it hadn’t come to that.

“Weapons down, soldier,” she commanded.

“Your eyes are yellow. Why are your eyes yellow? And—and the dark veins.”

“I said, put your weapon down.”

“You’re not yourself. Let’s get you back to the Jedi Temple.”

At the mention of going back to that horrid place, Ahsoka lunged at him, now unclipping her shoto from her belt as well and igniting it. The best Rex could do was dodge.

“Don’t make me shoot you, Commander!”

“Go ahead,” she challenged, darkness singing in her veins with a wild beat. “Do it!”

Rex’s blasters were aimed at her, but his hands were shaking.

“You can’t, can you?” she taunted. “You’re weak.”

“All due respect, Commander, but doing the right thing isn’t weakness,” he argued.

Ahsoka laughed. “The right thing. The right thing? I’m one of them now—a Sith.”

“No, you’re sick. Just come back to the Temple—”

Rex couldn’t finish because Ahsoka screamed at him and relaunched her attack.

A familiar voice called out behind her: “Ahsoka!”

She turned to face her master. “Hey, Skyguy.”

Anakin’s eyes widened at seeing the state she was in. “Snips?”

A blaster fired.

~~~

Obi-Wan turned south, not sure why for a moment. There was a tugging, a pull in the Force.

The rest of the Council noticed his movements, and before they could ask him anything, he said, “Something’s happening.”

~~~

Ahsoka dodged, and Captain Rex, the coward he was, had had his blaster set to stun. It hit Anakin, and he went down.

“General!”

~~~

“I sense it too,” Mace Windu said, suddenly up out of his seat, following Obi-Wan as he raced out the door.

Speeder. He had to get to a speeder. And fast.

Why do I even bother to leave you alone, Anakin?

Reckless. Always so reckless.

Though, shouldn’t Obi-Wan have known that Anakin would have gone after his Padawan? Maybe this was all his own fault. But he couldn’t have Anakin face Ahsoka. It might trigger his own memories from Mortis.

If that happened, Obi-Wan would risk losing them both.

~~~

Rex, breathing heavy, rattled down to his bones despite how he was made to be, tried to run to General Skywalker. Ahsoka blocked him with her blades, a cruel smile on her face.

“Thanks. You just made my job easier.”

Steeling himself, he aimed for her again and fired.

And then, she wasn’t there! She’d jumped, but where had she gone?

Suddenly she was gripping his head from behind him, and she said, as if she’d read his thoughts, “Here I am.”

Rex screamed as he felt pain shoot into the right side of his skull, followed by a darkness, and then… clarity. Absolute clarity.

He lowered his blasters, getting into a resting stance. His CO was breathing heavy in his ear, but then she was away from him, stalking around him. Observing.

He bowed his head to her. “Good soldiers follow orders.”

~~~

Obi-Wan was embarrassed that he ended up “pulling an Anakin,” as in, he sensed further darkness in the Force, and preceded to jump out a window to land on a speeder. He quickly dropped the driver off at the nearest walking zone, and then he was headed south, towards the putrifying darkness of the Works. And on his own. Mace Windu was finding his own way there.

~~~

Anakin stirred, feeling like he’d been hit by a ton of duracrete blocks. He let loose a groan, and reached for his lightsaber.

Wrong. Something was… Something was… wrong.

Ahsoka!

The Force flowed through him, adrenaline taking him, and he got to his feet, lightsaber out in time to meet Ahsoka’s blades.

Oh Force, her eyes were yellow. Darkness pulsed from her, and to Anakin’s surprise it was… familiar. Like a long lost family member calling him home.

“Ahsoka, what’s happened to you?” he asked.

“I only became who I’m meant to be.”

“Good… Good soldiers follow orders,” Rex muttered.

This distracted Anakin, and he glanced at him. He saw a blankness to Rex’s face, an emptiness in his eyes.

“What did you do to him?”

Ahsoka didn’t answer. She slashed towards his mechno-arm. Anakin didn’t pull back in time, and the prosthetic limb was damaged, slashed halfway through. Before his lightsaber could fall from his hand, he used the Force to pull it into his left, and managed to block another attack form Ahsoka just in time.

Her eyes. Kriffing Force, her eyes!

Anakin’s blood pounded, and the light pulled back from him. His expression softened, stunned.

“You feel it, don’t you?” she asked.

Ahsoka closed her eyes, and then she was in his head. There was a dark landscape. Lava. Black smoke all around him, screams and cries sounding.

Then resolution. And heavy breathing through some sort of machine. His lungs seemed to breathe in time with it.

Anakin tried to fight it, to push it out. He screamed through gritted teeth, and tried to push Ahsoka back. They kept fighting, the battle in Anakin’s mind holding more power over him than the one with their lightsabers.

Something ripped at him. Then someone was talking to him, a woman.

His mother.

When Ahsoka retreated to gather strength for another attack, Anakin fell to one knee. Sweat dripped down his face.

Then he saw Ahsoka, lying on harsh, unforgiving ground. Dead.

“It’s okay, I’m right here, Master. I’m all better now.”

“I… I have to protect you,” Anakin said.

“Yes, that’s it.”

He screamed as she stabbed through his mind, and he held up his lightsaber just in time to parry a blow. To gain some space, he did what he could to push her back with the Force, but having lost the use of his mechno-arm, it was difficult. She did thankfully slide backwards, but she used that momentum to flip backwards, taking cover behind Rex.

“Captain, target Anakin Skywalker!”

Anakin’s eyes widened.

Letting out a fierce yell, he managed to push Ahsoka out of his head.

Rex began to fire, and his blasters weren’t set to stun this time.

Anakin deflected his blasts again and again, and then, one of them hit Ahsoka. She went down, but Rex was still firing.

~~~

Obi-Wan saw the flashes of the battle before he heard the sounds. With no time to spare, he kept the speeder running and jumped out of it, flipping to land beside Anakin.

Anakin was covered in sweat, looking as if this was the hardest he’d ever fought. Ahsoka lay behind Rex, shot down.

Oh no. Oh no!

There was no time for Obi-Wan to think about what to do because Captain Rex was firing at him with one pistol while he fired at Anakin with the other.

“What—happened!” Obi-Wan demanded.

“Long story, Master!” he got as an answer over the loud noise of the blaster, and the steady hum of their lightsabers.

“He’s not going to stop, is he?”

“Ahsoka did something to him.”

Then Obi-Wan knew what he had to do.

With the next blast he deflected, he made sure it was directed at Rex’s center mass. The captain went down.

~~~

“No! Master, no! What did you do? What did you do!”

“He wasn’t going to stop firing,” Obi-Wan answered, disengaging his blade.

“You didn’t know that!” Anakin cried, whirling on him, lightsaber held aloft. “You didn’t—”

“Anakin!”

Then Anakin realized what he’d almost done, but he didn’t care. He should’ve done it. On Mortis, if… if he had just stayed the way he was, if he had left Obi-Wan there, Rex’s Living Force wouldn’t be transferring to Cosmic Force. He wouldn’t be dying. And… Oh Force, and neither would Ahsoka!

He turned off his lightsaber, and ran to her, while Obi-Wan ran to Rex. His master was calling for a medic.

“Ahsoka? Ahsoka! No, no, no, no, no. No.”

Force, this was all his fault. It was all his fault!

“Master?” she asked, and somehow, for some unknown, unfathomable reason, when she opened her eyes and looked at him, they weren’t the color of the Sith. They were normal, blue. Just her.

Unbidden, his vision blurred with unshed tears. He could feel her weakening.

“I’m… I’m sorry, Skyguy.”

“No, no. I’m sorry, Snips. I’m sorry. I should’ve protected you.”

He had a hand over her abdomen where her wound was, and she had a hand resting on top of his. Kriff, she was so weak. Her skin was paling, and blood pooled out through his fingers.

“Please, just—just stay with me, Snips. It’s gonna be okay.”

“I’m… sorry.”

Anakin let out a wordless yell, and bowed his head. His tears fell onto Ahsoka.

Obi-Wan’s hand was suddenly on Anakin’s shoulder, and he tensed at it.

“A medic is on the way.”

Anakin didn’t know how to tell him he’d be too late. Perhaps he’d know.

“They’ll figure out what she did to Rex.”

“Don’t talk about her like she’s already gone!” Anakin cried. “She’s right here!”

Obi-Wan squeezed his shoulder.

“Master… Obi-Wan…” Ahsoka choked out.

“Yes, I’m here, little one.”

“...sorry. Can you… can you forgive me? Both of you… can—can y-you…?”

Ahsoka’s panicked breaths turned into choked wheezes, and words stopped coming out.

“Ahsoka, no. No, stay with me! Ahsoka!”

“M-Master,” she said, and then her hand fell away from Anakin’s, and her last breath left her.

The light left her eyes, and they remained fixed upward, unseeing.

“I forgive you,” Anakin murmured, but it was too late.

He wasn’t sure how long he stayed there with her body, but the medics had come. Captain Rex would live. Anakin tried to tell himself that was good news, but all he saw in his head was Mortis, and fire, and black smoke, and heard agonized screams.

All he felt was Ahsoka’s body growing cold in his arms.

Everything in his life seemed to snap into place, and he knew what he had to do now.

He was going to end the Clone War, and he was going to protect the people he loved. He had been too weak to protect Ahsoka. But never again.

“Anakin, we have to go,” Obi-Wan said. “She needs to be prepared for her funeral.” He nudged him. “Anakin.”

The old Anakin wouldn’t have budged, and he needed to keep his cover up, so that’s what he did: he stayed put, even as he wanted to move, even as he wanted to do something with the heat living and beating in him, the darkness.

Eventually, he let Obi-Wan take him away, and after reaching out for his master through the Force one last time to search for comfort he could not find, Anakin shielded himself from him. He couldn’t let him know. He couldn’t let any of them know.

Anakin was going to bring about an end to the Clone War, and he wasn’t going to be weak like the rest of the Jedi. He was far beyond that now.

[aion-rsa]

Guilty Gear: 15 Most Powerful Characters

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Guilty Gear has one of the more ridiculous storylines in fighting games. A beautiful-looking series with a fantastic cast of heroes and villains, the sci-fi anime aesthetic lends itself to some wacky concepts.

The broad strokes of the series aren’t all that bizarre, as it tells a pretty basic story overall. In a world where magic was discovered, three scientists accidentally unleashed a new type of species that led to a lengthy war between these creatures (Gears) and humanity. One scientist became a genocidal monster, one a grizzled anti-hero, and another a mysterious wildcard watching over everything. Eventually, the war ended and peace reigned, but the possibility of the war reigniting is a constant threat.

That’s not too out there on its own. Except the story also features a large vigilante doctor who wears a paper bag to hide his identity as a crazed serial killer. There’s a ninja who gets elected President of the United States, only to later figure out it would be easier to just start his own country. There’s a comatose boy in a weaponized bed whose personality is a mix between Freddy Krueger and Mandark from Dexter’s Lab. There’s a yoyo-wielding bounty hunter, a time-traveling Axl Rose knockoff, a dandy vampire, an assassin who uses reality-bending billiards as a fighting style, and so on.

Shit gets weird.

With Guilty Gear Strive finally out on store shelves, giving us the long-awaited final battle between Sol Badguy and That Man, it’s time to take a look at the most powerful beings in the Guilty Gear universe. One character I’m leaving off the list is Leopaldon from Guilty Gear Isuka. Not only is the game not canon, but even WHAT Leopaldon is (a dog and a wizard piloting a yeti?) isn’t well-explained. But if you want Leopaldon, he’s definitely on our official ranking of all the characters in the series.

Anyway, here the most powerful characters in Guilty Gear:

15. IZUNA

Izuna, a hero introduced in Guilty Gear 2, is a bit on the mysterious side, but there’s enough information to make it apparent that he’s someone to take serious. Not only is he over 500 years old, but he resides in the Backyard, an environment so uninhabitable that most others would be crushed by its magical atmosphere. He’s skilled as a swordsman, and his teleportation abilities are said to be equal to the strength of several hundred mages combined.

It’s presumed that Izuna didn’t show up in Guilty Gear Xrd because Ariels saw him as such a threat to her plans that she sealed him away and kept him out of play before her schemes could really kick into gear. That’s quite the compliment, in a roundabout way.

14. RAVEN

Raven is all about experience and durability. He simply can’t die, can contort himself, and is unable to feel pain. Even his Instant Kill sees him summon energy that engulf him and his opponent, which turns his enemy to dust while he simply lives to fight another day. He also has control over spatial magic in a way that makes Faust look like a novice. He’s absolutely a force to be reckoned with no matter what character he’s up against.

Still, resilience can only get you so far. When you get down to it, he’s comparable to someone like Deadpool or Wolverine, albeit with an even stronger healing factor and some magic bells and whistles. He may live to fight again, but he can still be overwhelmed and defeated with the right strategy. Guys like Slayer and Dizzy might not be able to completely annihilate him, but they can presumably contain him.

