#I’d like to die and never speak to her again oh god why do I ever open my stupid mouth

[loptrcoptr]

I loudly complained about how much I hate physics and think most physics is utter bullshit to a new hire with other coworkers yesterday and it turns out the new hire has a background in physics and just didn’t say anything while I ranted like a maniac and now I have to go and commit fucking sepuku in the bathroom at work

[hannahssimblr]

For a brief period last year, I had this thing about wasps. Miss O’Reilly spurred the whole thing on after poring over my sketchbooks with me. She made some offhand comment about how nice it would be to see some animals too, amongst the endless scrawl of human arms and legs and feet and heads on every inch of every page, because it would expand my anatomical knowledge. This had never occurred to me.

So across town to the zoo I went. Where, through the spring and the earliest days of summer I would draw gorillas in their glass enclosures, giraffes, sloths, red pandas, while parents and children looked over my shoulder at my work, ogling as though I too was part of an exhibition. 

I returned that August, late, in that last week before school starts when the sun still warms you, but the wind carries autumn with it. By then, the leaves had lost that vibrant green and hung tired from branches, curled and russet at the edges. It was wasp season, when they emerge, as though from nowhere, angry, confused, in a ferocious pursuit of sugar. 

One landed on my sketchbook, near the thumb that held the page, and I resisted the tingle of fear in my body, the urge to swat him away. Instead I watched him, and then I drew him, his alien eyes and hairy body, papery wings and the abstract black and yellow stripes like caution tape wound around his horntail. I feared wasps - I think. One had never stung me and had no reference for the pain, but coincidentally, I had read about them in an insect encyclopaedia from the school library. I’d learned about their sad Augusts, when their purpose had been fulfilled, and their queens cast them out of the nest to die. 

That wasp, eating the ice cream fingerprint from my page, was no different. Here he was, addicted to sugar, drunk, perhaps, from the fermenting fruits he had managed to find. If I swatted him away, could I really blame him if, in his desperation and pain, he attacked me? He really was just another creature fulfilling his purpose, adapting to the new environment in which he had been thrown. 

“Oh, God!” Michelle cried, and whacked him with her zoo map. His insides left a stain on the paper, and I turned to her, outraged. “Why did you do that?”

“It might have stung you!” 

And things escalated, as they normally did, to an argument by the elephant enclosure. She erupted in front of a family of four and asked me when I became such a fucking vegetarian about wasps. We didn’t speak a word to one another on the bus home, and then, come September, we forgot about wasps for another year. 

A wasp lands on my arm. I feel it first, the weird little legs tickling my skin. Someone splashed cider on me in the Foo Fighters’ mosh pit. That’s what he’s looking for. For the first time in a year, I think about wasps again, while the rest of my friends plan their next move. He shouldn’t be out at night. He must be confused. Maybe he’s about to die. 

“Oh! Gosh! You’ve a wasp on your arm!” Claire waves her hand about me and the wasp makes a drowsy departure and swoops toward the overflowing bins by the barriers. 

Several seconds pass before it occurs to me to react. “Yeah.” 

As the others head towards the bar, she and Shane hang back, peering at me with that wary concern, as though there’ve sensed something deeply unhinged about me. “Are you okay?” She says gently. “You look like you got a bit of a knock there in the mosh pit.”

“No, it was fine. It felt good to kind of shove everyone around.” It’s true. I wasn’t thinking in there where I was thrashing to The Pretender, but I know how I must look. She eyes the collar of my t-shirt, stretched completely out of shape from where some beast of a man grabbed me to fling me out of his path like a rag doll. it was violent, but it felt good, like something that I needed.

“Look,” Shane scratches his head, “The lads there, they were talking about going to that rave at midnight. They wanted to grab some shots first, but like, if you don’t want to go, and you’d rather go back to the tent or something, that’d be okay.”

Claire nods. “We could even go with you, right? I wouldn’t mind just hanging out and taking it easy if you wanted company.”

Do I really seem that bad? I shake my head. “No, it’s fine. I’ll just do what everyone else is doing.”

They pause, and I press the issue. “Do I seem like I won’t be able for it?”

“Not that.” Shane says. “You just seem a bit wrecked.”

“I’ll survive another concert.”

“Yeah, I’m not saying you won’t, like.”

“Right then.”

They exchange a look, and I sigh. “I don’t know what you think is wrong with me, but I’m not drinking, I’m not on drugs,” I lean down to show them my pupils, which I realise too late is quite a manic, on-drugs thing to do, but I don’t know how else to prove my sobriety. “It’s just been a day, okay? I’m just… it’s been odd.”

“We can talk about it if you like,” Claire says, in that very kind, Claire way, but I shake my head. 

“Let’s not bother. Come on, we’ll just go to that rave thing and dance, yeah? Then I’ll go back to the tent and we can take it easy.”

“Okay, if you say so,” she says, and with her arms around herself against the midnight chill, she and Shane march past me, towards the big top of the marquee across the bottle-littered fields. 

Beginning // Prev // Next

[rmwb-fanfics]

@hinnymicrofic day 5? Prompt: HATE

Harry dragged his quill on his desk absentmindedly. The sound scratched at a particular part of his brain. He couldn’t explain it, really. It was just something he did to pass the time.

He felt a cold hand wrap around his wrist, holding his arm in place.

“Merlin,” Harry breathed, trying to wrench his arm out of his girlfriend’s grip. “Why are your hands so cold?”

“I just washed them,” Ginny said under her breath, trying to keep quiet so Pince didn’t skin them alive. “It’s called hygiene. I know you’re unfamiliar with the concept,”

Harry frowned, still finding himself unable to pull himself away from her. It was mildly pathetic how strong she was compared to him.

Bloody Chaser grip.

“I wash my hands,” Harry defended, pulling harder this time, only for Ginny to squeeze with renewed vigour. “I have…” he pulled again, “fucking…” he moved his torso back, using his whole body to try and escape, “excellent hygiene.”

“Compared to who? Ron?” Ginny smirked, her eyes remained glued to her transfiguration book. “Not what I’d define as a high bar,”

“Well, if you thought I smelled so bad, you wouldn’t cram yourself in broom cupboards with me, would you?” Harry shot back with a smug grin.

Ginny shrugged. “I put up with it for the money,”

“Oh, of course,” Harry nodded, feeling her grip on his wrist loosening. “You’re only with me for the fame,”

“Cant wait to be rid of you,” Ginny admitted, looking up from her book and smiling broadly.

Her eyes were a different kind of magic in and of themselves.

Harry, his arm once again free, dragged the quill back and forth again. The soothing scraping sound tickling his senses.

Ginny cringed and again, grabbed his arm.

“Oho,” Harry sat up, far too excited over this discovery. “Don’t like that do you?”

He dragged the quill again, the scraping of metal on wood made Ginny tense up. “Please stop,”

“Oh my god, you really don’t like it!”

“Harry I swear,”

Harry laughed, using his other arm to drag the quill out of her reach. She squirmed.

“Oh, this is very powerful knowledge,” Harry teased, his open mouthed smile taunting Ginny as she tried valiantly to stop him from making the sound.

“Please stop,” she whined, dropping her head to the table in defeat. “I hate it,”

“Hate is a very strong word,” Harry told her in his best impression of Percy.

Ginny made a grab at the quill, but Harry’s arms were too long.

“You’re not doing his voice right,” Ginny huffed, blowing a strand of red hair out of her face. “The pompousness has to come from the chest, not the mind,”

Not for the first time in the days since he’d kissed her after the match, his face felt tired from smiling.

He would never get sick of it.

“And yes, Harry, I know hate is a strong word,” he made the scraping sound again, and she twitched. Speaking through clenched teeth, she continued, “Which is exactly why I used it. I think I would rather die in a tire fire than hear that sound for one,” scrape, “more,” drag, “second,”

“Pity,” Harry quirked an eyebrow and flicked his wand, setting the quill to drag across the tables surrounding them.

[skankinator]

Complications Ch. 12

Bradley ‘Rooster’ Bradshaw x Fem Reader

18+ MDNI

Once again you found yourself avoiding the only person you want to be around. You spent your time playing pool and chatting with anyone other than Bradley between turns. Getting to know the team was a pleasant side effect of your avoidance tactic. After several drinks and laughs, you were having a pretty good time.

Eventually the squad was run off from the pool table after hogging it for too long. The drunken group piled into a booth that was much too small. You wound up smooshed between Hangman and none other than Bradley Bradshaw.

Natasha returned from the bar with another round for the group. “Make room for another,” she said making everyone look around for space to magically appear.

“You can sit next to me,” Hangman said. “Cap’n can sit on my lap.” He looks at you expectantly with a look of mischief in his eyes.

“Fuck no. I’d rather die,” you say causing the table to roar with laughter.

“It’s me or Bradshaw. You don’t want to leave Phoenix hanging. Not that I have a problem with that,” he jokes.

You look to Bradley and he nods giving you the go ahead. “Bradshaw it is,” you say and move to sit on his lap. He grabs your waist and helps lift you onto him.

“Sorry, I know this isn’t ideal,” he speaks lowly in your ear. His voice sends a shiver down your spine.

You turn your head to respond, but he is too tall for you to whisper to him. You reach for the back of his neck and gently pull his head close enough to whisper “don’t be sorry.”

As the night goes on, you grow very comfortable on his lap. You lean fully against his chest and he holds you there with a hand resting on your thigh. The entire table is too drunk to pay you any mind. The drinks have been nonstop and the conversations have developed into drunken nonsense.

You excuse yourself to the bathroom while Bob is trying to explain Lord of the Rings. You immediately become best friends with all the girls waiting in line.

“You’re literally the hottest most amazingest bad ass bitch I’ve ever met,” you say to the woman you just met.

“No because you are my soul sister and I love you,” the woman responds. “Ohmygod babes there is a super hot guy looking over here.”

You gasp, “on a scale from warm to actual volcano how hot is he,” you stare into her eyes as if your life depends on her answer.

“I’m literally burnt to a crisp he’s so hot,” your new best friend plays with your hair making sure it looks perfect.

“Okayokayokayokay. Where is he?” You ask hoping to nonchalantly turn and look at him.

“He’s coming over here,” she whisper screams. You both quickly pose in completely unnatural ways trying to act natural.

“Are you ever coming back to the table?” Bradley asks you.

“Oh it’s you,” you let out a snort laughing. “No I made a new friend and we are hanging out now.”

“What friend?” He asks looking around. Your bathroom bestie has in fact disappeared.

“Stop. Did I imagine her??” Maybe you should have stopped a few drinks ago.

“Hey do you wanna go outside?” He slurs although you don’t notice in your equally drunken state.

“Yesyesyes let’s go look for crabs,” you squeal with excitement.

The sun has long been set and the moon is high in the sky. The beach is drenched in the silver light of the moon. A warm glow of light and the muted sound of music comes from the bar. You walk out towards the water feeling a slight chill from the sea breeze.

You turn to look at Bradley, his face only partially visible in the light. You’ve never been able to look at him without admiring how handsome he is.

“I don’t want to be your friend,” you let your thoughts escape your mouth.

“You don’t want to be my friend,” he questions. “I thought you liked me.”

“I do like you,” you close the distance between the two of you.

“Then why don’t you want to be my friend,” he instinctively places his hands on your waist as you run your hands up his strong chest.

“I like you more than a friend,” you look up at him with hooded eyes.

“Oh thank god,” he sighs. “I want to kiss you so bad.”

You wrap your hands around his neck and stand on your tippy toes. He leans down and catches your lips in a sloppy kiss. Your lips move against each other slowly with passion.

[trashiewrites]

Some things never change

Pairing: Rise!Leo x F!Reader

words: 753

A/N: Okay! So my new obsession! I swear ill go back to cod but I needed to get this out my system! I may or may not do more ROTTMNT content idk not sure yet! Alrighty hope to those that read this enjoy!!!

WARNING: POST-MOVIE SO MOVIE SPOILERS?? KIND OF?? NOT REALLY!!

"LEO!!" (Y/n) rushed over, wrapping the blue turtle in her embrace. Resting her head on his shoulder as she sobbed. "You IDIOT! Scaring me like that! Scaring everyone!" She gripped onto his plastron, tears rolling down her face. Leo slowly placed a hand on her head, softly caressing her scalp. "I thought I'd never see you again! Your generally crappy one-liners, your charming smile," she went on and on; the others stood behind staring fondly at the two. They all shared her sentiment.