13. THE VALENTINE SERIES

The initial Valentine was the final boss in Guilty Gear 2 and Ramlethal Valentine was the boss in Guilty Gear Xrd -Sign-. They, along with Elphelt Valentine and Jack-O Valentine, are treated as crucial parts of the series.

Yet, they just…never really do anything that justifies ranking them higher on this list. Plus I have to lump them together because it’s hard to really compare them when they can apparently shut off each other’s powers.

Then again, I guess the original Valentine is the alpha of the group as she could upgrade her form a couple times over for the sake of final boss battles. Not that it did her any good.

12. I-NO

I-No is a tough one to figure out. Guilty Gear XX introduces her as a major threat, and a mysterious one at that. Her origin isn’t explored at first, and by the time the series explains what the hell she is (some kind of being the universe created out of everyone’s wishes for a better tomorrow?), it doesn’t really give her much context as a combatant. That said, “Manipulating probability” is one of her powers, making her pretty damn formidable when combined with her almost unlimited battle experience and toughness.

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Even though she’s treated as the boss character in Guilty Gear XX and spends the story messing with everyone, Guilty Gear XX Accent Core lets the rest of the cast catch up to her. Most of her endings involve her being defeated and even killed by those she just beat in-game. For instance, I-No defeats Baiken in-game but then Baiken just gets back up and murders her.

11. BAIKEN AND ANJI MITO

These two are so intertwined and comparable that they’ll have to share a spot. As I already mentioned, they both own I-No no matter who wins the in-game battle, which I’m going to take as a sign that they’re simply superior to her on the battlefield. Both are part of the series’ interesting subplot where people of Japanese descent are both incredibly rare, but also teeming with energy. Unlike May, these two have actually tapped into their genetic potential.

But it has its limits. Baiken has been demolished by Justice in the past, and her attempts to get revenge on That Man only ended in frustration when she couldn’t land a single hit. And he wasn’t even fighting back!

10. KLIFF UNDERSN

Poor Kliff is one of those old school fighting game characters who dies in his own ending, therefore dying in canon. Not that it’s surprising, considering he’s entering a fighting tournament in his late 80s. Still, Kliff is a legend and made a name for himself during much of the war against Justice. Sure, he was taken off the board before we could see how well he’d measure up to some of the younger warriors, but according to canon, Kliff survived at least 16 encounters with Justice.

He couldn’t seal the deal, but surviving against Justice that many times is too impressive not to give him a spot on this list. It’s not like Justice is the kind to spare a defeated foe out of respect. Kliff had to earn his survival time and time again.

9. KY KISKE

Ky Kiske has spent the entire series getting the short straw when compared to his rival and co-protagonist Sol. As Sol’s power keep creeping upwards and making him more and more OP with each new installment, Ky is just off to the side, feeling sorry for himself. He is still more than capable, but on paper, he just can’t hang with the likes of Sol and the other heavy hitters.

The epilogue for Guilty Gear Xrd suddenly shone a new light on Ky, though. Sol fought alongside Ky during the Crusades and saw what he was capable of. It looked nothing like the man he dueled with on multiple occasions across their adventures. Ky then admitted the truth: he had been holding back all this time because, while he may want to defeat Sol, he doesn’t want to kill him and those are two very different fighting strategies for him. Ky may not be some kind of nuclear option in battle, but if he truly wanted to, he could kill you 10 times before you hit the ground.

8. SLAYER

From his first appearance, Slayer made his mark as the retired assassin who was simply too strong for this shit. He’s more of an interested onlooker than a major player and usually only gets involved for the sake of his own amusement. With his otherworldly biology and centuries of experience, Slayer is rarely shown to be in any real peril. Even in defeat, he lies awake and bored, suggesting that he lost only because he allowed it.

It takes a while, but we do eventually get to see some measure of his potential. He’s casual about danger, but there are threats out there that could at the very least make him break a sweat. That’s basically the rest of this list.

7. BEDMAN

Bedman spends the first half of Guilty Gear Xrd -Sign- making his way through the rest of the roster. Depicted as an enigmatic being who fights his enemies both physically and mentally (and is near unstoppable on both fronts), Bedman not only overpowers series regulars, but is able to take on multiple opponents at once while still making them look like the underdogs.

The moment that truly shows how dangerous Bedman is when he comes across Slayer. At first, we get the idea that it’s a stalemate and that Slayer may be up against someone worthy of his effort. Then, sometime later, we see Bedman standing triumphantly over Slayer, Millia, and Venom, who all lie at his feet. And after that, he still keeps going, taking out Faust and Chipp while forcing Johnny to escape. Dude is scary.

6. PRESIDENT GABRIEL

Gabriel showed up in Potemkin’s ending, and since then Arc System Works has been playing up how incredible he is while never, ever putting him in a game! It’s outright maddening. Make him a DLC character or something. We’ve been waiting decades!

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He’s a man Potemkin looks up to and confides in by the end of the first game. Then they introduce Slayer and tease tease this nigh-unbeatable immortal is Gabriel’s rival. It isn’t until Guilty Gear Xrd that it really becomes apparent how tough this guy is. After the story spent all this time building up Bedman, Gabriel completely clowns him like nobody’s business.

That’s what you get for killing that dog, you comatose asshole.

5. SOL BADGUY

Every now and then, fiction gives us a character so powerful that even trying to make them cease to exist does nothing. Blow up Darkseid with anti-matter, use magic to erase the Sentry, go back in time and destroy the MacGuffin that makes Apocalypse immortal, etc. They somehow just exist in spite of that. Sol is on that level. I-No once sent him back in time, had him kill his younger self, and Sol simply shrugged off the paradox. The dude is ridiculous.

Sol grows more powerful in each game and even then we’re told that he’s holding back. By the time the dust settles, he’ll probably be worthy of #1 post on the list, but right now, he’s just a high-ranking, angry fellow who’s important enough to be what the series’ bizarre title is named after.

4. JUSTICE

Despite being killed off in the first game, Justice is the constant source of dread in Guilty Gear’s story. Many of the games have revolved around the threat of Justice’s return, whether it’s getting her daughter to follow in her footsteps, cloning, or even resurrection. And yes, Justice is bad news because when she was active, she led a war against mankind that lasted 101 years. She only lost because she was sealed away.

After being released from her prison, Justice was eventually done in by Sol Badguy, the only Gear to predate her creation. It could be said that Sol took her out when she was weakened, but it could also be said that Sol was holding back.

Regardless, I’m going to rank Justice higher because of of her mental control over the entire Gear race, Sol excluded. Yeah, that’s a pretty major weapon to have in your back pocket, even if it doesn’t really come into play in a one-on-one fighting game. Sol was lucky to be in a situation where he could take her out before she could call in the reserves.

3. DIZZY

Dizzy makes me think of when someone is writing a Justice League story and has to come up with a reason for Superman to not be around, like he’s busy in space or off in another dimension. Dizzy isn’t the protagonist of Guilty Gear, but she is the daughter of two of the most powerful characters, and is mainly held back by plot contrivance and her attempts at pacifism. If she wanted to, she could wipe the floor with practically anyone, and there’s even an alternate reality (one where Ky died during the Crusades) that shows her embracing her potential and leading the Gears to victory against humanity.

Her so-called “Instant Kill” in Guilty Gear Xrd paints the best picture. Dizzy reluctantly fires a projectile that misses its mark, but leaves a horrifying mushroom cloud in the distance. Her freaked out opponents can only survey the damage, slowly turn to her, and surrender. Again, that’s what she’s capable of when holding back.

2. ASUKA R. KREUZ/THAT MAN

I can’t think of a more ambitious concept for a fighting game character than That Man. He’s alluded to in Sol Badguy’s ending in the first Guilty Gear game, making you imagine he’ll be the final boss of the next game or maybe the one after that. Instead, he makes mysterious appearances in the Guilty Gear X games. We never get a good look at him, but we see that he’s capable of easily slapping aside anyone who gets in his way. Then he pops up in Guilty Gear 2, including in a boss battle where Dragon Install Sol Badguy can’t even dent him. The Guilty Gear Xrd series gives him a little more dimension, finally revealing his true face and name.

Now it’s time for Guilty Gear Strive where maybe, just maybe, That Man will be DLC down the line. Maybe. Since the beginning, the series has been building to a climactic battle between Sol Badguy and Asuka R. Kreuz. As it is right now, That Man has proved to be higher on the food chain than his old scientist colleague, but that kind of uphill battle is expected.

1. ARIELS

Guilty Gear 2 and Guilty Gear Xrd -Sign- built up “Mother,” the force behind the Valentines and the one signing Bedman’s checks. At the end of -Sign-, we found out that the big mastermind is…a lady Pope possessed by a divine force. Sure, why not. Then in the next game, we got to see her go from putting on a professional and benevolent face for the public to going on a killing spree, painting her face like a juggalo, and ranting about how humanity is redundant and needs to be done away with.

Once again, Ariels would have made for a kickass final boss in Guilty Gear Xrd Revelator, but she remained part of story mode only. She was eventually taken down, but it took Sol Badguy, Ky Kiske, Sin Kiske, and That Man teaming up to do it. But as revealed in Guilty Gear Strive, she’s still alive!

What is your ranking of the most powerful Guilty Gear fighters? Let us know in the comments!

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[the-trashy-phoenix]

Supernatural season 7 review (part 1)

Link to part 2:

I think this season was a lot alike the first ones, maybe because of the amount of episodes representing small hunts that have nothing to do with the big plot (as episode 4, about the Egyptian god Osiris, 5, about witches, 7, about ghosts, 12, about the Greek god Cronus, 13, about the Amazons, 14, about Sam’s fear of creepy clowns, 15, about demons and so on), or also because the plot of the season, the Winchesters fighting against the villain of the season, was quite simple. I somehow appreciate the two features, and I will later explain why, but of course at this point of the show it’s kind of unnatural not to focus on bigger storylines.

I find the “single episodes” pretty original, but I can’t help thinking they’re only meant to increase the number of episodes and create at least 20 of them per season, and that the main storyline alone would’ve requested only at most half of them to get completed. I’d understand if the show wasn’t 15 seasons long, and if the authors didn’t force all the main action to take place in the very last episodes.

Season 7 has a quite plain main plot: the villain, Dick Roman (Latins would’ve said “nomen omen”, which means something like “someone’s name’s an omen”), the leader of Leviathans, plans to conquer the world by drugging and killing people through the food produced in his factories. It is clear that Sam and Dean have to stop him. As I was saying, for someone who’s used to complex plots, this season might result a bit boring, but for me it was even relaxing not having to keep too many details in mind.

Two of the main themes of the season are introduced already in the first episode, Leviathans, which are contained in Castiel’s body and are destined to come out and spread death, and Sam’s hallucinations, which will accompany him for a long time.

I just mentioned Leviathans, new creatures that appear right from Purgatory thanks to Castiel. We’ve left him at the end of season 6 and we meet him again as an arrogant and vengeful God. I found it quite strange that Castiel had become so mean, and even the Winchesters can’t understand his behaviour. It is kind of a lesson of how power can change people, but still at some point I found it incoherent with Cas’ personality, as he has always been so humble and kind to every human, especially to Sam and Dean, and as he suddenly asks for their forgiveness.

When Leviathans take over, Cas dies. It is a very painful moment, as every time someone dies through Supernatural, but it is as if the brothers are sorrowfully getting used to losing people and have so many problems to solve at the same time they don’t have any more mental energy to devote to process grief. They always carry an unbearable burden they never have time to mindfully focus on and that makes them so frustrated they’re often almost to the point of exploding.

This time Cas’ death is the least of their problems, as Leviathans are starting to kill and eat people at a hospital, and in addition they are invincible with the Winchesters’ usual weapons, and Lucifer is trying to take over Sam’s mind. We immediately get to know that Sam’s mental wall is broken, so that Lucifer can torment and play him. It is like Sammy can’t have rest from his demonic side and can’t get rid of it: Lucifer provides him with increasing hallucinations and pain. Dean and Bobby are really worried about him, but they have no clue on how to cure Sam, as it happens most of the time when one of the brothers is “supernaturally ill”.

However, despite all the odds they’ve been and are going through, Sam and Dean finally seem to be happy and comfortable with each other, but their dynamics get complicated in the third episode, when Dean kills Amy, a monster who’s Sam’s friend and has proven trustworthy, of course without telling his brother. The brothers’ relationship is a seesaw of continuous positive and negative moments, and when one of them does something like this I really doubt they’ve been able to build a solid bond based on trust. That is their biggest problem which keeps on coming out without ever being resolved: the typical pattern is that one of them does something he doesn’t want the other to know and the lie goes on until the truth is invariably revealed leading to endless fights (until one of them is severely ill or dead). Sam, Dean, don’t you see that’s how things always go? Wouldn’t it be easier and better and healthier for your relationship to always tell the truth, even if it hurts, because hiding it and knowing it later is by far more painful and problematic? I wonder if they’ll ever understand that, considering that, as they’re approximately the two of them alone against the entire world, it is stupid to keep on lying to each other.

Meanwhile, Bobby studies a Leviathan to find a way to kill him and Sam and Dean meet Frank, a weird old friend of Bobby’s who helps them create new identities, because two Leviathans in the shape of Sam and Dean are committing crimes all over the country. Finally Bobby and the brothers find out that the monsters aren’t as invincible as they seemed to be at first, because they can be slowed down by cutting their head or by burning them with some chemicals.

The mid-turning point of the season is episode 9: the three find out about Dick Roman and his plans, which they try to stop by entering into one of his food factories, where Bobby is captured. I wasn’t worried at all about that, because the Winchesters and Bobby always go through difficult situations, and that one wasn’t surely worse than other times. That’s why Bobby’s death occurred so unexpectedly and hurt a lot more than all the others in Supernatural. An entire episode, the tenth, is devoted to the exploration of Bobby’s mind in his last moments of life, where he’s accompanied by Rufus through his happiest memories. We have an extraordinary view of Bobby’s existence, with his parents and his wife, and of course the brothers. Even in this highly pathetic moment we experience Bobby’s deep bond with his adopted children: he spends his last breath and forces to communicate a fundamental information he’s discovered to defeat Dick. This was really the solemn ending moment, as if the ultimate meaning of Bobby’s life was giving everything, his knowledge, his love and his life, to Sam and Dean, having been loyal to them since forever. As you may see, Bobby’s death really broke my heart: I thought of him as a nearly immortal character, who would have been by the brothers’ side until the end. As it was predictable, this event has massive consequences to the plot and particularly to the Winchesters (by the way, it is extremely meaningful that they seem to be much more scattered than when John died). They face their grief the only way they know, working cases and gathering information on Dick to avenge Bobby. Unfortunately, they lose another precious ally on their way: as a matter of fact Frank gets killed by Leviathans, which was sad both because he had helped a lot Dean in tracking Dick and because he was quite fun and a nice presence in the season.

As if all that trouble wasn’t enough, Sam’s visions of Lucifer become more and more frequent and painful, while Dean can’t find a way to help him. The brothers have to face everything at the same time: the fight against Dick, Bobby’s death and Sam’s mental instability, which is destroying him and Dean at the same time, as what happens to one of them affects even more painfully the other. In addition, another worry comes out: Dean finds out Castiel is alive and has lost all his memories about who he is and what he has done. Dean at first can’t really forgive him, but when Cas gets to have his memories back, he can’t resist his stubborn hate toward his “friend” and finally decides to erase God-Cas parenthesis, also because the angel is so guilty he offers himself to take over Sam’s hallucinations. It is a noble sacrifice which allows the brothers to go back to hunting Dick and establish a new degree of friendship and trust between team free will, after the painful moment of Cas’ death. I think both getting rid of Lucifer and gaining back Castiel give the brothers the hope they need to succeed in defeating Dick, after the previous single episodes of impasse.

In the ending episodes another surprise awaits Sam and Dean: Bobby, as a ghost, manages to communicate with them and makes himself visible, giving start to a weird dynamic where he still helps the brothers as he did when he was alive, but using his ghost powers. This situation leaves in the protagonists and in the viewer a sense of bitter illusion, as everyone knows it can’t end well, as Bobby’s destined to become a vengeful spirit, like any other ghost, and when the moment comes they would have to kill him again, and, doing so, renewing their pain. This kind of “second death” was quite sadistic, but still I appreciated Bobby’s comeback as it was right to give more space to such an important character and explore the afterlife from a different point of view. From the first time we profoundly feel ghosts’ frustration of being isolated from living people and we can easily put ourselves in their shoes, as they’re no more depicted merely as a cruel monster.

I think this process could be included in the new connotation of supernatural creatures that emerges from these seasons on: the absolute dichotomy good-evil which imposes that monsters can only be bad is a bit more flexible (and along with it, also the Winchesters become more and more open minded) and gives space to complex characters and personalities which can’t be defined univocally. The best example of this change of tone is Meg. I really appreciated the growth of the character from season 1, where she seems to be an ordinary demon, to seasons 6 and 7, where she’s developed as a proper round character, an outsider from both demonic and human worlds: here she keeps helping the Winchesters, presenting herself as a good ally against Dick and Crowley and at same time preserving her typical bad bitch attitude. She leaves us a striking message, volunteering to look after Castiel at the hospital while the boys are busy fighting Dick: the strict first seasons determinism is definitely gone, also demons can make decisions using their free will and change the order of things, fighting side to side with the good guys. This kind of sympathy for the brothers can be noticed also in Crowley at some point, as he helps them with the spell to defeat Leviathans, but of course there’s no doubt his only interest is to use Sam and Dean to fight a common enemy.

Moreover, season 7, marked by many painful deaths, is certainly also productive of new characters destined to become permanent for some time. Besides two appearances of Jody, one of the rare positive and strong female figures of the show, who is now occasionally helping the brothers in their hunts, and one of Becky, which gives us one of the funniest episodes of the season, where she makes Sam falling in love with her thanks to a potion and marries him, three new important characters are presented.

First of all Garth, a weird and clumsy hunter, helps Dean in episode 8 (while Sam is married to Becky): after the initial skepticism, he becomes one of their most trusted friends. I find the relationship between Garth and the boys so cute, as they kind of protect him by teaching him what they know about monsters and in return he tries very hard to be accepted in their team and to do whatever he can to help them.

At the end of the season we meet another young male character, Kevin, a normal kid who studies and has dreams about his career, but gets absorbed by the supernatural world as he is chosen as a prophet of the Lord. His skill is to be able to read some tablets containing the Word of God and fundamental knowledge about angels, demons and other creatures (thanks to one of those tablets Sam and Dean get to know how to kill Leviathans). Kevin is such a lovely guy, at first really confused, as every human would be in his situation, and as well hopeful that the nightmare he finds himself into without having a choice would end quickly. We know, as well as the Winchesters, that things like this never end and once you’re trapped in the supernatural world it is forever, and that’s why we feel pitiful and protective towards Kevin. Seen from Sam and Dean’s perspective, he’s another innocent person they have to look after and feel guilty for even if nothing about it is their fault. Kevin is one of those characters that make one doubt about the real existence of free will and self determination, especially for someone who’s devoted to high purposes in the economy of the show.

Last but not least, the end of season 7 sees the appearance of one of the undoubtedly best characters in Supernatural, Charlie. She becomes a fundamental part of the plan of defeating Dick thanks to her great computer skills, but, more importantly, she quickly becomes Sam and Dean’s friend and one of their best allies in some of their hunts. I really loved her as a character and in her interactions with the brothers, as from the very beginning they seem to see her as their little sister. She also brings into the show a small (but still great and quite unexpected) insight on the lgbt community, being overtly lesbian. I loved how Dean in particular was at ease knowing this information, and the fact that the authors seem to get more in step with the times, as the ideas of slight misogyny and toxic masculinity and heterosexuality of the first seasons can’t fit anymore in recent years. It is so interesting to see how the show grows in time through its characters and their complex psychology and personality, even if there’s still a long road ahead in terms of equality and representation.

I have the feeling that this season goes through three changes in mood, the first half (and a bit more) being quite problematic and full of sad events and the last part presenting some positive characters who guarantee hope for the finale. The last episode is a mixture of the two sides, as Dick is happily defeated, but his death has a price: Dean and Cas are sent directly to Purgatory with Leviathans. So the episode ends with our favourite couple having to deal with the third mysterious realm of afterlife (we’ve already been to both Heaven and Hell) and its dangerous monsters.

- Irene 💕

[caught-in-a-seesaw-stigma]

Map of the Soul, Chapter One

For the @btswritingcafe​‘s Map of the Soul: 7 Workshop

Author’s Note: This story pulled me into long range territory, so I had to split it into 7 chapters to make it more manageable on Tumblr. Here is the first installment of this journey through the soul. I hope you like it!  

Pairings: OT7 x reader (kinda); Jungkook x reader

Series Summary: If you give a piece of yourself to everyone you love, at some point, there will be nothing left for yourself. While feeling lost and alone in your adult life, a strange box falls onto your head in your own closet, and you take an unexpected walk down memory lane wondering where everything went wrong.  Was it the romances that fizzled out, the friends & loved ones you left behind, the “what could’ve been” moments, the brush with Fate that never quite connected? Could the strange map you find have the answers you are looking for?  Determined to feel complete once again, you embark on a journey to reclaim the missing pieces of your soul.

Genre: Angst, Fluff, Smut

Word Count: 8K+

Warnings: NSFW 18+ cursing/profanity, alcohol consumption, sexual tension,  one night stand, sexual content, protected sex, oral sex (female receiving)

Chapter One: There’s Always Time for Euphoria

March 15th - 5:45pm

Done.

That was the singular thought pulsating in your brain as you parked the car. The day was only halfway over and you were way past the breaking point of your own sanity.

From the moment you’d stepped out of bed and into your urine soaked house slippers, you should’ve known that the day was going to be beyond disastrous. Even as you washed them in the tub and left them hanging to dry, you just knew the rest of the day would be a downhill slide.

You didn’t know why your dog Oberyn was upset, but apparently, it was enough to prompt his indiscretion on your only pair of house slippers. He’d even had the audacity to sit in his bed and glare at you while you hurled your anger and frustration at him as you got dressed for your day.

I don’t know what crawled up his butt this morning, but I hope he’s in a better mood. I’m in no condition to deal with his bullshit right now.

After almost tripping up the stairs to your apartment entrance and dropping your keys into the bushes on the way up, you finally made it across the threshold. You quickly changed out your work shoes for sneakers and got Oberyn ready for his walk. Fifteen minutes later, you were cleaning the bottom of your shoe after a happy little accident found your foot at the dog park. Oberyn seemed to smirk at your misfortune, but you couldn’t even muster the energy to care.

Once you both returned to the apartment, you put his harness and leash away and reached over to grab his after-walk treats. You noticed one was already out on top of the container and the morning’s havoc immediately made sense. Oberyn wagged his tail and waited patiently for his treats and a well deserved apology.

“I’m sorry, buddy,” you sighed, handing him both treats. “I didn’t realize I’d forgotten to give this to you.”

He accepted your apology and head pats, then happily grabbed both snacks and ran to eat them on his bed. You shook your head and smiled at the easily appeased creature.

If only everything worked like that. You get something you were missing and it suddenly solves all your problems. The Universe finally makes sense again. What a life!

You quickly changed into comfy clothes and collapsed unceremoniously onto the couch. The random assortment of unfortunate events of the day replayed like a blooper reel in your mind and you groaned at the stacks of embarrassment and humiliation you’d endured.

You’d locked yourself out of your office and the university maintenance guy took forever to unlock it for you, which made you late to your first class. You had to dismiss the class and reschedule the quiz since all the copies were sitting on your desk in your locked office.

You’d torn your favorite black slacks and had to patch them with bright green thread from your emergency sewing kit.

You’d sustained several injuries including three paper cuts, a stubbed toe, your knee knocking the underside of a table, and a staple stabbing underneath your fingernail.

You’d spilled coffee down the front of your blouse when a fly unexpectedly dove into your face.

You’d even lost one of your favorite earrings while taking off your scarf outside the Humanities building. It was now lost among the clumps of mud by the front door.

Why does the Universe hate me so much today?

RIIIIINNGGG!!

You swiveled your head over to your cell phone screeching at you from the side table. The comical picture of your mother flashing on the screen drew a groan of exasperation from your throat.

I can’t deal with her right now.

The phone ceased its machinations and you turned into the couch seeking an escape from the tragedies of the day.

RIIIIINNGGG!!

“Argh!” You wailed. “What could she possibly need from me right now?!”

After taking a deep breath, you picked up the offending device and swiped the screen to answer the call.

“Hello, mother,” you grumbled. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Oh, sweetheart,” she sighed. “Don’t talk to your mother like that. It’s undignified.”

“I apologize,” you corrected with fake cheerfulness. “Hi, Mommy! I missed the sound of your voice. How was your day?”

“We really need to work on your phone etiquette, honey,” your mother groaned. “You’ll never meet anyone with that attitude.”

“Yes, mother,” you replied snarkily. “My goal in life is to trap someone in my love nest with only my wit and wisdom as weapons.”

“Anyway,” she drawled. “The reason I’m calling is because I’m looking for something. Do you remember that stole you wore for your college graduation? The one your grandmother made?”

“Yeah, I remember,” you responded. “It has all the graduate names from our family embroidered on it. It’s in my memory box in the closet. Why?”

“Your cousin Sana is graduating from college in about a week,” she announced happily. “I need that stole so we can get it embroidered before the graduation ceremony. Can you overnight it to me, darling?”

You leaned back on the couch and released a sigh of defeat.

Of course other people are doing great things in their life. I’m the only dumbass stuck in a rut right now.