Leo moved her to see her face, "Woah Woah, you saying you don't like my one-liners!" He cupped his hands around her face wiping fresh tears as they fell. "First of all, how dare you~" he cooed at her, "secondly... I'm sorry. Keeping you safe, keeping everyone safe was my first priority." He spoke in a serious yet sincere tone, flashing her his iconic grin. She couldn't be angry as much as she wanted to be, she was just scared. "If my sacrifice promised you a better life, I would in a heartbe-"

"A world without you Leon, god, I can't even imagine it!" She wrapped her arms around his neck, resting herself in the crook of his neck. "Leonardo, I think I speak for everyone that without you; life, the world would be incomplete." Leo's eyes open wide, hearing those words come from her mouth. The others nod as Leo's eyes scan the room; overwhelmed by emotion, his eyes well with tears. Casey Jones looked on seeing the two acting like this made him relieved. It made of think back to his times, times he would be up late seeing master Leonardo sitting alone on the lookout.

Especially after the death of Raph and Donnie, Master Leo looked at those wastelands with a cloud of fear. Nights were then joined by his wife, who always brewed him a fresh cup of tea. The two always talked till late into the night, and despite being in the apocalypse the two always laughed about something. She kept Master Leo looking forward, looking straight. In the hell he lived in, he never saw a man happier in his life.

Coming back to reality Casey sighed, "I'm glad some things never change." He smiled, not yet realizing how loud he said that.

"What doesn't change Casey!" Mikey leaned closer to Casey, staring up at him intently.

"Oh sorry, I didn't mean to say that so loud! It's nothing!" He laughed nervously; he pulled his mask down slowly. His face flushed red from embarrassment.

"No no, go on Casey. I'm deathly curious now!" Leo raised his brow, giving him a smirk. Casey rubbed the back of his neck, "let me guess! Me being the greatest and strongest ninja ever~"

"Leo!" The group laughed in unison as he shrugged. (Y/n) wiped tears from her eyes as she stared lovingly at Leo. "All that talk about it not being about you!"

"What can I say, old habits die hard~"

"Okay shut it, Leo, let him speak." Donatello pulled out a notepad and waited intensely, "the next thing he says could possibly expand my research into quantum time theories and the existence of multiple timelines!"

"It's nothing that important," Casey rubbed his shoulder, "It's just for those two, even despite future changing their care for each other hasn't. It's kind of a relief to me." Casey raised his mask again, his eyes down to the floor, "I even see why they got married in my time..."

"MARRIED!" The room went into chaos after Casey spoke these words. Mickey and Raph were gushing, April wasn't reacting that much but had an approving look. Donnie threw his notepad on the floor in a huff and Splinter well he was silent, eyes closed while nodding his head; who knows what happens in there... (Y/N) was a stuttering mess, Leo watched her in amusement and even teased her from time to time. In any case, Casey should have never said it.

"Some things really never change" he spoke quieter this time. No need for another freakout.

BONUS!!

Leo: See (y/n)! We were destined for each other!

Y/n: M-m-m-m-ma-ma...

Leo: oooohhhh a wedding in an apocalyptic time, that must have been fun! Butalsolikereallydepressing... did we go on a honeymoon?

Casey: You guys got married before I was born so idk...

Y/n: m-m *passes out momentarily*

Leo: oughhh boi, I think we genuinely lost her... oh she must be so happy she died~

All: LEO!

Leo: JOKING joking! Jesuss- she passes out when she gets super overwhelmed, she's fine!

[owlseeyoulaterpal]

Like Real People Do, Chapter 7

Gale Dekarios x Named! Tav x Astarion Ancunín

Chapter Synopsis: Seraphina spends the night of the party with Astarion and does some introspection.

NSFW | 18+

Chapter One. Chapter Two. Chapter Three. Chapter Four. Chapter Four and a Half. Chapter Five. Chapter Six.

Read on ao3.

Word Count: 2.8k

Learn more about my Tav, Seraphina.

Chapter Seven: Eyes Always Seeking

“Seraphina!”

The sorcerer turned her head. Alfira was hopping and waving her hand at her. 

Oh gods she thought as she sipped her wine and walked over towards her, Lakrissa, and Astarion. She enjoyed Alfira, but being summoned over near Astarion’s tent right after speaking with Gale so honestly made her stomach churn. She didn’t know if it would be possible to have such an open conversation with Astarion and get a sense of how he felt about what this was between them.

“Hello, loves. Do you mind if I steal him for a bit?” Seraphina asked. 

“Go ahead but promise me you’ll help me with the song I’m writing about you!” Alfira exclaimed. 

“Write a song about our people, Alfira. But yes, I’ll come help you soon,” Seraphina smiled, squeezing Alfira’s arm as Lakrissa dragged her away.

“My savior,” Astarion sighed dramatically, looping an arm around her waist and yanking her close, their bodies pressed against each other. “I thought you were going to let me perish under the weight of all this praise and adoration.”

“Could never let that happen.”

He took a sip of his wine and leaned in close, his lips brushing her ear.

“It would be such an unsatisfying way to die. I’d much prefer a little death with you tonight,” he whispered. 

“Is that right?”

“Yes. Isn’t that what you want? Or am I the delusional one for thinking of our last night together ceaselessly?” His hand on her waist began to stroke up and down her torso, his fingers brushing against the side of her breast.

Seraphina giggled and pressed her forehead to his chest. 

“No. I’ve thought about it too,” she confessed. For a moment, he didn’t respond. She heard a quiet clink as he sat down his glass and his other hand pushed up against her chin, forcing her eyes up. He was smirking down at her.

“Then let’s get out of our heads and experience each other’s full portfolio of talents again,” he purred. “Though honestly, I was beginning to get worried the wizard had swooped in and stolen your affections for the night.”

“Worried? And why would that be?”

“I’d prefer for him to continue sticking his nose in books rather than between your legs. I quite like that spot,” Astarion said, his thumb gliding along the edges of her lips.

“Do you now?” she teased.

“Yes. Now, you will come to my bed tonight, won’t you?” Astarion asked directly.

“Hmm…maybe. I don’t think I’ve made my mind up yet about where I’ll spend my night,” Seraphina hummed, twisting her lips as if she was in deep in thought.

“Ah, you need to be seduced. Let me see,” Astarion pulled away from her and straightened his posture, pushing his shoulders back. “All these accolades from the refugees are nothing compared to the sound of my name cried from your lips.”

Seraphina sputtered and placed a hand over her mouth to stifle her giggles.

“You can do better than that,” she said, raising an eyebrow and straightening her lips in mock disapproval. Astarion smirked at the challenge.

“Your perfect body is the embodiment of temptation. Tymora herself must have made you just to ruin me,” he orated dramatically. 

“You’re actually quite silly, Astarion,” she laughed.

“Still not good enough? Then how about three words? Everyone’s favorite,” Astarion’s smirk slowly fell.

“I love you.”

Seraphina’s chest tightened. The world was spinning, but not from the wine. She hadn’t heard those words from someone who wasn’t her family in months. What was she doing? In all the lovers she’d had, she’d never been with someone like Astarion. He was brash, selfish, and morally bankrupt. Her attempts to temper his urges towards power and bloodlust and his efforts to pull her away from altruism and modesty had become a tug-of-war. 

How was she supposed to reconcile that harsh reality with how he made her laugh and the ways he made her heart race, like right now? Or with all the instances so far that he’d saved her life in combat? Or the connection she felt when they talked and he let her in, even the smallest bit? He reminded somewhat her of Awe, the ice mage who had been a whirlwind of a distraction from Vadan a few months ago. Maybe it was time to admit she had a type – people she definitely shouldn’t be with.

She snapped out of it and met Astarion’s concerned gaze, probably wondering if he’d taken it too far.

Seraphina smiled to hide her unease.

“Having fun, are you?”

A gentle smile spread on his face.

“It’s hard not to with you,” Astarion said softly.

Her heart soared.

“I’ll find you later,” Seraphina whispered. She turned on her heel before he could respond and let her feet carry her over to Alfira, Lakrissa, Cal, and Zevlor. She let the children swing around her in dance. She let Alfira sing, sing, and sing. 

Anything to keep from hearing Astarion’s beautiful lie over and over again in her head.

x x x

When the chatter died down, the bottles of wine ran dry, and the campfire began to turn to embers, Seraphina felt anything but tired. Their guests in camp laid out their bedrolls and the members of their party began to retreat to their tents. The cleric was idly kneeling by her tent, as if she was soon going to retire to bed soon, when she made eye contact with Astarion. He winked at her and crooked his finger, urging her to come over, as he crawled inside of his own tent.

She quickly did a scan of camp and all the tired eyes around her had a singular focus that was not at all where she was going to spend her night. Gale had turned in some time ago. 

Seraphina quickly and, as discreetly as possible, scrambled across camp and slipped into Astarion’s tent. Save for two candles providing a small halo of light, it was incredibly dark inside. The earthy, musky scent of camp was replaced by the subtle perfume of bergamot and brandy – Astarion’s scent that she had come to enjoy.

The one that she sought out was lying on his bedroll, propped up on his elbows, his back surrounded by a semicircle of plush pillows, only wearing his pants with the pearlescent skin of his sculpted torso and defined arms bathed in dim golden light. Her eyes traced the muscles of his abdomen up to his wide chest, to his pouty lips, and finally landing on his crimson eyes, half-lidded and unabashedly hungry – in more ways than one.

“There you are,” Astarion said. Seraphina smiled at him as she clasped the tent flaps shut.

“Get over here. I’ve been waiting all night,” he continued, sitting up and grabbing her hips. He pulled the tiefling into his lap, squeezing her ass as she straddled him.

“You think I haven’t been?” she said as her hands traced a path from his neck, over his chest, and down his front. One of his hands grabbed her hair and pulled her lips down to his, Astarion grunting in satisfaction as Seraphina rolled her hips.

“You seemed content with spending the rest of the night singing songs around the campfire. You could’ve been in here hours ago singing my name instead,” Astarion breathed as he began to kiss down her neck. He stopped in the crook of her neck and inhaled deeply, letting out a sigh as he exhaled.

“Feed,” Seraphina said, one hand cupping the back of his head and the other beginning to unlace his trousers. He wiggled slightly while she pulled down his pants just enough to free his half-hard length. Once he settled, Astarion licked over Seraphina’s pulse point before he bit down. 

Seraphina moaned as the familiar mix of pain and pleasure filled her as he began to drink. She spit into her hand before reaching down and beginning to slowly stroke his cock, forcing a gurgled moan out of Astarion as he continued to feed. Hearing the sweet sound from him was enough to make her clench around nothing, desperation for him to be inside her already starting to sink in. 

She moved her hand faster, and his hips began to rock, pumping into her hand. He pulled away from her neck with a gasp, licking and kissing over the bite marks. 

“I can smell you, you know,” Astarion whispered, his hand moving from her ass to cup her sex. Seraphina whined as the ball of his hand rubbed her clit through her pants.

“I can smell how badly you want it,” he went on, his head dipping down to her chest. His tongue licked over the ridges and bumps that went across her collarbone and between her breasts. He hissed and his hips jerked as she continued stroking him. Astarion grabbed her hand, forcing her to stop, before he pulled her shirt from her trousers, peeling it off her skin, and tossing it somewhere in the tent before diving back to her chest, his lips now firmly suckling one of her nipples while one hand groped at her other breast.

“I don’t want it. I want you,” Seraphina moaned, throwing her head back. 

“They’re one in the same, darling.”

She leaned away from him and Astarion continued sucking at her breast, arching his back until he finally let go with a ‘pop.’ She smiled devilishly at him as she crawled backwards on her knees before settling on her stomach between his legs. He quirked an eyebrow at her.

Seraphina said nothing as she reached out and gently gripped the base of his cock. He let out a small breath and his eyes followed her every movement. She leaned forward, her eyes fixed on his, as she slowly licked the underside of his shaft from base to tip, a hiss escaping from his lips again. 

Her tongue swirled around his tip, licking through the slit, before going down the side and licking another long stripe. Astarion’s breaths turned into pants as Seraphina’s teasing went on, licking and swirling her tongue but never closing her lips around his cock.

“Seraphina, you beautiful minx,” Astarion panted, his hands tangling in her hair. She smirked at him before she opened her mouth wide and took his cock into her mouth. He moaned as she began to move, but then she saw a flash of mischief in his eyes. He smirked at her now as he flipped his hands, palms up, and his fingers wrapped around the base of her horns.

Carefully, Astarion began to move her head up and down his cock, his eyes trained on hers. She let out a moan as he pulled her all the way down, the tip of him nearly reaching the back of her throat. She let her neck go limp, fully giving him control. 

“Darling, your mouth…ah,” Astarion’s eyebrows furrowed, and his face twisted in pleasure, his mouth falling open as he continued to move her head, now thrusting into her mouth to meet her halfway.

Seraphina whined, all the sounds from him making her wetter. He thrusted one final time, making her gag. Slowly, he pulled out of her mouth, his hands falling from her horns to grab her waist, pulling her up into his lap.

“You sweet thing,” Astarion breathed, cupping her face and kissing her. His passion and fervor left her panting and moaning into his mouth, as he moved her legs to remove her pants and smallclothes, leaving her bare in his lap. A finger dipped into her folds, making Seraphina gasp as he carefully stroked around her hole and clit. 