“I’ll dig it out of the closet and send it to you tomorrow,” you replied. “Let me know when and where the graduation will be so I can make plans to head down.”

“Splendid,” your mom chirped. “I’m sure everyone will be happy to see you. Get some rest, honey. You sound tired. Love you!”

Without giving you a chance to respond, your mom ended the call. You looked at the screen and rolled your eyes.

She gets what she needs and then she’s gone. Typical.

Knowing you would probably forget to do it later, you wandered over to your spare closet, grabbing the stepladder along the way.

Might as well get this over with.

You climbed up on the ladder and pulled on the chain for the light above your head. You couldn’t stifle the groan from escaping when you spied the piles of plastic containers and boxes on the upper shelf.

Why is my life such a hot mess?

You started pulling down boxes one by one to avoid an accidental avalanche. The collection of dust and crumpled cardboard left you sneezing and gagging on stuffy air and a faint smell of mothballs.

After clearing your throat and taking a sip of water, you looked up and spotted the box you’d been looking for.

Just one more box to move.

The box in question had shifted slightly and was wedged against the ceiling at an odd angle. Try as you might, you couldn’t get it to budge. With a huff of annoyance, you balanced yourself on the top of the stepladder and pushed up to get closer to the box. You heaved your palms against the side of the box and it gave away before you could regain your balance. You crashed into an uncomfortable heap on the floor and whined loudly as you felt the painful throb on your ankle.

After a quick assessment, you discover no other injuries except for a slightly swollen ankle and a sizable knot on the top of your head.

What the hell hit my head?

You glanced around and saw three different boxes scattered around you. One was the memory box you’d been trying to get, one was the previously wedged prisoner box, and the other was completely foreign. You stood up and walked over to lift it from among the clatter on the floor.

This isn’t mine. Is it?

You brushed off the subtle cobwebs and dust and revealed a collection of stickers and decals that were strikingly familiar. Most depicted the many fandoms you followed, but others appeared to be nothing more than artfully scribbled words in elegant script.

Time. Destiny. Passion. Happiness. Faith. Friendship. Love.

You turned the box over in your hands and furrowed your brows quizzically. You didn’t remember ever seeing the box before and it certainly wasn’t there when you originally packed the closet full of your crap.

A loud text message tone pulled you out of your reverie and you abandoned the box on the counter in search of your phone.

Ah yes, we have to keep the tradition going.

Your grandmother and her sentimentality were time consuming, but also adorable. She wanted to stress the importance of education in the family, but also find a way to keep everyone connected from generation to generation. It was her insistence that solidified this current graduation tradition.

You opened the memory box and lifted the neatly folded stole in its plastic bag and the small scrapbook decorated with graduation memorabilia. You took a moment to reminisce about your prior accomplishments and then placed the items on the counter. After cleaning up the mess on the floor and carefully returning everything to the closet, you limped over to the kitchen and poured yourself another glass of water.

On your third gulp, your eyes landed on the mysterious box again. It was no bigger than a shoe box, but was definitely sturdier. Curiosity got the better of you and you inspected it a little more closely.

There was a tarnished metal knob that needed to be turned in order to lift the lid. The glossy surface appeared to be varnished or glazed so that the stickers and words would remain fixed. There was no lock, so you decided to open it.

You didn’t know what to expect when you opened the lid, but it certainly wasn’t what you found.

Laying on top of a folded piece of paper were seven items: a rubber banana keychain, a cute little hamburger toy, a metallic purple kazoo, a gold sequined bow tie on an elastic band, a red beanie dragon plush, a spoon with a floral design, and a thin metal disc with an assortment of holes. You tentatively inspected each item and placed it on the counter.

What the hell is all this?

You lifted the folded paper out of the box and looked underneath. All that was left at the bottom of the box was a quote etched into the surface.

My life and yours are an equal sign, So my remedy is your remedy.

You read the phrase over a few times and couldn’t make sense of it. It seemed familiar, but you couldn’t place it. You turned the folded paper over in your hands a few times and then unfolded it. It’s a fairly large sheet and it resembled parchment. At first glance, the image on the paper looked like an intricate abstract drawing. There were large lines of ink brushed across in elaborate swirls resembling a disjointed heart.

The swirling lines were connected by smudges of charcoal across from blocks of text in colorful ink. There were seven smudges with lines of text to the left of each smudge. You couldn’t make sense of it, but there did seem to be some type of pattern implied. The lines flowed from left to right increasing in width and each successive line grew wider as it progressed to the other side of the page.

You studied the lightest portion of the drawing and read the lines of text next to this first smudge.

Were you wandering around Looking for an erased dream too? It’s different from the typical definition of destiny. Your pained eyes are looking at the same place as me. Won't you please stay in dreams?

The words were certainly poetic, but you didn’t understand their significance. You glanced at the other phrases and they seemed just as cryptic.

What the hell am I looking at? Why would something like this be in my closet?

You were too exhausted to think too much on it, so you shrugged your shoulders and folded the paper and placed it back in the box. You left everything else on the counter and decided that it was time for a shower and then bedtime. As you lay in bed, you exhaled heavily and focused on the hope that tomorrow would be better than today.

March 17th - St. Patrick’s Day - 4:27pm

Oh no...please don’t let her find me in here.

“Ok, no arguments,” Gina chirped in excitement as she pranced through your office door. “It’s time for green beer and dancing!”

Damn, she’s quick!

You lowered your head to your desk and groaned out slightly and silently scolded yourself for not leaving the office earlier to avoid her completely. It was much easier to avoid Gina if you were already out of the office, but once she had you cornered, it was almost impossible to tell her no. She was your favorite faculty member and the only person at work that you would consider hanging out with outside of the university.

Gina had been trying to get you to go out for months, and after a long week of midterm exams, you couldn’t find the energy to counter her offer. Besides, you were now, technically, on Spring Break.

“Come on, girl,” she pleaded. “You know I’m leaving for Acapulco the day after tomorrow with my sisters. If I can get you out of your stuffy apartment and into an Irish bar for a little St. Patty’s Day fun, then I can truly enjoy my vacation. You know how I worry about my work-bestie when I’m not around.”

She pouted at you and batted her long eyelashes, and you almost cackled at her adorable puppy dog look. You half expected her to start whining at you like Oberyn would when he wanted something. Maybe that image in your head that weakened your resolve against her proposal for a St. Patrick’s Day outing.

“Fine,” you acquiesced. “Where are we going, Gina?”

She squealed in excitement and twirled around with glee. You tried to resist the growing enthusiasm, but you quickly gave in with a sigh and a smile.

“Fine. Let me finish up here and we can go to my apartment,” you suggested. “I guess I’ll need you to help me pick out an outfit for tonight.”

Gina nodded happily and ran upstairs to collect her things. Once you finished packing everything away, she was hopping around in anticipation at your office door. Her bunny antics made you giggle.

Such funny friends I have.

March 17th - St. Patrick’s Day - 10:37pm

After a quick dinner of sushi, you were pushing your way through the crowded Irish bar back to the booth where Gina was entertaining her latest acquisition. The guy was certainly handsome, but he only had eyes for Gina. You had another set of drinks for the two of you, but upon discovering the entwined couple making out in the booth, you decided to retreat to give them some privacy.

Typical. She invites me out and then she ditches me for a pretty face.

You wandered back toward the bar and gazed at the writhing mass of bodies under the flashing lights on the dance floor. Desperate to lose yourself in the moment, you downed the two drinks and relished the flavor of Guiness and Bailey’s on your tongue.  If Gina was going to have fun, then so were you. You motioned the bartender over and ordered a Jameson & Ginger Ale.

“A whiskey girl, huh?” exclaimed a sultry voice behind you. “Much better than those Appletini chicks.”

Ah, yes, the pick up line. At least his voice is sexy. Let’s hope the rest of him matches.

You couldn’t decide whether to be amused or annoyed, so you decided to let his face make the decision for you. You turned around prepared to give him your best smirk, but lost your nerve once you saw who it was.

“Jungkook?” you replied in squeak. “What are you doing here?!”

Pure amusement filled his doe eyes and he huffed out a laugh. You were floored that your secret hopes of your mystery man being handsome were completely dashed. In fact, he didn’t just have a sexy voice, he was also drop dead gorgeous. You hadn’t seen Jeon Jungkook in almost 7 years, and he hadn’t aged a day. Back when you were both still working on your undergraduate degrees, you’d been his writing tutor on campus, spending countless hours pouring over research papers and essays that needed serious revision and editing.

So many late nights spent at each other’s apartments, so many long hours in the private study rooms, so many casual touches, missed opportunities, awkward moments, and those long nights alone in your bed where you wished his strong arms were holding you. There was no denying the sexual tension you’d felt back then, and there was certainly no denying it now.

Now, here he was leaning on the bar in his billowy shirt and dark ripped jeans looking like some kind of Greek god holding a glass of bourbon.  You quickly cleared the inebriation out of your brain and tried to appear sober and sane while you smoothed out your ruffled hair.

“So,” Jungkook smirked while pulling you closer. “I’m guessing you weren’t expecting to see me here, huh?”

“Ummm, no,” you admitted sheepishly. “I didn’t even know you were back in town. I haven’t seen you in years. What are you doing here?”

“I just took a job here,” Jungkook stated simply. “Just hanging out with my new coworkers for the night. I saw you and thought I’d say hi, but I wasn’t expecting you to look so enticing though. You’re not here with your boyfriend or husband, are you?”

“Is that your subtle way of asking if I’m still single?” you popped your eyebrow at him. “And enticing, really? Still trying to pick me up, Kookie?”

He smiled a bright bunny grin at his old nickname. You were the only one who would ever call him that and he would never admit just how much he loved it.

“Oh, did you want me to try?,” he continued while reaching up to run his hands up and down your arms. “Hmmmm, where should I begin, babygirl?”

He pulled his lip between his lips and shot you a smoldering look while flipping his hair slightly. You tried to look disinterested, but you lost your composure when he reached up to push a lock up hair behind your ear. Your breath caught in your throat as he moved in between your legs.  

“I mean it, you know?” Jungkook insisted while locking eyes with you. “You still look incredible.”

The bartender returned with your drink at that moment. Thankful for a little distraction, you lifted the glass of liquid courage to your lips. You swallowed a large gulp of swirling heady sweetness and smiled at Jungkook. He was watching you with stars in his eyes and you were enjoying every minute of it.

“So what are you doing these days, Kookie?” you asked, trying to shift his gaze elsewhere. “Are you still playing with your camera and crayons?”

Jungkook laughed and rolled his eyes at your insinuation. As an art major, Jungkook dabbled in several mediums including painting, sculpture, photography, graphic design, and drawing. The boy was insanely talented, so you were actually curious about where he’d ended up career-wise.

“I just took a job at an advertising agency,” he replied with a cocked eyebrow. “And no, I’m not playing with crayons, smartass. I’m their new Assistant Art Director, so I’m mostly working on graphic designs and managing their photography department.”

“Look at you,” you grinned. “Little Kookie all grown up and making big bucks as an actual adult.”

“I was always an adult,” he corrected. “Someone just always chose to treat me like a little kid.”

“Not always,” you shot back. “It’s not my fault you had a tendency to act like an idiot teenager sometimes.”

“Fair point,” he conceded. “But we all have to grow up sometimes, right? Except you, I guess. Looking at you, I could never guess that so much time has passed since I last saw you. You honestly look amazing.”

He leaned in and ran his nose along your neck up to your ear, inhaling deeply as he grazed your skin. He hummed happily as the intoxicating scent of your perfume hit his nostrils.

“You smell amazing too,” he sighed against your ear. “I bet you haven’t thought about me once since I last saw you.”

“Well, that’s a lie,” you smirked. “I’ve thought about you quite a lot actually. You, sir, are one of my big regrets from college.”

“Oh yeah?” Jungkook chuckled lightly while nipping at your earlobe. “Why is that, babygirl?”

You nearly purred at his touch and you hissed lightly when you felt Jungkook’s lips attached themselves to your neck.

“Oh, you’re such a fucking tease, Kookie.” you whined. “How am I supposed to think clearly when you’re doing that?”

“What?” he mused. “I’m not doing anything you don’t want me to, am I?”

You pushed on his chest slightly and he pulled away just enough to rub his nose along your own. You felt his breath ghost across your face and you allowed the smell of bourbon to mix in with his fresh scent.

“Kookie,” you sighed. “How much have you had to drink?”

He wrinkled his brow in confusion and stepped back to look at your face, searching for some explanation for your implied accusation. You weren’t trying to sound like you were chastising him for drinking, but you couldn’t shake the insecurity itching under your skin. It was entirely possible that Jungkook was just feeling a little tipsy from the evening and his familiarity with you was the cause of his brazen behavior. It wouldn’t be the first time, but you weren’t about to let a longtime crush be ruined because of a questionable drunken daze. Jungkook picked up on your train of thought and placed his drink on the bar.  