“Astarion,” Seraphina moaned.

“What is it, darling?”

“Please put it in. Give me something, anything.”

“Louder.”

“There are people sleeping ou –”

“I don’t care.”

One finger slid in. His thumb started circling her clit. The finger, agonizingly slowly, pumping in and out.

“If you want more, say it louder,” Astarion growled, kissing and sucking at her neck.

Seraphina’s head was fuzzy, her panting and whining already too loud as she desperately grasped at Astarion’s shoulders. She was too far gone with her inhibitions lowered, courtesy of the wine. She tilted her head back and moaned loudly.

“Astarion!”

A second finger entered her. She looked at him, only to see a wicked grin. He wound her up as easily as he picked a lock.

“I didn’t expect you to do it, but you keep surprising me,” Astarion nuzzled her neck as she started to ride his hand. “May I?”

“Yes.”

His teeth sunk into her. His fingers moved faster; the rhythm set by her moans. Whenever she bit back a moan or a whine, his movements would cease. When she cried out his name, surely loud enough that people sleeping close to Astarion’s tent would hear, he would reward her with quicker, deeper strokes.

In this moment, pleasure hummed through Seraphina’s body as much as magic did. When she came undone on Astarion’s fingers, he unlatched his mouth from her, licked her blood from his lips, and kissed her. She could taste the iron of her blood, but all she could think of was how she never wanted this to end.

He flipped them over, putting her head into the pile of pillows, before turning her pliant body over onto her stomach, his hands pulling her onto her knees and elbows. She was still whining from reaching her peak as he removed his pants and she felt his hands return to her hips, stroking and squeezing at the skin, still bruised and battered from the battle.

Seraphina gasped as Astarion’s cold, wet tongue licked from her clit to her hole. She arched her back and pushed back onto his face as he continued to lap, suck, and kiss at her core. His tongue fucked her in a cycle that made her see stars – circling her clit until she was close to her climax, only to flit away to stroke at her walls and then back again.

His reciprocal moans sent vibrations through her core that finally tipped her over the edge. She grinded against his face as she rode out her climax, Astarion’s grip on her hips keeping her up in the air as her legs weakened.

“Please fuck me. Gods, I need it,” Seraphina moaned. She felt Astarion pull away and she could hear the smug grin on his face when he spoke.

“Since you asked so nicely.”

He pushed himself inside her and the sounds of their skin and moans filled the tent. Seraphina clutched at the pillows, holding on to anything to keep herself up against the force of Astarion’s thrusts. She tilted her head slightly to look back at him and her whining paused. 

She saw it again. The look on Astarion’s face that she had only glimpsed last time. His eyes were glazed over and unfocused, as if he was looking at her without really seeing or thinking about her or this moment at all. 

“Astarion,” Seraphina whispered breathlessly.

He blinked and it was like he came back to himself as his thrusts slowed. 

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Astarion panted. 

Seraphina gently pushed him away and turned onto her back. She spread her legs and reached for him, pulling him on top of her. His sweat-slick chest pressed against hers, the undead cold of his body cooling the heat radiating off her. He looked perplexed as she wrapped her legs around his hips, not pushing him inside quite yet, while her hands softly carded through his hair. It took a few moments, but eventually he sighed, closing his eyes, as her fingers massaged his scalp, traced over the points of his ears, and settled on his cheeks.

Seraphina gazed into his eyes, trying to decipher what secrets he held in that beautiful head of his. She looked at the creases that framed his crimson eyes, the pinkness of his lips courtesy of her blood coursing through him.

 She felt her heart flutter and then, she knew for sure.

 She was falling. 

This vampire had her wrapped around his finger. Just as the wizard did. What a curse it was to have a heart that sought love as freely and carelessly as hers did.

“Do you want this?” Astarion murmured.

“Yes. Do you –” 

Astarion covered her mouth with his hand, thrusting back inside her and dipping his face to her neck. His thrusts were merciless and determined. Each one pushed a wanton moan out of her, making her clench around his cock, and with each clench, he responded with a groan, creating a sinful symphony. When a wave of pleasure washed over both of them, Seraphina didn’t leave his tent. He didn’t ask her to. Instead, he put out the candles and laid down next to her. 

Their skin wasn’t touching, but she could still feel the ghost of his hands all over her. She wanted to be close to him. She could touch him if she reached out her hand, but it was like Astarion was leagues away. She wanted to open her heart to him. 

But she could already tell that he wasn’t ready to do the same. 

[baelpenrose]

Nihilus Rex 29: Confessions, Part I: The Priest and the Sinner

Nils confronts his grief about Jessie, and grapples with his fading faith. This chapter, along with two others threaded throughout the story, are meant as critical character studies of who Nils is as a person, and while they are part of the larger story, the chapters titled "confessions" also function as a micro story unto themselves.

Beta-read and co-written by @canyouhearthelight.

For the life of me, I cannot remember

What made us think that we were wise and we'd never compromise

For the life of me, I cannot believe

We'd ever die for these sins, we were merely freshmen

The Verve Pipe “Freshmen Song”

Nils

I was troubled when I went home. After Lash and I split, we agreed to call the next day and talk through some stuff, but I had promised my parents I’d call. And…I still needed to check in on Jessie’s family. I had been missing my every-other-week checkin for a while. Maybe a long while. Between Lash and everything else I’d been doing, it almost felt like….

Oh god, I don’t know if I’d checked since the heist.

So I went by their house, after buying flowers and ready to make all apologies. I knocked, slowly. “Mrs. Parson, it’s Nils. I’m…” I felt a wash of guilt. Why should they let me in? I’d all but forgotten them in my own grief and the madness that had followed it. “I’m sorry I left for a while. I got caught up in something. And I’m sorry for everything else. I should have been here sooner. I should have been with Jessie more.” The door was still closed.

I knocked again. “I don’t know if you’re even home. But I want you to know I’m sorry. I should have kept coming, way longer than I did.”

The door opened, and Mrs. Parson stood before me. Despite being slightly younger than my mother, she looked older. Her chronic illness, the marks of longtime working-class life, and the grief of her daughter’s death had taken their toll. “You shouldn’t have come back.”

I felt the words like a slap, but I took them. And I suddenly felt a flash of anger that always preceded things that shouldn’t be said, things that couldn’t be taken back. Jessie wouldn’t have wanted me to say the things I was going to say. Jessie had forgiven these people, wanted to take care of these people, would have wanted me to take care of these people, would be angry that I had failed to check in. I had already failed to deal with the student debts in time.

But Jessie wasn’t here and I was going to fail her again. All the things that we’d told each other, about mental health breakdowns, about crises of faith, about problems with parents…

“Speaking of people who shouldn’t have come back. How’s the stepson?”

Mrs. Parsons blanched. She’d remarried not long after Jessie’s father had walked out on her to the anger of the church, and found a new guy whose wife had died some years before.  Jessie’s stepdad was actually a pretty standup guy - he’d fumbled once, in the immediate reaction of finding out about what his son had done, but even Jessie had believed in the aftermath that it was a matter of shock more than a matter of not believing her, and he had done more or less the right things once he’d gotten a chance to get his wits back. It didn’t change the fact that the initial failure, especially given that her mom had desperately been trying to play peacemaker, had definitely compounded the trauma. Her stepbrother, on the other hand, was an abusive jackass that Jessie had definitely been pressured to forgive a little too fast, and somewhere along my little revolution was going to be a bonus objective of ensuring he didn’t live to see the new world. 

“Jessie forgave him.” She sounded half like she was trying to convince herself. 

“Hm. Did she think she had a choice?” I knew the answer, I wondered if this woman did. Jessie thought she did, but that only forgiveness was the right one, because she had always believed, more fervently than I ever had, in the forgiveness of Christ.  I also knew that the dissonance of that hadn’t helped her, had rattled her, had convinced her she was falling short if she was still angry.

And I was ready to bite, especially when Mrs. Parsons then pivoted. “And you? You’ve had choices recently. What’s your new girl’s name? Elakshi? The one you went on air with at the hospital? You moved on fast.”

 I gaped. “Moving on fast…I mean, you want to talk about moving on, I probably shouldn’t have let it slide that you were so scared of your second husband moving on like the first at the first sign of trouble that you didn’t want Jessie talking about what your stepson was doing. Mind you, Mr. Parsons fucked up when he first found out, and as bad as it was even then he wound up doing the right thing once he’d taken a second. I can forgive shock a lot better than I can forgive forced martyrdom. Don’t talk to me about moving on from anything too fast when you weren’t willing to deal with something to begin with. You can call it the forgiveness of God all you want, but be real: you wanted to dodge the stigma of a second divorce. The fact that she dropped out of college to try to help you with your sickness is beyond me.” The snarl, the hate, the sudden surge of helpless rage I’d always felt at never quite being able to express what I’d wanted to to Jessie because she wouldn’t have heard it and it wouldn’t have helped, things I should have said but couldn’t, things I maybe should have said because they maybe could have helped, but now I’d never know…

She glared. “Jessie thought you loved her!” 

“JESSIE AND I NEVER DATED!” I suddenly shouted. “NOT BECAUSE I DIDN’T WANT TO BUT BECAUSE SHE SAID SHE THOUGHT WE WERE BETTER OFF AS FRIENDS! I WASN’T MOVING ON FROM HER! WE WERE NEVER TOGETHER!”

“SHE LIED!” I paused at that, and she kept going. “She lied, Nils. She lied, because she knew that you were the kind of person to go all the way to the wall for something, for someone, and she also knew that if you two ever got together, you could get her to go with you.” Her voice grew quiet, but carried on, determined, and I almost strained to hear the cold drumbeat of words that left me numb. “And she knew that you wanted to go places, that you didn’t want to be stuck dealing with her family, or yours, or the church you’ve always wobbled on but that she always believed in, and knew that you would care about her but probably never actually be happy with her without one of you changing the other too much to recognize.” A sigh, and she rubbed her arms with her hands. “So she lied, and you didn’t recognize it enough to realize that she reciprocated how you felt. I had to watch you two pining for each other from the time you were little and then I watched the boy who comforted my daughter through all sorts of awful things I fucked up with and can never forgive myself for drop off the map weeks after she died.” Her voice shook before she steadied and continued, steely. “And then you showed up on TV with your new girlfriend. So don’t tell me how she felt forced to do anything because you were never able to figure out her feelings well enough to guess how her beliefs and feelings impacted what she did.” 

She took the flowers from me while I was still reeling. “Thank you for the flowers. I’m sure Jessie would forgive you, and I have no doubt you’re doing something that would either thrill her or horrify her. That stunt at the hospital was enough of a hint. But I can’t forgive you for vanishing. And I understand if you can’t forgive how badly I did when she needed me. Don’t come by again.” 

I nodded. “I understand. Oh, and as long as we’re being honest? Your hunch is right. If you have any affection for your stepson at all? Tell him that he should try to make sure I’m never reminded he exists. Jessie forgave him. I don’t. God bless you for whatever that is worth.” 

I walked away, shaking, and took some breaths, slowly shaking, and the minute I was out of sight, around the corner, into my car, I closed the doors and started screaming. I pounded the steering wheel and howled for a second. 

She’d loved me and I’d never known. I’d fucked it up. I had…Fuck. Fuck FUCK!

I drove to the church. It had been a long time since my last confession, since the funeral, but I could stand to speak to Father Rivera. He was the only one who did confessions this late, and the only priest in the diocese that I respected anyway. He’d done Last Rites at the funeral of a suicide because he thought it was the right thing to do.  And…I had just made a deal with the devil.

First though. I called my mom. She’d always been the more devout of my parents.

“Hey mom. Confessional booth stuff is inadmissible in court of law, right?”

“That’s right, Nils, but…why?”

“Have some stuff I’d rather talk about with a priest.”

***

“Forgive me father, for I have sinned. It has been five months and two weeks since my last confession.”

“What do you have to repent of this time?” 

“Before I answer, Father, may I ask something and be answered?”

“Yes.” Father Rivera sounded confused. I’d already looked up the answer to this, and asked my mother this, just to be sure. I wanted to ensure I could trust Rivera, though I was pretty sure he wouldn’t squeak, it was good to know that it would mean nothing if he did.

“Is what I say in here protected by the Seal of Confession, and are you bound by the sanctity of the sacraments to reveal nothing of what I say to anyone?”

“I can say nothing of what is said here to anyone provided that you are confessing sins you have already committed. If you confess a sin you are currently planning to commit, and thus are unrepentant of, that is not within the Seal of Confession.”

I thought about that. A tacit warning and an admission.

“Okay. Then I will say this. I have slain nine men. Six by mistake, three in retribution. I have stolen - but profited nothing, and I do not count the theft among my sins, because I believe the word of Christ argues that my actions there were in fact holy in nature. I have lied, and brought shame to the name of my father, but in so doing brought safety to the sick. I have sinned, sexually, beyond what we spoke of the last…every confession I’ve been in, actually.”