“I hope you’re not insinuating that I’m only hitting on you because I’ve been drinking,” he scowled. “You should know better than that. I’ve been hitting on you since before I was able to buy my own alcohol, remember?”

“Yeah,” you giggled. “I remember having to sneak you into a few clubs back in the day.”

“Exactly,” he bragged. “So don’t try to make it sound like I’m just some random drunken idiot trying to get into your pants. I’m the same Jungkook who would look down your shirt or pull you into his lap in the hopes of making out with you. I mean, I’m still trying to get into your pants, but at least it’s not something new.”

“Still, huh?” you prompted after downing the rest of your drink. “Well, it’s going to take more than a little flirting to get into my pants, Kookie. You want to dance? I want to see if you still got those sexy moves, Kookie.”

He giggled and then finished his own drink with haste. He grabbed your hand to help you off the barstool and you pulled him toward the chaotic dance floor.

You shook off your previous nerves and worked your way into the pulsating mass of dancers. The music was thumping out a steady bass line and you swayed your hips back and forth to the beat. You weren’t sure if Jungkook noticed your attempt at seduction, but within moments, a pair of strong hands attached themselves to your gyrating hips. Given your vaguely inebriated state, you had no problem relinquishing a little control to your sexy suitor.

You encouraged Jungkook’s boldness by pushing your ass back into his crotch, grinding onto his growing erection. He leaned into your body and pulled you closer.  His lips ghosted a kiss on your exposed shoulder and then nipped at your neck playfully. The pleased sigh that left your lips prompted a dark chuckle from him.

“So naughty,” he murmured into your ear. “If you keep on grinding onto my dick like that, I’ll have to take action, babygirl.”

You leaned your head back onto his shoulder and reached up to grip his wavy hair. He groaned softly as you tugged on the roots and his hips thrusted against your ass. You quickly calculated how long it had been since you’d had sex and decided that it was time to update your calendar.

“Oh yeah?” you taunted. “I’ll accept that challenge.”

You turned in his grasp and locked onto his lips with your own. He hesitated for a moment, but pushed back with his own lips in seconds. They were unbelievably soft and his fervent kisses ignited an inferno in your center. You decided to take it a bit further and you swiped your tongue across the seam of his lips. He moaned slightly in response and dove into your mouth with his own tongue. Once you bit down on his bottom lip, you both decided it was time to move to a more secure location.

He turned away from the crowd and pulled you behind him toward the bar. You both quickly closed out your tabs and made your way to the exit. Once you were both outside, you pounced on him and pushed him into the brick exterior, unable to contain your lust any longer. Jungkook appeared flustered by your eagerness and took a moment to gather his bearings.

“As much I would love to lose myself in this moment,” Jungkook huffed while pulling away from your hungry lips. “Maybe we should decide on a place with softer surfaces.”

You glanced at the vacant alleyway next to you and the brightly lit city street and frowned.

“Sorry,” you apologized. “Kinda forgot where I was for a second there.”

“Really?” Jungkook grinned and kissed your forehead. “You could’ve fooled me.”

“Let me call an Uber,” you volunteered. “My place isn’t too far from here.”

Once you were both in the Uber, you couldn’t stop touching and smiling at each other. The driver commented on the “happy couple,” and you didn’t have to heart to correct the old man.

Once you were both inside your apartment, Jungkook pushed you against your front door and started nipping lazily along your jaw.

Jungkook stroked his thumbs along your sides and leaned in to kiss your flushed cheeks. You sighed happily in response and ran your hands up his firm chest and rested them on his shoulders.

“Jungkook,” you began. “I didn’t think I’d ever run into you again. I haven’t seen you since my undergraduate graduation party.”

“I tried to see more of you that night,” Jungkook admitted while stroking your hair. “But someone disappeared in the middle of the party with their friend, Jimin.”

You flushed further at his words, remembering that night a little more clearly now that he’d brought it up. You and your former friend with benefits had indeed disappeared that night to have a little undergraduate graduation celebration of your own. By the time the two of you rejoined the party, Jungkook was long gone.

“Sorry about that,” you muttered. “I honestly didn’t think you’d be interested. You always had so many girls pining for you, I never thought you’d give me a second glance.”

“Are you kidding?” Jungkook scoffed. “I’ve wanted you since our first tutoring session. I could barely concentrate with you wearing that tank top and those little shorts. What kind of tutor shows up wearing something like that?”

“It was summer,” you countered. “It was over 100 degrees. What was I supposed to wear? A parka?”

You both giggled at that, and it broke the tension that was building since you recognized him. Feeling encouraged, you started lightly scratching his shoulders and chest, noting the stiff pebbles you grazed down the front of his shirt.

“So what now?” you asked. “Do we just keep reminiscing about old times until the sun comes up?”

You gently popped the top button from his shirt to reveal more of his deliciously tanned skin. Jungkook bit his lip and lifted an eyebrow suggestively.

“I think we’ve talked enough,” he grinned wickedly. “There are better ways to spend our time.”

Your eyes locked and you could almost feel the searing arousal growing between you. You gently pushed him away from you and then started walking toward your bedroom, tossing your shoes aside along the way. At the edge of the living room, you lifted your dress over your head and tossed it on the couch. Jungkook smirked and continued to unbutton his shirt while walking toward you. His taut muscles caused your thighs to clench in anticipation.

“Are you enjoying the view, baby?” Jungkook purred while looking you up and down. “I know I am.”

He unbuckled his belt and tugged at the buttons on his jeans. You stepped forward to help him, but got too caught up in touching his bare skin to be of any use. You pulled Jungkook’s lips to your own just as he leaned forward to pull his pants down. He was caught off balance, but quickly recovered after using his feet to pull the troublesome fabric from his legs.

After flinging his shirt behind him, you were both left in your underwear and no inch of exposed skin was left unexplored. Your dominant personalities were at war as you made your way down the hallway, and the aggression became tangible, especially after you practically slammed his back into the wall by your bedroom door. Jungkook squealed happily when you started climbing onto his chest and he reached down and pulled your legs up and around his waist.

Even though his hands were already busy holding you up, he still managed to slip a few fingers in between your legs from behind. The soaked fabric of your underwear pulled a sultry groan from his kiss bitten lips.

“Holy shit, baby,” he said in a breathy tone. “You’re so fucking wet already.”

You moaned softly into his ear as he trailed your arousal back and forth across your slit. He walked across the threshold of your bedroom door and sat down on the bed. You quickly pushed him on his back, but he sat back up and tried to still your frantic hands.

“Baby, baby,” he implored. “You can slow down a bit. I’m not going anywhere.”

“But,” you pouted. “You have no idea how many times I fantasized about this. I’m just excited that it’s actually happening.”

He reached up with one hand and unsnapped your bra with unbelievable precision. He smirked at your awed expression, tossed your bra to the floor, and then leaned up to kiss you sweetly.

“I feel the same way,” he confessed. “I just want to take my time with this. There’s no rush.”

Jungkook continued kissing along your jawline and proceeded to your neck. He pulled on your nipples slightly and then slipped his fingers around your waist to toy with the band of your underwear. You took a deep breath and smiled. Maybe you were a little eager, but it wasn’t often that a legit snack was delivered unto you by the Universe. The restraint was a real struggle.

Jungkook nipped at a sweet spot just below your ear and you hissed and clutched desperately at his back in response.

“Kookie,” you whined. “Don’t tease me.”

“Oh yeah?” he chuckled darkly. “I’d say you deserve a little payback for all the times you teased me, don’t you think?”

“What?” you scoffed. “When?”

Jungkook turned and tossed you onto the bed. He reached up and pulled your hands above your head and held them in place with one hand.

“Every time I saw you,” he reiterated while kissing down your chest. “Your flirty smiles, your sexy winks, your playful jokes, you sat in my lap on more than one occasion when we cuddled on the couch.”

“You never reacted to any of that,” you breathed out in a gasp. “I just assumed you wanted to be friends.”

“I didn’t want to assume anything either,” he admitted. “But I definitely wanted to be more than just friends.”

He leaned in and pulled you into another intoxicating kiss, and you leaned forward to slip your tongue into his mouth, needing to satiate your overwhelming lust. He pushed his own tongue against yours and then pulled away from your lips completely.

He smirked at your needy whine and trailed his free hand across your cheeks then down onto your breast. He leaned in to capture one nipple with his lips and stimulate the other with his fingers. You writhed in desperation, but he only hummed in response.

“Something wrong, babygirl?” He mused. “You seem a little agitated.”

“Gee,” you huffed. “I wonder why.”

Pure amusement played across Jungkook’s beautiful face as he released one nipple from his mouth with a loud popping sound. He licked the valley between your breasts and shifted his body between your legs. You could feel his thick clothed erection brushing across the top of your thighs. He leaned up to kiss your lips and lingered for a moment before releasing your hands.

“Keep your hands where they are, babygirl,” he instructed. “Don’t move them until I tell you to, ok?”

“What happens if I move them?” you challenged. “Will I get in trouble, Kookie?”

“Oh yeah,” he glared. “Big trouble.”

To send his comment further into your mind, Jungkook rubbed his girthy length gently across your clit and grinned wickedly as you moaned wantonly in response. He placed another kiss on your lips and began crawling down your torso. You released a flustered exhale and wiggled your hips beneath him in anticipation.

His hands continued to explore as he kissed a trail down your body. Jungkook paused and adjusted his position when he reached your dripping center. He nuzzled his nose into the thin fabric of your panties and gave the wet spot he found a lick.

Your hips tried to snap forward with the sensation, but Jungkook held you firmly in place. He slid your underwear down your legs and flung them on the floor with the other discarded articles of clothing. He then situated himself firmly between your legs and slid his strong arms under your thighs.

Intent on prolonging his sensual torture, Jungkook ran his tongue delicately along your juicy folds and the blew a cool stream of air onto your exposed nub. The sensation triggered a shiver to erupt across your skin, and you latched onto the pillow above you to anchor your hands in place. Before you could unleash another whine of displeasure, Jungkook dipped the tip of his tongue into your dripping center and swirled it to collect your juices. He released a satisfied hum when he swallowed and got his first real taste of you

“Oh, fuck me,” Jungkook groaned into your upper thigh. “Your pussy is delicious, baby. I may be down here for a while. You don’t mind, do you?”

“Ah,” you squeaked as he licked another stripe through your folds. “Go right ahead, Kookie. I won’t stop you.”

Jungkook nearly growled as he dove into your sopping wet slit, slurping up every drop of slick he could find. You moaned and twitched uncontrollably and he sent you into a tempest of pure pleasure. Every flick of his tongue, every bit of suction against your clit, and every grasp of Jungkook’s hands on your skin jolted your nerve endings into a full blown orgasm careening from your center and spreading all the way across your extremities. He was certainly taking his sweet time and enjoying every minute of it.

Once the climax shifted into overstimulation, you reached down and pulled on Jungkook’s hair and begged him to stop. The little bunny grin he flashed you was completely at odds with the sinful actions of his fingers in between your legs. He planted one last lingering kiss on your throbbing bundle of nerves and crawled off the bed.

You were about to protest his absence from the bed, but then he left you slack jawed when he pulled his boxer briefs off and kicked them aside. The sight of his quivering length made your mouth water, even more so when he gave it a few purposeful strokes. The swollen pink tip was already weeping with precum and you licked your lips, wondering about the taste.

“Ah, you can’t do that to me,” Jungkook blushed. “You’re looking at me like you want to eat me up.”

“Maybe I do,” you teased. “Can you blame me when you’re looking so damn tasty?”

Jungkook chuckled wickedly as he mounted the bed again and hovered over your tantalizing naked figure. He licked his lips, still tasting your essence on his tongue, and raked his eyes up and down your body.

“Are you ready for me, babygirl?” he mused. “Do you think you can take all of me?”

Glancing down at his sizable girth, you popped an eyebrow and tilted your head pensively. You reached over to your side table and opened a drawer to pull out a condom, handing it to Jungkook with a smile.

That’s a damn good question. Can I?

“I guess it’s time to find out,” you teased. “How long are you going to keep me waiting, Kookie?”

That was all the encouragement Jungkook needed to act upon his voracious hunger. He quickly rolled the condom onto his dick and leaned forward to give you a passionate kiss. He released your swollen lips and you gasped as you felt him rubbing his tip along your damp slit.

“I’ve been waiting for this for so long,” Jungkook murmured. “Just know that you’re in for a long night, baby. I’m not going to stop until we’ve made up for all that time we lost.”

With that being said, Jungkook plunged his throbbing cock into you and released a ravenous groan above you. You both remained still for a few moments and you squirmed in his hold hoping to increase the friction you craved. After the tension in Jungkook’s shoulders subsided, his hips burrowed deeper and deeper into your soaking heat. He relished the deluge of your juices dampening his thighs, the melodic moans of his name you uttered over and over again, and most of all, the profound elation of finally reaching the state of euphoria he’d been dreaming about since you were both in college.