Father Rivera’s voice came across. “Stop, stop. Nils, you confessed something very, very serious, followed by something that I want to question, followed by something I already suspected and the whole city got without context, followed by something that I already knew because of the girl you appeared on local TV with and that I know you aren’t remotely repentant about because you confess some new sexual sin every time you do this.” He took a breath. “Also, Nils. You forget I was a young man for years before I took Holy Orders. You aren’t confessing on that last one, because I know you too well to think you’re repentant. You’re bragging. Stop.” 

I took a breath. “Murder first, then?”

“Killing first. When you say you killed nine, six by mistake, three by retribution. How?”

“I manipulated people into situations where they’d be killed. Six of those were not deliberate - my design was not for them to die. Three, I deliberately got killed because they were involved in something that killed friends of mine.”

“You weren’t the one who killed them, though?”

“Not directly, but I can’t, philosophically, say politicians commit murder whether or not their hands are ever touched by blood and then deny my actions here were the same. Hands at the direction of my mind pulled the triggers, whether those hands were connected, physically, to my brain by my own nerves or simply by words and minds willing to trust me doesn’t absolve me, it just stains the people I used as catspaws - my guilt is increased, not decreased, at that point. I will confess to being a murderer, but not a hypocrite or a pharisee.” 

“No, and that is honest - as you’ve always been, in your way. Do you repent of the killings?”

“Yes.”

“All of them? I know you, Nils. I didn’t have to ask for reasons beyond the ritual if you regretted and repented the ones you’d done accidentally, but I mean the people you got killed on purpose.”

“Yes, I do.” I lied. “I believed it was necessary, but it was wrong, and I rushed to it in wrath.”  An advantage - now, Rivera would feel obligated not to tell anyone, even if he wound up being suspicious. 

“I’m curious - what led to your belief it was necessary?”

“The three I did on purpose were the ones behind the firebombing of the cafe. I figured that out through deceptive means, ones that wouldn’t hold up in court, but ones that involved manipulating their allies into turning on them. There were friends of mine in the cafe. Ones who didn’t make it out.” 

Rivera sighed. “Nils. It wasn’t yours to decide who should live and who should die.”

“I know. As I said, I was angry.”

“And the other six?”

“That ties into the theft. The one I don’t know was a sin.”

The voice took on an amused note. “Now I’m curious. Almost morbidly.”

“Is usury not still a sin? Did Christ not demand that debts be forgiven every seven years?”

A tone of comprehension crept into his voice. “Nils…are you saying…”

“I want it noted this time I am bragging less of the act itself than the skill it took to accomplish it.”

“I will take you at your word that that is not inconsiderable. I am still…Nils, my son. I want to confirm. The banks.”

“Yes.” A note of pride crept into my voice.

“Your actions with your father’s hospital were doing a good thing in a bad way, for Christ did heal the sick without indebting them. Your deceptions were sinful means - thou shalt not bear false witness. Your actions with the debts were forgery and theft on a massive scale, and yet they saved thousands of families, and it is…hard to proclaim that you have not, once again, done holy work by sinful means. The Jesuits would be impressed. I am not a Jesuit, I believe that the actions of flawed men that take the will of God into their own hands will often lead to dark places - the Church’s most harsh critics, not without reason, point to the Inquisition, the Crusades, the Residential Schools, all people who did what they thought was ‘God’s Will’ by evil means.” 

“And yet, should the ends themselves not be considered? Should saving people in the here and now not weigh heavier than the imagined ideals of ‘God’s Will’ by people so corrupt they believed they were right to rape? To torture children? What was it Christ said of those who took to brutalizing children in his presence? Something about millstones and swimming? He took a whip to moneychangers, He never took a rod to a child, that was a Proverb - and not quoted from His word.” 

“Of course, and the Proverb was supposed to refer to a shepherd's crook rather than a whipping rod anyway. And yet, the Great Commission - a point on which you and I have gone around a few times in your studies of history and philosophy - was from His word, and was how the worst of those justified their acts. But you’re too clever not to realize what you’re doing - your ends may be noble, but your means make use of the devil’s tools and those who do that will, by degrees, find themselves among his vassals before they realize they’ve lost their way.”

I didn’t agree with that, and wasn’t entirely certain my allegiance was to any particular higher power rather than an alliance of convenience with whichever one countenanced a victory over the horror I saw in this world. Then I remembered this was supposed to be a confession, and figured I should stop arguing - my goal was mostly to get things off my chest and keep from drawing too deep.

“As you say. Means aside, I believe that in the process of all that, I may have made something of a deal with a devil. There’s an associate of mine who I don’t like and don’t trust that I’ve been forced to work with, and I fear that much of my most important work will be stained by working with him. But…it was necessary to help those people.”

“Define ‘devil.”

“His every aspect is vile and his views on the world almost diametrically opposed to mine. What he calls justice, I call horror and what I call justice he would call perversion of nature.”

“How did you convince this man to collaborate with you?”

“For a day, we shared a common enemy.” 

“Ah. Many such partnerships corrupt good men. And you say your means have no risk of corrupting what you intend?”

“If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be here. I wouldn’t have the doubts I do.” 

I could hear Rivera folding his hands. “I see.” 

I could feel Mrs. Parsons’ words weighing on me. 

“And…” The words tumbled out. “I failed Jessie. I should have listened more carefully. She died because I didn’t pay close enough attention. It was my fault…”

“No. That I will not absolve you for, because that wasn’t. You didn’t know everything on her heart. She came to me regularly. That was not on you. There are others who should seek God’s forgiveness for that, and you have your sins to bear and repent, but that, Nils, THAT truly is not one of them.”

“Had I acted sooner, she wouldn’t have been crushed under so much debt.”

“And even if it was your responsibility to shatter the entire banking system to save a life, which it categorically is not, I will say that is NOT what pushed her over the edge. Not from everything she told me. That failure was more mine than yours. Nils.” His voice was strained. “Jessie’s death was not your fault. And if your war against the world’s economy is some act of penitent crusade because you believed you should have acted sooner, you should stop now, because all wars lead to men riding with demons, and yours is not necessary.”

I froze. Then I spoke. “I would like to repent now, Father. I’m done confessing for the day. Thank you for your guidance.”

“The forgiveness prayer, and then a full score Pater Nostrum and a dozen Ave Marias. The Rite of Penance again, the last one over the candle.” That last was unusual for Rivera, but I supposed I had just confessed to nine murders. 

“O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins because of thy just punishments, but most of all because they offend Thee, my God, who art all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve with the help of Thy grace to sin no more and to avoid the near occasion of sin. Amen.”

He finished at the same time I did, then I went to the pews and silently spoke the other, ritual repetitions. Then, I headed to the altar, placed my hand over the candle, and silently chanted out the prayer of Penance, trying to ignore the pain, and slowly pulled my hand out of the heat as I finished. It had driven my anxiety up, and I hadn’t realized the impact it would have, to do that, after the fire in the cafe. 

As I walked out of the church, I called my mother. “Yeah, Mom. I saw your other text. I probably should have…should have talked to you guys about her sooner. But yeah, uh…her and I are working together great. We met in class, but we’re kinda working together, on and off, on outside projects.”

“When do you want her to meet us, like formally?”

I froze. “Uh…I’ll talk to her, but I think she might be open to it? I had to meet hers, after all.”

“I’ll be there, Nils. Relax.”

I took a breath. “Okay.”

[alpydk]

Cabinet of Oddities - Part 4 (Fanfic)

TavxGale (Custom)

Extra time means more writing and I just needed to get some more Gale into this story. (1.8k words - WTF??)

Summary: Gale falls slowly behind the group causing Nana to become concerned.

Ao3 Link - Chapter 4 Ao3 Link (Whole)

Nana didn’t like the Risen Road. The air smelt of goblins and there was no shelter. It was all just open rock and cliff faces. “Are we there yet?” She whined immaturely.

“Do you see a goblin camp anywhere or a one-horned tiefling?” Wyll replied.

“No.” She said dejectedly. “Fine…” 

The group had been travelling at a reasonable pace but since reaching the road had begun to spread out. Astarion, trying to be as far from Nana as he could, had moved up to the front with Shadowheart. Wyll had been stuck playing babysitter, as he saw it, and Gale unusually had begun to lag quietly behind. He’d complained of his knees aching a little the day before so nobody thought anything of it but Nana could not shift the nagging feeling in the back of her mind. “Oh no, it appears I have dropped my, um, shoe.” She exclaimed in a long drawn and loud voice.

Wyll sighed exasperatedly “Your shoe? The one that’s on your foot?” He paused momentarily and decided to seize the opportunity for a break. “You know what, you take care of your shoes. You can always catch up.” He walked off at speed to catch up to the others muttering under his breath the words “Gods, give me patience.”

Nana knelt, pretending to play with her shoe, watching him walk away and then turned her head seeing Gale slowly approaching. His handsome face looked different. Like something was weighing him down. Not just in his mind but in his body as well. She felt a pang of concern for him and stood as he got closer. She went to speak but as normal with Gale, the words just struggled to come.

“Nana, as much as I’ve enjoyed talking to you these last few days, today I just need a little peace and tranquillity.” Gale’s voice seemed strained, he grimaced as he walked. Nana knew these features all too well.

“You’re in pain. Your knees again?” She spoke with concern. Her mind was racing, she was fighting the tadpole in her head from accidentally sharing the memories that flooded her brain. The poison is spreading. He’s dying, I can’t save him. Don’t die, please don’t die. She shook her head and looked into Gale’s deep eyes, almost pleading with him to talk to her.

Gale looked away from her, feeling the pressure. Though he’d grown close to the group since the start of his travels, he didn't know if he was ready to share everything with them but the ever-growing hunger in his chest was becoming too much to cope with alone. He’d have to tell them eventually or he would have to leave them. “No, not my knees.” He considered continuing but didn’t know if Nana would even understand what he was going to say.  

“I would say maybe it was something you ate, but then you’re the one who does all the cooking and it sure is better than any concoction I make. Last spring I made the most horrible of dishes. That rat was good when I killed it but apparently when I mixed it with grease from that ooze…” She could see the colour draining from Gale’s face. “Sorry, I’m rambling. But I’m guessing it’s not food-related?”

“Not food either.” Gale stopped for a moment and looked at Nana. He saw something in her that he couldn’t explain. He’d seen her try to help everyone they had come across, from tiefling children that she was robbed by, to stepping in front of an arrow to save a goblin who then insulted her. All life seemed precious to her, so maybe his would too. “Nana…Why don’t we take a little break? Allow ourselves a few moments of rest. Gives me a chance to talk to you about something, well, rather important.” 

Nana nodded. “Ok, Nana calm calm. It’s just a break. It’s nothing serious. He’s not going to kiss you. Gods, I’d like him to kiss me. His eyes are so dreamy.” Her voice rushed on, just a never-ending stream of thoughts spilt out into reality. She took a seat on a nearby rock and patted a little patch next to her signalling for Gale to join her. 

Gale gave a subtle smile as he sat beside her. He wasn’t going to object to the words she said but he wasn’t sure how he felt about her. Especially right now as his muscles ached and his mind tore in two. “Have you ever realised that you say everything out loud?” 

“It’s been mentioned to me before. I tried to keep it all in my head but it gets a bit messy after a while. If I say it out loud then it keeps room for the important things.” Nana tried to explain it the best she could. This was the truth. As a changeling trying to keep one form for a long period, trying to keep the memories together, the personalities all separate, and then trying to keep constant control proved to be exhausting and if she kept everything in her head she surely would have gone mad like other changelings had been known to.

“And what important things would they happen to be?” Gale asked with curiosity.

Him. The tadpole flickered in her mind. “Oh you know, cooking recipes and naughty poetry.” She smiled, her green eyes sparkling brightly in the sunlight. “But you wanted to talk to me about something important. I’m guessing it’s neither of those topics.”

Gale gazed into her eyes, lost for a brief moment, and then nodded in recognition of her remark. “We’ve been on the road together for a while now, haven't we? Survived some perils, overcame some obstacles. I’ve seen you demonstrate remarkable guile and courage.”

“I’ve just been doing what I do. I wouldn’t say any of it is courageous. Unless you’re talking about that couple from the shack, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to shake that image.” Nana gave a shudder at the thought of the ogre and bugbear they had encountered the previous day.

“No, no, not that.” He chuckled. “No, I believe, I’ve grown to trust you.” His voice was soft and sincere.

Nana tried to read him but could see no ulterior motive. This was new to her. Her face was one of scepticism and she leaned in slightly to try and hear him better. “Hm, I thought you trusted me anyway, and that's why you let me stir the cooking in the evenings.”

He looked at her with affection and felt the orb hum. He pushed down the painful sensation that ran through his chest and sighed deeply. He needed to tell her. “I did, I do. Either way, the reason I make a point of saying this is that I’ve grown confident enough to tell you something I’ve yet to tell another living soul. Except for my cat.”

Nana stayed quiet listening intently to the words he spoke. 

“You see, I have this…condition. Very different from the parasite we share, but just as deadly. Every so often I need to get my hands on a powerful magical item and absorb the Weave inside.” His tone was serious, he had tried to explain it as vaguely and as simply as he could for her and he hoped she would grasp what he was telling her.

“So…You need to eat shoes?”

“Eat shoes? That’s what you took away from that? It’s not so much eating as it is absorbing the magical energies that are within the items. I can say no more on the matter - not now anyway, just trust me when I say it’s all of vital importance.” He stared deep into her eyes, looking for the understanding he sought, hoping she would not reject him in his time of need. The pain in his chest radiated throughout his body and he tried his best to ignore it. 

Nana’s face was full of concern for him. All she wanted was to help. “And this is why you’re in pain? You need something magical?” 

Gale nodded solemnly in response. “I know it’s a lot to ask of you but I wouldn’t press this without good reason.”

Nana swung around her pack, settling it on her lap and started digging through it. She chucked out random items, books, a music box which gave an off-note clang as it hit the floor, and a half-eaten apple she’d found earlier in the day. Eventually, she pulled out a small magic necklace and offered it over to Gale. “Here, the tiefling girl gave it to me but I’ve no use for it. You can have it.” Gale looked into her eyes. He placed one hand under the locket and the other above her hand and cupped them closely together. Nana could feel the warmth from his touch and her heart began to quicken its beat. Her voice hitched and her cheeks flushed red. “You’re touching me” she gasped. 

“Apologies.” Gale lessened his grip and took the locket from her. He held it to the marking on his chest, one that for so long Nana had wanted to run her fingers along, and he leaned back. His face appeared to be in pain and the orb glowed a brilliant purple. A moment later the necklace was gone but Gale sat with a relieved expression. He sighed deeply. “That hit the spot. I can feel it work. The magic is like a lullaby that sings to sleep the demon inside.”  

Nana’s face grew concerned. A demon . The tadpole twisted and writhed wanting to share the image in her mind.

“A metaphorical demon I haste to point out. But no less dangerous - and no less bound to wake up again to continue its ravages. Such is the nature of all monsters.”

“You’re going to be okay, aren't you? We can fix it, maybe find a cure?” She gave him a hopeful look.

Gale looked away unsure. He had no answer for this. His year of research and hiding locked in his tower had brought very few answers. He couldn’t expect to find them here. He turned back to her, his face brighter than it had been the previous few days. “Sincerely though: I understand I ask a lot from you with few answers in return, but in time all will be told.” 

“I’m just glad it helped. Tell me, if you need anything else, I’ve got quite the collection of nicknacks and doodads in my bag now. I’m sure I can stop you from getting hungry.” Nana pointed the pack at Gale as if to show him proudly of her collection.

He smiled. “I’ll keep that in mind. But now I think we should continue moving. The day is vanishing before our very eyes and the warmth of the sun will no longer lie on our faces.” Gale stood and held out his hand to Nana.

She looked at it briefly but threw her pack over her back and stood without taking it. A brief flash of rejection flashed over Gale's face but he ignored the accompanying thought that came along with it. He would just need to be satisfied with the trust he had gained from her today. Nothing more, nothing less.

[sitych]

i have never seen anything for clove on here😭 so could i please request a clove x fem!reader :) #justiceforclove

Oh my god I am so so sorry this took me this long to get to. I was super busy with school and my job. This was a little rushed but here it is!!

Clove kentwell x fem Reader

Warnings: None

————————————————————————

As I watched the sword pierce the training dummy in front of me, I was met with a familiar voice. Well more of a yell.

“SHE TOOK MY KNIFE”

The previous confidence I had soon left and as I watched Clove lash out on some poor younger girl who had apparently taken her knife. For the last two weeks Cloves attitude has been off. She’s been distant and more angry than usual. Like a bomb waiting to explode.

We were a week a way from the hunger games. Knowing she was more than likely to volunteer I couldn’t let her go into the games like this.

“Clove, can you help me get a new dummy from the supplies closet please?” I called over in hopes to get her alone for a bit.

A grunt soon followed as I made my way over to the storage closet. I knew she wouldn’t be happy that I was taking time out of her training, so I decided to speak before she got the chance to yell at me.

“What is wrong with you? Why are you being like this?” I mumbled, in fear of what she would say next

“What’s wrong with me is that your taking time out of my training Y/N. The games are in less than a we-“

I cut her Off before she could even finish. “Is that what it is? The games? Clove you don’t have to volunteer.”

“I do. My parents are making me. I need all the practice I can get if I want to survive.” She grumbled

I could tell the strong facade she was putting up was already failing her. The tears were beginning to well in her eyes and her fists were clenching like she was keeping herself from unraveling.

When I heard her sniffle I hugged her not saying a word.

“You don’t Have to.” I whispered quietly.

“If I don’t I’m going to let them all down. I was raised for this Y/N. This is what I’m supposed to do, but if I die out there and I lose you I’ll never be able to forgive myself.” She began to sob.

The last sentence made my heart jump. Lose me? Why would it matter if she lost me?

“What do you mean ‘lose me’ Clove?” I said pulling back from our embrace and looking her in the eyes

“I cant lose you. You mean too much to me, and I don’t want to die knowing I never got to..” she trailed off breaking eye contact

“Got to wha-“

In the blink of an eye her lips were on mine and her hands were in my hair. While I stood there shocked. Slowly, I began to melt into the kiss. Hands finding their home on her waist, and my lips fitting with hers perfectly.

As much as we both hated it, we had to part for air.

“I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I died not knowing if you loved me too.” She whispered

Clove was never this vulnerable. She’s never been anything more than a hard headed angry girl. I was shocked. I’d never known she liked me. Let alone love me.

“How long?” Was all I could manage to get out

“Since our first year of training.”

I was speechless. My words were failing me completely.

So it happened again, my lips were on hers. But instead of me being the one caught off guard. It was her.

————————————————————————

Im so sorry it was so rushed. I completely forgot I even had tumblr. I’ll be doing my best to get the rest of my requests out.

I Love You all so much, thank you for being patient with me.

[ninjamelissajulien]

Rewatching Crystalized after a long time- here are my thoughts.

The first third isn’t bad (season 1), honestly it’s still funny

Fugidove you weirdo (affectionate)

I still hate the mayor/the new ninja/ronin

Pythor you bitch (derogatory)

Nya my beloved, how they wasted your potential

Skylor my beloved, how they wasted your potential

Pixal my beloved, how they wasted your potential

Mechanic you motherfucker

HARUMI MY BELOVED CHILD YOUVE RETURNED TO ME

I hate how they changed the overlords voice, rebooted was the best version

I think the overlord intercepted harumi’s soul while it was on its way to the departed realm. Overlord can never truly die, so he’s stuck in an ethereal void. That’s why no one else was around

Harumi, my beloved scrimbly, your body was literally crushed and probably impaled by rebar and concrete

Oni temple still ugly as shit

“Fall of the monastery” is homophobic because my favorite girls got the shit kicked out of them and I’m gay so it’s homophobic

Also Pythor is misogynistic like bro Nya saved your ass from wohira

Also mechanic is misogynistic

Fantastic fights tho

MINI PIXES

I love the minipix 7 saved her mama first 🥹

We did not need the fakeout death for Nya

I love the samurai x mech and Nya’s Sam x outfit

I think they took off the overeffect on pixals voice in Darkness within - that just gave Crystalized extra bonus points in my book

Lloyd dangling sideways is so stupid but funny

Ok but like that wasn’t the last time you fought, technically that was the SECOND to last time shitlord, Zane killed you last time lmao

The coming 👀 of the king

But they didn’t lose??? They killed you???

Golden master was better tbh

Ah, the ugliest fortress in the entire series

Uglyass motherfucker

Harumi my scrimbly

Harumi really be like I hate you but maybe we could be friends but also no I despise you but maybe???

ACAB

Harumis such a brat- I love her so much

GARMADON RETURNS

Garmadon is the funniest motherfucker

The fact that they didn’t get to fully acknowledge Harumi and Garmadon is a missed opportunity

Christofern is an innocent victim

Mechanic motherfucker I want you to die

I forgot about Zane’s head trauma reverting him to the ice emperor. Such a missed opportunity

MISAKO MY BELOVED!!!!!

T*mmy fuck off

Pixal being a badass like usual. Queen!!!!

They put her effect back over her voice

JESUS CHRIST ZANE

ronin redeeming himself 🫡

Pythor you annoying bitch

SKYLOR YOU ARE A QUEEN I’d let you punch me any day

When skylor put her hand on Cole’s head, his scar was glowing

Skylor god I love you

Kai you got trauma we need to discuss

RACER 7 aka BLAZY H. SPEED!!!!!

I would burn everything for Pixal

Jennifer you say the word and I would kill for you

THE PIXANE SPIN

“You brought me back.”

Pixal has the coolest mechs because she deserves it

Garmadon sprint past, screeching, with a barrel is my favorite

“Uh oh? What does uh oh mean?” A callback to season 13 💙

“Pet plant” Lloyd that’s your brother have some respect

I’m gonna be honest- I forgot the overlord was the literal threat this season 😭😭😭

Why do the dragonites have tits????

I literally still can’t believe they have to “jump up kick back whip around and spin”

And the reveal was when the paper was “fold” ed you motherfuckers

Why did the coolest form of the overlord come TWO EPISODES AT THE END

Coles crew showed up

VANIA MY BELOVED SCRIMBLY

MINIPIX

MAYA EDNA BENTHO LOU (��)

SALLY YOU QUEER QUEEN

Dragon form is literally so dope tho

I’m still not a fan of the “plot twist” with the overlord x devourer

Anyways KICK HIS ASS HARUMI GO BABY GIRL GO

Mechanic shut the fuck up honestly

OKINO

Cole mocking Vangelis is so fucking funny

It hurts to see Lou honesty knowing he’ll never speak again

ADAM

VANIA MY BELOVED

Is it me or is Kai really handsome in his dragon form

Cole and Vania’s hug 🥹

PIXANE SPIN 2.0

Oni Lloyd my beloved

ROTSM 2: Electric Boogaloo

I like to think that it is the ninjas spirits that protected Lloyd and defeated the overlord, not a golden power

Inner Steel is a good song shut up

Overall honestly not a bad season, has some hiccups and missed opportunities but not as bad as I think it’s judged

[intrepidacious]

time after time: reread edition [2]

series summary: After what starts out as a fairly normal mission, you find yourself stuck in a time loop. Which would already be bad enough in itself if it didn’t also mean having to watch Bucky die over and over again.

pairing: bucky barnes x f!reader

word count: 8.2k

chapter warnings: canon-typical violence, the angst continues, another reminder to read the fic premise; a couple of guest appearances; flashbacks are my establishing shots and i���m going to make it everyone’s problem. please note that my blog is rated 18+. minors dni. ageless/empty blogs will be blocked without warning.

read the full chapter here | series masterlist | reread masterlist

welcome back everyone!! just a reminder that this is a reread of already published chapters, so if you’re new to this story, maybe don't start here. it probably won't make a lot of sense. please be aware that by clicking the read more you’re gonna see spoilers for chapters one and two 💚

twice upon a time – tl;dr:

in the flashback, set sometime during the blip, we see twelve meeting natasha and steve and offer her abilities to the avengers. after a short demonstration of her powers and (non-existant) combat abilities, she’s taken on as a new recruit. twelve accidentally breaks her own nose during training and reveals that her time powers don’t include the ability to heal herself, as she stays the same when going back in time.

in the loop, twelve panics but tries to get through the day again. she attempts to nap on the living room couch, but gets disturbed by alpine and bucky. she settles down on her bedroom floor, but gets yanked to the astral plane and berated over her creation of a time loop by stephen strange. during their third mission, bucky lightly hits his head when getting hit by the explosion and ends up getting shot again when twelve overcompensates for past mission mistakes. she tries talking to sam about the loop, but gets shut down. alpine follows her over to the other couch, making a nap once again impossible; the movie bucky turns on is eerily fitting for their situation. all the way through the chapter, bucky keeps asking her what’s wrong, but she evades his question.

behind the loop

finally!! our first chapter with flashback brackets!!! i’ve really been loving the structure of these because they allow me to give a little more context and background on the characters gradually instead of a long info dump as well as just lighten the mood a little. also, i just love writing nat and steve!! god, i miss them so much.

“And why would we want to have you?” she asked. As if she were interviewing you for a job. Which, technically speaking, she was.

there’s a lot of fun tidbits in this part of the chapter, but i love this one in particular. her nonchalance when meeting this powerful, terrified stranger is just so charming to me.