The night raged on with your ardent love-making, and after hours of unbridled bliss, you were sprawled across Jungkook’s chest, buzzing with contentment. Both of your glistening chests heaved from exertion, but the fucked out looks on your faces didn’t reveal any hints of exhaustion.

“That was unbelievable, Kookie,” you panted. “Why didn’t we do that sooner?”

“Because we were both idiots?” Jungkook suggested. “Whatever it was, I’m glad we finally found the time to do it.”

He kissed the top of your head and smacked your ass playfully. You hissed at the contact and pursed your lips at him in a pout. He giggled at your cuteness and wrapped his arms around you.

“What was that for?” you whined. “You’re so mean, Kookie.”

“Hey,” he protested hotly. “I told you to keep your hands in place earlier, but you just had to pull on my hair. I owed you at least one good spank.”

“I think you spanked me enough tonight,” you replied cheekily. “Among other things.”

You both smiled at each other as you replayed the events of the evening in your minds. You leaned over to pull him into another lingering kiss. He chuckled and stopped you from deepening the kiss.

“We should probably clean up,” he argued. “We are a hot steaming mess right now.”

“Speak for yourself,” you shot back. “I’m not a mess.”

He lifted his eyebrows and then reached between your legs to drag his fingers across the stickiness clinging to your legs. You mewled in protest and shot him a dirty look for calling you out.

“Ok, fine,” you agreed. “I’m a mess, but so are you. How about a shower before I change the sheets?”

He nodded in agreement and helped you off the bed and into the bathroom. Your legs were still a little wobbly after so much physical activity.

It’s been a while since I put my thighs to good use.

The intimacy carried on in the shower, but neither of you had enough energy to initiate another round of passion. The most you were able to do was kiss each other lazily after helping each other clean up. After the shower, Jungkook was an absolute gentleman and helped you change your sheets.

“You don’t have to leave, you know,” you suggested. “You could just stay. It’s after 5am anyway.”

“I know,” he replied coolly while buttoning his shirt. “But I’m not really in the habit of staying the night.”

“Oh, really?” you teased while popping an eyebrow. “Then can I get you a drink before you leave?”

Jungkook smiled at your hospitality and nodded in response. You were quick to get him a glass of cold water and set it on the counter. A now fully dressed Jungkook walked over and pulled you into another kiss before grabbing the glass and taking a drink. You nuzzled against his chest and sighed. Jungkook set the glass aside, wrapped his arms around you, and kissed the top of your head sweetly.

“Hey,” he exclaimed suddenly. “Where did you find that?”

He reached over and picked up the banana keychain still sitting on your counter. You totally forgot about the small collection of random objects you found in the closet, but now that Jungkook was examining the keychain, your thoughts revisited the mysterious items once again.

“It was in a box I found in my closet,” you confirmed. “Why? Do you recognize that keychain?”

“Of course I do,” Jungkook murmured. “It’s mine, and it isn’t just a keychain, it’s a USB drive.”

He pulled the banana apart at the center and it revealed a USB connector bearing the lettering 512GB. Your jaw dropped at the sudden revelation.

“What the-” you queried. “Why would I have it?”

“Maybe I left it at your place or something?” Jungkook said. “But the point is, I looked everywhere for this thing. I have so many layouts and artwork on here, and this will be incredibly useful at my new job. You are literally saving me weeks of work with this thing.”

“You’re asking me to just give you this flash drive that I found in my apartment mixed in with my stuff?” you reasoned. “How do I know this is actually yours?”

“Because I recognized it,” Jungkook argued. “And I also knew what it was. You obviously didn’t.”

“Hmmmm,” you mused. “I don’t know. What’ll you give me in return?”

Jungkook patted himself down and reached into his pants pocket to pull out a green shamrock on a beaded necklace with the word “Lucky” emblazoned across the front. The look on his face gave off the impression that he was confused, but then it transformed into amusement. He grinned and flipped a switch on the button, causing it to erupt into a barrage of green LED lights.

“I will give you this limited edition, LED powered four leaf clover necklace,” Jungkook proposed. “It’s the perfect good luck charm, and so much better than a horseshoe or a rabbit’s foot. What do you say?”

You eyed the glowing button and burst into a giggle fit. Jungkook was presenting it to you as though it were some kind of grand prize on a game show.

“Where did you even get that?” you asked. “Do you just hide random holiday necklaces in your pants?”

“No,” Jungkook chuckled. “They gave it to me at the bar. I almost left it on the table, but I couldn’t put it down. When I saw you by the bartender, I guess I just put it in my pocket. It’s weird, I usually don’t keep stuff like this. But it’s yours, if you want it.”

“Well,” you grinned. “With a sales pitch like that, how can I resist?”

He joyfully handed you the flashy plastic bauble and pressed another delightful kiss on your lips. You set the shamrock necklace aside on the counter and wrapped your arms around Jungkook’s neck to continue pressing sweet kisses on his soft pink lips. Before things got too heated again, Jungkook pulled away and kissed your forehead. He exhaled a deep breath as you buried your face into his firm chest.

The night had been phenomenal and this thing between you and Jungkook was heating up so well. Maybe there was a possibility for more than just a one night stand? It was a risky proposal to bring up, but your history with Jungkook gave you a sliver of hope.

“So when do I get to see you again, Kookie?” you breathed out while looking up at him. “Now that you’re in town again, maybe we can see each other more often?”

“Uh, well,” Jungkook sighed nervously. “I’m not sure. I just started the job and I’m going to be pretty busy, so I’ll have to let you know.”

“Oh,” you replied while gently releasing your hold on him. “That’s fine, whatever.”

“Hey,” he began while pulling you back into his embrace. “It’s not what you’re thinking. I had an amazing time with you tonight, but I’m not sure I can give anything more than something casual. I wish I could give you more than that, but I’m not really in a good place for anything serious right now.”

You pouted slightly and nodded your head in understanding. Having been in that exact same head space before, you could understand his apprehension. There were easily five years between you and Jungkook, so it was natural that you would be at different places in your life. It would be unfair to expect more of him if he wasn’t ready for it yet.

“I understand,” you murmured knowingly. “I don’t want you to feel obligated or anything like that.”

“I’m sorry I can’t offer you more than that,” he admitted. “Believe me. If ever I’m ready for something long-term, I’m going to be looking for you.”

“If I’m still available,” you mocked him playfully. “You never know. Some other gorgeous man might snap me up before then.”

“Well,” he growled while sinking his hand into your hair. “If that’s the case, then he better be ten times better than me and willing to give you the world on a silver platter. You shouldn’t settle for anything less, babygirl. You deserve to be treated like the goddess you are.”

You rolled your eyes at him and pursed your lips. He shot you an adorable bunny smile and eagerly kissed your lips once again. He took a moment to brush his thumbs across the apples of your cheeks and then shook his head with a goofy smile.

“Ah, I better go,” he announced in a huff. “If I spend any more time here, I’ll never leave.”

“That isn’t necessarily a bad thing,” you shot back teasingly. “I’d definitely make it worth your while.”

“I know you would,” he snickered. “But I really do have a lot of work to do. I’m going to need the rest of the day to recover from tonight before I have to be at work on Monday. Someone gave me a hell of a workout.”

You winked at him and leaned up to kiss him once more before he pulled away toward the front door. You shared one last hug and kiss at the open door after exchanging phone numbers.

“Thank you again for giving this USB back to me.” he expressed with gratitude. “You have no idea how much time you’re going to save me. I’ll try to call you later this week. Maybe we can meet up and do something, if you’re not busy?”

“We’ll see,” you smirked. “I’ll let you know.”

Jungkook flicked your chin and shot you an impish grin. You watched him disappear behind the elevator doors before closing the door to your apartment. Once you were back in your kitchen, you sipped at the water you’d poured for Jungkook and looked at the scattered items on the counter. The absence of the banana keychain was noted, but the glowing shamrock was a welcome replacement. You decided to send Gina a little update before you went to bed.

You put your phone on the counter and let out a loud yawn, the evening and all of its activities finally catching up with you. The mess on the counter annoyed you, so you placed everything back in the box on top of the paper map and switched off the lights.

“I’ll take another look at this tomorrow,” you yawned. “Time for sleep.”

As you walked back to your room, you turned off all the lights and got settled into your comfy bed with fresh sheets. There was still a faint scent of Jungkook floating in the air and it calmed your senses. You started drifting off to Dreamland with visions of Jungkook prancing across your brain.

At least I can stop wondering about Jungkook and what might have been. I’d been obsessing over that for so long. Now, I can move on if I need to.

Reassuring visions danced across your brain and all of them resembled Jungkook. He kept tossing four leaf clovers at your feet, and you giggled in your sleep as he continued showering you in lucky charms.

Jungkook made a good point. Four leaf clovers were much better than other good luck charms. Your bunny boy bestowed a bounty of luck upon you, all while blessing you with a rabbit’s foot of his own.

Well maybe a few inches less than a foot, but size isn’t everything.

With a smile on your face and your heart full of possibilities, you coasted on fumes to the final mile into a deep sleep, knowing that tomorrow would be brighter without the added weight of your past insecurities pulling at your nerves.

It’s funny. I almost feel like I’ve regained something I didn’t know was missing. Maybe Oberyn is on to something after all. The Universe definitely makes more sense than it did yesterday.

That couldn’t just be a coincidence.

Could it?

Your mind continued its existential ramblings throughout the wonders of Dreamland, and in your kitchen, something inexplicable was happening. Only Oberyn was awake to witness the subtle purple glow and sparkle emanating from the counter top. It was over in a flash, but Oberyn still sniffed at the air in the kitchen trying to locate the origin of the unexplained phenomenon.

NEXT:

Chapter Two: Soulmates are a Forever Kind of Thing

MAP OF THE SOUL MASTERLIST

@caught-in-a-seesaw-stigma​‘s MASTERLIST

[essays-for-breakfast]

One Fall

Melizabeth Week Day One: Light/Darkness

He was a creature of darkness. His whole life had been determined by shadows, the dark depths of his home world, the cruel hand of his father, the seeds of death and destruction he had sown. Meliodas had learned to hold a sword and take another creature’s life from the moment he had been able to walk. And for the longest time he had refused to do as little as think about complaining. Changing his ways was an idea so farfetched it could make him laugh; his path was already carved out. Fight on behalf of the Demon King, kill on behalf of the Demon King, wage war on behalf of the Demon King.

A perfect servant of his father.

Meliodas only ascended from the darkness of his home world to bring destruction to those pitiful beings housing in the land of Britannia. He slayed dragons and humans and Goddesses alike, and led the elite of his father, the Ten Commandments, to kill many more. The blood on his hands could never be washed away, it stained his fingers when he dressed in the morning, when he trained with Zeldris in the afternoon, when he placed his head on his pillow for the night.

He was a creature of darkness.

And for a while he had been content with this life.

She was a being of light. Word spread to even the deepest shadows and the most steadfast Demons of the daughter of the Supreme Deity, who was said to be able to purge dragon and Vampire and Demon alike, until they would sing pretty songs of peace and forgiveness. But if she did fight an opponent with full force, she showed her true strength, and beware the poor creature that crossed her path. Bloodstained Ellie – that was how she was known in the Demon Realm.

When Zeldris had first mentioned her and the fear coursing through the ranks of the military, Meliodas had laughed a humorless laugh. What did a single Goddess have to show against the oppressive power of the Demon King? Those who had been lulled by her words had surely never tasted the wrath of the Demon King. Meliodas had. More than once. He remembered what it felt like to become a weak-willed puppet on the strings of his father, he remembered the taste of blood in his mouth when he had been pushed into the dirt after dropping his sword in his first lesson of armed combat.

Betraying the Demon King was the last thing Meliodas would dare. Or so he had thought.

She was a being of light. Since they fought on opposite sides of the great war human historians would later dub the Holy War, it had been only a matter of time until Meliodas crossed path with the woman who filled the hearts of his followers with dread or the illusion of peace – both equally poisonous.

The battle was fought, the skirmish won, and the small human town smoldered under the fires of hell. With nothing but numbness, Meliodas stared at the iron monument depicting a Goddess at the town center, the single reason for why the humans had been sentenced to death. The head of the statue, once proud and a symbol of worship, lay severed in the dust. If only the humans had chosen another icon to guard their town. Their undoing might have been delayed a few weeks. A year if the Demon King had been generous. But when had he ever been?

Meliodas had ordered Galand and Melascula to return to the Demon Realm and report the successful completion of their mission. And for himself, there was only one task to fulfill before he could crawl back into the darkness with more blood on his hands.

I do not tolerate survivors.

Those had been the last words Meliodas had been given by his father when he had been standing at the door of the throne room, ready to take his leave and hopeful to be spared this set of orders. An acerbic taste had climbed his throat then and filled his mouth now as he walked through the burning ruins in search for human survivors. It was a dirty business, but Meliodas always chose to carry out this task himself. He was quick when he snuffed out the life energies of those labelled his enemy. Some of the other Commandments were not.