“Oh, great, am I volunteering?”

steve is … god, steve. sometimes the fact that this fic is canon-compliant (for the most part) absolutely kills me. that’s something i’ve had to wrestle with in every single flashback, and it’s just never getting easier.

back to the loop!! i didn’t talk about the mcfly thing last chapter and that’s mostly because i actually haven’t seen back to the future in many, many years. i do love them, though, and i feel like they’re something sam would enjoy, too. i constantly want to give him more to do in this story but instead i keep sending him off on cap duties. sigh. we love a responsible man.

So it appears you’ve gotten yourself stuck in some macabre version of Groundhog Day. Alright. Cool cool cool. You can work with that, probably. Maybe.

the most unsubtle nod to brooklyn nine-nine ever, but i’d completely forgotten i put it there and i love it. that makes it at least two references to this show over all of my fics now, and i’m probably forgetting something!!

“Did you just kick me?” “I wanted to see if you’re still alive.” “Horrible. I’m quitting. You can go spar with Bucky again.”

what can i say? i love their slightly different banter each and every time. it’s so funny because twelve still hesitates to call sam and bucky her friends in her inner monologue but at the same time—look at them. i love unreliable narration.

also, this is the chapter where i really start leaving gaps to fill in the rest of the day later. it’s just fun to keep some thing that are going to be repeating anyway open for now!! that brings us reveals as glorious as alpine, who couldn’t even feature in the first chapter even though i love her more than life itself. also, i have no idea where i got the headcanon that sam’s allergic to cats, but it’s simply a fact to me.

“What time is it, anyway?” “Thirteen twelve hours.” “Please stop just saying numbers when I ask you that.”

is this me making a dig at military time or the fact that it’s not used in the u.s.? who’s to say. also a fun little twelve reference before the nickname actually gets used in chapter!!

“Last dates played. Friday, July 4th 2025, 07:50 a.m. Playtime: forty-five seconds. Thursday, March 13th 2014, 02:49 a.m. Playtime: one hour, twenty-seven minutes, eighteen seconds. End of record.”

i was so proud of this little inconsequential easter egg at the time!! that date is the day of the winter soldier movie premiere, and i’m pretty sure the amount of times the song got played was the same as the amount of mcu movies that were out at the time the chapter got posted. this is an actually fun fun fact for a change <3

ooh, the astral plane and strange. i’m not gonna lie, i’m pretty sure i’m writing his character a little more sherlock holmesian than he is in canon, but sue me. both are smart assholes in their own rights, and it’s fun to have him and twelve snark at each other. they both just hate every second of being in each other’s vicinity, and i find that hilarious.

Third time’s the charm, right? About as charming as a kick to the face, you think as you find yourself delivering just that.

you know, sometimes "writing for yourself" just means line connectors that will make yourself snicker. and i think that’s beautiful.

Shouldn’t he insist on leaving?

ugh, i love this scene!! i love that no matter how hard she tries, other people (and bucky in particular) will just do things she doesn’t expect, and for reasons that are certainly what i’m telling you within the inner monologue. mhm. surely. (i know i said spoiler-free but i’m giddy. also you’re reading bucky fanfic. you must know.)

trying to tell sam about the loop and him not really taking it seriously here was certainly a choice. i’m not sure i love this when thinking about his character, but it had to happen this way for plot reasons. to be fair to him, he’s hungry and stressed, and the people around him are all weird (affectionate). give him a break fr.

“I just run cold.” “That you do.”

i’m obsessed with them, have i mentioned that? also, fun fact about spellbound, i’m never again mentioning movies i haven’t actually watched within a story again because i did end up watching it and one of the character’s initials were straight up JBB. i wish i could make this up. maybe i’m the one who’s stuck in a time loop. anyway. love alpine, love bucky knowing something’s up but not what it is.

“Don’t be dramatic. She’s made of stronger stuff than that.”

did you catch that one?

You’re made of stronger stuff than your doubts, you know that. (ch 1)

have i mention that i pay attention to a lot of little details? because yeah. i do.

the reveal that twelve stays the same during her redos is probably one of the more essential ones!! i mostly wanted to include this because i haven’t really seen any other time loop stories do it (unless i’m forgetting something) and also because, well, drama is fun.

how it’s going

alas, chapter seven isn’t quite done yet. i’ve written around 2.5k for it, i think, but i find myself once again taking unexpected detours. it’s fine, though. the bonus chapter is mostly done, and it’s actually pretty short for a change. (because spoiler alert, chapters are only gonna get longer from this point. somebody sedate me.)

as you’ve probably seen in my schedule, next week is gonna be an off week for me!!! please manifest me meeting sam wilson in the parks as i will be on holiday this time next friday. which is a much more fun thing to do than getting stuck in a time loop. in the meantime, take care of yourselves and don’t do anything dumb while i’m gone (like getting stuck in a time loop). also please leave a comment on the chapter if you enjoyed it, come scream at me in my inbox etc etc 💚

[shmowder]

Honestly I put yulia in the neutral tier since I’m very similar to her in some regards and I’m having a crisis every other Wednesday so like I could get high with her we can have a crisis as a team! But no yeah in retrospect not really a neutral option unless you enjoy depression…or unless she mellows out while under the influence which isn’t probably likely

Oh yeah if you get high with Aspity some sort of horrific thing will occur to you during or afterwards that’s one where you dug your own grave now lay in and oh god the idea of giggly happy high Daniil is absolutely beautiful he’d absolutely demand you never speak of that to anyone ever as if anyone would actually believe you to begin with if you attempted to tell them that.

Thought of some more characters after sending the original ask so I’ll give those thoughts as well because oh boy did I start thinking a lot about this most of it while I myself was under the influence, I’d probably put Nina kain as well into the it could become a terrifying experience to be high/get high with her genuinely do not think that experience goes well for you that just seems like it ends poorly, Lara seems like she could go either way as well it might be a good experience or it could get depressing as all hell that or she’d become oddly productive no matter how it goes I love Lara so I don’t care which it becomes I’ll get high with her still. Including the executioners since it’s too funny not to, this assuming you could get high with them which would be a horrifying experience in which it would feel like you are dying….probably because you die afterwards or similar to Aspity something bad happens to you in some way shape or form but then again you dug your own grave buckroo. The last character I have any thoughts on how they’d be around to smoke with is vlad the younger and I think that’d be a miserable experience I don’t think it’d anything expect absolutely miserable I don’t know why you’d want to get high with him anyway but if you do it won’t be fun at least that’s my opinion.

-immune anon

honestly who am i to rain on your parade if the "half-empty glass" woman is your cup of tea. Pass her that joint.

For Vlad Jr, I understand where you're coming from.

But I don't think it'd be that bad. He's the type who thinks "this ediable ain't shit" five minutes later. "Can the kin worms communicate with the worms in the ground below?"

He remains collected for half an hour through the trip before it all hits him at once. He either freaks out or becomes the most mellowed out version of himself.

In both scenarios, he's the type to go full conspiracy theorist. Making connections between unrelated things, uncovering mysteries that were allegedly hidden in plain sight.

Vlad Jr. as your trip sitter is when his virtues shine through....kinda of. He doesn't let you wander off into the street in your current state, at least. But he mind put you through the "🐭🐭🐭🐭🐰🐭🐭 Spot the rabbit!" cocomelon quizzes type shit. Out of curiosity.

Casually bringing up the embarrassing stuff you did the next day. "Hey, remember yesterday when you showed me your animal print sock collection, then proceeded to cry on the floor in a fetus position when you couldn't find the other pair to the frog socks? Well :) I paid some people to break into your house and search for them, here you go. It apparently was at the bottom of your laundry basket. You must have missed it under the pile of clothes."

Or mentioning how he found some pebble shaped candy in the store, so you don't have to go and eat rocks like you kept talking about while high last night.

It's like he is trying to be helpful–but his definition of help isn't the most appropriate or useful.

[blindrapture]

SUNDAY JULY 3RD, 2011 (Rael's Exodus V: The Anatomy of Everything)

8:34 AM “Gooood morning, passengers. This is your captain speaking. Hope you had a good sleep. We’ve got about a day and a half left of this. Try to stick with us for a little longer, will you? Stay alive. Fitzgerald out.”

8:36 AM So tired. Why am I so tired. I dreamt of buying a home by the sea. Donnie was my wife. Except we weren’t called Donnie and Jordan; she called me “Rael” and I called her “Victoria.” In the home, there was a collection of paintings, most of which were variations on album art. They were changed to feature water. Systematic Chaos had all the ants in the city drowning. Hemispheres had Dionysus and Apollo standing over a large ocean. Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV Volume II: No World for Tomorrow had the sky cloudy and rain pouring down. The only odd one was Wind & Wuthering. It looked normal, except for.. for tentacles in the tree. Moving tentacles. I’m going back to sleep.

10:02 AM Dreamt of a long corridor. One single door at the other end of it. Except this wasn’t just any door. It was a Door. I knew. Because it was my dream! I walked down towards the Door. I heard someone walking behind me. I heard multiple people walking behind me. The first person was Donnie, I know that much. We reached the Door, and I reached for the doorknob. Then I woke up. I’m getting up now.

10:08 AM I can hear loud banging somewhere. I’m not sure where I’m going. Donnie’s coming too; she’s not sure where we’re going, either.

10:10 AM I can definitely hear someone walking nearby. I’m not keeping Tiger Stripes close. It might just be me being tired, but I don’t feel like I need to. I’ll probably die thinking like this. Oh well.

10:14 AM We’re going to the bridge. We’re going to talk to Captain Fitzgerald. I’ve been thinking. There really aren’t many of us left, especially not considering a lot of the people on this boat aren’t actually.. people anymore. They’re just Campers. Part of it. Part of EAT.

10:18 AM We’re at the bridge.

10:23 AM Captain Fitzgerald says he’s had to force himself to stay awake all last night because Doctor Jackson never showed up for his night shift. He says he’s a little shaky now, but he thinks he can make it. I asked if he wanted one of us to take over for a bit. He laughed and said we’re much too young. Donnie made him promise he’d get us through this voyage. He looked her in the eye and said “I indirectly made that promise by choosing to be your captain for this mission, young lady. And I intend on following through. Just make sure you guys stay alive. Fitzgerald out.” Then he turned back to his job.

10:27 AM We’re not entirely sure where we can go now.

10:31 AM The banging’s getting louder. Captain Fitzgerald asked if we could find out what was causing that.

10:43 AM It sounds like it’s coming from the deck.

10:46 AM I don’t see anything out here. ..TEFAJI) THAT’S A LOT OF CAMPER. There’s tons of people down there in the water, people and fucking fish, they’re down in the sea, banging on the ship. Looking up at us. Some are reaching up their hands. I’m.. well, at least we found out what was causing the banging. o_e

10:54 AM Almost back to the bridge. God, that banging.

10:57 AM ..o__o; Captain Fitzgerald didn’t even notice us come in. He’s sitting perfectly still at the wheel. Is he okay?

10:58 AM “Hello.” He said that. So he’s okay. “Did you find out what was causing the banging?” I said it was people and fish. I accidentally used the word “Campers.” >.>; “Oh. Camper. That explains it. Thank you.” Donnie asked if he was okay. “Never better. By the way, do you happen to have any more of that music Yates was listening to? I’d like to hear more of it.” I said we have plenty of it. I offered to go get my folder of CDs. “That would be perfect.” Donnie’s coming with me. I don’t blame her.

11:00 AM I saw someone going ‘round the corner up ahead. Goddamn, this place is starting to give me the creeps.

11:02 AM ..I hear someone again. I’m gonna take a small detour to find out who.

11:03 AM It’s Richard Burgandy. o.o God, I hope he’s not a Camper, too.

11:07 AM He went into his room. Left his door open.

11:08 AM He’s feeding his wife water. She’s lying on their bed. Looks… well, not “sick.” …o_o She looks comatose. Oh god. She’s a Camper. >_< And he’s feeding her water! That’s jus

11:10 AM He spotted us. I tried to tell him his wife’s gone, but he just denied it and told us to leave. ..bah. ._.;

11:15 AM We’re back at our room now.

11:16 AM Donnie closed the door and locked it. She doesn’t want to go back to the captain. Or to anyone. She says this place is pretty much a ticking time bomb. I agree. >_<;

12:03 PM We can’t just stay here, though! D: That’s not gonna get anything done, and things clearly have to be done. Besides, most of what we’ve been seeing lately have been the Campers, and EAT’s already told us it’s not hunting us. For all we know, it could be lying, but it won’t do us good to doubt every single thing we find. I just have a hunch. I dunno.

12:05 PM Donnie’s putting her foot down. She doesn’t want either of us leaving this room, not now. I’ll obey. ._.;

12:48 PM The banging’s intensifying. Donnie’s holding me tight.

1:23 PM ..it’s stopped completely. I have a badrefek9fgsadgj HELLOOOO

1:24 PM Out the window, out the window. Flying zombies. Rising up from the water, flying past our window.

1:30 PM I hear voices. A lot of voices. “COME OUT, INDISEN!” It’s the voice of the Camper.

1:38 PM A lot of footsteps outside the door. >____<;;

1:39 PM DOOR HELLO HI YES? NO INDISEN HERE. THANK YOU, BYE. ohgod

1:40 PM They kicked down the door there were so many of them, one walked in and looked around, it saw nothing so then they all moved on to the next room. They’re doing an Indisen hunt.

1:41 PM They’re still walking past our door; there are a lot of them. Most of them, I don’t even recognize. Folks with eyes missing, leeches on every limb, some even with what looks like what used to be wooden legs, and a lot of torn clothing. Every single poor soul lost at sea participating in an eldritch witch hunt. Tiger Stripes, give me strength.

1:45 PM I hear screaming coming from down the hall. Sounds like Richard.

1:46 PM “Give me my wife back,” I heard. ._.;;

2:02 PM They’re still going. There are a lot of Campers, all marching systematically past our door. They move as one, for they are one. Every other head is turned to look inside whatever door they pass, while the other set of heads face forwards. I imagine that’s the perfect way to cover all directions. It’s hard for me to picture, but I can take a guess as to how they work. EAT used the analogy of my arm gaining individualistic sentience, as the Campers are basically EAT’s arms. So they’re all just.. parts of its huge self. EAT can move them individually, just as I can move all my fingers individually, or EAT can move them all at once in a system of eldritch order, much like operating my legs separately but still at once in order to walk, using my arms to balance my weight, and shifting my body forwards to get myself going. To a being considerably different, an alien or I guess a cockroach, I would look just like an eldritch horror. And that’s basically what this is. Keyword being “basically.” I mean, not even I can make my arms grow wings. o_e

2:10 PM Some of them have longer arms. o___o

2:14 PM I’m sure I saw one using its arms to help it walk. Its arms were that long.

2:40 PM ..all of them have long arms now. And wings. Gotta admit. I don’t wanna know what’s gonna happen to the Indisen when they find it. I wonder what drove them to stop observing it and start hunting it. I wonder how the hell it’s managed to avoid them for so long.

3:32 PM “COME WITH ME, INDISEN.” All of them. o_e It’s hard to get used to that. I hear struggling. The Campers are going in the other direction now.

3:44 PM …O___O Okay. Right. Indisen, Ms. Desmond, being dragged. Didn’t quite want to see that. Oh god hug me Donnie

3:59 PM Oh god, so many splashes. I take it they took her down with them. Oh god, I don’t want to think about that.

4:13 PM …something’s wrong. The boat’s not moving. We’re going to the bridge.

4:20 PM Passed by Richard’s room. He’s sobbing. ._.;

4:27 PM ..Captain Fitzgerald is gone. This is trouble.

4:39 PM Richard doesn’t want to be bothered, but we really need to talk to him. Oh god, how can we do this? We don’t know how to drive a ship.

4:41 PM Donnie’s got an idea. She’s running off. Be careful, ma’am. D: Please.

4:52 PM …oh god, why do I still hear people walking nearby? o_o;; Please be Donnie.

4:56 PM ..Donnie’s back. u_u; Okay. Hi. She’s got Rogers’ papers. I fucking love that awesome girl.

4:59 PM Richard wants some time alone. He wants to read Rogers’ papers. We’ll let him.

5:04 PM Donnie wants to talk to me about something.

5:09 PM …she says, when in the room, she couldn’t find Rogers’ papers. Then she heard footsteps nearby. She left the room and saw a man. She said it was the same man from before, the one who handed her the receipt in Blackpool. Fedora, slendercoat, sunglasses, mustache, dark hair. He gave her the papers, then he tipped his hat, turned and left. It was Bones. o:

5:15 PM I can’t, for the life of me, figure out what the hell Bones is up to. How the hell he’s been following us, how he’s known exactly what to do and where to be. How he’s possibly been on this ship all this time without anyone knowing. First thing I’m gonna do in the States is look for him.

5:29 PM The boat’s moving again!

5:31 PM “Boy and girl, uh.. Jordan and Donnivan, I believe. It’s Richard. I.. I’ll get us to America. I have to. It’s what Meredith would have wanted, what Bill would have wanted, and.. it’s what Rogers would have wanted, too. “Besides. We can’t stay here in titan's country, out in the deep blue sea, under the same red sky as I hear they have in Asia, in America, in.. see, we’re all in the same Earth, and everyone’s suffering! We can’t sit around, it’s no good, we’re…” He’s crying. ”..I’ll get us there. If we work together, I promise we can do as the captain would have wanted. We can stay alive. Richard out.”

5:33 PM Good work, Richard. ..good work.

5:40 PM We’re back in our room. All is quiet. The ship is moving at a faster pace than before. There’s not much left before we arrive. It’s been quite a journey, journal. u_u;; In the end, there’s only three of us left. Too many unsuspecting people fall victim to the sea. Throughout history, the ocean has offered some of the world’s greatest mysteries and unexplainable disappearances. I guess we’re starting to find out what gods have been responsible for it all.

9:45 PM We’re going to bed. We’ll be touching down in America tomorrow. Then our big-ass journey will resume.

11:00 PM three

(Attached: “To conclude my writings on Salmacis, I’d may as well discuss the physical contortions. The transformations. Her Camper– both singular and plural are ‘Camper,’ that’s generally agreed as the term for her individual bodies– start off as regular people on the outside, but all their blood is now water. Her water. The water is her. Once it gets into your mind, it can start to mess with your anatomy, make your body grow entire evolutionary marvels in the blink of an eye. EAT is evolution supreme, evolution itself gone sentient and now at last awake,EAT has studied the anatomy of Everything in All Time. EAT knows exactly how far your skin can stretch– and regularly tests that to its extremes– EAT knows exactly what organs it can deem unnecessary and how to turn them into wings of water and cartilage and organ tissue- EAT knows how much digestive fluid your brain can take before it melts, and EAT knows how to hotwire your brain to be ready for more. EAT means no harm. It’s only curious. You can tell by the look in her eyes, in the eyes of every Camper: Always blue like the Earth, always glazed over, always taking in everything on the inside and utterly comatose, dead on the outside. EAT does not care. If it wanted, it could snap her fingers and have a band of a hundred Camper performing the most complicated symphony using the wrong instruments, transposing every part on the spot, and it’d still only be as much effort as a blink to her.”) (Attached, flipped: “Ask yourself this, how many songs have you heard that were written by a human? How many books have you read that were written by someone who possessed their own mind, singularly and without caveat? EAT could have written OH GOD THE RAPTURE IS BURNING. Who’s to say it didn't? Salmacis knows. We don't. And we must trust her, because there are still secrets left to tell.”)

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[ladybug023]

Dornishman’s Wife

(This was supposed to be a short little drabble but it quickly turned into a complete one-shot. Daeron loves his baby nephew and goes down memory lane with Aemond. He feels so guilty and abandoned at the same time. I want to thank @houseofpendragons and @arcielee for helping me with ideas and dialogue! I've never actually written for Aemond and they were lifesavers! Daeron calls Aegon “Aeg.” Lastly, Aemond is like 18-17 and Daeron is 16 or 15.)

Daeron’s POV:

“~The Dornishman's wife was as fair as the sun and her kisses were warmer than spring. But the Dornishman's blade was made of black steel and its kiss was a terrible thing~”

Maelor’s constant crying had been driving everyone in the family insane. So, I decided to try to put him to sleep. I figured if I could put Tesserion to sleep with my melodies, then why not babies? Although, I did not expect Maelor to be so picky. I cycled through multiple lullabies, none of which pleased him. Until I remembered a dirty ballad called "The Dornishman's wife." It turns out Maelor shares Aeg’s love for vulgarity. He was giggling and cooing with joy as I serenaded him. I smiled lovingly at his adorable little face. He looked so much like Helaena. Speaking of Helaena, my sister passed out from exhaustion in the nursery’s rocking chair.

“~The Dornishman's wife would sing as she bathed. In a voice that was sweet as a peach. But the Dornishman's blade had a song of its own and a bite sharp and cold as a leech~.”

Poor girl, she is too young to be a mother, let alone a mother of three. Guilt crept into me for the hundredth time since I had returned from Oldtown. I should’ve been there to help with the children. All Seven Gods knew Aeg was anything but a helpful husband. I should have been there the day my nieces and nephews were born. It was not my choice to leave. I was barely thirteen when Otto sent me away. My guilt quickly turned to bitterness. My grandsire was so quick to discard me. It was because I am the third son. Otto already has an heir and a spare, so this made me just a useless pawn in his game. Whimpering shook me from my spiteful thoughts. Maelor looked ready to bawl again, so I continue on with the song.

“~As he lay on the ground with the darkness around, and the taste of his blood on his tongue, His brothers knelt by him and prayed him a prayer, and he smiled and he laughed and he sung, Brothers, oh brothers, my days here are done, the Dornishman's taken my life, but what does it matter, for all men must die, and I've tasted the Dornishman's wife!~”

Once I finished I was delighted to see Maelor fast asleep. A triumphant grin spread across my face. As I placed the little Targaryen back into his crib, I let out a sigh of relief. It felt as if I’d just won a battle.

“What would our dear mother say if she saw you singing such a vulgar song to her grandchild?” I could immediately tell who that sly voice belonged to. I looked up from the crib to see none other than Aemond Targaryen. He was leaning against the doorway while wearing that wolffish smirk of his. He was known by many names. The One-Eyed Dragon, Kinslayer, but I only call him brother.

“Lower your voice. It took four songs to get him to finally sleep. Besides, mother will never know because you would not tell her…right?” My voice was hushed as I carefully tucked Maelor in. Many people saw Aemond and me as complete opposites, but I don’t see why. Sure, Aemond has become a bit more intimidating in recent years, especially with the eye patch, but we still have many things in common. Such as our love for Dragon riding and swordsmanship.

“Hmm, and what do I get in return for not informing her about the sinful sonnets you sing to the babe?" Aemond quirked a brow and tipped his chin up expectedly. I rolled my violet eyes at him. I wonder what he’d have me do for his silence. Shine his boots or maybe shovel Vhagar's shit? In his dreams.

"Now brother, I have only been back for a few days and you are already trying to blackmail me? Here I thought I was your favorite.” I feigned a hurt voice but my silly smile remained. Aemond shook his head and glanced at Helaena, who was still asleep in the rocking chair.

“You should know by now that Helaena is my favorite. How long has she been passed out anyway?” Aemond walked over to Helaena and gazed down at her.

“I’m not sure, I lost track of time. She is a heavy sleeper though.” I replied with a shrug.

“It is not good for her to be sleeping in a chair like this. I’ll take her to her chambers.” I watched as Aemond picked our sister up into his arms bridal style. He was so gentle with her. It was as if she was glass and he was afraid she’d shatter. This was the side of Aemond that most did not get the fortune to see.

“I’ll go with you then.” In truth, I had nothing else to do and I didn’t want our conversation to end. He nodded in reply. I followed him out of the nursery. As we made our way across the Red Keep, I noticed that it was now evening and the corridors were virtually empty.

“You were worse than him, You know.” Aemond started.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“ You were a worse babe than Maelor. You drove nine of our nursemaids to madness with your wailing.” He taunted.

“That is not true.” I scoff back.

“I swear by all Seven Gods. Even Aegon didn’t give our poor mother as much trouble as a babe.” He insisted. That crooked smirk of his had graced his lips once again. Sometimes I just wanted to slap it off his face, but I knew better than to try. Aemond’s face seemed like it was made of stone.

“Yes, and I’m sure you were such a little Angel.” I sneered.

“Better than you.” He quipped back.

“Well, you know, the small folk have a saying. Bad babes make good children, and good babes make bad children. Ah, would you look at that! I believe they’re right.” Our banter continued as we reminisced about our childhoods. Such as how we used to play hide and seek in the Red Keep and how Aemond always cheated. Or that time when Helaena put a bunch of spiders in Aeg's bed and he went screaming for Ser Cole like a helpless maiden. When we entered Helaena's chambers, Aemond placed her in her bed. She murmured sleepily while clutching the satin sheets. We left her room and were now walking the halls aimlessly.

“Do you remember when Aeg vomited all over the High Septon?” I asked, referring to the time when we all attended service together at the Sept, and even though it was morning Aeg was already three sheets to the wind. This was not uncommon, though it was unfortunate that the High Septon chose that morning to call upon Aeg to lead us in prayer. To his credit, Aeg made it halfway through the prayer before spewing his breakfast everywhere.