A whimpering carried to his ears through the crackling of fire, and Meliodas cursed under his breath. The broadsword weighed heavier the closer he came to the source of the sound.

They were so easy to find. Shell-shocked or crying, the four humans cowered in the dirt beneath the remains of a roof, their pale faces devoid of hope as they gazed up to him. But before Meliodas could raise his sword, he was knocked into the dust by blinding light.

He jumped to his feet with a backflip and shook off the pesky agony of the Goddess magic. Compared to the hits of his father, this attack had been a gentle breeze. With a growl, Meliodas met the eyes of his next adversary.

Without having crossed paths with her, he knew in an instant who he was faced with, and the grip around the hilt of his sword tightened. Her eyes shone with determination and the symbol of the Goddess Clan amidst a pool of gold, and the last remains of a magic spell still danced around her fingertips. There was only one Goddess apart from the Archangels who could catch him off guard as she had.

But he wasn’t given a chance to inspect her further as the next orb of light swooshed past his ear, missing it by an inch. Meliodas dropped his defensive pose, angry with himself for allowing his adversary to strike twice unpunished, and charged at Bloodstained Ellie. Better now before she would be able to twist his head with those hopes and lies he had buried when he had been old enough to hold a sword. Darkness spread from his fingertips to envelop his sword, but instead of flesh, Meliodas struck light.

The accursed Goddess deflected his attack with a magic barrier and shifted out of the way to strike with her other hand. Meliodas squinted to avoid the brightness and manifested his wings. He kicked from the ground to gain the upper hand, but she was already above him, white-feathered wings beating against the smoke screens.

They pivoted into the sky in a strange, violent dance where one misstep equaled death. Meliodas dealt out blow for blow, but his adversary was always one step ahead of him, evaded his hits and retaliated with an attack twice as forceful. White and black, light and darkness crashed between them, and the longer she held her own – no, she was already prevailing – the more respect Meliodas begrudgingly held for this woman.

No one had even dared to test him like this.

His thoughts were captivated by the curves of her body for only a second, but that was enough. The brightness of Purge hit him square in the chest, burned the outer layers of his skin, stole the link to his magic powers, sent him tumbling to the ground miles below. A fall from this height meant death, no matter the resilience of his Demon body.

Meliodas couldn’t reach for the darkness to keep himself suspended in the air.

He kept falling.

The air rushed past him, pressed the life out of his lungs. And like an idiotic child who had seen the embodiment of beauty for the first time, he kept thinking about these perfect curves as he plummeted into his undoing.

The darkness didn’t answer his calls. But the light did.

Just as Meliodas thought he should feel the ground break his spine in a matter of seconds, a hand grabbed his and slowed his fall with a jolt that nearly dislocated his shoulder. Stupid and unable to comprehend, Meliodas stared at the soft features, hardened from exertion not spite, of the woman who tried to kill him a moment ago. Her slim fingers around his let something flow through his flesh and bones and muscles Meliodas failed to identify. A strange feeling, but pleasant in a way. Warm.

The way sunlight felt on his skin.

Meliodas hit the ash-covered ground unhurt but too stunned to mind his bruised ego or even scramble to his feet. His adversary, his savior, stood over him with endless grace, her wings flipping in the breeze that caught her long silver strands.

“Why?” Meliodas coughed up.

The question seemed to confuse her. “Didn’t you want to live? Or are Demons never taught what gratitude means?”

A verbal fighter on top. Meliodas grinned without real humor. “Who knows how many of your allies you condemned to death by saving me. All these people who will die by my hands in the next fight. And the next. All because you are to weak-willed to get your hands dirty.”

She ignored his insult. “You’re right. If you die, maybe the war will be over sooner, and more lives will be spared. But the price would be an unnecessary murder, another life added to the list of casualties. I think I can lower the price further than that.”

This had to be the naivest thing Meliodas had ever heard. Was this girl unable to realize that nothing in life came for free? That there were always necessary sacrifices? Those who refused to pay the price would only end up dead or in chains – but she was either too childish or too stubborn to understand. He should strike her down here and now. His father would have ordered him to lay his fingers around her slender neck and squeeze until he had proven her idealistic worldview wrong. Then why did his hands relax at his side when he stood up to meet her at eyelevel?

She was still taller, and her two large sets of wings only added to a stature that commanded respect. “Why do you fight, Meliodas?” she asked.

So she did know who he was, knew how many of her kind he had sent into the afterlife. Her question didn’t make sense in any case. Fighting was his life, he had been raised with a weapon in his hand, and part of him enjoyed the challenge of a good battle, the thrill of victory. Meliodas had been told to fight, so that was what he did – there was nothing else to it.

“Because fighting is the only thing I know,” he said. He hadn’t meant to be this honest, a snarky insult would have been more appropriate. Better fit for the leader of the Ten Commandments. “And because someone else will take my place if I don’t fight. If I play my role, I at least have some control over how the battle is fought.”

The smile she gave him was rich of sickly-sweet compassion – he couldn’t get enough of this poison. “Not the response many would expect from the son of the Demon Lord. I’m glad,” Bloodstained Ellie said. What exactly made her glad, she left unanswered. “You should know that these villagers stand under my protection. Their survival is what I fight for.”

“Don’t worry,” Meliodas said and picked his sword from the ground. The metal had never felt this cold in his hands, when every other fiber of his body burst with the strange sensation of warmth. “I for my part can’t see any villagers around. They must have fled before I got here.”

The villagers crawling out of their hiding spot in the relative calm after the fight proved his words wrong, but Bloodstained Ellie didn’t take notice of them. She studied Meliodas’ face with a fascination he found both endearing and uncomfortable.

“I bet we’ll meet again, Bloodstained Ellie,” Meliodas said and turned to take his leave while his thoughts still functioned somewhat properly.

“Elizabeth.”

“What?”

“My name is Elizabeth,” she said, and the gleam he was met with when he looked over his shoulder filled him with more adoration than anything he had seen in this world. The sun peeking through the clouds had no chance to rival that expression.

“Elizabeth it is then. I hope I get to meet you under more pleasant circumstances the next time around.”

The muscles around Meliodas’ spine tickled as the link to his Demon powers reestablished itself, and he took off into the sky, Elizabeth’s face still on his mind.

She was a being of light.

He was a creature of darkness.

All the laws of nature branded them as mortal enemies, the world had drawn a line in the sand and placed them at different sides of the great war. Meliodas was supposed to despise every word coming out of her mouth, every action she took to defy the Demon King, every inch of her smooth skin. 

But his father be damned, he was already falling for her.

[cutesuki--bakugou]

Ancient Soul

Time Travel, Quirkless, Feudal Japan AU

“Your soul does not belong here.” Those were words you never thought that you would hear. Now, thrown into the past in feudal Japan, you must find a way to survive, all while struggling to avoid the growing feelings for one hot-headed war general. War, romance, death and love drive you forward, to find the place where your soul truly belongs.

Bakugou Katsuki x Fem!Reader

Want to start from be beginning? Check the Ancient Soul tag. New chapters released every Wednesday as long as schedule permits.

Genre: Romance / Angst Story Rating: Explicit | Adult Themes, Sex, Death, Depictions of Violence, Alcohol

Chapter 13: Stranger

Chapter Rating: Teen | Cursing Words:  1992

You and Kirishima walked around the outskirts of the palace at a slow and lumbering pace, your horses easily able to walk through the snow that covered the ground. There was nothing but silence around you, just the wind and rustling of branches, occasionally accompanied by a snort or huff from Yonaka. The brilliant black horse had truly become a comfort to you, finding that just getting to ride him even for a moment calmed your nerves. He was the only horse that you were allowed to ride anyway, since he would refuse to go even a step out of bounds without Bakugou or Tsuyu being present. You wouldn’t even attempt to run at this point anyway, not with the freezing weather or Bakugou’s right hand man watching your every move. 

The redhead seemed quite relaxed, even if he did have his weapon at the ready, his white and brown freckled horse following every silent command or gesture. Eventually, Kirishima couldn’t help himself and he just had to talk, pulling your gaze away from the forest beside you. “This snow is really starting to fall, isn’t it? The clouds are dark!” 

“Yes, there might be a storm coming soon. Don’t worry, Kiri, we’ll go inside after this last stretch.” You found it difficult to even find the energy to talk, unsure if it was the cold or how heavy your emotions were. It felt as if there were weights on your shoulders, crushing you to the point that your chest would surely collapse. “This little walk has helped me… Thank you.” 

“No need to thank me, [L/N]! I haven’t really done anything to help, I just didn’t want you to be out here by yourself.” 

“That’s more important than you know… I--” 

Suddenly, you found yourself unable to speak as you saw a figure in the distance, seemingly walking towards you. It was odd to see anyone out here walking, as you were currently behind the palace closer to the mountains on an unused path. Were they a villager that was lost, or perhaps someone that did maintenance on the wall? You hadn’t seen anything wrong on your small venture, but there could have been something you missed while in a daze. 

Noticing the person as well, Kirishima spurred his horse to walk a bit faster, to where he was right beside you instead of behind. You could feel an uncomfortable tension, as he must have thought the wanderer was odd as well, but you decided to stay quiet for the time being. That is, until the stranger grew closer. Instantly, you noticed the mask he wore, which highly resembled… a beak. It covered only his nose, mouth and chin, curving down with a unique and ornate pattern. It immediately made you think of the plague doctors from a different time in a completely different country, and you found yourself highly curious. 

Was this man another traveler just like you? How could he possibly be using that particular style in this era, when there were no resources that proved their existence? At least, there hadn’t been any that you had ever seen, but spending time racking your brain for information wasn’t something you cared to do. All you wanted to do was talk to him, even if Kirishima would try and stop you. 

Just as the man began to pass you both, you pulled on Yonaka’s reigns to stop him. “Excuse me?” Ignoring the way that Yonaka snorted in annoyance at being stopped, you gazed down curiously at the man beside you, who had looked up at you out of the corner of his eye. His yellow gaze was nearly piercing, filling you with a sense of fear that you couldn’t quite understand. Still, you persisted, swallowing the fear down. “I just… your mask is very interesting.” 

“Ah, you think so?” Nearly instantly, the man's demeanor changed, relaxing his shoulders as he smiled at you with his eyes. Reaching up, he ran a gloved finger down the curve of the beak, before tapping against it softly. “You are kind, miss! Most people are frightened of it.” 

“May I ask where you got it from? Or… if you made it?” 

The man gave a soft ruffle to his short dark brown hair, which was quite messy already. “It was made for me long ago. Unfortunately, that place no longer exists.” 

“I see…” For a moment, you let your eyes glance over the stranger's body, noticing that he was quite nicely dressed in dark purple and black robes, even with some type of white fur around his shoulders. You assumed that either he was wealthy or some type of performer, but nothing about the way he dressed matched either description fully. 

“What is it for?” Kirishima was the next to ask a question, either being curious or wanting to make his presence known. “It’s very peculiar and unnatural.” 

“Ah, you know…” Shrugging casually, the man turned his yellow gaze towards Kirishima, seemingly quite calm. “I have a few reasons. Mostly, because I hate human filth.” His voice becoming dark, you instantly felt your stomach swell nervously, clutching onto Yonaka’s reins tightly. You could hear Kirishima shift nervously as well, but before the redhead could interject, the stranger continued. 

“It’s odd to see you out here as a chaperone for [L/N] like this… Red Dragon Kirishima Eijirou.” The yellow gaze moved back to you, and just like before, you could feel it pierce through your flesh like a blade. “She must be valuable… and important to General Bakugou.” 

With a click of his tongue, Kirishima reached across and took the reins from you, spurring both horses to begin trotting off. In shock, you could only stare back at the stranger, forcing yourself to turn forward as he gave you both a casual wave in farewell. “K-Kiri, what was that--” 

“Be quiet. Please.” Kirishima shushed you, also taking a quick glance back to make sure you weren’t being followed. “That man was trouble. How he knew our names is dangerous. I’m going to have to report this… There must be a spy or informant in our ranks.” 

Following direction to keep silent, you clutched onto Yonaka’s saddle tightly to keep yourself balanced. Even if you had wanted to talk, there was no way you could gather your thoughts and questions enough to be coherent. How had that man known your name? Where did he get that mask from? Was he also from a different era? Why was he here in the first place? Was it… for you?

“Damn it…” Kirishima cursed out softly, slowing both horses down as you approached the entrance to the palace. “We didn’t get his name… How are we going to explain this?” 

…

“How could you do something so stupid!? I thought I told you not to converse with anyone outside of the palace without my permission! And you!” Bakugou turned his anger to Kirishima, who was standing silently beside you as you both suffered through the scolding. “You let her!” 

“It seemed harmless at first, she didn’t give her name or any information about herself. All she did was ask about his mask. He already knew her name before that.” Kirishima frowned as he tried to explain it all, defending you to his fullest. “We have more to be worried about right now. We need to figure out how he knew her.” 

With a frustrated sigh, Bakugou reached up and ran his fingers through his hair, glaring down at your confused and guilty form. Yes, you had gone against one of his biggest rules and you should have known better. But you were on Kirishima’s side with all of this. How did that man know you? And what was worse, were you going to be treated with suspicion again, just like when you first arrived? Were your privileges going to be taken away? 

“Did you know him, Demon?” 

“No.” You did your best to sound confident, knowing any little waiver in your voice could be dangerous. “I didn’t know him. I was just curious about his mask… It was so odd. I don’t know how he knew me.” 

“No one has ever done this to you before?” 

“No one.” 

With a click of his tongue, Bakugou walked away, beginning to pace as he thought. After a moment, he stopped and sat down at his table, rubbing his left temple. “We will have to do some investigating to see if there is a spy or informant for the enemy here. But until we find out, you can’t go anywhere, Demon. You stay in the palace and don’t leave the center boundaries unless you are with someone.” 

“But… the courtyard and library are--” 

“I don’t care. Do you really want to put your life and safety at risk for some books and a damn fish?” When his question was met with silence from you, he shook his head and waved you off with a flick of his wrist. “I thought so. Go to your quarters and stay there until Tsuyu comes to find you. Kirishima, write down everything that happened…” 

As Kirishima left your side, you were effectively cut out of the conversation, which was tense and heavy. You knew that this wasn’t the time to pry, nor was it the time to pout about being excluded, so you did as you were told. You left, without another peep or glance from the two men, and made your way down the halls. It was a slow and lonely walk, with only the wind to keep you company. Over the minutes that passed, it began to howl, whipping about and disturbing your clothing and hair. It perfectly matched the swelling emotions inside of you, fighting with yourself over everything that had happened that day. 

You felt sad. Alone. Foolish. Angry. Homesick. Anxious. Longing. All these things were near suffocating you, blinding you to everything in your path, until you found yourself a bit… lost. 

How far had you wandered? You had sworn that you were heading in the correct direction, but now, everything was unfamiliar. The darkening storm and powerful winds were making it difficult for you to really see, so out of fear, you turned to go back the way you had come and find some proper direction. 

What you hadn’t expected was a body to be blocking your path, your downcast eyes locked onto vaguely familiar dark purple robes. 

“You seem a little lost, [L/N]. Can’t find your way without a GPS, hm?” 

A gasp leaving your lips, you looked up at the person before you, shocked to see that familiar form of a beak and piercing yellow eyes. Stumbling back a bit, you clasped your hands together tightly at your chest, waves of excitement and fear crashing over your body to make you tremble. “W-what? How do you know that? Who are you?” 

Without answering, the stranger from the road held up a gloved fist, keeping it tightly closed with his palm facing up, right in front of your face. You wanted to run, to yell or do anything to get away, but your body just would not move. This person knew what had happened to you, and you thought that just maybe, he could help get you home. 

“P-please…” You whispered, barely audible against the howling wind. “Can you get me home?” 

“There is no way to return home. It’s been ten years and I’ve accepted that fact. So should you.” 

As his words filled you with dread, the hand in front of you opened, revealing a white powder that was instantly displaced by the wind. Swirling in the air, you had no chance to protect yourself before it rushed into your face, making your eyes instantly burn and your head swim violently as you inhaled it with a gasp. 

The last thing you saw was that ice-cold yellow gaze, before your entire world went black.

[t-citurnity-moved]

Proposal

Summary: Dante considered it a bit ironic; Caine’s dryness was a direct counter to how he acted. He was openly flirty, joked around a little bit too much… and Caine was so utterly the direct opposite; it was if he’d never learned to have an ounce of fun in his life.

Warnings: Self Insert / Canon. Some not very detailed depictions of violence and gore, I guess?

Author’s Notes: It’s been 50,000 years but I’m back on my bullshit. Yes the summary is a line from the fic. Yes it’s because I couldn’t think of anything else to write for it. No you cannot judge me for it. This fic is like... post D//M//C4, so they're like married during the events of D//M//C5 LMAO.

Reblogs are appreciated!

The client had laid everything out pretty neatly – demon problem, willing to pay big money, even had the password; what kinda hunter would Dante be to turn that down? He’d be the idiot everyone called him, that’s for sure.

But on the other hand… He had problems of his own to deal with, damnit. His emotionally constipated boyfriend, for one; if there was one thing Dante had learned fairly early on in his relationship with Caine, it was that the witch literally didn’t take any kind of clue. He was so unfamiliar with tenderness and romance that he always met Dante’s attempts by being very dry.

Needless to say, Dante since had tried to adjust his way of courtship. Flirting wouldn’t work, and even after they started dating, he learned that words were often met with a flat expression. A flat expression and Caine calling him ‘a moron;’ even his most planned efforts didn’t get him very far! And he worked hard on those!

He knew he would have to come up with something beyond spectacular to truly woo his witchy boyfriend.

But that would have to wait – it could wait, couldn’t it? They didn’t have to rush… especially not when they were knee deep in demon spawn.

Caine was beside him, alight with magic that threw the demons aflutter away from the lot of them.

“Are you still alive?” He asked, prompting Dante to snort in response.

“Yeah, you still got me, babe.”

“Moron… Stay focused,” Caine scolded, jerking his hand in Dante’s direction as a demon crept behind him. Dante didn’t flinch; he trusted Caine with his life.

But that didn’t mean he’d let Caine have all the fun. Ebony was in his hand the instant after Caine redirected his attention elsewhere, gun aimed behind him to pop the demon in the head. He could hear it explode into a mess of gore.

Caine huffed, not amused by his theatrics at all – he never was. Unbeknownst to him, Dante was trying to show off this time – he had to prove he was worthy, after all! Else his plan would fall through when they finally cleaned up the place.

It’d been weeks since the decision was made, with nothing in mind for how he could properly go about it; they’d talked about it in the past, Caine didn’t express interest one way or another toward the subject… It was hard to judge how he felt about things in general, but Dante was willing to give it a shot; he’d accept rejection if Caine wasn’t ready for that step yet.

But that still lead him to his original issue – how to go about it? It wasn’t as if he could garner advice from anyone. Nero was clueless in relationships, so he couldn’t ask the kid for help; and Lady and Trish? Well, they weren’t much help either. Dante was on his own with this one.

A bullet whizzed by Caine, just a little too close, and he shot a glare in Dante’s direction, earning himself a grin from the red devil.

“You know I’d never hurt you, babe.” Cheeky bastard.

“Regardless,” Caine countered, “be more careful.”

“Yeah, yeah…” Dante waved his hand dismissively. “I’ve got picture perfect aim! I wouldn’t even graze you.”

Despite his expression, Caine was not genuinely concerned; if Dante could trust him with magic that could literally sap Dante’s energy if Caine weren’t too careful, he supposed he could trust Dante too.

Dante considered it a bit ironic; Caine’s dryness was a direct counter to how he acted. He was openly flirty, joked around a little bit too much… and Caine was so utterly the direct opposite; it was if he’d never learned to have an ounce of fun in his life.

And yet Dante loved him all the same. Enough to even consider…

“Hey,” Dante addressed Caine again, this time after lodging Rebellion into the skull of a demon at his boyfriend’s side, almost ready to pounce were it not for Dante putting a quick end to that.

“What do you want?” Caine hissed, hand coming upon the demon’s head; his right arm illuminated as he sapped the remaining energy from the creature, prepared to counter whatever else the beasts threw at them.

“I was wondering…”

Caine shot Dante a glance, quirked brow and all. “That’s… borderline dangerous. Try not to think too hard or you may blow a fuse.”

Dante rolled his eyes. “Oh, ha-ha,” he said and clicked his tongue, “seriously, baby. I really want to ask you something.”

Caine’s expression was the exact one Dante was expecting; narrowed eyes, lips pulled into a flat line, brows furrowed.

“I’m listening,” he said as he spun himself in Dante’s arm when it came around his waist. The both of them aimed and took fire, - Dante with one of his pistols and Caine with a burst of magic - splitting the demon previously behind Caine in two with their combined effort.

“We~ll…” Dante hummed in response, considering his next few words; he had to pick them carefully if he wanted Caine to understand his meaning without any incident.

“Remember when I asked you what you thought of marriage?” He asked, twirling Rebellion in his other hand to throw blood from the blade.

Caine blanched, turning his back to Dante when the clacking of claws on the ground alerted him. “I suppose so,” he finally responded as he summoned forth his own weaponry from his magic.

“And you said you didn’t care?”

Caine let out a heavy sigh, countering the slash of claws with his bound weapon. “Do we have to do this now?” He asked as he lunged forward, weapon at the ready.

“What? I think it’s romantic!” Dante said with a playful huff, soaring over Caine’s head to strike down the smaller demons that threatened to swarm him.

Caine dodged away from the second bat of claws, striking out with his sword. The demon’s arm fell helplessly to the ground at his feet and he followed up with another counter when it struck out at him again.

“Get on with it, then!”

Dante shook his head, clicked his tongue, and put a hand on his hip. “Come on,” he whined childishly, “play along with me here, babe!” He fired Ebony at the demon, curling his lip slightly as its leg exploded into viscera. With the demon staggered, Caine leapt forward with blade in hand, lopping off its head with a quick swipe.

“Dante, we are in the midst of-!” Caine started, twisting to face the horde of demons they still had to cut through.

Dante smirked – this was it, the perfect time. He interrupted Caine’s complaints by snatching him around the waist, drawing him close, and planting a kiss upon his lips. Gunfire exploded around them, dropping each demon as they approached the both of them.

“You moron!” Caine scolded the instant they parted, swatting Dante away from him. But the devil hunter remained firm.

“Marry me?” Dante asked, cheeky smirk on his face.

“…”

Caine’s mind raced to register the question. He stared at Dante, hands planted firm at his chest.

“Ah…” Was all he managed to utter when he finally understood what was being asked of him. Caine was quiet from then, but his face steadily got redder and redder as he considered the connotations.

Dante blinked in surprise, then burst into laughter, nearly doubling over if it weren’t for Caine still being held tight against him.

“What are you laughing at, idiot?!” Caine asked, the blush spreading to his ears as he smacked his hands against Dante’s chest.

Dante was all smiles and reddened cheeks himself when he finally finished laughing.

“Stupid! Moron!” Caine yelled, flustered, shoving Dante away from him. “Get away from me if you intend to make jokes like that!”

Dante snickered, planting a hand on Caine’s head and giving his hair a ruffle. All while leaning down to plant a kiss upon his lips once more.

“I’m not makin’ jokes, sweetheart,” he said.

“We are in the midst of battle and you…!” Caine pulled away from him, intent on continuing their little tryst until he realised the entire litter of demons they were faced with earlier all laid upon the ground – the occasional twitch, but otherwise utterly dead at their feet.

“C’mon! It’s just as yes or no,” Dante urged. He finally slipped Ebony into its holster, then took both of Caine’s hands in his own. Caine huffed in response, turning his head away, face still burning.

“I love you,” Dante said, “we’ve been together for years and I still love you as much as I did when we got together – even more than that.”

“Shut up.”

“Play along with me.”

Caine curled his lip, then relented with a sigh.

“As I was saying… I can’t imagine my life without you.” Dante brought Caine’s hands up to his lips, pressing kisses to the backs of them. “So… marry me, yeah? We don’t have to have a big reception or anything – we don’t even have to get rings, but…”

“Stupid.”

“Only with you?” At Dante’s response, Caine furrowed his brows.

“… Why is this such a big deal to you?” He followed up, still not looking Dante in the eye.

“’Cause I love you so damn much I wanna settle down with you? I’m not sayin’ we have to have kids or anything, but… I wanna be with you for the rest of our lives.”

Caine was quiet, looking disgruntled and grumbling incomprehensibly. Dante stared him down, getting progressively more nervous; he began to fidget slightly, rocking his weight from foot to foot.

Then, he perked up when Caine finally turned his head toward him; he still didn’t look at Dante, but it was progress.

“… Fine.”

Dante blinked, taking a moment to register Caine’s response. Then, a minute later, he grinned and scooped Caine up in his arms, swiftly spinning him around. Caine clung to Dante, letting out a yelp of surprise.

“Put me down, dumbass! You don’t have to react so suddenly like that!”

“Baby, you just made me the happiest man in the damn world, ‘course I’m gonna act like this!” Dante held Caine close to him, burying his face in Caine’s shoulder.

“I love you so damn much,” he muttered, his words muffled, “so damn much… I’ll save up money to get us rings an’ everything.”

Caine grumbled lowly, “… don’t rush so stupidly into things. You still have debts to pay off.”

“Still. We might not have a big wedding or anything, but the least I’m gonna do is get us rings to wear.”

“Then I suppose you better start taking more jobs,” Caine responded with a huff.

Dante let out a whine. He nosed Caine’s jaw, then raised his head to press a kiss to his temple. “Only ‘cause I want everyone to know I’m a taken man.”

Caine rolled his eyes and merely responded, “… with how you act, everyone already knows.”