"Hm, I remember grandsire chasing him around the altar. He is quite spry for an old man." The two of us laughed. For once, his laugh was not sardonic or mean spirited, it was genuine. I haven't seen Aemond smile like this since before he lost his eye.

“Ha, ha, yes! That reminds me of this one time when Lucerys blew milk from his nose when that fool Mushroom..." My sentence trailed off once I realized. How could I be so careless to say his name? To my dismay, Aemond had stopped walking with me, and when I looked at him, that genuine smile had vanished. It was replaced with a dark scowl as the atmosphere between us became tense. When I heard what Aemond did to Lucerys at Storms End, I refused to believe it. I could not believe it. Just apologize and move on. I told myself.

"I-I'm sorry, I..." I stuttered.

"Why are you apologizing?" He snapped petulantly.

"Because it was absent-minded of me."

"You have nothing to apologize for. It is not like you were the one who killed him." Aemond turned his back to me. He did his best to hide it, but I could still see how the death of Lucerys haunted him.

"You did not mean to.. like you said, it was an accident." I knew how naive that sounded but I just wanted to ease his guilt.

"That does not change the fact that he is dead, or that I am a Kinslayer."

"You are a good man, Aemond." I argued. "You would never-"

"-How do you know?" He whipped around to face me again. I did my best not to flinch away from his withering gaze.

"What?" I asked flustered.

"How could you possibly know that I am a good man, as you claim? " He growled

"Because I am your brother, Aemond." I answered, my voice firm.

"Yes, and where have you been these last few years, brother? Living blissfully in Oldtown while your siblings have been drowning in misery; Aegon in his cups, Helaena in her mindless riddles, and I...well we both know what a monster I have become."

I did not know what to say. What could I say? The taut silence between us was suffocating.

"I-I did not wish to leave…" I stuttered. My doleful eyes looked down in defeat. "You are right… everything has changed." My voice was remorseful. I wondered if things would have been different had I been there. But no, I neglected my family for jousting tournaments and maidens. Aemond's scowl had softened at the sight of my crestfallen face. I have always been the more emotional brother.

"Daeron-" He tried.

"-No. It is my fault. I was not there for you or my family and look at what happened.” Tears pricked my eyes."I left you all to suffer alone. I am s-sorry."

I saw Aemond's jaw steel at my words. His eye flitted over me before he reached out his hand. He paused for a moment, then rested it on my shoulder.

"The fault is with me, not you, little brother." His tone was mild now. I felt his hand squeeze its hold."It was unfair for me to blame you for my sins.”

I let out a shaky breath and quickly rubbed away my tears. My cheeks flushed from the embarrassment of crying like a child in front of him.

"I do not hold this against you. Perhaps the Gods favored you to leave this inevitable mess." He assured me. I nodded and sniffed. I do not know what came over me, but I threw my arms around him and pulled my brother into a tight embrace, causing him to let out a “Oof”

"I will never leave again. I swear by the old gods and the new!" I vowed to him. Aemond was stiff as a board in my arms.

"Yes, that is good … You are crushing my ribs, Daeron." He patted my back awkwardly. "Alright that is enough." He pushed me off of him. The fact that he was so flustered from a simple hug made me chuckle. He glared at me as he smoothed out the creases I caused in his tunic.

“The hour grows late, you should go get some rest too. Is it not past your bedtime, baby brother?” He teased.

“You know, you are only two years older than me.” I reminded him.

“Two and a half.” He corrected. “Sleep well, Daeron.”

With that, Aemond made his leave down the dark corridor. Our conversation left me feeling relief and hope. Maybe my family wasn’t as far gone as I thought. Even the most broken things can be fixed with enough effort and I will make good on my promise to Aemond.

[janeykath318]

Birthday Cookies (Shieldshock)

“I have a mission for you, Nat,” Darcy proposed, waving a tray of freshly baked cookies in front of Agent Romanoff temptingly.

“Hmmm, if it involves some of those delicious looking morsels, I might be able to help you.” Natasha replied, not taking her eyes off of the cookies.

“You’ll get two dozen all for yourself,” Darcy promised.

“I’d be a fool to pass that up,” Natasha admitted. “Your chocolate chip cookies are to die for. But tell me, what is this mission?”

“So, tonight is Fourth of July Eve, also the night before Steve’s birthday. I thought it would be appropriate to leave out milk and cookies for Steve, y’know, being Captain America and all.

“That’s very thoughtful of you, Darcy,” Natasha approved, a pleased smile beginning to form. “But perhaps there are ulterior motives?”

Darcy blushed, but shook her head vigorously.

“Of course not! I would never dream of….He’s way out of my league……not even in the same solar system…..that’s nuts. I bake for everyone, you know.”

Her flustered denials did not fool Natasha in the least, but she hid her delight (and a certain secret about Steve) and patted Darcy kindly on the back.

“What is my role in all this?” she asked.

“I need you to make sure it gets put in an area where Steve will find it, but won’t be pilfered by greedy archers or hungry gods. The areas I have clearance to would be a prime target for thieves. Cough, Cough, Clint, cough, cough.”

Natasha chuckled knowingly. Baked goods turned Clint into the worst kind of kleptomaniac, as she knew all too well.

“I’ll do it.”

“Yay! Thank you!” Darcy beamed, whirled around and grabbed a box off of the counter, which she handed to Nat.

“Your payment. Anybody else, I’d demand proof of delivery first, but you’re very trustworthy. Steve’s cookies are on this red, white and blue plate and there’s a little glass bottle of milk in the fridge that goes with them. You know his schedule pretty well, so once he’s on his way back to the tower, it’s go time for Operation Cookies! Look! They have red, white and blue m and ms!!”

Steve returned to his apartment after a full day of boring meetings and training sessions. The only thing so far that had broken up the monotony had been speaking to an enthusiastic second grade class. Their childhood innocence and zeal had warmed his jaded heart and he felt another twinge of longing for a family of his own, which he quickly quashed.

Meandering into his kitchen, he stopped and stared at the tray on the counter that held some very mouth-watering looking cookies. Grinning, he picked up the note that sat with them, recognizing Darcy’s goofy handwriting.

In honor of your birthday and America’s, have some cookies and milk!! They’re your favorite Chocolate chip with M and Ms. Happy Birthday, Steve, and God bless the USA. (Though I think he already did;-).

Darcy.

Steve chuckled at her note, heart touched by her thoughtfulness. It didn’t take long for him to have devoured five of the enormous cookies, dotted with chocolate chips and patriotic candy. They were as delicious as they looked and he wondered again how someone like Darcy, who was so pretty and funny and talented, was still single.

He stopped chewing as a realization slammed into him with startling clarity.

Oh. I’m an idiot. An absolute idiot.

Slumping back into his easy chair, Steve pondered his interactions with Darcy and wondered why he’d been so blind to his own heart.

Darcy was enjoying her off day by chilling in Tony’s big private pool. She’d donned her special stars and stripes swimsuit for the occasion and lazily dog paddled around, chatting with Wanda about the best ways for the PTSD sufferers to avoid the fireworks and sharing stories about previous fourth of july celebrations.

Hearing the pitter patter of feet on the deck, she languidly turned her head and her eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. Captain America was approaching her, dressed to swim and looking intently at her.

“Well if it isn’t the birthday boy!” She chirped. “Looking good for a hundred something, Steve.”

In response, Steve casually pulled off his t shirt and sat down at the edge of the pool, dangling his long legs in the water.

Darcy let out what might have been an inhuman noise before she recovered herself enough to say, “those are America’s abs!”

And what abs they were in all their six pack glory. It was all she could do not to drool. She heard a snort from Steve and a giggle from Wanda.

“The cookies were amazing, Darcy,” Steve told her, sounding completely unoffended by her bold statement. “Best I’ve ever had. If you ever get tired of science, well, a Darcy owned bakery would be very well frequented by all the Avengers, especially me.”

“Aww, thank you!” Darcy managed, turning a bit pink again. (Was he eying her up?) “I enlisted the help of Natasha to get them to your place. Once I bribed her with her own cookies, she was very willing to help.”

“If you were trying to get on my nice list, well, you were already on there, just so you know.” Steve told her, sounding more than a touch flirty.

“Oooh! Does this mean I’m on the Extra Nice list?” she playfully asked, very much liking where this was going.

“The very top,” he confirmed. “Figured I’d thank you in person.”

Steve straight up winked at her and his smirk left her in no doubt as to what his intentions were. Darcy almost couldn’t believe it, but it was Steve and the man didn’t lie.

“Get in here, then,” she invited. “The water’s fine and so are you.”

Steve laughed again and slid into the pool, quickly reaching Darcy where she was floating with a pool noodle.

“Nice suit,” he observed, looking her over once again. “Have I ever told you how stunning I think you are?” Darcy straight up blushed.

“Noooooo,” she managed. “I didn’t think you noticed me like that.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, Darcy,” he breathed as he went in for the kiss.

“Looks like the fireworks are starting early today,” observed a grinning Bucky from the giant pizza slice shaped float he was lounging on.

Wanda glanced at Steve and Darcy, who were quite enthusiastically making out and chuckled.

“Indeed,” she agreed. “Natasha will be very pleased.”

“I already sent her a pic,” Bucky confirmed gleefully. “She is very satisfied. Those two were so clueless for so long. Guess it’s gonna be a very Happy Birthday for America AND Steve.”

[thefangirlthatwaited]

Encounter (Chapter 118) - A Destiny 2 Story

Crow x Female Guardian

“It’s cold out. I figured a nice stew to keep us warm.”

“Smells good.” We quietly ate, and you could cut the tension with a knife. I might have patched things up with Stell, but there was a long road ahead with Crow. I looked down at my left hand and empty ring finger and missed my engagement ring.

“Ruby?”

“Sorry, what?”

“I was asking what your plans were now that you’re home.”

“Oh, sorry.”

Crow put his bowl down and climbed on the couch beside me. “About Amanda-”

“Now?”

“The twins are down for a nap, and you haven’t been pulled away into meetings with Ikora and Zavala yet.” Shit, I forgot them.

“Alright, now it is.” I put my bowl down, crossed my legs and waited for Crow to speak.

“I thought about what you said. Me loving Amanda, and you were right. I do.” Hearing him admit it didn’t help the dread that was building. “Maybe because she never knew me as Uldren at first. I was just Crow, and she liked me for that. Now that she knows the truth... I guess I want it to go back to the way it was before, but at the same time, I’m glad she knows. Lying to her... Was hard.” 

“Lying to anyone you care about is hard.” 

“Exactly.” Crow avoided eye contact, opting to look out the window instead. “You telling me what I’d tried to ignore was an eye-opener for sure. Seeing your ring on the nightstand... I assumed the worst.”

“I-I’m sorry about that. We agreed no running.”

“I get it. But after our talk and I talked with Amanda, I figured out the different types of love I have for you two. Amanda is like a childhood crush—a love you never get over but fades with time. In contrast, the love I have for you is eternal. I could die and come back in a different life again and still fall in love with you. It’s your soul that leads me back each time. I love you, Ruby, not Aurora, you.”

“Crow,”

“I’m sorry I made you doubt-” I cut him off with a kiss, pinning him to the couch. He smiled into the kiss  pulling me flush to his chest. Crow’s words were exactly what I needed to hear. They eased all the pain I had, and I would never doubt his love for me again.

“Gods, I love you.” I moaned against his lips. “I don’t know why I ever doubted you.”

Crow pulled out of the kiss and tucked a piece of hair behind my hair. “Doubt is normal. Especially with the chaos around us. I’m glad my words could ease the doubt.” He placed my hand on his heart. “My heart beats for you and only you, Ruby.”

I copied him, placing his hand on my heart. “And mine beats for you.” He recaptured my lips in a passionate kiss that ended before it could go anything further. My datapad started bussing, and we both swore before I reached for it.

“It’s Zavala. He wants a meeting. Now.”

“We knew it was coming.”

“He has the worst timing...”

“Everyone does.” Crow groaned. I pulled myself off him and pulled my hair up before making my way to the door.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“No rush. I’ll be here for one more day before I’m due back in the EDZ.”

“Hopefully, I’ll be joining you,”

“I hope so too. We could use the extra manpower and, well... You are like six Guardians when you put your everything in it.”

“Is this your sexy talk?”

“What?”

“Because it’s working.”

Crow crossed the living in five steps to give me one last kiss. “Go see Zavala. We can continue this later.”

“Alright.” I stopped short of opening the door. “Wait!” I ran back up to our room to look for something. “Crow?”

“Yes?” I spun around and saw in his hand what I was looking for—my ring. 

“There it is!” I reached for it, but he pulled away. “Crow...”

“Think of this as a second proposal.” I playfully rolled my eyes, and he got down on one knee and placed the ring on my finger. “There. Where it belongs.”

“Yes, yes. Now I’ve gotta go. Love you.”

Full Chapter on Ao3